NEWS OF THE WEEK T HE spotlight on Mr. Jinnah grows
stronger and stronger. The Muslim League leader has shown little dislike so far fOr the glare of publicity, but for once it is possible to detect a lack of confidence in his movements. Ever since last May, when the British Cabinet Mission began its conversations with the Indian leaders, he has generally been the recalcitrant party in the search for a satis- factory interim Government. He is clearly conscious of this fact, and the persistent reasonableness of the Congress Party and the magnificent Indian summer of Mr. Gandhi's powers tend to show it up more and more plainly. The expected spate of violent condemnation in the Congress Press of the Muslim part in the recent and horrible riots in Calcutta, is in sharp contrast to the calm of the Congress leaders. The offer to the Muslim League of five seats, as against six for Congress, in a Government of fourteen Indians, remains open, despite the fact that three rather obscure iron-League Muslims temporarily occupy three of the five seats in question. Mr. Nehru, who heads the interim Government which will take office on September 2nd, has been moderate in his pronouncements, despite his unhappy propensity for saying the wrong thing at critical moments. But Mr. Jinnah has not yet changed his mind. He continues to hold a prolonged public inquest on the history of his negotiations on Muslim • representation in the interim Government and to accuse the Viceroy of bad faith. This will do Mr. Jinnah no good. For once the whole emphasis rests on India's future, and he will gain no sympathy by putting it on the past—even the imme- diate past. What is more, the accusation that the Viceroy has deliberately tricked Mr. Jinnah carries no conviction. Lord Wavell is not the man to indulge in trickery and Mr. Jinnah is not the than to be taken in. The worst that can be said is that the negotia- tions for an interim Government were left by the Cabinet Mission to the Viceroy, and they have been less successful than the negotia- tions for a long-term settlement. But the interim Government is the crucial issue and must be expected to give trouble. The difficulty IS to get the Indians to take the first practical step to self-government. Once they take it the resi will follow, slowly and painfully perhaps, but inevitably.. If the Viceroy has made any mistake, which is more Possible than that he has committed a crime, he may still do what he did once before and take the full blame on himself. Whatever he does it remains for Mr. Jinnah to decide whether to pursue reason in an interim Government or violence outside it.
