‘Turmoil in India’

IF Lord Birkenhead has so far failed to give any indication of that firm grasp of facts which alone could prevent the political situation in India from getting from bad to worse, there are happily other Englishmen who have had no difficulty in forming a fairly correct estimate of the present position in this country or in suggesting the only measures by which this position can be effectively remedied. One of these is Harry F Ward, whose article in the British Press on ‘Turmoil in India’ contains the most brilliant, penetrating and masterly analysis of the present conditions in India from the pen of a foreigner that we have recently seen. With one exception, there is no important statement or observation in this article with which any well-informed critic in India will seriously quarrel. The exception is as regards the view cautiously put forward by the writer that the exigencies of his position and the position of his country may compel Mahatma Gandhi to throw the principle of non-violence overboard. “At present,” says the writer, “he suspends non-cooperation for the sake of the principle of non-violence. He makes the personal surrender of political leadership, and yields his programme for his principle. Has he thereby manoeuvred himself into a position where sooner or later an emergency may arise in which love of the country may overpower his principle?” We can think of no emergency in which this can or will happen.