Is Democracy to Blame?
Many in India are beginning to question or even blame the parliamentary democratic system for all of India's troubles. They are seriously thinking that some other system of government might improve their lot. Many are considering a type of state socialism very similar to the state-owned and state-run system of Russian communism.
Even though Nehru (India's first Prime Minister) had been trained at Harrow and Cambridge, he was never fully persuaded that the British system of parliamentary democracy was best for India.
"Indeed, the younger Nehru became more and more attracted by communism; after a four-day visit to Soviet Russia in 1927 he wrote: 'Whatever its faults, communism is not hypocritical and not imperialistic' " (India, Taya Zinkin).
Nehru spent his last years trying to lift India out of the "cow-dung age" and into the atomic age. But he, like the British before him, soon learned that it isn't an easy task to change the religious, social and political ideas and customs of four or five hundred million Indians. The road to true, lasting progress in India will be a long, uphill climb all the way!
Nehru found that many domestic and foreign problems seemed almost to defy solution.
Prominent Indian governing officials have said the caste system has done more to shackle the peoples of India than anything else! They are frustrated by their powerlessness to find the solution to this problem.
Some Indians feel that Nehru's most serious mistake in conducting India's foreign policy was his obsession with Pakistan — and his complete overlooking of China as India's foe. During the 1950's the slogan Hindi Chini, Bhai, Bhai "Chinese and Indians are brothers" was familiar in India.
When communist China overran Tibet, Nehru supported Peking on the ground that Tibet was, after all, only a province of China.
But he got his eyes opened when the Chinese began to encroach upon India's Ladakh territory, and began to lay claims on the Northwest Frontier Agency.
Today, India is quite friendly with the Russians. But the recent success of the pro-Peking communists indicates the Chinese brand of communism is making a rapid comeback.
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P.A. George, R. McNair — Ambassador College
PANORAMA OF MODERN-DAY INDIA
Traditional granary, at Patna with cow dung cakes being dried on wall (in right foreground) for fuel.
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Signs of Communism
While we were in India we saw little Chinese activity, but many obvious indications of Russian (communist) influence. In Calcutta we saw obvious outward signs of communist influence — their slogans prominently displayed.
Furthermore, the Russian Admiral, Gorshkov, made a tour of India in the early part of 1968, seeking, among other things, a Russian base in the Indian Ocean.
Our plane from Bombay to Moscow was filled with Indians.
India's trade with Russia and the communist countries has more than tripled since 1961. In 1966, India negotiated a billion-dollar arms deal with the Russians — for the purchase of tanks, planes, submarines and small arms. India's purchase of a 1.3 billion dollar steel mill from Russia further underscores Russia's efforts in that country.
The Sino-Indian border conflict temporarily favored Russo-Indian relations. Russia is very happy to have even an impoverished nation like India for her ally, because this will give her certain psychological and military advantages in her struggle against the West and against the Chinese communists.
Yet, in spite of all these Russian communist efforts, the Chinese communists were the real winners in India's February elections.
India's Communist Party
Many in the Western world have not realized that right now the communist party is the second most powerful party in India — and has the second highest number of seats in parliament.
The seeds of communism have been sown all over India. Several Indian states are known to be communist strongholds, especially Kerala and West Bengal, as the recent elections made obvious.
It is a well-known fact that communism thrives on poverty, squalor and human wretchedness. No affluent nation has ever espoused communism. That is why Calcutta's deep poverty makes that city an easy prey for communists. Calcutta, remember, has been referred to as "the world's worst city," and "the world's biggest slum."
Since poverty and illiteracy are so common in India, it may not prove too difficult for the communists to take over the entire country. One of the main obstacles to a communist take-over is Hinduism. The Hindus are deeply religious. Communism is atheistic. There would be, of course, some bloodshed. But there would not be anything like the bloodshed which occurred in Russia when the communists took over that country during World War I. It is not so easy to rouse the Hindu Indians to organized violence because so many of them, by religion, are against taking life in any form. But Hindus are prone to spontaneous riots and acts of emotionalism leading sometimes to disorganized local violence.
Indian Origins
Who are the peoples of India?
Where did they come from? It will come as a surprise to many to learn that the racial origins of the Indians are made plain through the Scriptures.
The peoples of India, in major part, descend from Ham, one of the three sons of Noah. One of Ham's sons was named "Put" or "Phut" — spelled either way in the Scriptures (see Gen. 10:6; I Chron. 1:8).
Both the Hebrew Bible and profane history — especially Arabic and Persian sources — demonstrate that the descendants of Put migrated eastward from Mesopotamia and settled in what we call India. The Hebrew word "Put" means a warrior.
The word "Rajput" means "king or chief of Put (Encyclopedia Britannica, art. "Raja"). The rulers of India have often been referred to as the "Rajputs." They were the warrior-rulers of India.
Furthermore, some descendants of another of Ham's sons, Kush or Cush, also settled in India. These Cushites once lived in the area called Hindu Cush. Today there are Cushites in India as well as in Ethiopia and other far-flung regions. And it is well known that the Parsees are the descendants of the ancient Persian peoples.
Some of the Indians are very dark like the dark Cushites of Ethiopia (where the Western branch of Cushites settled) while many of the Indians are not quite so dark.
India to Go Communist?
Many in India — especially in government circles — fear a possible communist take-over. Present-day indications point to the strong and imminent possibility of India being engulfed by communism — either in a somewhat bloodless coup, or by a more bloody revolution. India and communist Russia have been drawing closer and closer through the years. India is becoming more and more disenchanted with democracy and with the Commonwealth.
British papers recently stated that Mrs. Indira Gandhi had hinted that India might even withdraw from the Commonwealth. Some in Britain feared India would turn more completely to Russia, and away from the Commonwealth.
At this year's Commonwealth meeting in London, Mrs. Gandhi told us that she and her government don't fear a communist take-over in India. But, time will tell if she is correct.
An Amazing Prophecy
An amazing prophecy, written thousands of years ago, reveals that India will eventually be allied with the COMMUNISTS — not with the West — astounding as that may seem!
The 38th and 39th chapters of Ezekiel speak of a number of nations allied against Israel. Notice the names of those attacking nations who will come up "against the mountains of Israel" (Ezek. 38:8).
What are those nations, or peoples, who, according to this prophecy, will attack the nation of Israel?
Verse 2 mentions the peoples of Gog and Magog, of Meshech and Tubal (or Moscow and Tobolsk). Allied with them will be the Persians, some of the peoples of "Ethiopia" (Heb. Cush) and "Put" or "Phut." Any good marginal reference will show that the word "Libya" (verse 5) is a mistranslation. The Hebrew word here translated "Libya" is "Put" or "Phut."
So we see that the peoples of Phut and of Cush (meaning the modern-day Indians) will be allied with the communists of Russia, China and the Orient. Since India is inhabited by peoples of Phut, Cush and even some of the Persians (today called Parsees) — it becomes quite clear that India will either be taken over by the communists, or else will be very closely allied with them — at the time when these communist nations invade the "land of Israel."
The 38th and 39th chapters of Ezekiel are known to be yet future. No one claims they have already been fulfilled.
These amazing prophecies are beginning to take shape right before our very eyes. Watch Bible prophecy! Watch India! You will not have long to wait to see these sure prophecies come to pass before your very eyes.
India's Only Hope
Even though India will finally sever her ties with the British Commonwealth and will snuggle up closer to the communists, yet — surprising as it may seem — the time is coming when the peoples of India will have their hearts turned back to the peoples of Britain. Yes, the peoples of Britain are prophesied to help lift the peoples of India out of their ignorance, poverty and squalor — during the coming millennial rule of Jesus Christ upon this very earth!
The people of Britain will be a great blessing to the people of India in the wonderful world tomorrow — when the long-prophesied Messiah will rule all nations in peace, judgment and in prosperity. This, truly, is India's only hope!
Then, and only then, will the peoples of India receive such boundless blessings that we can't even imagine!
The Hindus also believe that their god, Chrishna (or Krishna) will return to the earth and rule for 1,000 years. This Hindu belief in a millennial rule is virtually identical with the Jewish and Christian Messianic teaching of the soon-coming Messiah establishing His just rule upon this earth.
If you wish to understand, in much greater detail, just how these and other significant world happenings will occur in the near future, then you should immediately write, requesting the free books: The United States and British Commonwealth in Prophecy, and The Wonderful World Tomorrow — What It Will Be Like.