Death and Factions

Punjab Province in India was curry-hot with religious conflicts and revolts against British rule until 1937, when moderate Sir Sikander Hyat Khan, member of a distinguished Moslem family, became Premier of the Punjab. By straightforward administration and sense-making pleas for Hindu-Moslem unity, he succeeded in uniting the major political parties of the Punjab's 28 millions--56% Moslems, 27% Hindu, 13% warrior Sikhs--into a coalition Government which brought internal peace to the Province and has raised 500,-ooo troops to fight the Axis. Last week, at Lahore, the fruitful work of Sir Sikander was ended: a sudden heart attack brought death to Britain's stanchest friend in India.

Britain's major loss was expected to bring major gain to a minor man. Stouthearted, statesmanlike Sir Sikander was probably the only non-Congress Moslem important enough to challenge the claim of Mohamed Ali Jinnah to speak for all Moslems in India. In the last elections Jinnah's Moslem League won less than one-fourth of the seats officially reserved for Moslems in the Provinces; in the Sind, where Moslems are preponderant, it won not a single seat; in the North-West Frontier Province, with a population 92% Moslem, it polled less than 5% of all Moslem votes cast.

Jinnah, whom the Congress calls a British tool, last week stepped up his pip-squeaking with a self-contradicting attack on a speech by the Viceroy, Lord Linlithgow. The tired Viceroy had again claimed that "agreement cannot be reached between the conflicting interests of this country as fro who is to take over responsibilities which we are only too ready to transfer to Indian hands." First Jinnah called Linlithgow's speech "most inopportune and likely to shatter what little hope of settlement had been created," then he gave substance to Linlithgow's claim by ranting: "We do not want the Atlantic Charter or the Pacific Charter. We love our charter--that is Pakistan [separate Moslem State]. Neither the British Government nor the Government of India can distract us from our goal." Jinnah, clearly, was going to be no help in bringing unity, strength and dignity to India.

Neither were the British, apparently. Last week, while they kept democratic United Nations' friend Jawaharlal Nehru in jail, they lifted the ban on the Khaksars, a storm-trooperish gang which talks like the Axis radio. Possible reason for the ban-lifting: the Khaksars are violently anti-Congress. The British got a promise from the Khaksars that they would no longer drill, carry weapons, wear uniforms or badges, and "in general the activities of the Khaksars are to be of such a nature as not to cause the least anxiety to the authorities anywhere as long as the war lasts."

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