The memorable Conference at Gujrat in its resolution on the status of
Indians abroad has given it as its opinion that even this question may
become one more reason for non-co-operation. And so it may. Nowhere has
there been such open defiance of every canon of justice and propriety as
in the shameless decision of confiscation of Indian rights in the Kenia
Colony announced by its Governor. This decision has been supported by
Lord Milnor and Mr. Montagu. And his Indian colleagues are satisfied
with the decision. Indians, who have made East Africa, who out-number
the English, are deprived practically of the right of representation on
the Council. They are to be segregated in parts not habitable by the
English. They are to have neither the political nor the material
comfort. They are to become 'Pariahs' in a country made by their own
labour, wealth and intelligence. The Viceroy is pleased to say that he
does not like the outlook and is considering the steps to be taken to
vindicate the justice. He is not met with a new situation. The Indians
of East Africa had warned him of the impending doom. And if His
Excellency has not yet found the means of ensuring redress, he is not
likely to do it in future. I would respectfully ask his Indian
colleagues whether they can stand this robbery of their
countrymen rights.
In South Africa the situation is not less disquieting. My misgivings
seem to be proving true, and repatriation is more likely to prove
compulsory than voluntary. It is a response to the anti-Asiatic
agitation, not a measure of relief for indigent Indians. It looks very
like a trap laid for the unwary Indian. The Union Government appears to
be taking an unlawful advantage of a section of a relieving law designed
for a purpose totally different from the one now intended.
As for Fiji, the crime against humanity is evidently to be hushed up. I
do hope that unless an inquiry is to be made into the Fiji Martial Law
doings, no Indian member will undertake to go to Fiji. The Government of
India appear to have given an undertaking to send Indian labour to Fiji
provided the commission that was to proceed there in order to
investigate the condition on the spot returns with a favourable report.
For British Guiana I observe from the papers received from that
quarter, that the mission that came here is already declaring that
Indian labour will be forthcoming from India. There seems to me to be no
real prospect for Indian enterprise in that part of the world. We are
not wanted in any part of the British Dominion except as Pariahs to do
the scavenging for the European settlers.
The situation is clear. We are Pariahs in our own home. We get only what
Government intend to give, not what we demand and have a right to. We
may get the crumbs, never the loaf. I have seen large and tempting
crumbs from a lavish table. And I have seen the eyes of our Pariahs--the
shame of Hinduism--brightening to see those heavy crumbs filling their
baskets. But the superior Hindu, who is filling the basket from a safe
distance, knows that they are unfit for his own consumption. And so we
in our turn may receive even Governorships which the real rulers no
longer require or which they cannot retain with safety for their
material interest--the political and material hold on India. It is time
we realised our true status.