[Letter to Mr Minoo Masani]

Summary

This is a one-page typed letter from Prof. N. G. Ranga, President of the Swatantra Party and MP, written from Nidubrolu (Guntur District, Andhra Pradesh) on 10 August 1964 to Minoo Masani. Ranga reports that on returning home the previous evening he found a letter dated 28 July from Stanisław Mikołajczyk — President of the International Peasant Union and former Prime Minister of Poland — inviting him to the Union’s 8th Congress in Washington on 4–6 September. Mikołajczyk had cautioned that the Union was still trying to secure round-trip coach air fare and ten days’ subsistence, and would confirm as soon as funding was found.

Ranga tells Masani that if the air passage does materialise he feels obliged to attend, because the International Peasant Union has been doing good work for world democracy and especially for the captive peoples of the Soviet satellite countries. He notes the striking coincidence of two unexpected foreign invitations — one to Copenhagen, this one to Washington — arriving within a fortnight. The practical consequence, which is the reason for the letter, is that a Washington trip would clash with the Swatantra Party’s programme meetings in Delhi scheduled for 6–9 September. Ranga leaves the decision to Masani: if his presence is essential the Delhi meetings must be postponed to 14 September; otherwise the party must carry on without him. He adds that the Party elections will, in any case, have to be pushed back to 14 September. The letter closes affectionately with a handwritten note that copies are being sent to Rajaji and to the Bombay Office.

Key points

• Letter from N. G. Ranga (President, Swatantra Party) to Minoo Masani, dated 10 August 1964 from Nidubrolu, Andhra Pradesh.
• Reports an invitation dated 28 July from Stanisław Mikołajczyk, President of the International Peasant Union and former Prime Minister of Poland, to attend the Union’s 8th Congress in Washington on 4–6 September.
• The Peasant Union was still trying to raise round-trip coach air fare and a ten-day stipend for Ranga; attendance was contingent on that funding coming through.
• Ranga frames the Peasant Union approvingly as an organisation working for world democracy and for the captive peoples of the Soviet satellite countries, and remarks on the coincidence of a simultaneous invitation to Copenhagen.
• A Washington trip would clash with the Swatantra Party’s programme meetings in Delhi on 6–9 September; Ranga asks Masani to decide whether to postpone those meetings to 14 September or to proceed without him.
• Party elections are noted as needing to be postponed to 14 September regardless of the outcome.
• Copies of the letter are marked to Rajaji and to the party’s Bombay Office.