Evening star., 1942-05-04
Hindu RuIe-or-Ruin

With NEARBY Burma cOllapSlng and
the Japanese at the very gates of
India, the Working Committee of the
All-India Congress party has voted
overwhelmingly to urge the Indian
masses not to fight if their country
is invaded by Japan. That is the
true meaning Of the weasel-worded
resolution that resistance can only
take the form of non-violent nom
cooperation" Attendant phrases
about not bending the knee to the
aggressor or obeying his orders" are
pious eyeWash which may suit the
paciist fanaticism of Gandhi, but
make no sense before the brutal
realities of japanese aggression.
Faced with the alternative of obedi-
ence or death, the traditionally un-
warlike Hindus would offer no effec-
tive resistance. In their heart of
hearts, most of the Congress leaders
must know this perfectly well. Yet
they deliberately use their influence
to paralyze the popular will to resist,
and thereby virtually invite the Jap
anese to walk in.
To the average American this is
as shocking as it is incomprehensi-
BILE But to those who know the
spirit and temper of the Congress
leaders, it was to be expected. The
allegedly "All-India" Congress party
is composed overwhelming of upper
and medium caste Hindus, and is
led and dominated by the Brahmins,
an hereditary priesthood which as
pires to rule all India by the same
subtle tyranny which it now en-
ploys over its co-religionists. The
nature of that rule is best attested
by the political and social revolt
which, during the past half century,
has been growing among the co.
100000 low-caste and outcast Hindu
"untouchables," who protest vehe-
mently against being placed under
Brahmin political domination. The
same fear and aversion inspire the
10000 900 Mohammedans and other
religious minorities of an India
which is neither a nation nor a coun-
try, but rather a subcontinent in
habited by many. races, speaking
different languages, holding differ
ent cultures, and sundered by re-
ligious CULTS deeper than any the
West has known. Such is the land
which the Brahmin oligarchy, with
its uncompromising ambition, today
places in Jeopardy.
Brahmin ambition is matched by
its arrogance. Pandit Nehru, an
gered by American criticisms during
the negotiations with Sir Stafford
Cripps, roundly told us to mind our
own business, and Gandhi has since
voiced his displeasure at "the prom
Use of a never-ending stream of SOL
diers from America and possibly
from China. must confess I do not
look upon this event with equa-
nimity" Sir Stafford has pointed
out that what the Congress de-
manded was a virtual dictatorship,
Self-perpetuating and responsible to
no one. The militant Moslems vowed
to fight to the death rather than
submit to such tyranny, and other
minorities were of much the same
mind Yet the Congress now has the
effrontery to blame Britain for the
breakdown Of the negotiations and
its own deliberate sabotage of India's
war effort.
Fortunately, the Congress party is
not the whole of India, despite it's
high-sounding name. It's dues
paying membership does not exceed
100000, and its influence and lead
ership center in Bengal and ada
cent provinces. The population of
India totals nearly 400, 0,0O0O 600 1t has
been estimated that the politically
minded" element among the Hindus
who are active Congress partiSans
does not exceed 100000. That is
admittedly a dangerous minority,
capable Of doing damage out of pro-
portion to its members. Yet the
imminence of the japanese peril
must be having its effect with other
elements. 1t is to be hoped that the
British authorities will not shrink
from stern measures in this supreme
emergency. After what has hap
pened, the world will surely under
stand the reason and the necessity.