THE. INDIAN STATES
Sia,—May I offer a few comments on the criticism, in a letter published in The Spectator of July 11th, written by my friend Sir T. Vijayaragha- vacharya, of my article on the Indian States published in your issue of
June 27th? The great majority of the States are 'Hindu in closer geographical contiguity to " India " than to Pakistan. It is desirable in
every way that they should play their part in the Central Government of the Congress area, on condition that their association with that Government is on equal terms and implies no subordination to higher power. I am aware that a States Department has been set up, and I have read the statesmanlike description given of it by Sardar V. Patel, in which he announces that his party (Congress) has no desire to cramp the internal administration of the States. That may be the policy, but will it be observed in the letter and spirit ?
Sir T. Vijayaraghavacharya himself admits that the new department will exercise paramountcy ; in other words, that the new Central Government will assume the powers and prerogatives of the Crown which his Majesty's Government declared were extinguished and would not be handed on to a successor government. That puts the States at a dis- advantage at the very outset. Pandit Nehru's feelings towards them, as expressed at the annual meeting of the States People's Conference a couple of months or so ago, hardly coincides with Sardar Patel's views.
Mr. Gandhi's recent pronouncements are not by any means reassuring.
Will the Congress High Command, even with the best of intentions, be able to resist the claims of the States People's Organisation to share government in the States, despite Sardar Patel's criticism of their merits ?
There are dangers to be faced by the Princes, and for that reason they should, in my opinion, be given every opportunity of building up strong and well organised confederations, so as to be able to treat 'on more or less equal terms with Congress, a development which their pronounce- ments suggest that H.M.G. expect, though they have done little, if anything, to help it on The services of the Political Department should be made available to the Princes by prolonging its life at least till the spring.
The inapplicability of the analogy Sir T. Vijayaraghavacharya seeks to draw between the secession of a member of an existing Dominion and the refusal of a State to join the Congress has been ably dealt with by Sir Frank Noyce in a letter you published on the 11th of this month. I welcome, as would many other friends of India, the expression by Sir T. Vijayaraghavacharya of the desire that India should stay in the Commonwealth. Only so can there be any assurance of the safety of the new India against outside aggression. The Princes' main concern is defence. It is likely that the States which have already joined the f` India " Constituent Assembly may make it a condition of their ultimate accession to the Central. Government about to be established that the new India should stay in the Commonwealth.—Yours, &c.,
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