All this means a certain progress, but all of it
is relatively meaningless while the communal question remains unsettled. That problem will have to be faced, perhaps for the last time, at the Minorities Sub-Committee's next meeting. There would appear to be only three courses open. The Indian delegates must reach an eleventh- hour agreement among themselves ; the British Govern- ment must decide to find a solution -and impose it ; or the Conference must break down. The news of the grave communal troubles in Kashmir (the general situation in that State is described in an .article on a later .page) come as significant warning alike of . the delicacy of the questions to be settled and of the import- ance of settling them. Meanwhile nothing could be of worse omen for the success of the Conference than the recurrence of outrages directed against British officers in India, of which two' more have to be recorded this week. The fact that so far as can be discovered the attacks are unconnected with one another, and cannot be ascribed directly to the Congress or any other organized body, does not alter.the disastrous effect the repeated attempts, successful or unsuccessful, at assassination have on the relations between this country and India. It is impossible, moreover, to acquit the Congress Party entirely of 'creating an atmosphere congenial to murder.
* *
Previous page
