INDIAN SAVAGERY

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 969, 12 May 1930, Page 9

INDIAN SAVAGERY

COUNTING THE DEAD IN SHOLAPUR RIOT MOSLEM FESTIVAL QUIET Reed. 10.15 a.m. DELHI, Sunday. The Moslem festival passed off peacefully In all parts of India yesterday. There was a little minor hooliganism at Sholapur, which tends to show how little the Moslems were affected by Gandhi’s second agitation. Yesterday was an anxious time for the authorities, since, besides being the Bakr Id, which is distasteful to the Hindus, it was the anniversary of the Indian Mutiny. Religious processions of Mohammedans passed off without disturbance. The Moslem authorities beforehand made a strong appeal for order. Later reports from Sholapur do not hear out the first high estimates of the casualties in the riots there a few (lays ago, hut it is certain that 1:2 people were killed and 24 wounded. Five policemen are still missing. The mob engaged in pastimes specially recommended by Ghandi, such as picketing liquor shops and cutting down palm trees. They showed the greatest savagery when they murdered or burned alive unarmed policemen. The burning of the Judges’ Court destroyed records dating back to 1827. European and Anglo-Indian refugees who have arrived at Poona state that after the murders the police, aided by a small detachment of auxiliary forces, tired on the mob and regained control. With the arrival of British troops the situation was again got in hand. A message from New York says a cablegram was sent by 102 American clergymen to the British Prime Minister, Mr. MacDonald, urging him, by an amicable settlement with Ghandi and his people, to avoid a conflict "which means a catastrophe for Britain and India in the making.”