MADRAS: Mr. S. Ramanathan speaking at a meeting held here under the auspices of South India Liberal Federal to discuss the Simla Conference said:

“The man who stood for national self-respect at Simla was Mr. Jinnah. It was the Muslim Leader who saved our national honour … when the Congress leaders were crawling on their bellies before the foreign Viceroy. Why did they do it? Because they had a guilty conscience. They know that if the Wavell Plan did not mature, there would be elections in this country and they would have to face the masses and account for their past misdeeds. They wanted to meet the people not as members of the Congress Working Committee responsible for the August disturbances but as Executive Councillors with all official pomp and glory and as heroes who had put down the corruption…. But fortunately for this country and all posterity the Plan miscarried. All credit is due to Mr. Jinnah for killing this evil Plan.”

[Meanwhile, as reported from Chungking,] China’s first American-trained First Army troops, veterans of Burma entered Canton today [Aug 18] and will formally accept the surrender of the Japanese in south China tomorrow.

Published in Dawn, August 19th, 2020