3 OCTOBER 1931, Page 13

Letters to the Editor

[In mew of the length of many of the letters which we receive, we would remind correspondents that we often carol)! give space for long letters and that. shoit ones are generally read-with more attention. The length Which we consider - most suitable is-about that of one of our paragraphs on " News of the Week."--Ed. SPECTATOR.] • THE INDIAN COMMUNAL PROBLEM

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sin,—Your correspondent, Mr. E. Lomas Oliver's policy of wait and see is a counsel of despair. How can a settlement between Great Britain and India leave the masses uncertain and despairing ? Action is needed, and very urgently, to stabilize the Indian situation. Any further dalliance in the primrose path of inactivity would result in revolutionary forces getting the upper hand in India.

Why, may I ask, should the British-Indian settlement be deferred to the wrangling and quarrelling of the communalists over the Hindu-Moslem adjustments ? The tactics of the communalist delegates in particular of putting their dogmatic claims as an obstacle to the peace between India and England deserves strong condemnation. The urgent problem of peace between England and India for the prosperity of both must be solved now and at once. The communal question is subsidiary, and is a matter between two communities. I submit that the only way to solve that is for the British Government to declare how far it is prepared to go in its concessions to India as a whole. Then only would the Hindus and the Moslems know where they exactly stand, and what is the prize for which they are prepared to fly at each other'S throats. If that cardinal problem cannot be settled the Hindu-Moslem question does not arise at all. Mr. Gandhi pointed out on Thursday last at St. James's that the so-called spokesmen of the Moslem community represented no one but themselves, and were chosen by the Government and not by the people, and begged the British Government to lay their cards on the table. That, in the words of Mr. Oliver, " was a sensible remark of Mr. Gandhi, whether we like Mr. Gandhi or not."—I am, Sir, &c., 10 Blomfield Court Mansions, M. MAIIMUDULLAH, W. 9. Barrister-at-law, President Free- dom League, India.