Evening star., 1942-08-04
Showdown in India

| SUOWOOWn IN In0l0
The deadline for India's crisis
nears. This Friday, only three days
hence, the full committee of the
Congress party meets in Bombay
with the avowed intention of ratify-
ing MohandaS Gandhi's call for a
mass independence movement" un-
less the British government capitu-
lates and grants the Congress party S
demand for independence now
under Congress control.
Unless the proverbial miracle
happens. it is hard to see how a de-
cisive showdown can be averted.
The Congress party appears to be
effectively dominated by Gandhi,
Jawaharlal Nehru and other col
leagues who are definitely committed
to program of action which, though
technically termed mon violent" can
hardly fail to cause widespread con-
fusion and disorder. The Indian
people will be hidden to start what
amounts to gigantic boycott of
everything British, including gen.
eral strike and civil disobedience"
OF laws and police regulations. The
Congress leaders have no illusions
as to what all that would mean.
Nehru says it will be decisive strug-
gle. Gandhi terms it open rebel
lion" and "regretfully" admits that
violence will ensue. Most ominous
OF all, the Congress leaders with ILL
concealed complacency brandish the
threat of Japanese invasion. Only
yesterday, Gandhi wrote in his per-
sonal organ that unless India gets
immediate independence, her hid
den discomfort may burst forth into
welcome for the japanese, should the
latter land in India"
That a japanese invasion is no
rhetorical bogey but a dread posi-
bility becomes clearer every day.
Despite the lashing monsoon gales,
japanese troops are reported to be
flltering into the jungle-clad hills of
the Burmese border, all the way
from the seacoast to the mountain
barrier of Tibet. Indian refugee ex-
tremists with the japanese are going
on the air from stations in Thailand
and Burma, urging their fellow coun-
trymen to rise in revolt against the
British and make ready to welcome
their japanese "deliverers."
Within India partisan passions
grow hot. The Moslem League voices
its determination to fight the Hindu
dominated Congress party at all
costs, and the many millions of Or
ganized low-caste Hindus led by DR..
Ambedkar are almost equally de-
termined. A section of Hindu mod
crates, including some Congress
party members expelled for their
stand, denounce the Congress pro-
gram. Furthermore, the small but
vociferous labor organization, Com
munist in spirit, has declared against
the plan for general strike. Never
theless, the hold of the Congress
upon the Hindu masses is strong,
and especially In Bengal the indica-
tions are that its orders will be
generally obeyed
The attitude of the British gov
ernment seems to be one of determi-
nation. Last week Sir Stafford
Cripps declared in an international
broadcast that the cabinet would
not yield an inch to Congress threats,
and last Friday, Mr.. Amery, Secre-
tary of State for India, rose in the
House Of Commons and "solemnly
warned" the Congress leaders and
their followers that "the government
Of India will not finch from their
duty to take every possible step to
meet the situation"
1t is to be hoped that, if the Con-
gress party flings down the gantlet
and launches it's program of mass
disobedience, the British authorities
will counter it with the sternest
measures. The Congress leaders
make no bones of their determina-
tion to rule or ruin. And it is equally
clear that their rule" would result
in civil war and chaotic conditions
which would leave India a helpless
prey to the japanese invader. If
that invasion must come, far better
that it find the British in control,
backed by generally loyal army
and large sections of the population.
The choice is hard one, but it will
be the lesser evil.