1 JULY 1940SRI AUROBINDO: The Governor has stopped mobilisation because of the general confusion everywhere. Nogue's army does not want to surrender and in Syria the army is dissatisfied. They want to continue the fight and an invasion of Indo-China by Japan is imminent. PURANI: Applying the Monroe Doctrine? SRI AUROBINDO: But you can't dispossess them of their colonies by that Doctrine. America too has her colonies. PURANI: America may not like it. SRI AUROBINDO: That is another matter. It is apparent that the Pétain Government is breaking up the French Empire. NIRODBARAN: Why have they stopped mobilisation? Page -769 SRI AUROBINDO; Because of the general confusion. Moreover they have no money -they have to depend on Indo-China. PURANI: It seems the Indo-China Bank is refusing the money from the Bank of France. SRI AUROBINDO: Because nobody knows what the state of France will be. NIRODBARAN: I hope Bonvain won't join the Pétain Government. SRI AUROBINDO : Even if he does, he will be removed and the British will occupy Pondy and he knows that. PURANI: Some astrologer from Gujarat says that by the end of August the war will be over and England will win. CHAMPAKLAL: This August? PURANI: Yes. SATYENDRA: Not likely. If the invasion of England begins it is not going to be over so soon, or if Hitler is defeated England will still have to conquer back the European territories. SRI AUROBINDO: It is only possible if apart from the repulsion of Germany by England, the Italian fleet is destroyed so that a complete blockade of the whole continent can be effected and, as a result of general starvartion, Hitler may be assassinated. NIRODBARAN: Meher Baba has gone again into one year's silence. No communication at all except regarding urgent telegrams. SATYENDRA: He has asked all his Followers to fast for one day a week or to take only water and milk and to abstain from lust and greed and to inculcate love. He says that chaos is necessary for the uplifting of humanity and the higher manifestation. He has a big role to play. He is always charged with a mission. His philosophy is difficult to understand. Some say that he believes in one Atma everywhere. SRI AUROBINDO: Then why does he want the higher manifestation? SATYENDRA: Then again he says the world is Maya, illusion. SRI AUROBINDO : Then it is an illusory higher manifestation he wants? SATYENDRA: No, it is an illusion only from the phenomenal point of view. SRI AUROBINDO: Why doesn't he say so then? Page -770 EVENINGSRI AUROBINDO : The Viceroy hasn't given any new proposal, it seems. Still Gandhi is calling Azad and the Working Committee to meet at Delhi. How is that? Has he been in telephonic communication with Azad or does Azad take a different view and want the Working Committee to meet? PURANI: Maybe the Viceroy wants a quick reply. (After a while) Gabriel Monod-Herzen says that Mandel has been freed by Pétain . Perhaps he has threatened him with imprisonment if he continues any subversive activity in the future. SRI AUROBINDO: Mandel is not a man to be frightened by his threats. He himself told Pétaineither to make a public apology or to detain him. 2 JULY 1940SRI AUROBINDO (looking at Purani): We are in a queer position about money. PURANI: How? SRI AUROBINDO: The British Government has stopped the British notes from coming here and the French notes are not accepted by this Government. PURANI: Why have they done that? SRI AUROBINDO: Don't know. The Consul seems to have written to the Government to make an exception for Pondy, but no reply has come as yet. Swiss money also is not accepted. Jwalanti says that she is ruined. All her money is in Switzerland. PURANI: Perhaps because people here are converting all their money into British money. M has been doing that for the last six months. The Chamber of Commerce also saw the Governor about these banks refusing to accept French money. SRI AUROBINDO: That is about the Bank of France. Naturally the banks here can't accept French money because the value of the franc has fallen. PURANI : It is similar to the last war. The mark had fallen so low that people began to buy it in large numbers. Perhaps Germany may introduce the mark now in France. Page -771 SRI AUROBINDO: Amrita went to see some businessman here and during the talk the businessman said, "Oh, I am ruined!" PURANI: Oh yes, plenty of people will have the same fate. SATYENDRA: In the market there is panic. SRI AUROBINDO: Panic? People are desperate. NIRODBARAN: Is it all caused by the Indian Government? SRI AUROBINDO: No. The Indian Government has no jurisdiction over the colonies. Must be the British Government. NIRODBARAN: Is it done to exert pressure on the colonies? SRI AUROBINDO: No, in that case it would also have operated in Africa and Madagascar. They have nothing to do with British money. PURANI: Gabriel says that he approached the French Government through the Governor to allow his wife to come here, and the reply was that the wives of the functionaries would not be allowed to leave France. SRI AUROBINDO: Then others' wives can? (Laughter) No, nobody is allowed to leave France now. PURANI: Perhaps they fear that the internal condition of France will be revealed by these people. But the tourists will be doing that. Have you seen De Gaulle's statement about the French Army? He says that France has been defeated without any fight. Only sixty thousand people have been killed and nearly a million imprisoned- where was the fight? This is most absurd! One million imprisoned. SRI AUROBINDO: Worse than the fall of the Third Empire. There was mismanagement at that time. But they fought before they lost. PURANI: What Dr. André says may be partly true, that the French Army didn't really fight. Otherwise it couldn't have collapsed like that. The French air force perhaps didn't fly over Germany at all and so dropped no bombs, saying, "Who is going to risk being killed?" SRI AUROBINDO: We didn't hear much of the French air force, except at the beginning and that was only in the rear of the French line. PURANI: De Gaulle's accusation may be true. All these huge fortifications of the Maginot Line built at such a cost have come to nothing. SRI AUROBINDO: He has the right to speak. He was the one man who was in favour of mobile warfare and urged having tank Page -772 and mechanised units. He became so troublesome that they had to remove him. Reynaud made him the Chief of Staff and from him he must have gathered all this news. SATYENDRA: He has now been degraded and has retired. SRI AUROBINDO: Yes, he speaks now in his own right and appoints vice-admirals. SATYENDRA: The colonies are still undecided. They don't seem to have made up their minds. SRI AUROBINDO: No, except the Djibouti Governor who has said clearly that he won't surrender. Others are still hesitating. After tomorrow it will be seen -what happens. Tomorrow the tenth day of the armistice will expire and five more days will remain for the African and Mediterranean coasts. SATYENDRA: They are hoping Micawber -like that something will turn up. SRI AUROBINDO: Yes, waiting for that and to see who does what. PURANI: Russia has already come into the Balkans. SRI AUROBINDO: No, not quite. Still in central Europe. Her claims on Hungary are understandable. It will be the completion of her Polish campaign. But she has no claim on Bulgarian ports in the Black Sea. It has to be seen now what attitude they take. PURANI: If something happens in the Balkans it will be interesting. SRI AUROBINDO: Yes, that is the only way to save the situation. Hungary and Bulgaria are relying on Germany and Italy to protect them. Now it has to be seen what Hitler and Mussolini will do against Russia. If something happens Turkey and other powers will also pluck up courage. PURANI: What will happen to Hitler's pact with Stalin? SRI AUROBINDO: "Pact of brotherhood sealed in blood." That's what he said. Hitler has cloven-hoofed everybody. Now it is his turn to be cloven-hoofed. Carol says the British and the Jews dislike Russia having taken this step. Molotov will laugh at the idea. PURANI : In the recent naval engagement it seems that the Italian fleet ran away from the British. SRI AUROBINDO: Italy may not want any engagement now unless the odds are in its favour. It might be waiting until the armistice and if the French fleet is removed it may start something. Page -773 EVENINGSRI AUROBINDO : There is no confirmation of Russia's ultimatum to Hungary. PURANI: No, it may be just a rumour. SRI AUROBINDO: Yes, the news is too good to be true. (Laughter) PURANI: The communists in Bessarabia are very happy and the Rumanians are fleeing. Trainloads seem to be crossing each other carrying refugees. SRI AUROBINDO: And the Jews are running away to the Russian territory. (Laughter) PURANI: The clashes, they say, are due to the overflow of the Russians. SRI AUROBINDO: Yes, they outpaced the scheduled time! PURANI: The clashes on the Hungarian frontier have stopped. SRI AUROBINDO: Italy and Germany have asked the Hungarians to suspend their claims for now. SATYENDRA: De Gaulle wrote a book before the war which has been translated into German. It seems he foresaw modern warfare in the form of mass employment of tanks at selected points, as Hitler has done, as well as, mechanised units, armoured cars, surprise attacks in the Ardennes and on the Meuse and the defection of Belgium. He says, "This mechanical system of fire, shock, speed and camouflage will reveal itself when first let loose by bringing into action at least two thousand tanks." SRI AUROBINDO: I see! That is prophetic! Where is that news? SATYENDRA: In the Indian Express. (Laughter) But it quotes a French paper. SRI AUROBINDO: Of course, it can't write that itself. It seems France invents these plans and Germany accepts them. It was the same as the plan of depth-defence in the last war. Some soldier invented it but the French refused to accept it. One of the copies of the plan was seized by the Germans and they put it into operation; it gave a lot of trouble to the British at the end of the war. The Siegfried Line is modelled on that system for about thirty miles! PURANI: Spain's attitude seems to be doubtful. Hitler has massed an army on the Franco-Spanish frontier. SRI AUROBINDO: Why? PURANI : Perhaps he wants to take Gibraltar with Franco's help. Page -774 SRI AUROBINDO: Then it will be very difficult for the British to hold it. Gibraltar is only a rock and, besides, Spain has got Tangier on the other side. NIRODBARAN: They shouldn't have allowed Spain to get that. SRI AUROBINDO: Then they shouldn't have allowed Franco to win at all. If they had helped the Republican party, Franco would have been defeated. All this has been due to Chamberlain. PURANI: Lloyd George also asked for help to the Republicans at that time. NIRODBARAN: And they would have had Russia as their ally and she would have been more trustful of them. Now to take Gibralter may well be Hitler's next move. SRI AUROBINDO: Most probably. PURANI: Subhas Bose has been arrested. SRI AUROBINDO: Yes, by a friend of his. (Laughter) PURANI: It may be a prelude to the arrest of Congressmen. It seems there has been no change in the Government policy as a result of the Gandhi-Viceroy meeting. Repetition only. SRI AUROBINDO: Looks like that. Otherwise Rajagopalachari wouldn't have said what he did in his speech. It must be due to these officials at Simla. They are all fossilised people. Once they have a fixed idea, they won't give it up. SATYENDRA: The I.C.S. mentality. SRI AUROBINDO: Yes. Englishmen in England are quite different. Many of them, even conservatives, are speaking of a change in India. SATYENDRA: Though Amery seems to be a strong man, he doesn't have any idea about the Indian situation and the official mind. SRI AUROBINDO: He knows what is going on behind the scene. 3 JULY 1940SATYENDRA: People here have become panicky about the currency. I hear that many people are coming to the Ashram to have their British notes changed into French money. SRI AUROBINDO (laughing): Yes, but there is not yet any official order. The post office is still giving out British money. SATYENDRA: Shopkeepers refuse to give any change. Page -775 Chamberlain has said that England would rather go down than make peace with Hitler. SRI AUROBINDO: No more appeasement? SATYENDRA: No. He says England is fighting for the liberty of the world's peoples. NIRODBARAN: The trouble is that the British people's own liberty is so endangered that no one will believe him. SRI AUROBINDO: But what he says is true. Why did the British fight for Poland? NIRODBARAN: Hore-Belisha is supporting India's case. SRI AUROBINDO: Yes, and also working for an understanding with Ireland. They say that Germany may try to occupy Ireland, from where it will be easier to attack England. Ireland has a long coast which is quite undefended. An army can land anywhere. And the British will have to prepare the defence of the whole west coast of England. SATYENDRA: They have an army only thirty thousand strong. NIRODBARAN: But how will the Germans land there? SRI AUROBINDO: Why can't they? The British Navy is not always keeping watch over all that area. NIRODBARAN: If Ireland doesn't want to join the British, they have no chance. SRI AUROBINDO: The Irish people are strongly against joining the British because of the Ulster question. NIRODBARAN: Craigayon has said to De Valera that he won't make common cause with him unless he takes sides with the British. SRI AUROBINDO: De Valera can't do that because the Irish people are strongly against it unless the Ulster question is solved. NIRODBARAN: But it is the Ulster people who want to keep separate like our Muslim brothers. SRI AUROBINDO: Yes. SATYENDRA: They want their Pakistan. NIRODBARAN: Ireland has as difficult a problem as India. But don't they realise the danger of invasion? SRI AUROBINDO: They are like the Americans. NIRODBARAN: But Ireland's danger is more imminent and the Americans may not believe in the possibility of an invasion of their land, at least at a near date. SRI AUROBINDO : No, everybody now is realising the danger. Page -776 PURANI: The next step of Hitler after England will be America. SRI AUROBINDO: Not quite the next, because he may have to square with Russia first. NIRODBARAN: Burma has given unconditional help to Britain while the English response to it is that they "will be very willing to discuss". SRI AUROBINDO: Burma's policy is comprehensible while I don't understand the Congress position at all. They are neither helping nor going to offer resistance so long as Britain is at war. If they started some movement for their objective, it could be understood. But now they lose both the advantages of helping and those of resistance. EVENINGSRI AUROBINDO (suddenly to Nirodbaran): Do you know Savitri Devi? She is a Greek married to a Bengali. NIRODBARAN: I seem to have read about her in the papers. SATYENDRA: Yes, there was some mention of her. SRI AUROBINDO: She is a militant Hindu-Sabhaite. SATYENDRA: Converts are sometimes more enthusiastic. But she may have become Hindu out of genuine regard. PURANI: The Viceroy's proposals seem to fall far short of a National Government. SRI AUROBINDO: Yes, it is a short extension of his Executive Council. How many Congress members did the Viceroy propose last time? PURANI: Two, perhaps. SRI AUROBINDO: Now he may make it four and, if they refuse, he may take in the League, the Liberals and probably Savarkar and Ambedkar. PURANI: The Working Committee is giving counter-proposals, it appears. SRI AUROBINDO: Yes, many are in favour of the National Government. So Rajagopalachari prevails. PURANI: If the Executive Council with its defence powers were handed over to the Indians? SRI AUROBINDO: The Viceroy is not likely to agree. The British won't like to abdicate, leaving all defence measures in inexperienced hands. Page -777 PURANI: Chamberlain is being attacked by Lloyd George and asked to go. SRI AUROBINDO: That can't be done. It will create a dissension by offending the Conservative Party. 4 JULY 1940NIRODBARAN: Today is the date of expiry of the armistice terms. SRI AUROBINDO : No, two days more are there, except for two ports. NIRODBARAN: The Pondicherry Governor seems to be backing out from his previous stand. SRI AUROBINDO: Looks like that; the stand is becoming a "seat" now. SATYENDRA: He made a diplomatic statement ending with "Long live Britain and France" and saying that he would align himself with the British — but without repudiating the PétainGovernment. NIRODBARAN: Why is he backing out now? SRI AUROBINDO: Frightened, I suppose. Except Djibouti Caledonia, both tiny places, all the other colonies are undecided. NIRODBARAN: Perhaps the British will capture Pondicherry. SRI AUROBINDO: For that they will have to have an excuse; for example, Nazi agitation here. SATYENDRA: Even the British Government is hesitating about the PétainGovernment. SRI AUROBINDO: Yes, if they had formed an alternative Government then it would have been easier. SATYENDRA: All the leaders seem to have been unable to leave France. SRI AUROBINDO: Except Blum; he must have brought away some money with him. SATYENDRA: Gandhi has offered his help, through the Viceroy, to the British Government and has asked them to lay down their arms and practise non-violence. SRI AUROBINDO: He must be a little cracked. SATYENDRA: While asking them to lay down their arms, he wants them to keep up their spirit. Page -778 SRI AUROBINDO: And be subjugated in practice! NIRODBARAN: The French papers are being governed by Goebbels, it seems, and Le Matin has already started its campaign against the British. SRI AUROBINDO: Le Matin is a government-aided paper. Most of the French papers are aided. During the Abyssinian campaign Italy bought up almost all the papers in her favour. SATYENDRA: After a long time the judgment on the Bombay prohibition case has come out. SRI AUROBINDO: Yes, the judges seem to be fond of drink. Are they going by the amendment of the Abkari law? It seems clear that if the Congress Government came back, it would have no control over the import of foreign liquor. PURANI: No, because export and import become a reserved subject.
EVENINGRadio news: Most of the French fleet has fallen into British hands. Only at Oran in North Africa has the French fleet resisted and a naval fight is going on between the British and the French. SRI AUROBINDO: This is what is called "coup de tonnerre". SATYENDRA: The British move is quite logical in pursuance of their blockade. They said all French ports are under blockade. PURANI: The French could have simply said they had been over- powered and so surrendered to the British fleet. NIRODBARAN: Fleet means what? PURANI: Some naval units. SRI AUROBINDO: Oran is a big port in North Africa. NIRODBARAN: Now the colonies may buck up. SATYENDRA: Yes. SRI AUROBINDO: The Pondicherry Governor is sliding towards the PétainGovernment. But the British have now shown they won't stand any nonsense. NIRODBARAN: The only thing now, perhaps, is that French soldiers will be used against the British because of the naval fight between them. SATYENDRA: What can be done? It has to be done sooner or later. Page -779 SRI AUROBINDO: But will the French fight for Germany? There won't be any later as they are already in German hands. PURANI : Moreover, after demilitarisation it has to be seen how much vim is left in them. SRI AUROBINDO: Why is this fleet trying to go to France to be demobilised instead of having it done by England? PURANI: Perhaps they are Fascist. SATYENDRA: No reply to Gandhi's offer? (Laughter) SRI AUROBINDO: But the British are now demobilising the French fleet. The French can lay down their arms and go home. PURANI: Grazziani is being sent to Libya. SRI AUROBINDO: Yes. It was he who established peace in Libya by killing all the people who resisted. Do you know about the will? PURANI: What will? SRI AUROBINDO: The will that has been found in Balbao's plane. People are asking how the will could have remained intact when everything else was burnt and why Balbao would have carried a will with him. If it is a suicide, why would he have committed suicide with ten people? 5 JULY 1940News has come today about the details of the naval fight between English and the French fleets in Oran. But Sri Aurobindo did not seem to be in a mood to talk. Almost all the time he listened to us. PURANI: Pétain is being called the Führer of France. SRI AUROBINDO: Yes, he has realised the dream of his eighty-four. NIRODBARAN: They say that a major part of the French has fallen to the British. SRI AUROBINDO: A large part. EVENINGPURANI: The German radio says that the PétainGovernment has cut off all diplomatic relations with England. Page -780 SRI AUROBINDO (laughing): There is not much relation to cut off. They have only a charge d'affaires at London. On this side things are getting tighter. PURANI: In the Balkans? - SRI AUROBINDO: No, in Pondicherry. The Consul has left for the North, nobody knows where. The Vice-Consul also left for the North with the director of the Bank, perhaps to arrange for the currency directly without passing through the Governor. The Viceroy is coming to Madras. The French Governor is now frightened because the PétainGovernment has issued orders to carry out government orders as it is the duty of the fonctionnaire to obey the superior authority. Moreover, Hitler has threatened the admirals, officials and others that if they don't obey their wives and children will be taken to the concentration camps. SATYENDRA: Then what remains for them to resist for? PURANI: The British also are taking strong measures, I hear. They have forbidden all British ships to touch Pondicherry. That means a blockade. SRI AUROBINDO: Yes, they must have done that after learning of the Governor's attitude. NIRODBARAN: And now if diplomatic relations go, the British will take possession of Pondicherry. SRI AUROBINDO: Not necessarily. Even if diplomatic relations go, Pondicherry may simply remain hostile without being at war. NIRODBARAN: It seems that the PétainGovernment will very soon take up a hostile attitude towards England and even go to war with her, especially now after the naval intervention. SRI AUROBINDO: Looks like that. Their policies are lining up more and more with Germany. (To Nirodbaran) Have you seen the new constitution of France that Pétain has proposed? NIRODBARAN: No, I haven't seen it yet. SRI AUROBINDO: It is all authoritarianism and dictatorship. Pétain is the dictator and Weygand is the vice-dictator, I suppose the successor. Weygand, Mother says, is tremendously rich. He is one of the chief shareholders of the Suez Company. PURANI: Dr. André seems to have been correct in his estimation of the French officials here. He said, "You will see all of them back out when the Government order comes from France. They only say big things but they don't actually want to go to war. I know about two doctors in our hospital." Page -781 SRI AUROBINDO: Yes, all those who were shouting have become tame. I mean the military officers who wanted to fight with the British. One of them even wanted to commit suicide. (Laughter) PURANI: I told Dr. André about Bulloch who has been earnest and sincere and gone to war willingly. He said that because he was a technician he had to go. . SRI AUROBINDO: That is not correct. He has gone because he wants to fight, wants to get a promotion. PURANI: Some people say that conditions in France must be all right. The peasants must be getting enough food, otherwise they would have revolted. SRI AUROBINDO: Who are these people? PURANI: Some townspeople. SRI AUROBINDO: Then the peasants in India must be very prosperous because they don't revolt. (Laughter) PURANI: I told them that in Germany people had to be on war rations for seven years. NIRODBARAN: Due to this blockade we shall also suffer. SRI AUROBINDO: Of course, especially as our wheat is detained at Madras. If we had our own wheat we could go on millennium. NIRODBARAN: Then instead of wheat we shall have rice. (After a while) Have you read Harin's poems? SRI AUROBINDO: Yes, they are good but nothing wonderful. I have read part of Anilbaran's conversations¹ too. I don't see that all of them are worth publishing. There are plenty of trivial things. A selection has to be made and even then it may not be worth publishing it. NIRODBARAN: Besides, the style is very poor. He hasn't taken any care to present things in an elegant way. SRI AUROBINDO: Of course I didn't speak to him in Bengali. PURANI: It seems to me that such things require a bit of rounding off to be presentable and to have a literary value. SRI AUROBINDO: But he may fear that it will be too much rounded off like Charu Dutt's stories! (Laughter) It is all about his ¹The conversations Anilbaran Roy had with Sri Aurobindo on his first •were sent to Sri Aurobindo for revision with a view to publishing them. Page -782 sadhana. There is nothing literary there. Things like, keep your mind quiet and aspire. PURANI: That reminds me of Noren. He says, "Charubabu says, 'Keep your mind quiet and aspire'; Sri Aurobindo also has said this. What is new in that?" SATYENDRA: Easy to say but difficult to do. SRI AUROBINDO: But Anilbaran seems to have done it all right. When he was asked to do it, he said he tried and his mind became quiet but nothing descended. (Laughter) PURANI: At that time everybody used to feel something very concretely after having a talk with you. At this point SATYENDRAbegan to smile, looking at Nirodbaran. SRI AUROBINDO: That was the golden period of the Ashram. And now (looking at Nirodbaran significantly) it is the age of the "physical crust". (Laughter) The scientists have a special term for it. SATYENDRA: But a most momentous period for us. After a while Purani read out a poem by B. K. Thakore on Hitler. In it Thakore says, "We will gather all our might to crush you." SRI AUROBINDO (laughing): Not so easy as in poetry. (Laughter) 6 JULY 1940PURANI : There is a German order that ships must keep twelve to twenty miles off the French coast. I suppose it may apply to colonies too. SRI AUROBINDO: Even if the ships come nearer, what can Pondicherry do? It has no guns. PURANI: Mohanlal says he saw three sepoys with guns on the pier. SRI AUROBINDO: To shoot British warships? It seems all communications, trains, etc. are going to be stopped between Madras and Pondicherry. The people are in a panic. Hitler has declared that the French fleet is not to be demobilised, (laughter) because he can't get at it and he has threatened Turkey and Yugoslavia. It depends now on what Russia will do because it will be dangerous for Russia Page -783 to allow Hitler to get control of Turkey which means control of the Dardanelles also, an entry into Asia Minor. The position will then be that except for Russia and Britain everybody will be under Hitler. Spain is practically under his thumb. That is the New World Order. I suppose. Only North Africa will be out of it, since it is being guarded by the British navy. PURANI: I suppose Turkey will consult Russia before yielding. SRI AUROBINDO: Yes. Everybody is climbing down. Have you noted that Cordell Hull said that America won't participate European politics? America will only concern itself with trade! NIRODBARAN: For some time America has been following that policy. SRI AUROBINDO: Yes. NIRODBARAN: I wonder if it is because of the impending election. On the other hand Knox and other Republicans have said that Britain's defence is their own defence. Are there only two parties in America? SRI AUROBINDO: Yes, but there is a split in the parties. The Democratic Party is solidly behind Roosevelt, I think, while in Republican Party there are isolationists, interventionists, etc. PURANI: France has cut off all diplomatic relations with England, Germany says. In that case the Indian Government naturally take stern measures and they won't hesitate to take possession of Pondicherry. SRI AUROBINDO: Diplomatic relations are already cut off here. It seems the Consul has gone to the North with the Vice-Consul. When the British Consul asked the Governor why he was hesitating, he replied, "Your own Government has not decided what to do." That is practically a refusal. NIRODBARAN: But he could have acted like Indo-China and the British status quo. SRI AUROBINDO: Yes, but what if he wants to go back to France? The PétainGovernment will be there. NIRODBARAN: Is Hitler trying to checkmate Russia in Turkey or working in league with Russia? SRI AUROBINDO: Don't know. But Stalin and Molotov would be off their heads to allow Hitler to get Turkey. Hitler would next occupy Asia Minor and then Asia. Then Jawaharlal might think the invasion of India has become real. NIRODBARAN: Can't say. He still might not believe it. Page -784 SRI AUROBINDO: He might say that there are mountains, deserts, etc! NIRODBARAN: But Turkey is in a better position. She has the Allies on her side. SRI AUROBINDO: Yes, but there is Syria in between. The British will have to occupy it first. SATYENDRA: Hitler has made a calculated move. He has first alienated Syria, then he will impose himself on Turkey. He and Italy have warned Turkey and Yugoslavia against an independent policy. SRI AUROBINDO: If Kemal were there, he would never submit. I don't know about these other people. NIRODBARAN: Italy calls Churchill a criminal gangster because of his action against the French fleet. SRI AUROBINDO: Italy? Of course. A gangster like Mussolini? SATYENDRA: Where was the Italian fleet at that time? SRI AUROBINDO: Italy said that it couldn't arrive in time. NIRODBARAN: Italy has thrown a challenge to the British navy to come to the Italian naval base. SRI AUROBINDO: The fact is that the Italian fleet is hiding in the Adriatic. (Laughter) EVENINGPURANI : There was a great rush at the bank to exchange French notes for British money. NIRODBARAN: So Pondicherry is becoming a British colony? And diplomatic relations also seem to have been cut off. SRI AUROBINDO: The French charge d'affaires in London has resigned. But why "resigned"? They are called back in such cases. Is it a new term? PURANI: Perhaps he is in sympathy with the British and so has sent his resignation to Pétain. The French fleet has been asked to scuttle itself. SRI AUROBINDO: The British also have made a similar offer to sink it. DR. RAO: What do you think of Gandhi's offer to the British? SRI AUROBINDO: The result of the offer here has been that those officers who wanted to fight don't want to any more. They say, "If submission is heroic, why fight?" The French forces stopped fighting not because they were non-violent but because Page -785 there was no hope. If there had been any hope they would have fought on. PURANI: Any news of the Congress Working Committee? SRI AUROBINDO: No, they are still holding sessions. Something important seems to be going on there, otherwise they wouldn't have taken so many days. DR. RAO: There is a rumour of a mysterious letter sent by the Viceroy through Aney to Gandhi. SRI AUROBINDO: Rumour from where? DR. RAO: The Indian Express. (Laughter) As Dr. Rao didn't get the joke about The Indian Express, he looked from one person to another. SRI AUROBINDO: The paper comments that the Simla office circle is hard in its attitude. PURANI: It seems Grig is against any wide reforms. SRI AUROBINDO: It is the resistance of Simla that stands in the way, I am sure the English people would give larger terms. The Manchester Guardian describes the Viceroy as rigid and asks Amery to visit India. Page -786 |