Congress urges Pak to ensure safety of Hindus

Congress President Acharya Kripalani said if Hindus in Pakistan were persecuted, the Congress would be thrown out of office in Hindustan. “People today show us black flags and they would some day oust us from office. Then such Governments will be installed who would give tit-for-tat and then God may help what would happen. There will be rivers of blood flowing in Hindustan and Pakistan,” he added.

Challenge: It was an uphill task for political leaders to reassure the minorities. (August 10, 1947)

SHIKARPUR, AUG 9: Acharya Kripalani, the Congress President, in the course of a speech here yesterday at a largely-attended public meeting, said the Pakistan Government could not afford to ill-treat Hindus. He added that if 20 million Hindus were included in Pakistan, 45 million Muslims came within Hindustan. The Hindus, therefore, should not feel panicky, he said.

The Congress, said Kripalani, would not tolerate any wrong. The good of Hindus and of Muslims, indeed of the country as a whole, lay in mutual goodwill and joint progress. Acharya Kripalani stated that the Congress stood for accepting the June 3 arrangement; it had accepted the lesser evil and acted on the principle of greatest good of the greatest numbers.

Kripalani further stated they (the Muslims) should not become proud because of the achievement of Pakistan as pride always comes before a fall. Kripalani appealed to them that they should treat Hindus well in Pakistan; “if they did not, they would suffer.”

The Congress, he once again emphasised, did not believe in retaliation. He said if Hindus in Pakistan were persecuted, the Congress would be thrown out of office in Hindustan. “People today show us black flags and they would some day oust us from office. Then such Governments will be installed who would give tit-for-tat and then God may help what would happen. There will be rivers of blood flowing in Hindustan and Pakistan,” he added.

The Congress President paid a visit to the bereaved family of the late Allah Bux. He also received a deputation of the Shikarpur Panchayat which placed the difficulties of Sind Hindus before him.

‘Liberty Week’ celebrations

NEW DELHI: Dr Rajendra Prasad, President of the Constituent Assembly, inaugurated this morning the “Liberty Week” celebrations when he unfurled the National Flag in Gandhi Grounds. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Prasad outlined the steps that the new Government of an independent India must take in the immediate future. They included giving peace and security to the people, removal of untouchability and poverty, spreading education and fighting disease.

Dr Prasad recalled the beginning of the 1942 movement, which, he said, was the last struggle for India’s independence. That struggle started five years ago had come to a successful end now and power was going to be transferred into Indian hands shortly. While celebrating the coming of freedom, he said the people of India must not forget their brethren who had sacrificed their lives to bring this day nearer. Thousands had lost everything to achieve this end and they must remain uppermost in their minds at the present occasion and this day must be devoted to pay homage to those unknown soldiers, he added.

“Now that we are fortunate enough to see the dawn of freedom, let us pray to God to give us strength to administer our country rightly and to secure for it a high place in the comity of nations,” he said.

Indians till now had worked for the achievement of freedom from foreign domination. Now began the second phase of their work. Immediate tasks ahead of the Government of an independent India were of giving peace and security to the people, removal of untouchability and poverty, fighting disease and spreading education. The country was suffering from acute shortage of foodgrains and it was the duty of the Government to arrange for more food and save the people from starvation.

Referring to the gospel of truth and non-violence that Mahatma Gandhi had preached to the people of India, Dr Prasad said: “By following the lead given by Mahatma Gandhi we have won a victory of no mean magnitude. In the days to come too, non-violence alone can give us peace and happiness.”

Bonhomie in Bengal

CALCUTTA: The Governments of East and West Bengal propose to work in the most friendly manner, said Mr H.S. Suhrawardy, Chief Minister of East Bengal, Dr P.C. Ghosh, CM of West Bengal, and Khwaja Nazim-ud-Din, leader of the East Bengal League Assembly Party, in a joint statement today. They said: “Whatever differences we may have, we shall always try to resolve them by peaceful methods. We do similarly appeal to the people not to take the law in their own hands but work in a peaceful and orderly manner.”

“We want to give a fair deal to the minorities in both the parts of Bengal, but the minorities also must co-operate with the majority,” they added.

Call to India, Pak

MANCHESTER: A call to India and Pakistan to act together in matters of defence and foreign policy and for Burma, Ceylon and perhaps Malaya to enter into some kind of defence confederacy with the two new dominions, was made by yesterday’s Manchester Guardian while discussing the future security of the Indian Ocean.

In an editorial which stated that Britain will no longer play a unilateral rule in organising the defence of the Indian Ocean region, the Manchester Guardian warned of certain dangers to its security after the transfer of power. “The partition and independence of India will create a new problem of security in the region of the Indian Ocean,” the paper said.