INDIAN SOLDIERS IN THE TRANSVAAL.
[TO THE EDITOR OP TRH "spiterwrou.^
SIR,—Certain Indian soldiers in the Transvaal have again appealed to be shot " on the battlefields where they served." The leaders of the Indian community are aware that such an appeal will not, under a British Government, lead to martyr- dom; and their skilful use of melodramatic utterances is characteristic of their• signal ability. But in the South African War the employment of coloured troops as combatants was scrupulously avoided, and the credentials of these warriors cannot pass unchallenged. There ar•e in the Transvaal some Indian soldiers who have earned medals in Indian campaigns. It is possible that some of these, or• some other Indians, were attached in a non-combatant capacity to some corps during the South African War, and in that capacity they may perhaps have received medals. But the practice of parading Medal- wearers in the streets of Pretoria or Johannesburg, and the allusions to soldiers who " served with British troops " or• " fought on battlefields " is calculated to convey an impression which is not warranted by the facts and to represent Britain as false to her• word.—I am, Sir, &c., A. B. BROWNS.
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