The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1928-09-15
By NJ. N. ROY.

In December, 1927, the Indian
National Congress declared the at
tainment of complete national in
dependence to be it's ultimate goal.
1t further decided to boycott the
British Royal Commission appointed
to examine the possibility of fur
Their constitutional progress for In
dia. In view of the fact that during
the forty-two years of its existence
the National Congress had never
demanded national independence,
last years resolution was hailed, in
side and outside India, as the be-
ginning of new stage in the ma
tionalist movement. 1t should be
remembered that even in the stormy
days of 1902, when the country
was on the verge of a revolution,
under the leadership of Gandhi the
Congress persistently refused to de-
mand national independence and de-
clared its object to be self-govern-
ment within the British Empire.
So last years resolution naturally
raised high hopes, and it was be-
lieved that the nationalist bour-
geoisie would still play revolution
airy role in the anti-imperialist
struggle. Those with a better I'M
Outstanding of the situation and of
the class composition of the Con-
gress leadership, were, however,
sceptical. In this resolution they
saw only maneuvre of the bour-
geois leaders to retain their con-
troll over the radical politically
petty bourgeoisie and to harness the
popular discomfort in order to strike
favorable bargain with imperial
ism.
In the beginning of the year rep
resentatives of all the nationalist
parties met in a conference to devise
the ways and means of enforcing the
boycott of the Simon Commission.
The conference set up a committee
to draw up constitution. One
might reasonably expect that the
projected constitution should have
for it's fundamental principle the
independence resolution of the ma
tional congress. Disappointment
was in store for those who enter
tanned such expectation.
Sell-Out to Britain.
After several months of deliber-
alton, which was carried on behind
closed doors, the committee has pre-
scented to the people the result of it's
labors. 1t has declared in favor of
self-governing India as a part of
the British empire! And this not as
a stepping stone to further goal,
but as the genuine responsible
government"
The committee which drafted this
constitution had Mott Lal Nehru,
leader of the Swaraj Party, as it's
chairman. Apart from Nehru,
among the nine authors of the con-
stitution, there are four more Swa-
rajist leaders including Subhas
Chandra Bose who is considered to
represent the radical wing of the
party. Bose was the trusted lieute-
nant of the late G. R. Das (the
founder of the Swaraj Party, and
was arrested in the beginning of
1925 on the suspicion of having con-
nection with and sympathy for Sec
ret revolutionary organizations.
After two years detention in prison
he was released at the beginning
of this year. The remaining men,
bers of the committee are two titled
ex-high officials representing the
Hindu and Moslem bourgeoisie re-
spectively and an ex-army officer
representing the landed aristocracy.
If Bose is considered to be the
spokesman of the urban petty bour-
geoisie, then this draft constitution
should be accepted as embodying the
demands of all but the proletarian
and peasant masses.
In addition to the fundamental
clause defining the relation with the
innnarialist ovarlord- tho draft con-