Sta,—Dr. Maude Royden's letter in last week's Spectator suggests a
complete misunderstanding of the attitude of the British Government in India. I think that all who know and have any deep affection for thzi. land would agree that "we want the conviction of those who are at present defying it rather than their coercion," but what we feel matters a million times more is the protection of the Indian people from the ghastly horrors that have, all too many times, followed directly in the wake of Mr. Gandhi's and his disciples' utterances. The suggestion that their detention is an act of " coercion " is an injustice to our Govern- ment as much as it is a complete disregard of past history. If Mr. Gandhi has never asked himself—after some of the past blood- shed—the question: "To what extent have I been responsible for all this?" is he likely to do so now when, happily, the repetition of these horrors has been largely—so far, anyhow—avoided as the result of prompt
action by the Government? If, after twenty odd years, he is still "unaware even that violence has already been used," then surely his "contact with the outside world" can hardly be any more limited as a result of his detention than it has been during all his years of freedom— for there are "none so blind as those who won't see." But his detention may well save the lives of thousands of innocent people in the streets and bazaars of the Indian cities. People are sometimes too inclined these days, I think, to overlook the fact that the Japs are not the only menace
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