India interested in freedom of Asian people

By Jai Singh Yadav

This is the first of two articles on the Asian Relations Conference held in 1947 which contributes to the consciousness of Asian identity following the collapse of colonial powers in the region.

YOGYAKARTA (JP): From time immemorial, nations of Asia have had very close interactions among themselves. This had led to the blossoming of an Asian identity, an Asian sense of moral and cultural values.

Look at the words of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, then vice president of the Interim Government of India, in a press interview in New Delhi on July 28, 1947:

"India has been and is specially interested in the freedom of the peoples of Asia. The recent Asian Conference held in Delhi was a symbol not only of the resurgence of Asia, but also of the cooperation of the different countries of Asia, for peace and freedom....Any attack on the freedom of the people in any part of Asia affects the rest of this great continent. The mere presence of the colonial regime or of any foreign troops in any Asian country is an insult and a challenge to Asia."

Or those by Rabindranath Tagore, the great Indian Nobel Laureate and poet who wrote these words after his visit to Java in 1927: "In a dim, distant, unrecorded age we had met, thou and I -- when my speech became tangled in thine and my life in thy life... The time wore on, the dark night came upon us, and we knew not each other ".

It was the same sentiment echoed by Nehru in 1947 when he said that "we have seen the growth of western imperialisms, of the reduction of large parts of Asia to colonial or semi colonial status. Much has happened during these years, but perhaps one of the notable consequences of the European domination of Asia has been the isolation of the countries of Asia from one another".

If Nagasaki and Hiroshima brought World War II to an end, simultaneously most of the ex-colonies in Asia became boiling cauldrons, with the resurgence of nationalism, the sublimation of "that deeper urge of the mind and spirit of Asia" to wage struggles for freedom by throwing to the winds the yoke of foreign domination.

It was this urge that led the peoples of Asia to realize, with the end of World War II, that they stood "at the end of an era and on the threshold of a new period of history".

Standing on this watershed that divided the two epochs of human history and endeavor, they longed to look back on their long past, yearned to look forward to a future, a new future with a commonality of purpose filled with new challenges, new ways of finding peace, prosperity and progress for their millions. Hence the freedom struggles in many parts of Asia like in India, and Indonesia.

On this occasion, when Indonesia is celebrating its 50th anniversary of its independence, it is worthwhile taking a glimpse into the happenings in those day of struggle, in the various theaters of Asia, particularly outside Indonesia where she was also involved. The first and foremost thing that comes to one's mind is the Asian Relations Conference held in New Delhi from March 23 to April 2, 1947.

A young inquiring mind will naturally ask the question: Who mooted the idea of such a conference?

From all available records, one thing which is very clear is the fact that in a special interview in Allahabad in December 1945, Jawaharlal Nehru had explained how an Asian Conference would be useful for the understanding of Asia's problem and to the promotion of cooperation among Asian peoples.

In fact in March 1946, after a tour of southeast Asian countries, Nehru announced that the desire for holding an Asian Conference had been expressed to him by many, like Gen. Aung Sang and others.

In his inaugural address to Asian Relations Conference, Nehru himself had said: "It so happened that we in India convened this conference but the idea of such a conference arose simultaneously in many minds and in many countries of Asia ".

It was the Indian Council of World Affairs, New Delhi which accepted the above idea and took the initiative through an informal meeting of April 1946 to organize this conference.

To the great surprise of the organizers a total of 28 countries including India with as many as 244 delegates accepted the invitations and participated in the Conference.

The countries taking part were Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bhutan, Burma, Cambodia (Cochin China & Laos), Ceylon, China, Egypt, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakstan, Kirghizia, Korea, Malaya, Mongolia, Nepal, Philippines, Siam, Tadjikistan, Tibet, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam. Also taking part was Hebrew University (Palestine). Observers came from Australia, Arab League, Britain, Soviet Union, USA and UNO.

It is of great significance and interest to note that after the host country India, Indonesia sent the largest delegation to this first ever Asian Conference, consisting of 25 delegates and six observers from the Indonesian Republic.

It was the first time in the young life of the Republic that an official delegation went abroad to attend an international conference. The Indonesian delegation led by Dr. Abu Hanifa, played an active and dynamic role in the deliberations of the conference.

Among the members of the Indonesian delegation were four women: Mrs. H. Soebandrio, Jetty Zain, Soetijah and Mrs. S. Hamdani, in addition to Siti Wahjunah who also attended the conference as private secretary to the prime minister.

Mrs. Sutan Sjahrir also attended the conference. As far as is known, only four persons: Djoeir Moehamad (delegate), Mochtar H. Lubis (observer), Ali Budiardjo (secretary to the prime minister and at the same time cabinet secretary) and Mrs. Siti Wahjunah Sutan Sjahrir are alive today, in addition to the first wife of prime minister Sutan Sjahrir (later divorced ) who is, according to information, residing in Holland.

This conference was of an unofficial nature. Right from the early stages of organizing the conference, the committee had decided to avoid all controversies, confine the topics for discussion to those aspects and problems common to all the Asian countries on the basis of the data papers. Thus the subject selected for the Round Table discussions fell under five groups: National Movement for Freedom, Migration and Racial Problems, Economic Development and Social Services, Cultural Problems and Women's Problems.

The importance of the conference lies in the fact that, after the lapse of many centuries of isolation imposed upon them by colonialism, the Asian countries found themselves a common forum, a common platform to come together, to meet each other and talk to each other about their common problems.

Again this conference gained the distinction of being addressed by Mahatma Gandhi, the father of India, which in effect turned out to be his last address to an international gathering.