This Is the Time

Britain had offered India self-government before, but never with such conviction, never with so few strings. If Indians could decide among themselves the kind of constitution they wanted, Prime Minister Attlee last week promised them an immediate choice between dominion status and full independence.

Attlee noted that the "tide of nationalism is running very fast in India," that it has spread even to "those wonderful soldiers" who are the mainstay of British forces overseas. He emphasized that the new ministerial mission--Sir Stafford Cripps, Lord Pethick-Lawrence and A. V. Alexander--would have "as free a hand as possible" to make important decisions on the spot. "This is the time, emphatically, for very definite and clear action."

Both Tory and Labor M.P.s hastened to agree. At the same time Attlee warned that the burden of working out internal unity and stable government rested on the Indians themselves. A familiar reservation and reminder was heard from the Tory side. Said dour Sir John Anderson, former Governor of Bengal: so long as Britain is responsible for law-enforcement in India, she has "a predominant right" to a voice in framing the new constitution.

Attlee's declaration could not demolish the biggest obstacle to Indian independence--the division between Hindus and Moslems. His statement that "we cannot allow minorities to veto advances by the majority" hit a sensitive spot. Moslem League President Mohamed Ali Jinnah, who demands a separate Moslem state (Pakistan), accused Attlee of "rope-walking," repeated his doctrine that "the Moslems of India are not a minority but a nation, and self-determination is their birthright." Again he threatened civil war if the British and Congress reject Pakistan. If it is a question, he said, of "who can shed the more blood . . . the Moslems can and will play a part, if driven to desperation, that will bring about a real civil war."

Negotiations might again founder on the rocks of Pakistan, but Congress Leader Jawaharlal Nehru has already made some concessions to the Moslem League. He offered them "95% Pakistan"--Moslem provincial self-government in all matters except foreign affairs and defense, or a future plebiscite to determine whether some Moslem areas shall split from India and form a separate state.

In Attlee's tone, in Jinnah's cries of pain and anger, in unofficial British comment, observers saw signs that the British, often accused of supporting the Moslems against the Hindus, were ready to work for Indian unity. If Jinnah will not accept a compromise, the Viceroy may impose a constitution on India over the Moslem League's protest. The constitution might include a bill of rights to protect the Moslems, promise them the right to secede after a period of years. In other respects the Congress Party, now speaking for 60% of British India, would shape the constitution.

Meanwhile most Hindu leaders adopted a wait-&-see attitude.

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