Evening star., 1939-07-22
BY A. T. STEELE.

BY A. T. STEELE.
Chicago Daily News Foreign CORRESPONDENT
BOMBAY-You need only to pick
up any Indian newspaper of any
date of the year to see that this is
nation in acute convulsion. You
Will read, inevitably, of communal
riots, fasts unto death, outbreaks of
civil disobedience, labor troubles,
political demonstrations and seditious
utterances against the government
and British rule.
These are day-to-day events in
India. They are as much staple
diet of the people as rice and curry
In India religion and politics absorb
deeper popular interest and are
taken with deadly seriousness.
TO an outsider landing suddenly
in this farrago of sects and races,
maharajas and untouchables, strange
creeds and fantastic PHILOSOPHERS, the
first impulse is to moan in despair,
slap hand to the forehead and run
for the nearest outgoing ship. A
sympathetic consular official, who
has spent years in India, warned me
on my arrival:
It's the greatest show on earth.
Enjoy it. but for heavens sake don't
try to figure it out"
Wants Are Few.
At first, the babble is incoherent,
but after you have been in the coun-
try for while the noises begin to
sort themselves. You discover that
many of the sects and factions are
speaking different languages, but
that they mean substantially the
same thing. Indias primary wants
are really simple and they are few.
1t Is the question of how and by
whom they should be attained that
is causing all the uproar. Here are
the goals for which the majority of
India's 350,000,OO0 people are con-
sciously or subconsciously striving:
l. Real or substantial independ-
ence from Great Britain.
2. National unity.
g. Religious tolerance, with a
square deal, politically, for every
sect
4. Improvement of the livelihood
of the masses, who are existing
from hand to mouth, on an unbe-
lievably low living standard.
Religion Creates Chief Strife.
The religious issue is the slough
in which many of Indias national
aspirations have become mired. You
can't approach any of India's major
problems without bearing in mind
continuously, one all-important fact:
OF the country's 35OOOO,OOO in
habitants, roughly five sevenths-
about 245 900 ,0OO-are Hindus. Less
than two sevenths-or 10000, ,OO0-
are Mohammedans. These are the
two great religious groupings of
India, and although millions in both
camps are identical in race and
coloring, they are as different and
as hostile as fire and water in many
other respects. The remaining few
millions not included in these groups
are of variety of religious beliefs,
but carry little political weight.
II the Hindus and the Moham-
medans of India could be brought
solidly together, so that they were
of one voice, India would be capable
of gigantic things. Unfortunately for
1ndia's nationalistic hopes, these
two great religions have never been
able to bridge their differences.
They have been close to it on sew
eral occasions, but something has
always intervened to sever their
ties. Today the Mohammedans and
the Hindus are on worse terms than
they have been for centuries. The
communal question in India has
never been more acute.
Confusion in Governments.
Rivaling the religious confusion
in India is the confusion of gov
ernments and political subdivisions.
The map of India is an immense
jigsaw puzzle of more than 600
pieces. These hundreds of irregu-
larly shaped sections are roughly
grouped into British India and that
other India of maharajas and
princes, which we may call Indian
India.
British India includes IS per cent
OF the area and "a per cent of
the population of the entire sub
continent called India. It is in
British India, inclosing the greatest
cities and the richest territories of
the country, where Indian national
ism was born and has reached its
greatest development. In it are II
autonomous" provinces and 6
commissioners" provinces. The
latter are backward frontier areas,
under complete British authority,
and have no political importance.
The remaining 60O-odd pieces of
the jigsaw puzzle are the states
Of Indian India, each with q semi
independent ruler, under British
protection. Together, they make up
As per cent of India's area but in
clude only 26 per cent of the coun-
try's population. In size they range
from petty estates of a few hundred
acres to states like Hyderabad, with
a territory as large as Italy.
Good and Bad Rulers.
Each is ruled by a hereditary
prince or princeling, maintained in
power for perpetuity by treaty with
Great Britain. Most of these petty
rulers govern pretty much as they
like, with a minimum of interfer-
ence from the British. A few are
highly advanced and enlightened.
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