THE tendency to blame the British for everything that goes wrong in India is so strong that we shall certainly be accused of causing famine, writes Lord Chorley, member of the British Parliamentary Delegation which has just returned from India, in “Sunday Observer”, reports Reuter from London.

…Commenting first on “astonishing contrasts” of riches and poverty in India, Lord Chorley states: “There appears to be an undue degree of luxury among the rich and a wealthy Indian remarked to me that, had the British Government in India taxed the rich in the interests of social progress to the same extent as had been done at home, half the grievances of the Indian people against Britain would never have arisen.”

Lord Chorley adds: “…The demand for independence has reached fever heat passion and if the members of the Delegation were agreed about one thing, it was on the danger of sitting on a safety valve any longer… .” Observing that the problem of Pakistan is now second only to that of Indian independence, he adds: “Statesmanship of a very high order must be displayed on all sides if the problems raised by the Pakistan issue are to be resolved without a bitter civil war.”

Published in Dawn, February 25th, 2021