From The Times: December 14, 1921
When the Prince of Wales entered the city of Allahabad, the official capital of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, he found the streets deserted and traffic and business suspended. There was no disorder, but there was no popular welcome such as the great communities of India have hitherto offered members of the Royal Family. It would be foolish to ignore the significance of this unpleasant episode, but it would be easy to exaggerate its importance. The disagreeable factor is that the Prince appears to be moving through an atmosphere of increasing ill-will, not to himself or to the Crown, but to British rule. On the other hand, we decline to believe that the attempts at a boycott represent the true feeling of the bulk of the people. They are the outcome of the tactics of terrorism and inflammatory propaganda practised among the more ignorant sections. The silence of Allahabad represented the first occasion on which the fomenters of passive hostility were successful. At Poona His Royal Highness was given a most amazing welcome, and not a single unfavourable incident marred his visit. Twenty-five years ago Poona was the most disaffected city in India. The deplorable outburst of rioting in Bombay was confined to areas some distance from the Prince’s movements. We must get these episodes into perspective, remembering that India is a land of contradictions. We cannot, however, allow either the Prince of Wales or any other member of the Royal Family visiting India to be exposed to unnecessary risks. Attempts are being made to organize an active boycott of British rule, and the visit of the Prince has been selected as a suitable moment to inaugurate it. The Government has reached the limits of toleration and is arresting people charged with unlawful association, seditious enterprises, subverting law and order and “political picketing”. Meanwhile India must be told, plainly and firmly, that the question of constitutional changes cannot at present be reopened, that the law will be upheld, and that disorder will not be tolerated. We hope that India is ashamed of the discourtesy of Allahabad, and that there will be no further attempt to mar the journey of the Prince, who is an ambassador of peace and goodwill.
FROM THE ARCHIVE