Motilal Nehru’s statement

THE statement which Pandit Motilal Nehru has made in an interview with the Associated Press on the subject of his acceptance of a membership of the Sandhurst Committee is neither superfluous nor unimportant. Whether it was or was not necessary to make this statement in order to meet “the ignorant criticism of Nehru’s action by the Simla correspondents of certain Indian-edited journals,” it was certainly necessary in order to let the public know what the action of the Pandit meant and what it did not mean. It is perfectly true that the more intelligent section of the public, except where it was interested in misunderstanding or misrepresenting Nehru’s action, was under no delusion or misgiving about its meaning, and some of us have the satisfaction of finding, from Nehru’s statement, that the interpretation they put upon the action was literally correct. But this can scarcely be said of the man in the street, whose judgment really, often imperceptibly, affects vital national issues, and who, it must be admitted, is apt, in such matters and without proper guidance, to read either too much or too little into the decisions of political parties and their leaders. Nehru’s action had been attacked from two points of view, first, that it was inconsistent with the professed policy of the Swaraj party, and secondly that it was inconsistent with Nehru’s own action in refusing to be a member of the Muddiman Committee. In both cases, he gave a clear and convincing answer to the critic. He pointed out that the policy of the Swaraj party had always been to adapt itself as far as it could to the changing needs of the situation.