{"id":2748,"date":"2013-07-13T01:43:36","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:43:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=2748"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:43:36","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:43:36","slug":"101-bande-mataram-21-6-07-vol-06-07-bande-mataram","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/03-cwsa\/06-07-bande-mataram\/101-bande-mataram-21-6-07-vol-06-07-bande-mataram","title":{"rendered":"-101_Bande Mataram 21-6-07.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\n\n
\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\tBande Mataram<\/font><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t
\n\t{ CALCUTTA, June 21st, 1907 }
\n\t<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n
\nBritish Justice
\n<\/b>
\n\t<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nThere has been much to edify and
\ninstruct in the recent antics of the bureaucracy and, in the light of the object
\nlessons they present, the people of India have been revising old ideas and
\noutworn superstitions with a healthy rapidity. The belief in British liberalism,
\nin the freedom of the Press, in the freedom of the platform, in the Pax
\nBritannica, in the political honesty of Mr. John Morley and many other cherished
\nshibboleths have departed into the limbo of forgotten follies. But the greatest
\nfall of all has been the fall of the belief in the imperturbable impartiality of
\nBritish justice. There are two kinds of strain which no empire, however firmly
\nbound in triple and quadruple bands of steel, can long bear; the strain of a
\nburden of taxation which the people no longer find bearable and the strain of a
\nseries of perversions of justice which destroy all faith in the motives of the
\ngoverning authorities. Justice and protection between man and man, between
\ncommunity and community, between rulers and ruled is the main object for which
\nStates exist, for which men submit to the restrictions of the law and to an
\nequitable assessment of the expenses of the machinery which provides for
\nprotection and justice. But if the assessment of the expenses is grossly unjust,
\nif the expenses themselves are exorbitantly high, if the revenue is spent on
\nways of which the taxpayers do not approve, then protection and justice are
\nbought at a price which is not worth paying. And if in addition the protection
\nis denied and the justice withheld, then the very object of the existence of a
\nState ceases to be satisfied and from that moment the governing power, unless it
\ncan retrace its steps, is doomed by the inevitable operation of nature.   
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\tPage \u2013 517<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\tThe bureaucrats who misgovern
\n\tus at the present moment have totally forgotten these simple truths.
\n\tOtherwise we would not have witnessed such scandalous scenes as are now
\n\tbeing enacted at Rawalpindi or the gross infringements of equity and justice
\n\twhich are of frequent occurrence in Bengal. The amazing incidents of the
\n\tRawalpindi riot case are such as have hardly been paralleled in British
\n\tIndia. The refusal of bail, which was the first scandal, has evidently
\n\tbecome a part of bureaucratic policy. It is a sound principle of procedure
\n\tthat bail should not be refused except under exceptional conditions, such as
\n\tthe probability of the accused absconding, otherwise in a protracted case an
\n\tinnocent man may suffer seriously for the sole offence of being accused. In
\n\tthe Rawalpindi case there was not the least possibility of men like Lala
\n\tHansraj, Gurdas Ram or Janaki Nath absconding from justice and the
\n\tapprehension of further riots in a city commanded by siege-guns and crowded
\n\twith military was a contemptible and hollow pretence. Yet without hearing
\n\tthe case, on the mere statement of the prosecuting officials, the Chief
\n\tCourt of the Punjab, supposed to be the highest repository of impartial
\n\tBritish Justice, prejudged the accused, declared them guilty and refused
\n\tbail. This is British law and British justice! Again in the course of the
\n\tpresent trial, although it was proved beyond dispute that the prisoners were
\n\tsuffering terribly in health as the result of a detention in which they are
\n\tbeing deliberately subjected to unnecessary discomfort and privation,
\n\talthough, if there was ever any shadow of justification for the refusal of
\n\tbail, even that shadow had by this time utterly vanished, yet on the
\n\tstrength of the airy persiflage of a Civil Surgeon the relief to which they
\n\twere entitled was refused. This gentleman held the view that the sufferings
\n\tof the accused were not due to their detention and seems to be of the
\n\topinion that men of means and gentle nurture are rather in the habit of
\n\tshedding several pounds of flesh off and on without apparent cause. And so
\n\tthe unfortunate martyrs, for the crime of being patriots, are punished with
\n\ta long term of imprisonment before any offence has been proved against them.
\n\tThis too is British law and British justice. From the point<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\tPage \u2013 518<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\tof view of the executive it
\n\tmay no doubt be said that since the accused have to be punished whether they
\n\tare guilty or innocent, it does not much matter whether their punishment
\n\tbegins before or after their conviction. That is good reasoning from the
\n\tpoint of view of a bureaucratic executive, but not from that of a judicial
\n\tauthority. The refusal of bail to the Rawalpindi pleaders is one of the most
\n\tdeadly of the many wounds which the bureaucracy have been recently dealing
\n\tto their own moral prestige and reputation for justice. The same spirit has
\n\tbeen shown in the refusal of bail to Pindi Das, editor of India<\/i>, and
\n\tto Lala Dinanath of the
\nHindustan. <\/i>In the latter case there is absolutely no excuse whatever for
\n\tthe refusal, except the vindictive fury of bureaucratic persecution which
\n\twill omit no means however petty and base to make its opponents suffer.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tBut the most glaringly,
\n\tparadoxically unsound case of all has occurred in our own midst. Srijut
\n\tGirindranath Sen received at the hands of British justice a sentence of
\n\tmonstrous severity for a trifling offence. This same British justice being
\n\tmoved to set aside the conviction and sentence, was graciously pleased to
\n\tgive the accused a chance of disproving the offence, but at the same time,
\n\tin the plenitude of its justice and wisdom, refused to give him bail. In
\n\tother words it admitted that the accused might be innocent, but at the same
\n\ttime decided that he must undergo a monstrously disproportionate punishment
\n\tfor a trifling offence of which it was admittedly doubtful whether he ever
\n\tcommitted it! And then when the punishment had been served out, British
\n\tjustice lent a gracious and leisurely ear and admitted that this Swadeshi
\n\tVolunteer Captain was very probably innocent, but as he had suffered
\n\tpunishment for his innocence, it was not necessary to go any further into
\n\tthe matter. This too is British law and British justice. If all this does
\n\tnot convince the Indian people that the British sense of justice is most
\n\tmarvellous and unique and
\nsui generis <\/i>and without any peer or parallel in the world, it must indeed
\n\tbe hard-hearted and dull of soul. For our part we are ready to acclaim
\n\tBritish justice with hymns of adoration and praise. Hail, thou ineffable,
\n\tincomprehensible, indescribable,    <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\tPage \u2013 519<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\tunspeakable British Justice!
\n\tHail, thou transcendent mystery.
\nTubhyam bhuyistham nama uktim vidhema<\/i>. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\t__________<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\tThe Moral of the Coconada Strike
\n<\/b>
\n\t<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\tThat the weapon of passive
\n\tresistance is sometimes a match even for sword and bayonet, not to speak of
\n\tmilder instruments of repression, is being evidenced in the strike of the
\n\tshipping coolies at Coconada. We may have to resort to this means of protest
\n\tfor some time to come until the Britishers so far forget themselves as to
\n\tbegin firing on strikers and boycotters\u2014 a contingency for which the country
\n\tshould now learn to be prepared. If the despot still entertains some doubt
\n\tas to the working of the time-spirit, it should be set at rest by the
\n\tinstinctive resort of the Coconada coolies to a wholesale strike as an
\n\teffective protest against the arrest of some of their own people for alleged
\n\tparticipation in a riot. The drafting of the military and the punitive
\n\tpolice to the locality has perhaps strengthened their firmness. The
\n\tEnglishman
\n<\/i>while alarmed at this unexpected combination among the lower class, hopes
\n\tthat the strike is not political in its character. This comfortable
\n\tdeduction has provoked a sort of subdued laughter from the Madras Hindu<\/i>.
\n\tEvents alone make men wise. The opinion that is today punished and ridiculed
\n\tas mere heresy, has its ratification tomorrow in experience. Our moderate
\n\tcontemporary now sees eye to eye with the Nationalists when it says, "If
\n\tonce the lower classes of the people begin to know and feel their real
\n\tstrength and power, it will be difficult to predict the results that would
\n\tfollow. No prudent administrator would, in our opinion, tempt the bringing
\n\tinto play of the capacity for combination which the lower strata of people
\n\thave. They cannot be cowed down into submission with half the ease and
\n\tcelerity with which the educated classes can be brought down by the display
\n\tof military strength." The whole plan of Nationalist campaign rests on the
\n\tbasis of this potential strength of the people which does not require for
\n\tits reawakening years of mass education as is contended by the<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\tPage \u2013 520<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\tModerates, but only tangible
\n\tinstances of bureaucratic highhandedness. Education in the ordinarily
\n\taccepted sense is not a very effective means of national regeneration, as
\n\tthe
\nHindu <\/i>itself admits. The responsiveness of untampered and unsophisticated
\n\tnature, its want of calculation and its speedy decision have to be turned to
\n\tadvantage. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThus the Coconada strike
\n\tcomes handy with its moral to dispel another of our superstitions. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\t__________<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\tThe Statesman <\/i>on Shooting
\n<\/b>
\n\t<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\tWhile Mr. John Morley was
\n\tbeing cross-examined by the Nationalist and Labour members in Parliament and
\n\twas answering in his usual style of Demigod plus <\/i>Aristides the Just
\n\tplus <\/i>Louis XIV of France
\nplus <\/i>the Archangel Gabriel, the tiger qualities of an imperial race
\n\tsuddenly awoke in the breast of Sir Howard Vincent and roared out, "Why not
\n\tshoot Lajpat Rai?" In that single trenchant sentence the warlike Knight gave
\n\ta sudden illuminating expression to the heart’s desire of all Anglo-India
\n\tand two-thirds of England. It was not decorous, it was not politic, but it
\n\twas frank and sincere. Yesterday the Friend of India noticed the incident
\n\twith great sympathy for Sir Howard Vincent’s feelings, but it could not
\n\taltogether approve of applying his panacea just at present. The Friend,
\n\thowever, looks forward to a day when the shooting will begin; it invites the
\n\tattention of the Indian reactionaries\u2014 whoever they may be\u2014 to this
\n\tbloodcurdling Howard Vincent war-whoop and warns them that this is the
\n\tprospect before them if a Tory Government comes into power while the present
\n\tunrest continues. By its Indian reactionaries the Friend probably means not
\n\tNawab Salimullah and the Mihir Sudhakar<\/i>, but the Democratic
\n\tNationalist party in India; for the Friendly language must be usually
\n\tinterpreted by contraries, and it is quite natural for one who calls the
\nStatesman<\/i>
\n\ta Friend of India to call democracy and nationalism reactionary. Let us
\n\tassure the Friend however that the Nationalist party have from the beginning
\n\tenvisaged the possibility of the shooting    <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\tPage \u2013 521<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\tbeing started; they did not
\n\tneed a Howard Vincent to open their eyes to it. The defenders of the
\n\testablished order of things have attempted almost every form of Russian
\n\trepression except the taking of life. Deportation, condemnation without
\n\ttrial, punishment before conviction, flogging, the gagging of press and
\n\tplatform, police hooliganism, the employment of a Black Hundred, brutal
\n\tpersonal persecution in jail and
\nhajat<\/i>, have all been attempted though not as yet on the Russian scale.
\n\tWhen all these methods have been found ineffective, it is quite possible
\n\tthat the order "do not hesitate to shoot" may go out; already in the Punjab
\n\tthe threat has been used to prevent public meetings. The Friend of India is
\n\tgreatly mistaken if he thinks that his menaces will have any better effect
\n\tthan his abuse and cajolings: it is a wild dream for him to hope that any
\n\tpower can make Indian Nationalism fall down and kiss the feet of Archangel
\n\tJohn.    <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\tPage \u2013 522<\/font><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bande Mataram { CALCUTTA, June 21st, 1907 }   British Justice   There has been much to edify and instruct in the recent antics of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-06-07-bande-mataram","wpcat-54-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2748","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=2748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2748\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}