Through Asian Eyes BY L. F.RUSHBROOK WILLIAMS Thus to strain
at the gnat while swallowing the camel may seem to argue a curious lack of proportion. Soviet Russia has brutally crushed a freedom movement; while the Anglo- French operations, as Asian Commonwealth opinion is begin• ning to recognise. had a limited objective, affected an incon- siderable proportion of the Egyptian people, and have not so far weakened the stability of the Egyptian polity. Yet there are perfectly good psychological reasons underlying the marked difference in the reactions which each set of circum- stances has produced.
Perhaps the most important is the fact that the Hungarian tragedy, horrible as it is, appears in Asia primarily an issue between two European countries. It does not, therefore, call up in Asian minds the bogey of 'colonialism' with all its cony plex emotions. By contrast, the Anglo-French action looks like a resurrection of the methods and outlook—which Cony monwealth Asia hoped and believed had been buried for ever —of past European domination in the East. To see Britain. of all countries, associated with such an action has been a staggering experience. Delhi, Karachi and Colombo have been accustomed to reckon as a reliable constant in the framing of their own foreign policies the broad predictability of the British attitude towards international affairs. They were con- vinced of Britain's support of the United Nations and of the rule of law; of her desire for peace; of her practical sympathy —honest,' if sometimes, in their view, over-cautious—with the aspirations of newly liberated nations and of peoples still under tutelage; of her reluctance to use force unless she or her allies are deliberately attacked. Again, India, Pakistan and Ceylon have been accustomed to expect in British deal- ings with other nations an element of moral integrity; a kind of striving for peace, liberty and justice, which, however imperfectly realised, inspired confidence in the general aim of these dealings, if not always in their methods.
It was the recognition of this quality in Britain's national outlook which made association with the Commonwealth possible even for countries which had just freed theMselves from British rule. These countries are now bewildered as well as angry when they see Britain as the physical invader of a small. independent, Afro-Asian State. Whether the invasion can be defended as a preventive action Seems to them irrele- vant; it is its occurrence which appals them. However badly President Nasser may have behaved to Israel and to other people—and he has few friends in the Asian Commonwealth, which dislikes military dictators—Britain's attack on Egypt has made both him and his country martyrs in the cause of Asian independence as well as in the cause of Islam.
Of course, there are also opportunist factors. India is work- ing to make the Afro-Asian bloc count in world affairs, while Pakistan is trying to build up Muslim solidarity in the Middle East. The inclusion of Egypt is vital to either project; thus her misbehaviour is a secondary matter to those" who com- pete to enlist her. Even so, the consideration which has shaped the attitudes of Delhi, Karachi and Colombo is the deeper feeling that Britain, by indulging in the kind of 'colonial' adventure which they associate With political reaction, has betrayed their trust in the only European Power which they relied upon to understand and respect their 'Asian' point of view.
Previous page
