NO CONCERN OF OURS

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 550, 31 December 1928, Page 9

NO CONCERN OF OURS

INDIAN ARMY OFFICER ON AFGHANISTAN BRITISH WILL NOT INTERFERE The trouble in Afghanistan, which is reported upon seriously in to-day's cables, is said by Colonel N. M. Geoghegan, now in New Zealand on furlough from India, to be outside the province of the Imperial Government, and unless an unexpected turn is recorded no interference will be pursued.

Colonel Geoghegan, who has had 32 years of service in India for the Imperial Government, is spending a holiday of three months in the Dominion, and arrived by the Maunganui this morning. He said on board that unless some unexpected trouble developed from the present fighting in Afghanistan, such as a fierce religious struggle, or danger to the British representatives in the country, the Imperial Government would not be directly concerned in the dispute. In speaking generally of internal troubles in India, the colonel said the Government had experienced trouble recently over the assessment of land revenue collected from the natives. They were quite prepared to compromise on many aspects of the dispute, but in some cases the authoritative foot had to be planted firmly upon its own rights. Individual settlement solved the question eventually. On the subject of Indian independence, Colonel Geoghegan said hardly a million people were openly in favour of this move, while the remaining 300,000,000 were against it.