PEOPLE CEMENTED............INDEPENDENT 25
- You are aware that to this question there are two sides. It has been pointed out that the Indian people are composed of a large number of distinct races; that they profess various religions antagonistic in their creeds and diverse in their rites; that they speak different languages and are separated from each other by discordant prejudices, by conflicting social usages and by opposing material interests. The question is asked how can a heterogeneous mass of humanity function as a selfgoverning community ? These are hard facts and no wise man can ignore the bearing which they must necessarily have upon the question of self-government in India. But admitting these hard facts, what is the conclusion to be drawn from them ? Gentlemen, before you proceed to pronounce your opinion let me draw your attention to certain facts equally hard. Consider the position as it obtains in countries like Latvia, Rumania, Lithuania, Yugoslavia, Estonia, and Czechoslavakia. These are new States which have come into being after the close of the great war of 1914 which was fought with the avowed object of establishing the principle of self-government throughout the world. These newly, constituted States are all of them self-governing sovereign, independent States, each supreme in its external and internal affair. What are the internal social conditions in these States ? You will be surprised to know that they are as bad as in India, if not worse. In Latvia there are Latts, Russians, Jews and Germans, besides other nationalities. In Lithuania there are Lithuanians, Jews, Poles and Russians in addition to other smaller minorities. In Yugoslavia there are Serbs, Croates, Slovenes, Rumanians, Hungarians, Albanians, and Germans, not to mention other Slave people. In Estonia there are Estonians, Russians, Germans and other small groups. In Czechoslovakia there are Czechs, Germans, Megyars, Ruthinians and others. In Hungary there are Magyars, Germans and Slovaks. Different by race and language these groups form so many warring nations within their respective States. There is not even that religious unity to cement these heterogenous elements into a common whole. You will find amongst them four or five different sorts of Catholics. There are Roman Catholics, Greek Catholics, Czechoslovak Catholics. Besides Catholics, you have Evangelicals, Jews, Protestants, not