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[Part 1.] The impression is being created, particularly in Calcutta, that the Government of India is pursuing a policy of ‘mere repression’. After 17 November there was an outcry against the severe action taken in protection of law-abiding citizens in response to reports of the in-timidation and coercion of the general public into hartals and of non-co-operators having taken control of Calcutta. The subsequent proclamations by the Bengal Government prohibiting volunteer associations are the direct cause of the trouble in Calcutta and elsewhere. Large numbers of otherwise respectable persons have been arrested. Has been consulting Ronaldshay constantly. Though a conference would be of doubtful benefit, he thinks it would be right to agree to one if it were suggested. Sapru asked to meet him before yesterday’s meeting of the Executive Council.

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[Part 1.] The Prince of Wales will arrive on the 24th. Any arrangements must be made before his own departure on the 22nd. The immediate objective is to prevent trouble or demonstrations during the Prince’s arrival. The Calcutta visit is of special because an unpleasant reception there would have a particularly strong effect on public opinion in England and even in India, and would provoke racial bitterness. The proclamation of volunteers in this province and others, and the subsequent demonstrations and arrests, have led to tension, which though presently non-violent, is bent on getting respectable Indians to protest against the Government and to associate prosecution with non-co-operation. The imprisonment of respectable men and reports of high-handed action have caused emotion even among moderates in Ben-gal, though Ronaldshay is trying to prevent excesses and correct abuses. The immediate objective can only be achieved by Reading’s immediate promise to invite members of the various political sections to attend a conference at Delhi, probably in January. He has desired all along to understand the agitators’ practical propositions; the meaning of swaraj, in particular, has never yet been defined. There appears, however, to be a general desire for responsible government. Nothing can be done, of course, without the assent of Cabinet and the approval of Parliament.

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Refers to Ronaldshay’s letter of 5 February. There has been a misunderstanding: the terms of the amnesty were designed to give the Viceroy the widest discretion, but the result of the Council meeting attended by Ronaldshay has been to throw the responsibility back on Mon-tagu, citing doubts of Montagu’s support. Assures him that he has always approved of his conduct of Bengal, particularly of the detenues, and believes he has never said anything to cause him to express a lack of confidence. Congratulates him on his conferences.

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Open defiance of authority is widespread, and civil disobedience is being talked of and has actually been practised for some time. The religious fanaticism of Mohammedans is being fanned by peripatetic speakers. Things have been fairly quiet at Calcutta, but within the last two days two Indian women have again begun to collect crowds and organise demonstrations.

He was cordially welcomed on his state entry to Calcutta yesterday, and he affirmed his confidence in Lord Ronaldshay to a deputation from the municipality. He believes his recent statements about the Graeco-Turkish situation have had a good effect, and that the non-co-operationists are undecided as to what they should do next. He will discuss the arrangements for the Prince of Wales’ arrival at Calcutta with Ronaldshay on the 24th. Malaviya met him at Benares and asked him to mitigate his recent pronouncements regarding intimidation and the determination to enforce the law, but Reading refused, drawing attention to the widespread hartals and the disturbances in Bombay. He hopes, however, that there will not be too much zeal to arrest. He will discuss Bengal finances with Hailey next week, and is considering calling a meeting of all the Provincial Governments to discuss the matter.

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Part 1. He has asked Lloyd for evidence to support his statements regarding Gandhi [see A3/24/18]. Willingdon and Butler are also against a conference, while Ronaldshay and the Governors of the Punjab, Behar, Central Provinces, Burma, and Assam are in favour. He hopes that the instructions given to Local Governments will reduce the number of arrests. Malaviya, Jinnah, Bhurgri, Purshattamdas, Thakurdas and others have called a conference of all parties at Bombay, which Gandhi has undertaken to attend. If an agreement can be reached, they will send a deputation to Reading.

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Part 1. Malaviya came to see him yesterday. He said that Reading’s answer to the deputation favourably impressed the extremists and non-co-operators, and he brought a document signed by Das and other leading non-co-operators proposing a conference in January (Gandhi and other non-co-operationists to represent the Congress), subject to the withdrawal of proclamations and release of prisoners. The signatories undertook to prevent a hartal on the 24th and to observe a real truce. At the same time, however, Reading received an agency telegram advising of statements by Gandhi which made it impossible to consider the question. Malaviya was much upset. Reading emphasised to him that he would not make arrangements expressly covering hartals, as they would be covered by any arrangement to desist from non-co-operation activities. Montagu has also misunderstood his proposals on this point. The discussion was repeated in the presence of Lord Ronaldshay.

(Typed. Continued in A3/23/3.)

In the end C. R. Das came to see him, but he would not budge from his demand for im-mediate swaraj, which Ronaldshay rejected. Immediately afterwards, Das began an intensive campaign among the students, appealing to them to defy the Government and go to jail, and this resulted in large bands of students parading the streets and enrolling in unlawful associations. A quantity of arms was also found in an untenanted house. It was no longer possible to refrain from proceeding against Das and his colleagues.

(Misdated 1922.)

The situation in Calcutta is disturbing. Large numbers of people have been imprisoned for breaching the order forbidding volunteer associations; weapons have been discovered near the Khilafat Committee’s offices; and there is disaffection amongst sections of the police. Lajpat Rai and Motilal Nehru have been arrested for organizing volunteer forces. It is clear that the non-co-operationists are testing their power by compelling the authorities to arrest large numbers of people and thus paralysing Government. It is a formidable situation, particularly in view of the Prince’s arrival on the 24th. The increasing tension between non-co-operationists and co-operationists is worrying in a city with a strong European element, still smarting under the 17 November incident. The Governor and Council have decided to arrest C. R. Das and other leaders, and Reading has requested further troops. Das has met with Ronaldshay and requested an immediate conference, stating that non-co-operationists will be satisfied only with complete swaraj immediately; but under the circumstances Reading considers that it would do harm even to discuss a conference.

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The arrests of the Ali brothers have not led to disturbances.

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Part 2. Ronaldshay felt that, owing to the position he had taken in the Legislative Council, he ought to respond to the Bengal non-co-operationists’ change of attitude as opposed to Gandhi’s. After pleading for concessions with regard to proclamations and the release of prisoners apart from any discussion of the conference, Malaviya left. Reading communicated to Ronaldshay the substance of A3/21/2 and explained that he was no longer in a position to authorise a conference, even if the proper assurances were forthcoming, but Ronaldshay insisted that a conference was the only way out and that in Bengal Das and others were presumably prepared to make terms for a truce. While they were talking news came that the Governor of Bihar and Orissa [Sir Havilland Le Mesurier] had issued an order revoking the proclamations and releasing prisoners, apparently assuming that a conference was about to take place. The reception of the Prince at Patna was successful, despite the hartal. He and Ronaldshay are in favour of releasing prison-ers. He left Calcutta last night, and is presently on the train. He detests the large number of arrests and the heavy sentences on young men, and is not consoled by the approval of those who believe in repression as the only policy of governing India. The Cabinet Committee seem not to have appreciated the seriousness of the situation; but he supposes that their attitude is not final, as he can imagine the difficulty of having to make a prompt decision in the absence of the Prime Minister and leading members of the Cabinet. As it happens, the Cabinet’s view did not affect the situation, though if he had received it in time it would have been very awkward for him to give an absolute refusal for all time.

(Typed. Continued in A3/23/4.)

C. R. Das and four or five others were arrested on the 9th, and many moderates have joined in the cry against the repressive measures used by the Government. A large number of students have been convicted, all of whom have been offered release if they will promise not to defy the law again, but only some have accepted the offer. There has been an intensive campaign to boycott the Prince of Wales’ visit, and Ronaldshay expects a bad hartal on the 24th, possibly accompanied by rioting. ‘For the last few days the students have dropped out of the picture and their place has been taken by roughs and mill-hands, mostly Muhammadans, always an ominous sign in Calcutta. Many of those who have been arrested for obstruction etc. in the streets have admitted that they have been paid to come out. This is evidence of a sinister organisation at work. And the danger lies in the fact that their religious fanaticism is being worked on. Leaflets of an inflammatory nature calling on Muhammadans to fight for Islam have been appearing in the town.’

[Part 1.] The situation in Calcutta is slightly easier. He has ordered that trials in jail and in camera should cease and that the wearing of Gandhi caps or the selling of khaddar should not, in themselves, lead to arrest. Ronaldshay is having a list prepared of those convicted merely for declaring themselves volunteers, and will then consider reducing sentences. Reading continues to receive telegrams from members of the Legislative Assembly and the Bengal Council, etc., suggesting a Royal Commission to inquire into the discontent, or a round-table conference. There is a general feeling that the Government is being repressive, but it is difficult to limit law enforcement without discouraging local authorities and the police. He is being careful not to give the appearance of differing from Ronaldshay, who will have an opportunity to explain his policy at the Council meeting on the 19th. The fundamental difficulty is that if the Government measures were withdrawn, volunteers would immediately try to take control of the city; the European community and others would then oppose them, and collisions would probably ensue.

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It is impossible to lay down a general rule for differentiating political prisoners from other offenders. Following Reading’s precedent in the case of the Ali brothers, Ronaldshay has instructed political prisoners to be given a more liberal diet, but if mitigations were made public, it would make martyrdom easier.

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Andrews believes that the Mohammedans, stirred by Gandhi and by genuine religious sentiment, will attempt a quick revolution unless they [the British Government] do more to show their sincerity in making the ‘Turkish Peace Terms’ more in accordance with Lloyd George’s promises, and in tackling the question of the Near East; and he thinks that if the Viceroy himself went to the Allied Conference it would help to settle the Moslem position in India.

Concurs with the views expressed in A3/10/3. The recent reforms were not, like previous measures, a ‘sop to agitation’, but were based on a definite plan, and Indians must realise that they need to earn and work for further steps. To modify the reforms merely because people think them inadequate would destroy the whole basis of the scheme. Commends Chelmsford’s policy of using patience before force, but questions the wisdom of non-interference in cases of threats of violence, violent libels on British officers, seditious statements in newspapers, the preaching of race-hatred, and military drilling. It is idiotic to suggest that enforcement of the law is repression. He has received a letter from Ronaldshay and a report from Price, a member of the Legislative Assembly, to his constituents, and has read with anxiety communications from India in the Daily Telegraph.

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