7 JANUARY 1938, Page 12

INDIA IN TRANSITION : V. TREMBLING THRONES

By RICHARD FREUND

THERE was a hush, and everybody rose. A tall, bearded man had come in through the door, followed by two attendants clad in red long-coats braided with gold. The man himself wore European clothes, except for a gorgeous turban. In his ears were exquisite pearls ; a necklace of huge emeralds was just visible above the collar, and on his wrist was a bracelet made of the nine lucky stones. One by one the guests stooped and touched his feet. He came up and shook hands, inquiring courteously whether we had found our way without difficulty. Then we sat down to luncheon, and soon the Maharaja plunged into a survey of the political situation. He was well informed, and he did not like what he knew. " I do not mind any amount of hostility from Indians," he said. " I know I can hold my own against them, and when it becomes necessary I shall be quite ready to adapt myself to the trend of the times by giving my State a fully democratic constitution. But what I do mind is the way in which I am being treated by the British Government. My ancestor saved the British in the Mutiny. I have been loyal to them in the Great War, as in many other wars. Twenty years ago we Princes were trusted with Imperial secrets, and until recently there was hardly a political issue of any importance on which some of us were not con- sulted. Today we are being treated as outcasts. They will not talk to us ; they take no notice of our letters ; they tell us to our faces that our treaties with the Crown are mere scraps of paper. What has happened ? "

I do not know the answer. Having discussed the present position with many Princes and their Ministers, as well as with some British officials, I believe that the Princes are being turned from friends into enemies of Britain. But let me first recall what it is all about. At the First Round Table Conference, the Princes rather surprisingly offered to join an All-India Federation. They did so for three main reasons : first, they hoped to get rid of the irksome interference of the Political Department ; secondly, they were afraid that vital changes would take place in British India while they had no opportunity of influencing legislation ; thirdly, they hoped to allay British Indian hostility by helping India as a whole to approach closer to Dominion Status. A great deal of " ideology " was talked in those days. The States realised that they would lose part of their sovereignty, but the advan- tages they hoped to gain in return seemed worth the sacrifice. When it came to translating the splendid idea into constitu- tional practice, several errors were discovered. The Political Department—which stands for the " Paramount Power " and can do almost what it likes with the Princes—had no intention of relaxing its control under the new Constitution. British India, with Congress rapidly gaining strength, did not appreciate the Princely favours but redoubled the efforts to undermine the authority of the Rulers in their own States. Lastly, the Government of India Act provided no immediate advance towards self-government at the Centre. The sacrifice, then, appeared to have been offered in vain.

The Princes have old treaties with Britain, but what these documents amount to in practice has never been defined. In fact, the Butler Committee, set up in 1927 to go into this question, refused to answer it. But although it is not known how much sovereignty the Princes possess, they are required to say clearly how much sovereignty they are ready to sur- render to the future All-India Federation. This is to be done by two sets of documents : a general Instrument of Accession common to all Princes, and schedules of reservations setting out the special rights which each State refuses to surrender. About the general Instrument there is no substantial dis- agreement. There are, however, certain obscurities of drafting to which the Princes object. They point out that once the Instrument is signed, it becomes a legal document that will be legally interpreted by the new Federal Court ; it should therefore be foolproof. They have asked, not for any changes, but for certain clarifications in the wording. The reply has been that no further discussions could be arranged, and this reply was delivered in no polite terms.

Negotiations on the special schedules have been carried on with each State separately. Many States have put forward exorbitant financial demands which must have tried the patience of the officials. One does not expect British officials to give way under such strain ; yet that is exactly what has happened. The Viceroy sent a number of special representatives to the various States to " remove misunderstandings." After hearing the story told by both sides in very great detail, I have no hesitation in saying that this mission ended in utter failure. If many of the Princes are bitterly repenting their original offer today, their change of mind is due largely to the high-handed manner in which they have been treated during the past year. It does no good to reveal facts that are better forgotten, though if this statement were challenged, it could be substantiated.

But when all is said and done, there is no real difficulty about the accession of the Princes to the Federation. The more far-seeing of them know well enough that they are faced with a choice of risks : either they yield some portion of their questionable sovereignty to a Federal authority of which they will form an important part ; or they allow the Central authority to develop without them, which means that British India, in addition to the Paramount Power, will decide things for them. And they do not relish the idea that British India, under strong Congress influence, may sooner or later be granted responsible government at the Centre without their having a hand in it. Provided, therefore, their pride is not trodden on more than they are accustomed to, and provided they are not needlessly provoked by threats and ultimata, they will not stand back.

The real doubt about the Federal scheme is no longer the accession of the Princes but the attitude of British India. Not only Congress, but even the Muslims are violently opposed to the scheme. They say that it perpetuates British domination, that it lays down rigid limits of further develop- ment. Many Congressmen would rather have the Simon Plan any day than the present Act. And the chief objection is the participation of the Princes, who, it is claimed, will have to do what the Paramount Power—one of the attributes of the many-sided Viceroy—tells them to do. It would be different, somehow, if the representatives of the States were to be elected by popular vote in each State, instead of being, as most of them will be, nominated by the Rulers.

This is the crux of the matter. It is beside the point to argue that delegates of democratic provinces cannot sit in Council with servants Of autocratic Rulers. They can do that very nicely, and both will learn from each other. In any case, no amount of democratic fervour can obscure the fact that neither the Hindus nor the Muslims of British India will really allow their respective States to be destroyed, for they regard these ancient, slow-changing polities as strongholds of their respective communities.

But it is equally true that the authority of the Rulers is no longer unchallenged in their own States. Apart from a few States like Mysore, Travancore and Baroda, which have modernised themselves, and a few others like Bikaner or Hyderabad which are progressive in other ways, the indigenous Kingdoms are not ruled to the satisfaction of the subjects. Democratic ideas have long since jumped their borders, nationalism is rampant, Congress is making headway. Many of the thrones of India are trembling, if not tottering. If the States were to allow their delegates to the Federal Chambers to be elected by the people, these men would soon become the focus of popular ambitions. If they were clever and strong-willed, they might become almost as powerful as the Rulers themselves, and Delhi or Simla would thus provide the point of Archimedes whence the little gilded worlds could be lifted from their hinges.

The struggle has only just begun, but when it is brought into the open, it will be not only a straight fight between democracy and personal autocracy but also an Olympic contest between the political ideas of the West and the deep-rooted traditions of the East, a contest which should, for the good of India, result not in the victory of one over the other but in a lasting synthesis.