The Daily News. THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 1919. THE UPHEAVAL IN INDIA.

Taranaki Daily News, 24 April 1919, Page 4

The Daily News. THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 1919. THE UPHEAVAL IN INDIA.

India has always been regarded as a species of volcano that even when outwardly quiet is rumbling with pent up forces beneath the surface. In Bengal, the Punjab and the north-west provinces sedition finds most favorable breeding grounds, and risings there were in evidence during the war. The present rioting appears to be a symptom of the impatience of the Nationalist party with the cautious approach of the Imperial Government to constitutional reform. When it is remembered how spontaneously India showed its loyalty on the outbreak of the war, it is all the more difficult to understand the present eruption, except that all things concerning India are enshrouded in a haze of mystery, while the numerous castes and their subdivisions add to the puzzle. There appears to be something akin to open rebellion between Lahore &nd Amritsar, the riots covering a very wide area, In the Punjab cities, banks and Government buildings were burned, troops having to be utilised to .quell the disturbances, and though this has temporarily restored order it is impossible to tell when and where fresh eruptions may take place. India, like Ireland, is obsessed with the desire for self government, but the way to retard the aspirations of the people is to show that they are neither ready nor fitted for this boon. This fact was probably responsible for the British caution in formulating a policy of political reform for India, and deciding that it must be gradual. To-day we see agitations taking place almost over the whole | of India, ostensibly organised as a protest against this British policy of caution which recent events [have justified. There is a small j but very active revolutionary party in Bengal, consisting mainly I of anarchists, and doubtless they have been encouraged by Bolsbe vik tactics to light the fires of revolt and disorder. There are many who have made a close study nf Indian affairs who regard with He greatest mistrust the proposal (o

entrust the people of India with self-government, and the more intimate their acquaintance with the natives and the conditions prevail ing in the country, the stronger do they feel averse to the experiment. The question at issue is whether Indian rule can be better for India thati British rule. For the answer we have to note what the Imperial Government has done for India, and to make a scientific estimate of what India would have done if left to her own devices. It is not to the religious or caste differences that the present trouble is due, hut to the anarchists—the party which in August, 1914, captured a large consignment of arms and ammuni tion at Calcutta and distributed them widely. This same party engineered the Ghadr conspiracy in America, and induced some eight thousand Sikhs to return from there to the Puajab to be utilised as agents of disaffection. This was followed by a revival of serious agitations in Bengal and the Punjab, the disorders being promptly suppressed. There is no doubt that every effort has been made by Germany to stir up the Mohammedans against British rule, and ! agitate for self-government. This naturally complicates the situaI tion. It must be borne in mind, I however, that the Nationalists are not India, and that most of them! ar> woefully ignorant of the teen;- ■ ing millions which "orm the popu-i lation of the count":.'. It is obvi- j ous to the meanest intelligence! j that, government, to be successful, \ ! must be in the hands of trained \ I men. There are a goodly number j of highly educated Indians, but these are the very men who are striving to lay hold of the reins of power—preachers of the sinister doctrine of racial hatred and anar-1 chism, who care nothing for the people, except as a means of attaining control. The people of India have to be protected against such men as these, and for that purpose British rule must continue. A gradual system of local government may be the means of evolving a common national spirit, for until there is some such rallying point as this it would be un wise to expect that native government would be anything but a delusion and a snare. The great need in India is the education of the illiterate millions; after that may come democratic institutions. Meanwhile we may rest assured that the Imperial Government will cope with any troubles that may arise. The people have leaned on the Government so long that it will take an infinity of time to make them self-reliant and fitted for administrative duties; nor can they be left to the mercies of the Baboos. Although the present dis* turbances are much to be regretted, they serve as a vent for the ill-humor affecting the agitators. The unfortunate part of the matter is that these riots necessitate military intervention, and delay the withdrawal of troops from the country, besides putting back the introduction of reforms which are intended to placate the people and place them on a higher plane of citizenship.