The Delhi riots

IT is an unfortunate fact, not easily to be explained, that in spite of its being the winter capital of India as well as a prominent centre of nationalist activities, no detailed account of the deplorable happenings at Delhi during the last few days has so far been supplied to the public except what has emanated from the Associated Press or other correspondents of newspapers. The Muslim and Hindu leaders, the Congress and the Khilafat Committee as well as other public bodies have so far not said a word on the subject. The Government, which remained unaccountably silent from the 11th to the 16th, issued a brief statement on the 17th, which was little better than a bare enumeration of some of the broad facts. Had such an incident happened in the capital of any Western country, the public would have been deluged with detailed statements of the incident both by the Government and by such political or semi-political organisations as might exist at the place. What is more, neither would have had any peace until they had stated all that they could reasonably be expected to state. It is a striking commentary upon the stage of development we have reached that in India such happenings seem to be taken as a matter of course, not, indeed, in the sense that no one outside those immediately affected is seriously perturbed by them, but in the sense that even those who are most perturbed by them do not deem it necessary to compel those in a position to know to make a full and immediate statement of all the facts of the case, both with a view to the formation of public opinion and to the devising and adoption of measures to cope with the situation.