{"id":1099,"date":"2013-07-13T01:32:32","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:32:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=1099"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:32:32","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:32:32","slug":"28-facts-and-comments-28-8-1909-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\/28-facts-and-comments-28-8-1909-vol-02-karmayogin-volume-02","title":{"rendered":"-28_Facts and Comments 28-8-1909.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n

Facts and Comments<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

Volume I – August 28,1909 – Number 10<\/span><\/p>\n

The
\n Cretan Difficulty<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

               
\nF<\/font>oreign<\/b> affairs are as a rule lightly and unsubstantially dealt
\nwith by Indian journals. This is partly due to want of the
\nnecessary information, partly to the parochial habit of mind
\nencouraged by a cabined and subject national life which cannot enlarge its imagination outside the sphere of those immediate and daily events directly touching ourselves. And yet
\nthe happenings of today in Asia, Europe and Africa are of
\ngreat moment to the future of India and full of encouragement
\nand stimulus to the spirit of Nationalism. The recent events in
\nTurkey are an instance. It is not the methods of the Young Turks
\nwhich have any lesson for India. The circumstances are too dissimilar to warrant any fanciful theories of that kind. It is rather
\nthe character of the party of freedom which bears a lesson to all
\nstruggling nationalities. The dominant qualities of the democratic leaders \u2014 and these are the qualities they have imparted to
\nthe movement, \u2014 are strength, manhood, a bold heart, a clear
\nbrain, a virile efficiency. The Government they have established
\nhas been showing these qualities to the full in its treatment of the
\nCretan difficulty. It has shown that free Turkey, while not rashly
\noblivious of the circumstances created by an unfortunate past,
\nwill not tolerate any attempt to be treated as Sultan Abdul Hamid
\nsuffered himself to be treated. Sultan Abdul Hamid, afraid of
\nhis subjects, afraid of the world, afraid even of his spies and informers, followed the weak and cowardly policy of a dishonest,
\nintriguing and evasive Machiavellianism. He conducted that
\npolicy with a certain skill and statecraft in details which eventually
\nevoked admiration, but it could neither save Turkey from ignominy and weakness nor permanently protect a throne based
\nupon cruelty, falsehood and despicable meanness. All that it
\ndid, for Satan must be given his due, was to stave off a final disruption of Turkey and expulsion of the Ottoman from Europe.<\/p>\n

\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 167<\/font><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

But true freedom is always conscious of strength and knows that
\nit is better to perish than to live for a short while longer at the
\ncost of continual insult, degradation and weakness. The first
\nefforts of the new Government have been to save what remained
\nof the outskirts of Turkish empire in Europe, the suzerainty in
\nCrete, the supreme control in Macedonia. Their diplomacy has
\nbeen strong, outspoken and fearless. It did not flinch nor in any
\nway draw back a step or lower its tone until it forced Greece to
\na satisfactory attitude and obliged the Powers to baffle the tortuous Greek methods by lowering the Greek flag in Canea. It
\nhas quietly ignored the attempt of the Powers to interfere even by
\na suggestion in the direct question between itself and Greece; for we read that Turkey is not going to give any formal answer to the
\nPowers’ Note recommending pacific counsels as that Note did not call for any
\nreply. It has been supported by the newly liberated nation by means of a
\nBoycott which would have
\nalarmed into reason a stronger Government than that of Athens. And as strength,
\nwhen firm and able, can never be ignored, it
\nhas secured the sympathy of the Powers in the shape of concessions which would
\nnever have been yielded to a weak or
\novercautious Government. Strength attracts strength; firm and clear-minded
\ncourage commands success and respect; strong and straight dealing can dispense
\nwith the methods of dissimulation and intrigue. All these are signs of
\ncharacter and it is only
\ncharacter that can give freedom and greatness to nations.<\/p>\n

\n  <\/p>\n

\n
\n Greece and Turkey<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis not to be imagined, however, that this is the closing chapter. The question
\nbetween Greece and Turkey will have eventually to be fought out by the sword. It
\nis true that the immediate question is for the moment settled and the rest in
\nthe Cretan patchwork mended. But that patchwork is not of a kind to last. The
\nGreek Government is not likely to give up its methods in Crete, the Christian
\npopulation their desire for union with Athens or the present Cretan
\nadministration their secret sympathy with and support of these aspirations. It
\nwould have been a simpler<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 168<\/font><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

matter if the population of the island had been wholly Christian,
\nbut there is a Mahomedan population also which is as eagerly
\nattached to the Turkish connection as the others are desirous of
\nthe Greek. The ancient history of Crete supports the sentiment of Greek unity, its later history the sentiment of imperial
\nOttoman greatness. And apart from Crete, there are inevitable
\nsources of quarrel in Macedonia. Some day the Powers will have
\nto stand aside and allow these natural enemies to settle the question in the only possible way. The result of such non-intervention
\nin an armed struggle could not be doubtful. The Mongolian is
\na stronger spirit than the Slav, the Mussulman a greater dynamic
\nforce than the Christian, and it is only ignorance and absolutism
\nthat has for the time depressed the Turk. The disparity between
\nthe Turk and the Greek is abysmal. The former is a soldier and
\nstatesman, the latter a merchant and intriguer. A war between
\ntwo such Powers with none to intervene would speedily end with
\nthe Turk not only in occupation of Thessaly but entering Athens.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n Spain
\n and the Moor<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Another corner of the Asiatic world \u2014 for Northern Africa is
\nthoroughly Asianised if not Asiatic, \u2014 <\/i> is convulsed with struggles which
\nmay well precede another resurgence. There was a time when the Moor held Spain
\nand gave civilisation to semi-barbarous Europe. The revolution of the wheel has
\nnow gone to its utmost length and finds the Spaniard invading Morocco. But this invasion does not seem to promise any Spanish expansion in Africa. With infinite difficulty and at the cost of a bloody
\n\u00e9meute<\/i> in Spain, King Alfonso’s Government have landed a considerable army in Morocco and yet with all that force can only
\njust protect their communications and stand facing the formidable country where the stubborn Kabyle tribesmen await the
\ninvader. There the army is hung up for the present, unwilling to
\nretreat and afraid to advance, and the Spanish General has again
\nsent to Spain for reinforcements, a feat of military strategy at
\nwhich he seems to be exceptionally skilful. If the men of the
\nmountains are fortunate enough to have a leader with a head on<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 169<\/font><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

his shoulders, the circumstances augur a reverse for Spain as
\ndecisive and perhaps more sanguinary than the Italian overthrow in Abyssinia. Meanwhile King Alfonso has sacrificed all
\nhis youthful popularity by this ill-omened war and the bloody
\nseverity which has temporarily saved his throne. And with the
\npopularity of the young King has gone the friendship of the
\nSpanish nation for England, for the Spaniards accuse that friendship of the
\norigination of these troubles and the British Government as the selfish instigators of the intervention in Morocco.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n The
\n London Congress<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Since we made our remarks on the proposal of a
\nCongress session in London, we have seen two reasons urged for this reactionary step. It is necessary, it seems, to prevent judgment going
\nagainst us in England by default and also to win the sympathy of
\nthe civilised world. The former argument we have already
\nanswered in our last issue. Neither the speeches of a famous orator nor the conjoint speeches of many less famous will win for us
\nthe support of the British people for claims which go directly
\nagainst their interests. Only a prolonged and steady campaign
\nin England all the year round for several years can make any
\nimpression of a real and lasting kind and even that impression
\ncannot in the nature of things be sufficient for the purpose. Those who are on
\nthe side of Indian interests must always be in the minority and will always be denounced by the majority as allies of
\nthe enemies of English interests. Even now that is increasingly
\nthe attitude of the public towards Mr. Mackarness and his supporters and we do not think Sj. Surendranath’s eloquence has
\nchanged matters. Already the most prominent critics of Lord
\nMorley and his policy of repression have received intimation
\nfrom their constituents of their serious displeasure and are in
\ndanger of losing their seats at the next election. This is in itself
\na sufficient refutation of the fable that speeches and Congresses
\nin England can change an ignorant British public into informed
\nand enthusiastic supporters of Indian self-government. It is only
\npolitical necessity and the practical recognition that change is<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 170<\/font><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

inevitable which can convert the statesmen of England. As for
\nthe opinion of the civilised world, we do not despise it as a
\nmoral force. But its practical effect is so little as to be almost
\nnil. In a constitutional question between the present Government in India and the people we do not see what can be the
\nplace or mode of operation of the world’s opinion or sympathy. An academical approval of our aims can be of no help to us.
\nNor is the sympathy of the world likely to be excited beyond such
\nacademical approval unless the Government faithfully imitates the Russian
\nprecedent in dealing with popular aspirations. Even then it is not likely to
\ntell on the action of the Government concerned which will certainly resent
\nforeign interference in its dealings with its own subjects. The impotence of the
\ncivilised world was strikingly shown in the crisis of Russian despotism and at
\nthe time of the Boer War. Even were it otherwise, a London session of the
\nCongress would only awaken a passing interest. In that respect the visit of
\nSwami Vivekananda to America and the subsequent work of those who followed him
\ndid more for India than a hundred London Congresses could effect. That is the
\ntrue way of awaking sympathy, \u2014 by showing ourselves to the nations as a people
\nwith a great past and ancient civilisation who still possess something of the
\ngenius and character of our forefathers, have still something to give the world
\nand therefore deserve freedom, \u2014 by proof of our manliness and fitness, not by
\nmendicancy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n Political
\n Prisoners<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We extract elsewhere some very telling criticisms from the pen
\nof the well-known positivist Mr. Frederic Harrison on the treatment of political prisoners. This is a subject on which a Nationalist writer is naturally somewhat shy of dilating, as any stress on
\nthe brutality and callousness of the treatment to which not only
\nconvicted but undertrial prisoners of gentle birth and breeding
\nare sometimes subjected in Indian jails, might be misinterpreted
\nby our opponents as an unwillingness to face the penalties which
\nrepressive legislation inflicts on those who cherish great aspira-<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 171<\/font><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

tions for their race and country. But two instances have occurred
\nrecently which compel attention. One is the death of the convicted prisoner Ashok Nandi of consumption brought on by
\nexposure and neglect during fever in the undertrial period of the
\nAlipur Case. We exonerate from blame the jail authorities who
\nwere exceptionally humane men and would have been glad to deal
\nhumanely with the prisoners. But their blamelessness only brings
\nout the barbarity of a system which allows of the confinement of
\na delicate ailing lad in a punishment cell exposed night after night
\nto the dews and cold of an unhealthy season, and that without his having
\ncommitted any fault or shown anything but the mildest and most docile of characters. The other case is that of Mr.Achyutrao Kohalatkar of Nagpur, editor of the Deshsevak<\/i>, a
\ngentleman of distinguished education, ability and character, who
\nwas convicted for the publication in his paper of the reports of
\nSj. Aurobindo Ghose’s speeches delivered at a time when Mr.
\nKohalatkar was absent from Nagpur. The Sessions Judge of
\nAlipur declared on the police reports of these speeches that so
\nfar from being seditious or violent they told in favour of the
\nspeaker and not against him. We find it difficult to believe that
\nthe newspaper report of speeches from which the police could
\nextract nothing that was not in the speaker’s favour, could be
\nat all seditious. Be that as it may, Mr. Kohalatkar was convicted and perhaps,
\naccording to the "strong man" code of ethics, forefeited claim to generous treatment by his refusal to apologise.
\nWe have heard rumours of treatment being meted out to him
\nwhich can only be described as studied brutality and the evidence
\nof eye-witnesses who have seen the condition to which he was
\nreduced, do not encourage us to reject these reports as fabrications. Finally, the refusal of the Central Provinces Government
\nto face independent medical inspection and so dispose of the
\nserious allegations publicly preferred put a very ugly aspect on this case. If
\nthe allegations are proved, they amount to a treatment which would evoke the
\nloudest indignation and reprobation in England if applied under the same circumstances in
\nanother country. But we cherish little hope of redress. The prison
\nsystem of the European nations is only a refined and systematised
\nsavagery perpetuating the methods of ancient and mediaeval<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 172<\/font><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\nbarbarity in forms that do not at once shock the eye. Besides, the account of
\nthe recent starvation strike of the Suffragettes has shown what callous and
\nbrutal treatment can be inflicted by English officials in England itself even on
\nwomen, and women of education, good birth, position and culture, guilty only of
\npolitical obstruction and disorderliness. Yet this is the civilisation for which
\nwe are asked to sacrifice the inheritance of our forefathers !<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n An
\n Official Freak<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We suppose in a bureaucracy it is inevitable that officials should
\nbe masters and be able to inflict inconvenience and loss on the
\ncitizen without any means of redress. Last Monday the publication of a new weekly named
\nDharma<\/i>, edited by Aurobindo
\nGhose, was due and had been widely announced. The issue was
\nready and the printer duly attended the Police Court to declare
\nhis responsibility for printing and publishing the periodical.
\nExcept under very unusual circumstances this is a mere formality
\nand one would have thought no difficulty could intervene, but nothing could
\npersuade the Court Official to refrain from delaying the acceptance till the next day. It was pointed out that this
\nwould entail unnecessary inconvenience and perhaps considerable financial loss, but that naturally did not concern him as he
\nwas the master of the public and not their servant. The next day
\na variation of the same vexatious procedure was repeated. It
\nwas whispered, we do not know with what truth, that the first
\ndelay was for the Criminal Investigation Department to have
\ntime to find out whether the printer had been convicted in any
\nsedition case. If so it was a futile delay. There is no concealment
\nof the responsibility with regard to this paper. The name of the
\neditor and proprietor was openly given and the printer was there
\nto accept his responsibility. This does not look like intended sedition. If there were any doubt, the required information could
\neasily have been gained from the Manager of the paper who was
\npresent and would no doubt have been glad to save delay and
\nloss by stating the printer’s antecedents. It was not likely that<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 173<\/font><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

he would conceal a conviction as that would be a thing impossible
\nto suppress. But then, if officialdom were to acquire a common sense, the laws of Nature would be sadly contravened and
\nit is better to inflict loss on individuals than to upset a law of
\nNature.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n Soham
\n Gita<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Every Bengalee is familiar with the name of Shyamakanta Banerji
\nthe famous athlete and tiger-tamer but it may not be known to
\nall that after leaving the worldly life and turning to the life of the
\nascetic, this pioneer of the cult of physical strength and courage
\nin Bengal has taken the name of Soham Swami and is dwelling
\nin a hermitage in the Himalayas at Nainital. The Swami has
\nnow published a philosophical poem in his mother-tongue called
\nthe Soham Gita. The deep truths of the Vedanta viewed from the
\nstandpoint of the Adwaitavadin and the spiritual experiences of
\nthe Jnani who has had realisation of dhyāna<\/i> and samādhi<\/i>
\nare here developed in simple verse and language. We shall deal with the work in
\na more detailed review in a later issue.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 174<\/font><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Facts and Comments Volume I – August 28,1909 – Number 10 The Cretan Difficulty                   Foreign affairs are as a rule lightly and unsubstantially…<\/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-1099","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\/1099","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=1099"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1099\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}