Tragedy in India
The part British rule and British troops in India have played for generations in holding communal feuds in India in check has been deplorably demonstrated in the last three weeks by the con- tinuance of the reign of terror created in the Punjab, Calcutta and elsewhere. One responsible estimate 'puts the dead in the Punjab at oo,000, while the numbers of refugees trekking across the new frontiers is without computation. A vast unorganised transfer of populations both ways is taking place. Admirable work has been done by the Punjab Frontier Force, but it was disbanded on Sunday because the situation had got quite beyond its scope, and the India and Pakistan armies have now taken over. But they both still con- sist of mixed elements—Hindu and Muslim—which to some extent shakes confidence in them. The Sikhs, who are divided in two by the new frontier, have both suffered and inflicted serious losses.
There is no arguing with sheer fanaticism, but the two Prime Ministers, Pandit Nehru and Liaquat Ali Khan, are co-operating encouragingly, and the situation in the Punjab shows some slight improvement. In Calcutta—strange manifestation in these days of
realpolitik—the most hopeful factor may be Mr. Gandhi's decision
to fast "till sanity returns." But the trouble there is far from over yet.
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