'File 11/46 Publicity in the Persian Gulf' [‎86v] (172/314)

Publications Division
Progress Report No. 19 for the Period ending 30-9-45.
A. mm SITUATION
l. U.S.S.&.
For the study of one of her largest and potentially
most important neighbours Russia has remarkably few
sources of objective information. The articles on India
in the Encyclopaedia Sovietica are inaccurate and tenden
tious and more recent publications such as Melman's
India and Dyakov's articles in War and the Wording Class are
open to the same objections. To counteract this there is
the admirable British Ally, but in its last twelve issues
only 1.25% of the contents was devoted to India, rep
resenting an annual total of about 10,000 words — an
inadequate allotment to give a true picture of India's
recent political and economic development.
The Russians accept the situation with regrettable
equanimity: Moscow reactions to publications from Delhi
are still conspicuously absent. The British Embassy there
approve the productions but are silent about their effect.
There have recently appeared in British Ally reviews
complimentary to a new American publication, so per
haps the distribution problem is easing off and we may
soon receive authoritative comments. We are still mainly
dependent, however, on opinions outside Russia and
these are now numerous and favourable enough to jus
tify the complete confidence that Indian publicity to
Russia will establish itself in the long run: the defeatist
attitude that the hedgehog position of Russia is impreg
nable will have to be abandoned.
The Russian Embassy in Tehran, for example, "is
delighted with Dunya"; Tabriz is also very favourably
disposed towards it and the main agent for Soviet pub
lications sells a large number of the Russian edition,
though "the bewildering jumble of polyglot inscrip
tions on the cover " is said to discourage buyers. Indian
Chronicle is more imponderable but a recent very detailed
analysis of the issues to date suggests that no radical
revision of policy is necessary. The plan of lightening
the contents by the inclusion of literary compositions
has been, at least temporarily, abandoned: the siege is
still to the "heavy artillery"; and the policy of having
articles by the best available experts of whatever
nationality still seems the soundest.
The plan of campaign therefore will be to snipe at
Russian nationals abroad wherever they may be, while
blindly bombarding the main fortress: the quality of
our ammunition will eventually win respect on its
merits.
2. Persia
It would be only through very rose-coloured spec
tacles that an improvement in the position in Persia
could be seen. The internal situation is confused and
has all the elements of further confusion : events outside
Persia such as the British election results and the atomic
bomb are employed by contending parties inside the
country to make the confusion worse confounded. The
end of the war in the Far East, though it does not seem
to have evoked much enthusiasm, has strengthened the
demand for the withdrawal of foreign troops. Even if —
which is to say the least unlikely — this withdrawal ten^^
to unify the contending elements in Persian party poli
tics, it would almost inevitably mean a deterioration in
the excellent roads maintained by the military; and this
would equally inevitably tend to increase the already
serious distribution difficulties.
We have been dependent for the distribution of our
publications on the good offices of a friend whose
organisation may be severely strained not only by the
conditions described above but perhaps also by the
financial axe. Investigations have recently been carried
out in Persia as to the possibility of shipping all our
material to flbadan, and thence by rail to Tehran, where
it will be distributed by a large commercial firm. This
would obviate the necessity of sending material over
land by the slow route from Zahidan — a route which may
possibly become quite irregular if the roads deteriorate
rapidly. These investigations show that the schem
quite feasible and arrangements are being made to put
it into operation as soon as possible. It is perhaps not
out of place to put on record our gratitude for the help
we have received in the past in the distribution of our
material through the Embassy in Tehran.
Sales of Shaipur during the period under review
decreased, largely owing to economic pressure, to trans
port diffculties and perhaps to a temporary stoppage of
supplies to provincial agents to jolt them into paying
their bills. The price has now been decreased to bring
it into line with that charged in Iraq. On the other hand,
the first editions of Dunya were hailed with delight and
described as "a great improvement on Jehan-i-Imruz",
and all the copies of Heyday were rapidly sold out. There
has been some subsequent falling off in the sales of Dunya.
3. Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. :—
In an attempt to improve the speed with which pub
lications reach Bushire by sea, some quantities of