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dated August 17, 1956 (there being no issue of the paper dated August 16): Suez: Nehru's warning

Addressing a mammoth gathering from the ramparts of Delhi's Red Fort on August 15 on the occasion of the ninth anniversary of Independence, Prime Minister Nehru expressed the hope that a peaceful and amicable solution would be found at the London conference for the Suez Canal crisis, which had posed a grave danger to the world. He warned that if any attempt was made, even by mistake, by any power to solve the issue by armed force or by threats, it would have disastrous results, leading to a conflagration which might spread throughout the world. Mr. Nehru, who referred thrice to the Suez Canal issue in his half-hour speech, said: "I hope that if this problem is not solved by the London conference, then a second or even a third attempt will be made to solve it through peaceful means only." He appealed to all parties interested in the Suez issue to approach the problem in a spirit of mutual trust and respect and not of decrying each other or belittling each other. "We must remember at this hour of danger to the world that only solutions based on friendship and understanding are lasting solutions. Ours is a world of the atom and hydrogen bombs and we cannot afford to be complacent or careless." Mr. Nehru devoted a considerable part of his speech to the disturbances in some parts of the country over the States' reorganisation issue and appealed to young men not to adopt the "hooligan method" of trying to decide important questions in the streets. He asked the people to remember that India which had given to the world the message of Panch Shila must practise it in its domestic sphere also. "I want to make it clear Parliament's decisions on the States' reorganisation issue are firm and once they have become the law of the land, they will not be changed by any show of force or threats."

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