{"id":2772,"date":"2013-07-13T01:43:44","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:43:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=2772"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:43:44","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:43:44","slug":"24-bande-mataram-10-9-06-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\/24-bande-mataram-10-9-06-vol-06-07-bande-mataram","title":{"rendered":"-24_Bande Mataram 10-9-06.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\n\n
\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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

\n

\n\t
\n\t { CALCUTTA, September 10th, 1906 }<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\tThe Pro-Petition Plot
\n<\/b>
\n\t<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\tIt is impossible, we think, to condemn too strongly the attempt that is being made, by means of confidential circulars from
\nCalcutta, to get up a fresh memorial to the Secretary of State for India, for the revocation or modification of the Partition of
\nBengal. We are strongly opposed, it is well known, to sending any fresh memorial on this subject, but this general objection
\napart, the methods that have been adopted to get up this new memorial are open to very serious objection, and it is to these
\nthat we desire to call public attention today. A telegraphic message was received in Comilla about the middle of last month
\nfrom one of the Calcutta leaders asking the local leaders to send a delegate to a Conference that was proposed to be held on some
\nurgent matters the following Sunday. What these urgent matters were was left to the imagination of the addressees to discover
\nfor themselves. Comilla strongly objected to be worked upon in this mysterious, if not masterly way from Calcutta, and wired
\nback asking for definite and detailed information. No wire, we understand, was received in reply, but about a week later, just
\na few hours before the time fixed for the Conference, a printed letter, marked confidential, was received by Babu Ananga Mohan Ghosh, from the Bengalee <\/i>office, containing excerpts from certain letters secured from London, which suggested that a fresh
\nmemorial should be sent to the Secretary of State for India for a reconsideration of the Partition of Bengal. One of these extracts
\nsaid:\u2014 “What appeared absolutely hopeless <\/i>four weeks ago appears hopeful
\n<\/i>now. There are indications that the Cabinet are
\nwilling to reconsider the Partition Question on its merits. There are indications that in due time the question, if properly urged,
\n   
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\tPage \u2013 143<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\twill be reopened. I am not at liberty to speak about Conferences
\nI had just before leaving London. All that I can tell you is to advise you to have an influential and representative meeting, say,
\nearly in September, to adopt a strong, well-reasoned memorial, suggesting alternative schemes of Partition based on racial and
\nlinguistic grounds, and to submit it to the Secretary of State through the Indian Government. Bengal has worked splendidly
\nduring the last 11 months,\u2014 Bengal will have to work a little longer,\u2014 not hysterically, but rationally and strongly,\u2014 making
\nit clear that she will not accept the present Partition. I believe redress is at hand.”
\n\t<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\tLater on the writer, after quoting Sir Henry
\n\t\tCampbell Bannerman’s reply to Mr. O’Donnell, modified his previous
\nadvice regarding public meeting and said\u2014 “On second thought a simple memorial seems to be enough if influentially signed\u2014 a meeting is unnecessary.”
\n\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\tThis letter came from a high authority. But it is clear on the
\nface of it that that high authority was playing into the hands of the Liberals interested in India. The enforced retirement of Sir B.
\nFuller was a distinct confession on the part of the Government of the failure of the policy which prompted the Partition scheme,
\nand which subsequently came to be so closely associated with the late Lieutenant-Governor of East Bengal and Assam. This
\nfailure is distinctly due to the resistful attitude that has been assumed by the people of late, and in view of the complications with which the Government is threatened by the present anti-Partition and boycott agitation in Bengal, the authorities
\nin England, as well as in this country, are evidently anxious to get out of the unpleasant and risky position wherein their
\nown perversity has placed them. To do this honourably and without any loss of prestige, they want a plea for reopening
\nthe discussion of Mr. Morley’s settled fact, and a fresh memorial from Bengal would find them this plea. This, it seems clear, is the
\nmeaning of the excerpts quoted by us above from the London letter, on the strength of which the Calcutta leaders want a fresh
\nmemorial to be got up. They might make the attempt, there is no reason why, if they are convinced that it is their duty
\n   
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\tPage \u2013 144<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\tto send a fresh memorial, they should not make this attempt.
\nBut what we object to is the secretiveness of the whole thing. Why have they tried to keep this new proposal from the public?
\nWhy should they arrogate to themselves the right of deciding, in consultation with a handful of men, as to what should be
\ndone in this matter? The Conference held in the Landholders’ Association should have been an open Conference. But even at
\nthis closed Conference, the general opinion, if the reports that have reached us be correct, was decidedly against sending any
\nfresh petition or memorial. It is said that Babu Motilal Ghose and others were distinctly opposed to the idea; and the words
\npetition and memorial had to be dropped under pressure of this general opinion, especially among the mofussil delegates; all
\nthat was conceded by the Conference was that some suggestions might be sent. We do not know if the questions of the channel
\nthrough which the suggestions were to be sent was raised at all. But whatever was decided by the Conference we find that
\na secret attempt is being made to send not suggestions, but a live, real memorial again to the Secretary of State for India on
\nthe Partition question. We do not respect official secrets, when public interests demand it, but widely publish them, and there is
\nno reason why we should respect non-official secrets when their publication is called for in the interests of the public good. We,
\ntherefore, make no apology for publishing the following letter that has been addressed from the
\nBengalee <\/i>Office, to the leaders of public opinion in the mofussil:\u2014
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\tConfidential<\/i>
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nBengalee Office.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t70, Colootola Street, Calcutta.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t29th August, 1906.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\tMy dear \u2014\u2014 ,
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tAt a Conference held in the Rooms of the Landholders’ Association on Sunday last, at which several delegates from
\nthe mofussil were present, it was resolved to submit a representation to the Secretary of State for reviewing the Partition
\nof Bengal. It was agreed that the representation, if possible,   
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\tPage \u2013 145<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\tshould be forwarded early in September. The representation is
\nbeing drawn up, and in the meantime I beg you will forward to the Bengalee
\n<\/i>Office as many signatures (including of course
\nthe signatures of the leading inhabitants in your District). The representation would ask for Bengal (old and new Province) being placed under a Governor and Council, or in the alternative, the Bengali-speaking population being placed under one and the
\nsame administration. I beg you will consider the matter as very urgent.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\tYours sincerely,
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\tIt is clear thus, that a secret memorial is being got up to be
\nsent again to the Indian State Secretary; and as this memorial will clearly be sent in the name and on behalf of the public, the
\npublic have just cause for complaint that in regard to such a vital question of policy they should have been left so entirely in the
\ndark. There was a time when the people in general took really little or no interest in public questions of this kind; and in those
\ndays the getting up of such memorials in consultation with a few lawyers in the different districts, might have been justified;
\nbecause they were about the only persons who took any interest in these public and political questions. The present Swadeshi
\nagitation has, however, changed all this. We have called up the real nation out of its ancient slumber, and the masses have commenced to take a keen and possibly a more earnest interest in public questions than even the so-called educated classes. They
\nhave joined our meetings in their thousands and their tens of thousands, and have taken, during the last twelve months, an
\nintelligent interest in our movements. What right have we now to ignore them in such momentous matters as the submission of
\na fresh memorial to the Secretary of State, which may radically change the face of the whole agitation? The tactics adopted by
\nthe Calcutta clique seem, therefore, to be absolutely vicious. They strike at the very root of those principles of Democracy
\nupon which the national movement in India and especially in Bengal is professedly based. Democracy must have its leaders,
\nand the leaders must exercise the right of guiding and shaping the   
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\tPage \u2013 146<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\topinions and activities of the Democracy. But to guide, to train,
\nto shape and to control public opinion and public activities is one thing but to ignore or suppress the views and sentiments of the
\npublic is another. It is the autocrat alone who does or attempts to do so. And this pernicious autocratic tendency in the leaders
\nof Bengal must at once be knocked relentlessly on the head, if the present movement is to realise the high promise that is in it.
\nThe old leaders in Calcutta and those who dance in the mofussil to their tune, must be made to understand this distinctly that
\nthey will not be permitted to speak and act in the name of the public without fully and frankly taking that public into their
\nconfidence in regard to all important public questions. Signs are not, indeed, wanting that the people will not suffer the tyrannies
\nof their own leaders more patiently than they are prepared to suffer those of their foreign masters. The Comilla Resolution on
\nthis very subject of sending a fresh memorial to Government is significant as we pointed out yesterday. A similar Resolution,
\npublished in our telegraphic columns last Wednesday, has been adopted at a gathering of 20,000 men at Chittagong, in spite of
\nthe attempt made by some people to refer the matter to the local leaders. The question was asked whether a larger vote could be
\ntaken on this topic at any meeting of the local Association, and it was frankly answered in the negative. There were many men
\nat this gathering who had come from the villages, and they all seemed clearly flattered by the fact that they were given such an
\nopportunity of expressing their views on so important a matter, and this sense of satisfaction is a distinct guarantee of their future
\ninterest in public questions. Henceforth they will not look on our movements with their old listlessness and indifference. Is this a
\nsmall gain? Are we to neglect such a result for small favours from the Government? What even if the Partition continues, if
\nonly we can arouse a real interest in the masses in our public and political agitations? If the masses once awake from their present
\ntorpor, they will be able to undo a thousand evil and obstructive measures like the Partition of Bengal. True statesmanship would
\nprefer this quickening of public life and public spirit in the people to the revocation, as a favour, of even the most obnoxious and
\n   
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\tPage \u2013 147<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\tpernicious Government measure. But autocracy whether in the
\nGovernment or in the governed, has no eye for the people; and it is, therefore, the greatest enemy of human progress everywhere,
\nand should be ruthlessly exposed and knocked on the head by those who care for the advancement of the people and for their
\ncivic salvation. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t___________<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\tSocialist and Imperialist
\n<\/b>
\n\t<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\tMr. Hyndman having appeared in print with one of his occasional strong diatribes against bureaucratic misgovernment in
\nIndia, Mr. Theodore Morrison promptly takes up the cudgels against him. One need not quarrel with Mr. Morrison’s discovery
\nthat there were great famines in India before the English came. Everyone knows that. What Mr. Hyndman contends is that India
\nhas been so impoverished by bureaucratic misrule, not a year passes without famine or acute distress prevailing in some part
\nof the country. That is a position which is inexpugnable, and no burrowing in ancient history will overthrow it. Mr. Morrison
\nthinks that Mr. Hyndman is playing into the hands of the reactionists. Whence this tender solicitude for reform on the part of
\nthe Aligarh Imperialist?
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\tThe Sanjibani <\/i>on Mr. Tilak
\n<\/b>
\n\t<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\tThe Sanjibani <\/i>pronounces in its last issue against Mr. Tilak, on the ground that he is unpopular. But unpopular with whom?
\nWith a certain section of the old Congress leaders. Is then unpopularity with a section to be a bar against filling the Presidential
\nchair? If so, the circle of choice will become extremely limited; for just as there are some leaders who are unpopular with the
\nultra-moderate section, there are others who are unpopular with the advanced section. Mr. Gokhale, for instance, is by no means
\npopular in his own country, the Deccan, especially since his notorious apology. His support of the boycott, qualified though
\n   
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\tPage \u2013 148<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\tit be, has somewhat rehabilitated him in the eyes of many, but he
\nis still strongly distrusted by great numbers. Yet none dreamed of opposing his selection to the Presidential chair on the mere
\nground of a partial unpopularity. If, however, the Congress leaders are going to publicly proclaim such a principle, it will be
\napplied freely on both sides and the treasured “unanimity” of the Congress will disappear.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t____________<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\tSecret Tactics <\/b>
\n\t<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\tThe telegram from our correspondent in Mymensingh, which we
\npublish in another column, is extremely significant. It is now an open secret throughout the country that the Swadeshi movement
\nhas developed two distinct parties in the country. One of these desires to use Boycott as a political weapon merely in order
\nto force on the annulment of the Partition and there finish; its quarrel with the bureaucracy is a passing quarrel and it is ready
\nto be again hand in glove with the Government as soon as its turn is served; it still desires to sit on the Legislative Councils,
\nfigure on the Municipalities and carry on politics by meetings and petitions. The other party will be satisfied with nothing less
\nthan absolute control over our own affairs and is not willing to help the Government to put off the inevitable day when that
\ndemand must be conceded; it is therefore opposed to any cooperation with the Government or to the adoption of a suppliant
\nattitude in our relations to the Government; it desires the Boycott as a necessary part of our economic self-development and by no
\nmeans to be relinquished even if the Partition be rescinded. Here are definite issues which have to be fought out until some definite
\nsettlement is reached. We desire the issue to be fought out on a fair field, each party seeking the suffrages of the country and
\nattempting to educate the great mass of public opinion to its views. Unfortunately, the Leaders of the older school are not
\nwilling to give this fair field. They prefer to adopt a Machiavellian strategy working in the darkness and by diplomatic
\n\u00b4<\/i> strokes and secret <\/span> coup
\n\td’\u00e9tat<\/i>.<\/span> They do not wish to work with
\n    <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\tPage \u2013 149<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\tthe prominent and most militant members of the new school
\non the Reception Committee, they will not admit the country to their councils for fear the strength of the new school might
\nincrease, and they attempt to follow the example of the Fuller Government, to prevent them from holding public meetings.
\nRecently the new school have put forward Mr. Tilak as the fittest name for the Presidentship, and the country has already begun
\nto respond to the suggestion. The old leaders cannot publicly confess their reasons for not desiring Mr. Tilak, but they seem to
\nbe attempting cleverly to get out of the difficulty by bringing Mr. Dadabhai Naoroji over from England. We should have thought
\nthe Grand Old Man of India was a name too universally revered to be made the stalking-horse of a party move. But quite apart
\nfrom this aspect of the question, we would draw attention to the indecorous and backstairs manner in which this important
\nstep is being made. It is the work of the Reception Committee to propose a President for the Congress; but the old leaders have
\nbeen carefully avoiding any meeting of the Reception Committee and are meanwhile making all arrangements for the Congress
\nand Exhibition secretly, unconstitutionally, and among a small clique. Had the name of Mr. Dadabhai Naoroji been proposed
\nconstitutionally in the Reception Committee, all would have been well; as it is, the most venerable name in India is in danger
\nof being associated with a party stratagem carried through by unconstitutional means. Meanwhile, there is no reason why the
\nmeetings for Mr. Tilak’s Presidentship should not be proceeded with; until the Reception Committee meets and Mr. Naoroji
\naccepts an invitation from them the question remains open. But the attitude of the old leaders shows a settled determination to
\nexclude the new school from public life. If that be so, the present year will mark a struggle for the support of the country and the
\ncontrol of the Congress which, however long it may last, can only have one end.
\n   
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

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

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\tPage \u2013 150<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t
\n\tBy the Way
\n<\/b>
\n\t<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\tThe Indian Mirror <\/i>sympathises with the strikers, but is quite opposed to the strike. Workmen should not combine to get their
\nrights; they must, like good slaves, appeal to the gracious generosity of their masters! The spirit of the serf which governed
\nour agitation in pre-Swadeshi days, still disports itself in the columns of the
\nMirror<\/i>, naked and unashamed.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t*
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\tWe confess the pother the Anglo-Indian press has raised over
\nthe matter, has surprised us. A certain amount of ridicule we expected, but that the Kamboliatola affair should be magnified
\ninto sedition and by people calling themselves sane! We are informed, though we can hardly credit it, that Hare Street has
\nbeen at the expense of telegraphing columns of matter on the subject to England, apparently in order to convince the British
\npublic that Bengal has revolted and chosen a King. Verily, the dog-star rages.
\n\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t*
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\tHare Street, having failed to impress the public with that
\n\t\tfire-breathing seditious monster of Chinsurah, “Golden Bengal”, turns sniffing round, nose to earth, for a fresh trail, and finds
\nit in our own columns. We also, it appears, no less than Babu Surendranath and “Golden Bengal” have declared “open war”
\nagainst King Edward VII; we wish to get rid of “British control”. Beside this the manifesto of “Golden Bengal” fades into insignificance. That Indians should openly express their aspiration to govern themselves and yet remain out of jail is a clear sign that
\nthe British Empire is coming to an end. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t*
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\tThe Statesman <\/i>has at last come to the rescue anent the moral belabouring of Babu Surendranath Banerji for his Shanti-Sechan
\nindiscretion. The Statesman <\/i>sees two dangers looming through the dust which has been kicked up over the affair. One is that
\n   
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\tPage \u2013 151<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\tthe ignorant peasantry may imagine a King has been crowned
\nin India to whom they must give their allegiance. We confess, this alarming idea never occurred to us; and when we spoke of
\nSurendra Babu as King of independent Bengal, we thought we were indulging in a harmless jest. The
\nStatesman <\/i>has opened our
\neyes. It is an alluring idea and captivates our imagination. But what has happened to our sober-minded contemporary? Has the
\nmadness of the Englishman <\/i>infested even him that he should see such alarming visions?
\n\t<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t*
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\tThe other danger is that the Anglo-Indian journals in their wild
\ncareer may discredit constitutional agitation and play into the hands of the extremists. The extraordinary demoralisation of the
\nAnglo-Indian press has indeed been painfully evident throughout the affair; but the
\nStatesman <\/i>does not see his friend’s point
\nof view. To Hare Street Babu Surendranath Banerji is not a moderate and constitutional leader, but a dangerous and fiery
\nred revolutionist charging full tilt at British supremacy in India, with other revolutionists more or less scarlet in colour rushing
\non before or behind him. Hare Street has gone mad and, as is natural to a distracted John Bull, sees everything red. Sedition
\nto the right of him, sedition to the left of him, sedition before and behind him, and through it all the
\nEnglishman <\/i>like a heroic
\nLight Brigade, charges in for King and motherland.    <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\tPage \u2013 152<\/font><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bande Mataram  { CALCUTTA, September 10th, 1906 }   The Pro-Petition Plot   It is impossible, we think, to condemn too strongly the attempt that…<\/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-2772","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\/2772","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=2772"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2772\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}