Page Four

India And The United Nations Strategy; Br

THE B.C.

LUMBER WOR

ER

January 25, 1943

—————

ing

390 Million People Into The War

THEY ARE THE MAJORITY UNDER THE BRITISH. FLAG YET EVEN
THE RIGHT TO DEFENSE IS DENIED THEM

By DARSHAN SINGH SANGHA, Recording Secretary, Victoria IWA-CIO Local 1-118
TSE SEES political events have pushed India out of the political scene for the time being. What happened there two months ago now seems remote.

But as long as the Indian problem remains unsolved she will again and again come into the world limelight.
But is there an Indian problem? Despite all the recent cataclysmic happenings in India, there still exist Maginot mental

ities of Blimp character, who would

simply declare, like Sir Zaffarulla Khan, Judge of the Federal Court fo India, now in Canada: “The Indian problem is nine-tenths solved.” Then, if it is solved,

why this “dull roar, confusion and carnage?” :
To whatever extent the “escapist” element both in Britain and India may endeavor to ignore the Indian unrest, the truth leaks out despite the thick veil

of censorship. Mr. W. L. Shirer, noted author and foreign corespondent, reported in his broadcast on Dec. 20, that there is more discontent in India today than
on the day when Gandhi was arrested. Mr. Shirer was putting it mildly. ,

TpeG ‘olution not the India
problem is in the nature of a
“war measure.” It is not emo-
tionalism on the part of Indian
patriots but the exigencies of the
war that challenge the United Na-
tions to find a democratic solution
for India.

Once the political deadlock is
broken, the mobilization of Indian
manpower and resources can be-
come a deciding factor in the de-
elding factor in the defeat of the
Axis,

It is no longer a question of
Indian Nationalism versus British
Imperialism alone. With the new
alignment of the world democratic
forces, in the grand alliance of
the United Nations—India being a
member of the United Nations—the
problem of India automatically be-
comes the problem of the United
Nations,

Not long ago, Sumner Welles
sald: “the United States is desirous
of unity within each of the coun-
tries of the United Nations .. .
and among the United Nations” for
the purpose of the successful pros-
ecution of the war and the building
of a just peace.

It is therefore imperative that the
United Nations should mediate be-
tween Britain and India.

Between these two anti-fascist
nations, unity for the first time is
possible, and the United Nations

can help forge it. The responsibil-
ity of the task rests equally on all
members of the United Nations.

For unity between Britain and
India, unity within India, is essen-
tial, In India it is imperative that
there be unity between the differ-
ent communities; between Hindus
and Moslems, between the National
Congress and the Moslem parties.
And on the British side, the atti-
tude of “we mean to hold our own”
has to be abandoned.

ieee

‘HE All-India Congress repre-

- sents an overwhelming major-
ity of the Indian masses. Even the
foes of the organization admit that.
The Congress party embraces peo-
ple of every caste, class, creed and
religion, The extent of the power
of the Congress can be ascertained
from the fact that in the last elec-
tions held in 1987 two out of every
three Indian voters voted for the
Congress, and the Congress held
power in eight of the 11 Indian
provinces.

It has four million dues-paying
members and another three million
members who cannot afford to pay
their dues. In addition to this, the
Congress draws great support from
dozens of fraternal organizations,
representing Hindus, Moslems,
Sikhs, Christians and untouchables,
etc.

‘The present president of the Con-

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DARSHAN SINGH SANGHA
Recording Secretary, IWA-C1O
Local 1-118

gress is an orthodox Moslem.

The program of the Congress
calls for complete independence
from British rule. It ‘stands for
drastic revolutionary changes in
the political, social and economic
organization of the country, with
the institution of a. democratic re-
public, which will democratically
extend and protect equal rights of
national minorities,

However, at the present time, the
Congress has expressed its sin-
cere desire to reach a wartime com-
promise agreement with the Bri-
tish Government, and is ready to
“put aside for the present all ques-
tions about the future,” in order
to defeat world fascism.

ecw ae
HE next
tion in India
League.

This body claims to speak for
the ninety-odd million Moslems of
India. But this claim is far from
the truth,

The Moslem League stands for
the partition of India into separate
Hindu and Moslem states on a
religious basis, which is entirely
impractical from territorial, ling-
uistic and cultural points of view.
On the surface this attitude of the
Moslem League is the main obstacle

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in the path of Congress-League
co-operation.

The numerical strength of the
Moslem League cannot be ascer-
tained due to the lack of any pub-
lished figures. But in the last
general elections in 1937 the League
Rolled 320,772 votes, out of the
total of 7,319,445 Moslem votes,
which means that the League polled
no more than 4.6 ped cent of the
total Moslem vote.

To let such a small minority of
the Moslem voters (820,772 in all)
hinder the political development
of India and thus paralyze the
Whole war effort is tantamount to
imposing a dictatorship of this
minority within a minority upon
the 390 million people of the coun-
try.

In addition, there are several
other Moslem organizations which
repudiate the program of the
League and work closely with the
National Congress. :

Among these are the Independent
Moslems of India; the Jumiat
Ul Ulema with a membership of
over 200,000; the Momins embracing
forty million -Moslems, and lastly
the entire sect of the Shaihs, who
constitute 20 per cent of the entire
Moslem population.

Every one of the above organiza-
tions is totally opposed to the Mos-
lem League. ‘

baie:

HE feud between Hindus and
Moslems is more ecomonic than
religious.

It is to be noted that in the
feudal sét-up of the country, where
the landlord is Hindu the peasants
are mostly Moslem, and vice versa.
Thus the antagonism has more
of a class than a religious character.
But among the backward strata of
the people this hostility is easily
channelized by reactionary ele-
ments into “holy crusades” of re-
ligious hostility, The Moslem
League is the spokesman for the!
Moslem landlords.

Fundamentally the problems of
the impoverished Indian masses are
the same, for the workers and
peasants, Hindus and Moslems
alike. They have already found a
common platform in their common
economic interests, in such organ-
izations as the Peasant Leagues,
the trade unions and, above all,
the National Congress.

Therefore, it is no exaggeration
to state that a united national

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front against fascism can be form-
ed of all the democratic parties.

‘The whole Indian Labor move-
ment is already working desper-
ately to form such a national
front. Men like Mr. Rajgopala-
chariar are eager to weld such
unity in India. But the uncompro-
mising attitude of the Indian Of-
fice in London remains the main
stumbling block in the formation
© fany such Indian anti-fascist
fighuing front.

ee e

UTthere remains also another

essential change to be made,
ie, the abandonment by Britain
of the old colonial policy.

There are certain people in Bri-
tain, in high places, who would
rather see India conquered by Ja-
pan than share power with the
Indian people. They are utilizing
the present opportune time to crush
the Indian National movement
rather than mobilize the Indian
People for the war against the Axis,
‘These gentlemen are harbingers of
super-Munich in the East in case
of any military defeats.

The democratic forces of the
world must find a way to mobilize
the tremendous power of India.

It may still be not too late to
find a compromise agreement. The
minimum requirements of any such
solution would be the immediate
formation of an interim National
Government in India.

‘Through’ the mediation of the
United Nations, and through the
release of the Indian people's lead-
ers and the formation of a Pro-
visional National Govehrnment,
Inda ma ystill play a great and
honorable role in the defeat of the
fascist powers.

But, the time to act iy NOW!

Church Lauds
CIO Program

BOSTON—Praising the “CIO's
extraordinary service in bringing
economic jjustice to the workers of
the nation,” the Methodist Church
of the Boston Area sent warm
greetings to the 5th CIO convention
here.

Signed by G. Bromley Oxnam,
the message declared:

“Tt is to be hoped that when
at last this war is won, men of
all faiths may unite with great or
ganizations such as your own to
the end that the liberty we have
preserved and the equality we in-
tend to achieve may enable us to
move to fraternity.”

UNION BARGAINING
SHOULD BE MADE LAW