The Daily News. FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 1922. THE UNREST IN INDIA.

Taranaki Daily News, 20 January 1922, Page 4

The Daily News. FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 1922. THE UNREST IN INDIA.

The recent news from Madras concerning the serious rioting that has taken place there—“more serious than any demonstration against the Royal visit since the rioting at Bombay”—reveals a state of affairs that indicates the existence of thoroughly organised attempts to cause as much trouble as possible. The chief directions in whieh the agitators work have for their object a complete boycott and a general strike, evidently with the idea of impressing on the Prince of Wales the power of the natives and their firm intention to uphold the doctrine of selfdetermination as sanctioned and endorsed by British statesmen. Although the outbreak of the Great War called forth a splendid display of the real loyalty of India, yet, before that colossal struggle ended, this new cry of self-determination reverberated throughout India and became the watchword of a, raging and tearing propaganda for immediate I and complete Home Rule, which i no mere promise of progressive I reforms could suffice to arrest.: The leaders of this agitation, es-' peeially Mr. Gandhi, have acquir-| ed a complete hold upon the large i sections of the Indian masses, I They are, as a rule, well educated men. possessing magnetic influence over the natives, who are intensely susceptible to what is: known ns “spiritual insurgence,” i easily inflamed'with a fire of hat-: red and rebellion that may result ; in fierce conflict. 'To such fire-: brands the passive campaign of I Gandhi means merely repressing' their pent-up antagonism to Bri-1 tisli rule until the time is ripe for' action, meanwhile demonstrating; in many ways their power to! thwart and defy their rulers. The 1 ; events transpiring at Madras pre-' sent a striking object lesson of British rule in India. On the on ■ hand, the power and majesty of: the Raj, and on the other the 1 great popular forces seething with turbulence and impatience for the realisation of their dream of a full and immediate Swaraj, by whieh is meant not self-govern-ment, however wide, within the British Empire, but the severance of all connection with it, and with tl- ? civilisation for which it stands. In fact, there is a striking analogy between the campaign of Gandhi in India and that of De Valera in Ireland. Both are extremists, though of a vastly different type, yet with .a common aim. So far all this agitation has in no way adversely affected the visit of the Prince of Wales. He is in the centre of the disturbances, yet. his welcome is none the less hearty. In this may be seen the great contrast between established mana, which rests on long years of successful rule, as compared with, the machinations of agitators bent on causing trouble and unrest. In the Royal Message, delivered at the opening of the new Indian Legislature at Delhi last year, the King said: “For years —it may be for generations—patriotic and loyal Indians have dreamed of Swaraj for their motherland. To-day you have the beginning of Swaraj within my Empire, and the widest scope and ample opportunity for progress to the liberty whieh my other Dominions enjoy.” Political leadership in India belongs at present chiefly to the Western educated classes, who recognise they have now obtained a conception of: what partnership in the Empire really meanswhen based on representative in» stitutions and responsible government. The masses have not that conception, for the reason that Indian franchise must for a long tune to come be very far removed from the democratic basis on whieh it. rests in New Zealand. There are many big problems to be put to the test and successfully solved before this full franchise is obtained, one of the first being that the masses of that country must prove worthy of such a high trust before they can reach the sosition of political, and. soej.al

equality to be found in the other Dominions. Mahomedans and Hindus alike must compose their differences and coalesce in patriotism and loyalty. Had the agitators been gifted with the ability to obtain the right perspective, they would have sefen that the visit of the Prince of Wales could be made a powerful lever for expediting the Home Rule movement on a constitutional basis, but they signally failed in this as in other of their enterprises, and will still fail worse than ever unless they realise that Swaraj, in its best sense, means loyalty and. not revolt. The future of India depends on the enlightened western classes, and. not on the agitators, and they have been taught that the safety and prosperity of the country rests upon its connection with the great Raj, ever solicitous for its true welfare.