INDIA WITHOUT BRITAIN

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIV, 22 January 1931, Page 5

INDIA WITHOUT BRITAIN

HORRORS OP PAST FORGOTTEN

Allah Nawaz. Khan, Nawah/.ada of Dora Ismail Khan, writ os in tin' “Sunday Times":—There are people in India who fail to see the bright side of British rule and to appreciate the constnictiv(> services which Great Britain has rendered to our country. I'lie sufferings of India before the advent of the British was familiar to every student of history. But, having lived in comfort and peace for over a century, we have forgotten the horrors and terrors of the past. Former conquerors thundered over the land, devastated the country and passed on. Britain, however, cannot be classed with such conquerors. The rule of foreign mou* archs who established dynasties in India was marked by incessant internal strife, famines, and civil wars, so tlnii peaceful communities were disorganised and east into an abyss of suffering and misery. Freedom of religion and persoimfliberty, as they exist in India today, were unknown in those times. As far as our knowledge goes, the general characteristic of Hindu, Pathan and Mughal rule was jealous exclusiveness; iluMine between the ruler and the subject was sharpie drawn, and the admission of the latter to the privileges of the former was extremely rare. From the Hindu point of view the Muslim rule of India, which lasted for centuries, was by no means a period of ease, comfort, or contentment. It was when the Miighals were replaced by the British that the Hindus were able to breathe freely and to make progress i» the economic and educational spheres. Britain's services to our country are indeed obvious, and no doubt botli countries have benefited by the connection. In regard to the services rendered, take, for example, the postal facilities, telegraphs, telephones, efficient means of communication, roads, schools, colleges, universities, t\ie provision of modern medical and industrial education, the preservation of forests, the establishment of hospitals and medical research institutions, commercial advancement and religious freedom —all these have followed in the train of the British. Again, it is to British rule that we owe the courts of law which dispense justice, the army that protects our frontiers, the navy that guards our coasts, and tho police who safeguard our daily lives.