Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit MONDAY, AUGUST 9, 1937. THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 57, Issue 255, 9 August 1937, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit MONDAY, AUGUST 9, 1937. THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION.

The action of the Speaker of the Bombay Legislature in taking his seat clad only in a loin cloth and a cotton strip across his shoulders —an example copied by private members —is indicative of the attitude adopted by the All India Congress Party toward the new Constitution. It is symptomatic of a deep-rooted desire to wreck the reforms. The Congress Party has accepted office in the various legislatures but not in the spirit of co-operation. Their hope is that by gaining power they may defeat the purpose of the Government of India Act. Iheir chief objection is against federation, the vital part of the scheme. By accepting office they strengthen their hands, for the leaders realise that they cannot entirely defy British rule, for under the Act Governors have power to suspend parliamentary rule, if need be, and assume personal authority; but such a step, the leaders clearly see, would make the Constitution as much a dead letter as would anything they themselves could do in abuse of parliamentary rule. Thus they seize the opportunity afforded by their victories at the recent polls to bring the Constitution into contempt. That victory was much more considerable and important than the mere figures, six out of eleven provinces, indicate. The provinces in which the party achieved success hold more than sixty-four per cent of the population of British India. Further, Congress members constitute the largest single party in three -of the other five provinces, and these three contain about twenty-five per cent of that population. Thus -the Congress Party is in a minority in only two provinces, which contain only about eleven per cent, of the population of British India. Apart from the constitutional question the reforms have diverted political activities into new channels. Notable as was the success of the Congress Party in the elections the fact remains that the party does not represent all interests in the country. Efforts are therefore being made to broaden the basis of the organisation to make it more representative of elements which have hitherto held aloof. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru realises that the Congress election success was almost solely due to the Hindu vote, which was inevitable in view of the nature of the .electorates. But he is now making strong efforts to bring the Moslem community within the Congress fold. Pandit Nehru attributes the Congress failure to attract Moslem votes to Congress leaders having neglected to work among the Moslem masses and having too long thought in terms of communal pacts for dealing with what are essentially economic problems. A Hindu campaign to secure the support of the Moslems has therefore been launched on the basis of economic rather than religious and communal considerations. It has, however, a political objective, which is to strengthen the organisation of the Congress Party in its fight for further constitutional concessions.