CHAPTER IX
A PLEA TO THE FOREIGNER
Let not Tyranny Have Freedom to Enslave
I
I T is a matter of common experience that barring a few exceptions, almost all foreigners, who show interest in Indian political affairs, take the side of the Congress. This quite naturally puzzles and annoys the other political parties in the country, such as the Muslim League, claiming to represent the Musalmans, the Justice Party—now in a state of suspended animation but still—claiming to speak in the name of the non-Brahmins and the All-India Scheduled Castes Federation, claiming to represent the Untouchables, all of whom have been appealing to the foreigner for support but to whom the foreigner is not even prepared to give a sympathetic hearing. Why does the foreigner support the Congress and not the other political parties in India ? Two reasons are usually assigned by the foreigner for his behaviour. One reason assigned by him for supporting the Congress is that it is the only representative political organization of the Indians and can speak in the name of India and even for the Untouchables. Is such a belief founded on facts ?
It must be admitted that there have been circumstances which are responsible for creating such a belief. The first and foremost circumstance for the spread of this view is the propaganda by the Indian Press in favour of the Congress. The Press in India is an accomplice of the Congress, believes in the dogma that the Congress is never wrong and acts on the principle of not giving any publicity to any news, which is inconsistent with the Congress prestige or the Congress ideology. To the foreigner the Press is the principal medium of information about the Indian political affairs. The cry of the Indian Press being what it is, there is therefore no wonder if the people in England and America know one thing and only one thing, namely, that the Congress is the only representative body in India including even the Untouchables.