{"id":2079,"date":"2013-07-13T01:39:18","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:39:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=2079"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:39:18","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:39:18","slug":"67-facts-and-opinions-25-vol-08-karmayogin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/03-cwsa\/08-karmayogin\/67-facts-and-opinions-25-vol-08-karmayogin","title":{"rendered":"-67_Facts and Opinions_25.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 25th<\/sup> DECEMBER 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. 25<\/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 <\/font>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\tThe United Congress
\n\t\t\tNegotiations<\/a> <\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThe persistence of the Bengalee
\n<\/i>in shielding Moderate obstinacy under cover of an appeal to the wholly inconclusive
\n\t\t\tproceedings of the private Conference in the
\nAmrita Bazar <\/i>Office last year shows both the paucity of possible arguments for the
\n\t\t\tModerate position and the readiness of its chief organ to ignore facts
\n\t\t\tof which it has been reminded more than once and which it can-not deny. The difference between the conference last year
\n\t\t\tand the recent negotiations is radical. That conference was between Conventionists and non-Conventionists, the recent
\n\t\t\tnegotiations were between Moderates and Nationalists. The
\nAmrita Bazar <\/i>Office Conference was an attempt made by certain leaders in
\n\t\t\tBengal and Maharashtra to secure admission for the Nationalists to the Convention. The United Congress Committee was con-fined to Bengal and sat to consider whether Bengal
\n\t\t\tModerates and Nationalists could not agree together before inviting the Conventionists of other provinces to accept the terms
\n\t\t\toffered by United Bengal. Last year’s Conference was a confabulation
\n\t\t\tof leading men representing their own opinions only, this year’s
\n\t\t\tnegotiations were conducted by men elected for the purpose by the Provincial Conference representing the whole of Bengal.
\n\t\t\tAt the Conference in Bagbazar it was the middle section of opinion,<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tPage-362<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t\t\tneither Moderate nor Nationalist, of which Sj. Motilal Ghose, Rai Jotindranath Chaudhuri, and some of the older leaders
\n\t\t\tin the Mofussil are the most influential members, which engineered a compromise in the absence of the Nationalist leaders. Sj. Tilak was a prisoner in Mandalay jail, Sj. Aurobindo Ghose
\n\t\t\tunder trial at Alipur, Sj. Khaparde and Sj. Bipin Chandra Pal absent
\n\t\t\tin England. The compromise was reluctantly accepted by many of the Nationalists present,
\n\t\t\t\u2013as we have ascertained by correspondence with some of the chief Nationalists who attended,
\n\t\t\t\u2013and only because it was pressed on them that these were the only terms on which the Moderate party would admit of
\n\t\t\tthe idea of union. It was not accepted at all by the Bengal Nationalists and it has been recently admitted by the
\nAmrita Bazar Patrika <\/i>that letters were received from the Mofussil
\n\t\t\trepudiating the surrender on the question of the creed. How is it that the Bengalee <\/i>persists in ignoring these facts? The compromise
\n\t\t\twas rejected by the Moderates themselves, Bombay refusing utterly to recognise the four Calcutta resolutions as a possible part
\n\t\t\tof any treaty, and this was recognised by the Moderates this year;
\n\t\t\tfor at the first meeting of the United Congress Committee it was distinctly intimated to the Nationalist members that
\n\t\t\tthe four resolutions must not be pressed as a condition of union. In
\n\t\t\tother words the one concession for which some of the leading
\n\t\t\tNationalists induced themselves to waive their rooted objections to constitution and creed, is expunged and the Nationalists
\n\t\t\tare expected to be bound by a rejected compromise by which the
\n\t\t\tModerates refuse to be bound. They are expected to adhere to the concessions they made last year, while the only
\n\t\t\tconcession made to them is withdrawn. This fact is quite sufficient by
\n\t\t\titself to put the Bengalee<\/i>‘s argument out of court. We repeat that
\n\t\t\tthe recent negotiations had nothing to do with last year’s abortive
\n\t\t\tcompromise, rejected as it was by both parties immediately after it was made. Their sole object was to ascertain whether
\n\t\t\tthe Moderates would accept substantial concessions from the Nationalists without asking the latter to sacrifice their
\n\t\t\tconscience and their principles. Apparently they are not. Therefore union is impossible.<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tPage-363<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\tA New Sophism<\/a> <\/font>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tAnother and very singular argument is advanced by the
\nBengalee <\/i>which evinces a similar disregard of facts and of the real significance of facts. It is alleged that both sides in Bengal are
\n\t\t\tagreed as to the four resolutions, that the creed is part of the four resolutions, that the creed was accepted by the Nationalists at Pabna and therefore they ought not to object to sign it as a
\n\t\t\tcondition of entering the Congress. In the first place, if the four
\n\t\t\tresolutions are to be so binding on the Nationalists that they must be
\n\t\t\tready to sign one of them at the call of the Moderates, then they
\n\t\t\tmust be made equally binding on the Moderates and we call on them to sign a declaration of acceptance of the Boycott as a
\n\t\t\tcondition of entry into a United Congress. Just as the Moderates
\n\t\t\tfrom Bombay accepted the Boycott resolution at Calcutta in deference
\n\t\t\tto the weight of public opinion, so we accepted the Colonial self-government resolution as the opinion of the majority and are
\n\t\t\tno more bound to subscribe to it personally than Sir Pherozshah Mehta is bound to subscribe to the Boycott. The four
\n\t\t\tresolutions merely framed a compromise between the two political
\n\t\t\tschools, not a declaration of Nationalist faith. As for Bengal, it is
\n\t\t\twell-known that the whole of Bengal does not accept Colonial self-government as the ultimate goal of political aspiration. At Pabna it was only to avoid a discussion dangerous to unity that
\n\t\t\tthe Nationalists contented themselves, in spite of the majority they
\n\t\t\thad, with placing their dissent on record through the mouth of Sj. Manoranjan Guha. The
\nBengalee <\/i>cannot have forgotten that incident. It was revived again at Hughly when the
\n\t\t\tModerates insisted on whittling down the Boycott to a mere
\n\t\t\tcommercial measure as a price of their adherence to the Conference and Sj. Aurobindo Ghose desired to bring forward an
\n\t\t\tamendment, which he would subsequently withdraw, in order to mark
\n\t\t\tthat the Nationalists did not accept the resolution as the opinion
\n\t\t\tof the country. The Moderate leaders threatened to withdraw if this was done and Sj. Aurobindo Ghose was requested
\n\t\t\tto confine himself to the precedent established by Sj. Manoranjan Guha at Pabna. He then distinctly expressed his doubt
\n\t\t\twhether<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tPage-364<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t\t\tthis would be sufficient to make the Nationalist attitude clear
\n\t\t\tto the country and the advantage taken of our complaisance by the Bengalee <\/i>to misrepresent the Nationalist attitude at Pabna
\n\t\t\tshows that his apprehensions were perfectly justified. If this is the light in which the Moderates choose to put the Nationalist
\n\t\t\twillingness to compromise, it may be necessary at the next Conference
\n\t\t\tfor our party not only to move an amendment but to put it to the
\n\t\t\tvote regardless of Moderate threats of secession. <\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\tFutile
\n\t\t\tEspionage<\/a> <\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tWe wonder whether it is really impossible to maintain a
\n\t\t\tgreat Empire without demoralising oneself and the country by means
\n\t\t\tof an unworthy system of espionage. Since the initiation of the Swadeshi movement the army of spies and informers have
\n\t\t\tgrown as plentiful as insects round a bright light. Formerly men of
\n\t\t\tsome distinction had the honour of being watched in their houses,
\n\t\t\tdogged in their goings, honoured by the private inspection of their correspondence. But nowadays it is enough to be
\n\t\t\tsuspected of patriotism to have the inefficient hirelings of the Police,
\n\t\t\tif not the worthy guardians of the Law themselves, sticking like
\n\t\t\tburs to one’s heels. Is anything gained by these excessive and no doubt costly precautions? If we are to judge by the
\n\t\t\tsorry specimens who have besieged us for the last six months, a more
\n\t\t\tincapable creature than the ordinary Indian spy does not exist. He has an engaging simplicity of artifice which at once
\n\t\t\tbetrays his savoury vocation, and if he does not carry “spy” written
\n\t\t\tlegibly on his forehead, as a multitude of them do, he is so
\n\t\t\ttransparent in his methods that he might just as well be labelled, “Due at Royd Street.” Nor do we quite see what is gained
\n\t\t\tby watching a man’s house or his office with an open brazenness. The office of the Dharma
\n<\/i>has recently been favoured with the loitering of watchers who spend their days gazing lovingly
\n\t\t\tat the building and making affectionate and importunate enquiries as to the movements and habits of the editor. This open love-making strikes us as a little indecent; it would be better
\n\t\t\tdone behind a veil. And what do the authorities hope to gain by these<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tPage-365<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t\t\tunique researches? Do they hope to see either bombs or
\n\t\t\tpackets of sedition being carried into the building? Or is a leader of
\n\t\t\tpublic agitation likely to convert his newspaper office or his house
\n\t\t\tinto an open resort of secret conspirators? Even a bureaucracy ought to credit its political opponents with some little commonsense, even if they cannot credit them with honesty of
\n\t\t\tmotive and frankness of action. <\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\tConvention
\n\t\t\tVoyagers<\/a> <\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tWe understand that some seven or eight faithful hearts
\n\t\t\tare meditating the journey to Lahore to assist Mr. Madan Mohan Malaviya in carrying out Sir Pherozshah’s orders. We wish them a good voyage and a speedy repentance. One wonders, by the way, where the delegates of the Convention are going to startup from at the last moment. We watch in vain for the
\n\t\t\tnews of numerous elections all over the country. Secret conclaves, hushed-up quarrels, sittings with silent visitors, and, finally,
\n\t\t\tsecret elections seem to be the best features of convention
\n\t\t\tpolitics! Or are the delegates ashamed of publishing their names?<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tPage-366<\/font><\/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 25th DECEMBER 1909 { No. 25   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-2079","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\/2079","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=2079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2079\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}