OF LIMITED RANGE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 13 August 1942, Page 3

OF LIMITED RANGE

DISTURBANCES IN INDIA SLIGHT EFFECT ON WAF EFFORT MUCH OF- THE COUNTRY QUIET. IMPROVEMENT IN SITUATION IN BOMBAY. LONDON, August 12. The India Office has issued a statement regarding the position in India, based on the latest official reports. The disturbances which have occurred so far have been of a sporadic and limited character and have virtually had no effect on the country’s Avar effort. The countryside is not affected, and in Calcutta, where by far the greater part of the industrial war effort is centred, there have been no repercussions to the arrest of the Congress Party leaders. While reports from the provinces are not complete, the reactions to the measures taken by the authorities are less serious than might have been expected. Only in Bombay, Delhi and in the United Provinces have any serious clashes been reported. Official information shows that wherever disturbances have occurred the situation is well in hand. A communique from Bombay states that there is a big improvement in the situation there today. The forces had to fire on only two occasions. DEATH PENALTY PROMULGATED IN CAWNPORE. FOR ARSON OR FOR USING EXPLOSIVES. LONDON, August 12. The authorities in Cawnpore have promulgated the death penalty for arson and for using explosives. The New Delhi correspondent of the Associated Press of Great Britain says that at Cawnpore the police opened fire after being stoned by an excited mob. Eight persons were taken to hospital, two in a serious condition. A Government order forbids newspaper headlines reflecting editorial opinion and requires the registration of all correspondents. It reiterates the determination to prevent the publication of any matter rousing sympathy for the Congress campaign. CHINESE CONCERN JAPANESE ATTACK ON INDIA. EXPECTED IN NORTHERN AUTUMN. LONDON, August 11. A Chungking official spokesman, asked whether China was willing to mediate in the Indian dispute, replied: “If there is anything China can do, we shall be most glad to do so.” He declined to reveal whether Britain had approached Chungking regarding mediation, but said he had accepted an invitation to visit the Viceroy, Lord Linlithgow, shortly. Asked whether he regarded Gandhi’s release as a prerequisite to a British-India settlement, he said: “The Chinese Government has no idea of the procedure for leaching a settlement.” Any suggestions now might not be helpful. The spokesman asserted that though legally the Indian problem was a domestic British problem, it was the moral concern of all the United Nations and bore directly on the future prospects for a better world order. He said it might prove helpful to have a Pacific Charter, in which specific assurances would be given, and he commented that nationalism cannot be suppressed by weapons alone. Asked whether the comments in the Chinese Press which fully supported India’s demand for independence were hurting Sino-British relations, he said: “I hope Sino-British relations cannot be affected in the least by any episode.” He warned that a continuation of the disturbances in India would interfere with China’s war supplies, and said that the Chinese Intelligence had indicated that Japan was preparing to attack India in the autumn. It was reported that Japanese transports had delivered fresh divisions on July 27 and 28 in Haiphong, Saigon, in Indo-China, where they entrained for Siam and Burma, where they could attack eastern India. Also, the Japanese had concentrated a large group of warships off northern Formosa, probably for an attack on Fukien. The Allied attack on the Solomons, the spokesman said, was a very significant and very timely offensive action and one of the most heartening pieces of news received. LITTLE SUPPORT FOR CONGRESS CAMPAIGN. EVEN MEMBERS OF PARTY NOT ENTHUSIASTIC. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 9.40 a.m.) RUGBY, August 12. Messages from India show that rioting has been restricted to some three or four- places during the day time and there is no apprehension in London of mass disorder on the scale of the previous outbreak. The stern measures threatened by the Governor of Bom-, bay apparently have not yet had to be taken. The Congress campaign, for which there seems to be no universal enthusiasm even on the part of party supporters, is entirely unsupported by any other sections or parties, whether Hindu or Moslem, and is expressly denounced by organised labour. The possibility is recognised that racial and communal disorders, not connected with the original campaign, may break out, but the Indian Government is known to be capable of dealing with such trouble. The fact that the distinguished Indians who form the majority of the Viceroy’s Executive Council have readily shared responsibility for the action taken is regarded as a valuable sign ‘of a sense of responsibility and a re-

cognition by Indians of the necessity for solidarity. Responsible opinion in London continues to welcome constructive Indian aspiration for a more active participation in the war. The attainment of such co-operation was the essential object of Sir Stafford Cripps’s plan, which the British Government has just declared remains the basis of its policy. The folly of the Congress Party leaders is indeed regarded as making even more urgent the need to associate representative leaders of India with the defence of their country in its hour of danger.