{"id":2070,"date":"2013-07-13T01:39:14","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:39:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=2070"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:39:14","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:39:14","slug":"51-facts-and-opinions-17-vol-08-karmayogin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/03-cwsa\/08-karmayogin\/51-facts-and-opinions-17-vol-08-karmayogin","title":{"rendered":"-51_Facts and Opinions_17.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\n\n
<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\tKARMAYOGIN<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tA WEEKLY
\n\t\t\tREVIEW <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tof National
\n\t\t\tReligion, Literature, Science, Philosophy, &c.,<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\n\n
\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tVol. I <\/font>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t }<\/font><\/td>\n

\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tSATURDAY 16th<\/sup> OCTOBER 1909<\/font><\/td>\n

\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t{<\/font>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/font>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tNo. 17<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

\t\t\t\t<\/font><\/div>\n

\n\t\t\t <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tFacts and Opinions
\n\t\t\t<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\tGokhale’s Apologia<\/a>
\n\t\t\t<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tWe do not think we need waste much space on the arguments of
\nthe recent speech in which Mr. Gokhale has attempted to reconcile the contradictory utterances in which his speeches have lately
\nabounded. Vibhishan’s utterances are of little importance nowadays to anyone except the Government and Anglo-India, who
\nare naturally disposed to make the most of his defection from the
\n\tcause of the people. Justice Chandavarkar, who long ago gave up
\nthe cause of his country for a judgeship and whose present political opinions can be estimated from his remarks in the Swaraj
\ncase, grandiloquently condemned the “vilification” to which
\n\tMr. Gokhale has been exposed, and declared that condemnation from such quarters was the greatest compliment a man like
\n\this protege could have. Of course the worthy judge could not
\nforesee that the Englishman
\n<\/i>would hail the first Servant of India
\n\tas a brand plucked from the burning and compliment him on
\nbeing the only righteous and right-thinking man among Indian
\n\tpoliticians, \u2013which is after all a little hard on Sir Pherozshah
\nMehta and Mr. Harkissen Lal. But in the same report that enshrines Mr. Chandavarkar’s semi-official rhetoric, we have it
\nthat the Commissioner of Police and his deputy were present
\n\tto support the speaker with their moral influence and loudly<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tPage-280<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t\t\tapplauded his sentiments. Surely this was a yet greater compliment to Mr. Gokhale,
\n\t\t\t\u2013the greatest he could receive. And
\n\tif we suppose, with the Bombay Judge, that the condemnation
\nof his countrymen is an honour for which the erstwhile popular
\n\tleader eagerly pants, surely the support and loud applause of the
\ntwo highest police officials in the land, \u2013and one of them his
\n\told friend, Mr. Vincent, of whom he must have pleasant memories connected with his famous apology to the British army,
\n\t\t\t\u2013must have been yet dearer to the statesman’s heart. Only
\nthree things are noteworthy in the speech itself. Mr. Gokhale
\n\tfervently declares that it is not only the duty of every Indian to
\nshun religiously all aspirations towards independence, but also
\n\tto rush to the defence of the Government when it is attacked.
\nThis explains Mr. Gokhale’s recent speeches. It is a pity that
\n\the awoke to the sense of his duty so late; otherwise, not being
\noverburdened by a sense of consistency he might have rushed
\n\tto the help of the Government against himself when he was
\nloudly advocating political Boycott and even outdistancing the
\n\tmost extreme Nationalist by suggesting the refusal of payment
\nof taxes. The second thing we note, is the remarkable statement
\n\tthat, even if we try to use peaceful methods, the Government
\nwill not long allow them to retain their peaceful character. This
\n\tcan mean only that the Government will deliberately force the
\nadvocates of Indian freedom to use violent means by persecuting
\n\tthe use of lawful and peaceful methods. We had recently to
\ndissent from a much more limited suggestion by Sj. Bipin Pal,
\n\tbut an aspersion of this kind from Mr. Gokhale, not on officials
\nbut on the Government whom he is supporting so thoroughly
\n\tin their policy, is amazing. Truly, Mr. Gokhale hardly seems to
\nknow what discretion means. In the same way he tried to teach
\n\tthe young men of India, among whom he admits that the gospel
\nof independence has gained immense ground, that violence was
\n\tthe only road to the realisation of their cherished ideal. Finally,
\nwe find Mr. Gokhale appealing to the people of this country to
\n\tgive up their ideals from personal self-interest and the danger
\nof harassment and martyrdom which attends the profession and
\n\tpursuit of the new politics. Truly has a mighty teacher arisen in<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tPage-281<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t\t\tIndia! We could have passed by an argument based on the doubt
\nwhether our course was right and helpful to the country, but this
\n\tsordid appeal to the lowest motives in humanity, selfishness and
\ncowardice, makes one’s gorge rise. And this is the man who
\n\tclaims, we hear, to have preceded the Nationalists as a prophet
\nof self-sacrifice and the cult of the motherland. Well may we
\n\techo the cry of the Israelite malcontents, “These be thy gods, O
\nIsrael!”
\n\t<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\tThe People’s Proclamation<\/a>
\n\t\t\t<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tIn our last issue we commented on the importance and significance of the People’s Proclamation as part of the celebration
\nof the l6th October. It is a curious irony of Fate that, immediately afterwards, it should have been deliberately decided by
\nour leaders to drop the Proclamation from the proceedings.
\n\tWe do not know in what particular quarter of that quaking
\nmorass of fears and apprehensions which is called the mind of
\n\tour leaders, or in answer to what particular touch the tremor
\narose which has manifested itself in this amazing excision. The
\n\tmutilated copy of last year’s circular which is disgraced by this
\nact of inexplicable backsliding and timidity, comes out under the
\n\tsignatures of Sjts. Surendranath Banerji, Motilal Ghose and Rai
\nJotindranath Chaudhuri. We are certainly astonished to find
\n\tMoti Babu’s name under such a document and we can only
\nassume that it was inserted without getting his consent or that
\n\tconsent was asked and given by telegraph from Deoghar without
\nhis being informed of the omission. Originally, there was another
\n\thonoured name in that place, but the gentleman who bore it
\ndeclined to sign unless the omission was rectified, and Moti
\n\tBabu’s name seems to have been thrust in at the last moment in
\norder to fill up the gap, \u2013a proceeding not very complimentary
\n\tto one of the first living names in Bengal. Nor do we quite
\nunderstand how Rai Jotindranath Chaudhuri induced himself
\n\tto be a consenting party to the omission, if indeed he knew of
\nit. Be that as it may, the Nationalist leaders will do their duty in
\n\topposing this act of culpable weakness. But we are curious to<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tPage-282<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t\t\tknow how the people will take it. Their attitude will be some
\nsign of the present altitude of the political thermometer. The
\n\ttone and temper of the movement showed a distinct rise till the
\nHughly Conference, subsequently it seems to have been sinking.
\n\tAnd no wonder, with such leadership. Even a nation of strong
\nmen led by the weak, blind or selfish, becomes easily infected
\n\twith the vices of its leaders, and the strength of Bengal though
\nimmensely increased, is not yet the perfect and tempered steel
\n\tthat it must become, hard as adamant and light in the lifting.
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\tThe Anushilan Samiti<\/a>
\n\t\t\t<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThe proclamation of the Anushilan Samiti in Calcutta is one of
\nthe most autocratic and unjustifiable acts that the bureaucracy
\n\thave yet committed. The Calcutta Samiti has distinguished itself, since the beginning of its career, by the rigidity with which
\n\tit has enforced its rule of not mixing as an association with
\ncurrent politics and confining itself to such activities as were not
\n\tonly unobjectionable, but of such a nature that even the most
\nautocratic Government, provided it had the least sympathy with
\n\tthe moral and physical improvement of its subjects, must wholly
\napprove. Its original and main motive has been the improvement
\n\tof the physique in the race, and there has been no instance in
\nwhich the Samiti has gone beyond its function as a physical
\n\ttraining institution or tried to use the improved physique for
\nany combined purpose. Beyond this the main activities have
\n\tbeen turned to the help of the Police and the public on such
\noccasions as the Ardhoday Yog, to the organisation of famine
\n\trelief, in which the Samiti has done splendid work, and recently
\nto other action recommended by the Government itself. We believe it has even to a certain extent enjoyed the approbation
\nof high European officials. It is indeed an ironical comment
\n\ton the demand for co-operation that the only great association
\nborn of the new movement which has shown any anxiety to
\n\tdepart from a line of strict independent activity and co-operate
\nwith the Government, should have been selected, at this time of
\n\tpeace and quiet, for proclamation on the extraordinary ground<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tPage-283<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\t<\/p>\n

that it interferes in some undefined and mysterious way with the
\n\tadministration of the law. Advocates of co-operation, take note. Meanwhile what can the man in the street conclude except that
\n\tthe Government is determined to allow no organisation to exist among the Bengalis which has the least trace in it of self-help, training and patriotic effort? For no explanation is vouchsafed of this arbitrary act. In an august and awful silence the gods
\n\tof Belvedere hurl their omnipotent paper thunderbolts, careless of what mere men may think, confident in their self-arrogated
\n\tattributes of omnipotence, omniscience and omni-benevolence, a divine, irresistible and irresponsible mystery.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/font>
\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThe National Fund<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/font>
\n\t<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We have received a letter from Mr. A. C. Sen of Delhi in which he recommends that the National Fund should be utilised for a Swadeshi Museum. The necessity of such an institution has been engaging our attention for some time, and no one can dispute the immense advantages that will accrue from it; but
\n\tthe institution, if properly conceived and managed, needs only a small initial fund for its support in the first stages of its existence
\n\tand will soon become self-supporting. It is quite unnecessary to divert to it a large sum like the National Fund. Meanwhile, if
\n\twe allow divided counsels to obtain as to the disposal of the fund, the only result will be that it will remain where it is,
\n\tuseless and unused. We note that the opposition to the proposal unanimously passed at Hughly emanates from a few individuals whose justification for professing to speak in the name of the subscribers is not yet clear,
\n\t\t\t\u2013the Anglo-Indian papers who are interested in preventing the erection of the hall, and, among Indian papers, the
\nHindu Patriot<\/i>, the Indian Mirror<\/i>, and the Indian Nation<\/i>, all of them papers of a very limited circulation and opposed to the national movement in its most vital features. We
\n\tare not aware that any organ of the popular party, Moderate or Nationalist, has opposed the sense of the country as formulated
\n\tin Sj. Surendranath Banerji’s resolution at Hughly.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/font>
\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tPage-284<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KARMAYOGIN A WEEKLY REVIEW of National Religion, Literature, Science, Philosophy, &c., Vol. I  } SATURDAY 16th OCTOBER 1909 { No. 17   Facts and Opinions…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-08-karmayogin","wpcat-44-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2070","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=2070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2070\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}