A significant Hindu pamphlet sent to us from Lahore reveals
the gulf that severs Hindu from European society. It is a long and eloquent protest by Mr. Amrita Lal Roy, formerly editor of the Lahore e'riberus, against Mr. V. J. Patch's Hindu Inter- Caste Marriage Bill. Mr. Patel, an advanced Hindu Nationalist, proposes simply to validate marriages between Hindus of different caates. Any person unacquainted with India, like most Labour politicians, would suppose that there could be no objection to such a measure. He would assume that, as a Duchess may marry a dustman, if she likes, in Great Britain, any man may marry any woman in India. Mr. Roy undeceives him:—
"The Patel Bill will introduce a sword Into every Hindu home. It will divide brothers and sisters from each other, make the son a man of different caste from his father or mother, prevent the grandson from knowing bis own grandfather, and create a wild confusion as to who were one's uncles and aunts. . . . In short, it will rend Hindu society into pieces."
Mr. Roy remarks that Sir Rabindranath Tagore, who supports the Bill, has cut himself adrift from " orthodox Hindu society," and cannot speak for it. We have no doubt that Mr. Roy expresses the views of the vast majority of Hindus. As democracy, which Mr. Montagu wants to force upon India, is wholly incom- patible with the caste system, Mr. Patel proposes virtually to abolish mete. We are sure that ho will fail.
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