{"id":1036,"date":"2013-07-13T01:32:10","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=1036"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:32:10","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:32:10","slug":"65-facts-and-opinions-15-1-1910-vol-02-karmayogin-volume-02","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/01-sabcl\/02-karmayogin-volume-02\/65-facts-and-opinions-15-1-1910-vol-02-karmayogin-volume-02","title":{"rendered":"-65_Facts and Opinions 15-1-1910.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\nFacts and Opinions<\/font><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\nVolume I – Jan.
\n15, 1910 – Number 28<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n


\n\t
\n The
\n Patiala Case<\/font><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\nT<\/font>he Patiala Case has developed its real objective,
\nwhich is the destruction of the Arya Samaj, the
\nmen arrested being merely pawns in the game. The speech of the Counsel for the
\nprosecution, Mr. Grey, in no way sets out an ordinary case against individuals,
\nnor is there any passage in it which gives any light as to particular evidence
\nagainst the persons on their trial, but from beginning to end it is an
\narraignment of the Arya Samaj as a body whose whole object, semi-open rather
\nthan secret, is the subversion of British rule. Mr. Norton, taking advantage of
\nthe presence of Sj. Aurobindo Ghose in the dock, attempted to build up in
\nthe Alipur Case an elaborate indictment of
\nthe whole national movement as a gigantic conspiracy, but he did not neglect
\nthe individual cases and made some attempt to conceal the extra-judicial object
\nof his oratory by a continual reference to actual evidence, relevant or
\nirrelevant, in the case. Mr. Grey has not given himself that trouble. The political
\ncharacter of his advocacy is open and avowed. But he follows his Calcutta
\nprecursor in the ludicrous jumps of his logic from trivial premises to
\ngigantically incongruous conclusions, in his heroic attempt to make bricks out
\nof straw. His chief arguments are that the Arya Samajists
\nread the Amrita Bazar Patrika <\/i>and the Punjabee<\/i>,
\n\u2014<\/i> to say nothing of the long defunct Bande
\nMataram<\/i>, \u2014<\/i> and that some of the prominent members of the Arya Samaj
\nare politicians and yet remain members of the Arya Samaj. The perfectly general
\ninterpretations by Swami Dayananda of the Vedic
\nview of politics are the basis of his attack, and even the vehement character
\nof the great reformer’s polemics against other religions, the orthodox Hindu
\nincluded, are pressed into the service of this unique argument. And all this is
\nused to prejudice men under trial on a serious charge. Mr. Norton trifled with
\nthe traditions of the British bar by his pressing of tri-<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Page \u2013 353<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n

vial and doubtful evidence against the accused in the Alipur
\nCase, but it seems to us that Mr. Grey has departed still farther from those
\nlofty traditions. And what if the Patiala
\nCourt decides that the Arya Samaj is a seditious body, seditious in origin,
\nseditious in intention, seditious in action ? Will the Government prescribe as
\nan illegal association this wealthy, powerful and highly organised community
\ncontaining more than half the brains and activity of the Punjab ? Already the charge has been made that by giving
\nspecial privileges to the Mahomedans, the
\nGovernment have abandoned definitely the principle of religious neutrality on
\nwhich their rule has hitherto been founded. The present Governor of the Punjab
\nis possibly capable of such a step, \u2014 after the whitewashing of the Police in
\nthe Gulab Bano
\ncase and his speech to the Loyalist deputation, we can believe him capable of
\nany rash and headstrong step. Fortunately, there is little likelihood that Mr.
\nGrey’s oratory will be any more effective than Mr. Norton’s.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\n
\n\t
\n The
\n Arya Samaj and Politics<\/a><\/font><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We
\nhave received a communication from a member of the Samaj in which he puts to us
\ncertain pointed questions relating to the aims, character and works of the
\nSamaj and of its founder’s teachings. We have not that direct and first-hand
\nknowledge which would enable us to answer these questions with any authority.
\nBut on the general question our views are known. Aryaism
\nis not an independent religion. It is avowedly an attempt to revive the Vedic religion in its pristine purity. The Vedic religion is a national religion, and it
\nembraces in its scope all the various activities of the national life. Swami Dayananda
\nas a restorer of Vedicism included the
\ntheory of politics in his scope and revealed the intensely national character
\nof the Hindu religion and morality. His work was avowedly a work of national
\nregeneration. In dealing with the theory of politics as based on the Vedic
\nreligion he had naturally to include the truth that independence is the true
\nand normal condition of a nation and all lapse into subjection must be a sin
\nand degeneration, temporary<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Page \u2013 354<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n

in
\nits nature. No man can deny this great truth. Freedom is the goal of humanity
\nand Aryaism was in its nature a gospel of
\nfreedom, individual freedom, social freedom, intellectual freedom, freedom in
\nall things, and the accomplishment of such an all-pervading liberation cannot
\ncome about without bringing national freedom in its train. If to perceive
\nthese truths of Vedism and of nature is to
\nbe political and seditious, then Swami Dayananda’s teaching was political and seditious
\nand the religion he preached may be stigmatised as political and seditious. But
\nif sedition be limited to its proper meaning, an attempt by illegal and violent
\nmeans to bring about the fall of the established authority or prepare by word
\nor action lawless opposition and revolution, then there is no sedition in the
\nSwami’s preaching or in the belief and
\nactions of the Arya Samaj.
\nThey use the perfectly legitimate means of strengthening the national life at
\nall points and their objective is national regeneration through an active and
\nfree religion, not political revolution. Individual members may be Loyalists,
\nModerates, Nationalists, even Terrorists, but a religious body is not
\nresponsible for the political opinions of its individual members. The religious
\nteaching of Swami Dayananda was inspired by
\nnational motives, not political; and the aims of the Arya Samaj are national,
\nnot political.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\n\t
\n The
\n Arya Disclaimer<\/a><\/font><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The leaders of the
\nArya Samaj have issued a manifesto disclaiming the political motives
\nattributed to them by the Counsel for the Prosecution in his extraordinary
\nopening address at Patiala. But is there any
\nuse in these repeated disclaimers ? To a
\ncertain type of official mind, not in the minority in this country, every
\nmovement, body, organ of opinion or centre of activity that makes for national
\nstrength, efficiency or manhood is by that very fact suspect and indeed
\nself-convicted as seditious and its very existence a crime to be punished by
\nthe law. The Governor of the Punjab is either himself an official of this
\nclass or swayed by advisers of that temper. Under such circumstances it is
\nenough to issue once for all a strong and dignified repudiation<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Page \u2013 355<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n

of
\nthe charge and then proceed calmly with the great work the Samaj has undertaken, serenely strong and
\nunperturbed in good fortune or evil
\nfortune, good report or evil report, confident in God’s grace and the spiritual
\nforce communicated by the founder. This is the only course worthy of a manly
\ncommunity professing a robust and virile religion. Anxious repetition of
\nunheeded disclaimers seems to us undignified and futile.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\n\t
\n What
\n is Sedition ?<\/a><\/font><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nquestion, what is sedition, one of those Chinese puzzles which it seems
\nimpossible to solve, nevertheless presses for solution. In Nagpur it has been established that to laugh at
\nthe holder of a Government title is sedition. In the Swaraj Case Justice Chandavarkar has declared it to be the law that to
\ncondemn terrorism in strong language and trace it to its source is sedition.
\nAt Patiala it is contended that to read the Amrita Bazar Patrika <\/i>and
\nthe Punjabee<\/i> is sedition. We are not
\nquite sure that at Patiala the prosecuting counsel did not hint that to bring
\nChristianity or Mahomedanism into contempt
\nor hatred is sedition. And we have these remarkable cases in the Punjab, where
\nto translate Seeley’s Expansion of
\nEngland<\/i> or Mr. Bryan’s opinion of
\nBritish rule in India seems to have a fair chance of being established as
\nsedition. Mr. Stead’s Review of Reviews<\/i> is now known to be a seditious
\npublication. We are not sure, either, that the Indian Daily News <\/i> is not
\neven worse, for it is continually trying to bring the police, who are an
\nindispensable part of the Government established by law, into contempt and
\nhatred, and the incorrigible persistence of its efforts is sufficient proof of
\nmotive, if not of conspiracy. Now one of the charges against a Punjab accused
\nis that he wrote impugning the character of the subordinate police service
\n\u2014 just like the Indian Daily News<\/i> or Sir Andrew Fraser.
\nWe would suggest that Sir Andrew Fraser should
\nbe arrested in England and brought here to answer to the outraged police for
\nthe remarks passed by the Police Commission. The reasoning is perfectly fair.
\nAny strong criticism, especially if it is persistent, lowers the reputation of
\nthe Government<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Page \u2013 356<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n

and
\ncreates in people a tendency to belittle, that is to say, have a contempt for
\nauthority established by law. It is still worse if the Government is accused of
\ninjustice, say, in the matter of the deportations or the Gulab Bano case; for that inevitably creates hatred. Therefore
\nstrong criticism of the Government is sedition. The Amrita
\nBazar Patrika<\/i> and Punjabee<\/i> strongly criticise the Government.
\nTherefore they are seditious papers and their readers seditious conspirators.
\nEvery official is a member of the Government established by law; therefore to
\ncriticise strongly an official or a policeman, still more, officials or
\npolicemen as a class, is sedition. Christianity is the religion of the
\nGovernment established by law; to criticise Christianity is to bring Christians
\ninto contempt; the Government are Christians; therefore to criticise Christianity is to bring
\nthe Government established by law into contempt. That is sedition. Therefore to
\ncriticise Christianity is sedition. To say that repression fosters Terrorism
\nmay be true, but it is seditious. To suggest a Press censorship, seriously or
\nironically, is to bring the administration of the law of sedition into
\ncontempt, that is, to bring the administrators into contempt; and the administrators are the Government
\nestablished by law. Therefore Mr. Stead’s Open Letter to Lord Morley is seditious. We are almost afraid to go
\non, lest, finally, we should end by proving that the Englishman<\/i> itself
\nis an intolerably seditious rag, \u2014 for does it not try to bring Sir Edward
\nBaker and the Government generally into contempt by intimating genially that
\nthey are liars, idiots and good-for-nothing weaklings,
\n\u2014 in connection with the Reforms and their unwillingness to put the whole
\npopulation of India into prison ? Would it
\nnot save trouble to prohibit speech or writing in India altogether ?<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Page \u2013 357<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Facts and Opinions Volume I – Jan. 15, 1910 – Number 28 The Patiala Case   The Patiala Case has developed its real objective, which…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-02-karmayogin-volume-02","wpcat-23-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1036"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1036\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}