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DEADLOCK
IN SiMLA
Fears of
Failure
"The Age" Special Correspondent!
nnrt A.A.P.
SIMLA, June 29.
.ine viceroy s uonierence met.
at Simla this morning after a
48 hours' adjournment, and after
a short sitting it again adjourned
to enable the delegates to con
sult further. They are expected
td reassemble cn July 14.
Private talks during the ad
journment failed to reconcile the
Congress and Mosleih viewpoints
on the distribution of the Execu
tive Council scats.
Lord Wavell asked the parties
to submit lists of names of no
minees for the Executive Coun
cil for a final selection bv him.
Dr. Azad, President of the Con
gress, said he had called Pandit
Nehru to Simla for an immedi
ate conference. Both the Con
gress and Moslem League are call
ing early meetings of their work
ing committees.
An earlier message said a ten
tative agreement had been reach
ed about the functions of the
Executive Council, but a dead-
t lock remains regarding the no-
iminations to the council.
I Among the public in Simla, the
| feeling of rising hope seems to
l have given way to a sense of
| frustration. % It is now. felt- that
: the "Wavell plar. is In Jeopardy.
t I
Moslems' Position
Reports have been circulated to
the effect that' if the Moslem
League finds its position at the
conference table untenable, the
Viceroy will continue the dis
cussions,' and that eventually an
: Executive Council, consisting ol
| caste Hindus and non-League
I Moslems (mainly from Congress
land the Punjab Unionist party),
and other minorities might be
formed.
A Congress party1 authority,
however, stated that such an
arrangement would not satisfy
Congress, which would not wel
come anything in the way of
an interim Government without
the inclusion of the Moslem Lea
gue. Congress leaders hold the
view that such a Government
would only perpetuate the com
munal division
The Delhi "Hindustan Times,"
which is edited by Gandhi's son,
Devadas Gandhi, says: — "It will
be tragic, and to some extent
ridiculous, if, after /approving the
general plan, the conference
should fail on minor issues."
Moslem League . members bit
terly resent Gandhi's position in
relation to the conference. They
say that although he told the
Viceroy that he was not a mem
ber of Congress and could not
represent it, he was still guiding
the Congress policy , at the con
ference. .One commentator said:
"The delegates can.iot move an
inch without - consulting
Gandhi."
Gandhi's Hope
Mahatma Gandhi, in a press
interview, said that he was shar
ing in the hope and prayer thai
things will come right both for
India and for Britain. He was
unable to tell the present position
of the Viceroy's conference be
cause he hRd constituted him
self as adviser to both the Con
gress and the Viceroy, .and
through him - to the British
people.
Gandhi added that the Con
gress. which was representative
of all India, and not only the
Hindus, had entered the confer
ence in the hope that an Interim
Government would be the first
step towards independence. He
concluded:— " I give you the tip
that I was not joking when I said
that Pandit Nehru was my heir.
No one else could interpret India's
mind to the outside world as
Pandit Nehru could."
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