Indian Nationalism The background of the discussions of the Indian
National Congress at Faizpur is what the Delhi corre- spondent of The Times describes as the drift towards constitutionalism " everywhere apparent in India. The Congress duly (and inevitably) condemned the new constitution and declared for its rejection, but judiciously shelved the vexed question of whether Congress members elected to Provincial legislatures should accept Min- isterial office. The President of the Congress, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, held his own Socialistic convictions in check, recognising that the Congress as a whole (which relies for much of its support on bourgeois finance) would not endorse them, " but hoped that the logic of events would lead it to Socialism." The meeting was notable for the re-emergence Of Mr: Gandhi, who made his first political speech since his decision, two years ago, to concentrate on village reconstruction, but its language was so singularly cryptic that no one has so much as claimed to understand what the Mahatma meant. He appeared to appeal for peaceful non-co- operation, declared himself ready to go back to gaol or even to be hanged, but expressed his conviction that there was room in India for both Indians and British. Altogether the annual meeting of Congress appears to have left little mark on the political life of the country.
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