{"id":283,"date":"2013-07-13T01:27:05","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:27:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=283"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:27:05","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:27:05","slug":"147-the-struggle-in-madras-vol-01-bande-mataram-volume-01","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/01-sabcl\/01-bande-mataram-volume-01\/147-the-struggle-in-madras-vol-01-bande-mataram-volume-01","title":{"rendered":"-147_The struggle in Madras.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n

\nThe Struggle in Madras<\/b><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n                       
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span>T<\/font><\/span>HE<\/font><\/b>
\nnew spirit of spiritual and political regeneration which is today becoming the
\npassion of the country, has arrived at a crisis of its destinies. All movements
\nare exposed to persecution, because the powers that be are afraid of the
\nconsequences which may result from their sudden success and cannot shake off the
\ndelusion that they have the strength to suppress them. When Kamsa heard that
\nKrishna was to be born to slay him, he tried to prevent the fulfilment of God’s
\nwill by killing His instrument, as if the power which warned him of approaching
\ndoom had not the strength to enforce the doom. So too, when the vague
\nprophecies of a Messiah reached the ears of Herod and he heard that Christ was
\nborn in Bethlehem, the fear of his earthly dominion passing into the hands of
\nanother drove him to massacre all the children of the Jews in order to avoid his
\nfancied doom. These examples are a parable of the eternal blindness of men when
\nface to face with movements divinely inspired which threaten or seem to threaten
\ntheir temporal dominion. The bureaucracy are here to be replaced when their work
\nis over, and if they had been able to put aside their selfish interests, and
\nwere really capable of governing India and India’s interests as they have so
\nlong professed, they would have recognised in the upheaval of 1905 the signal of
\ntheir approaching dismissal from their task, and made the way smooth for a
\npeaceful transference of power to the people, thus securing a glorious
\neuthanasia which would have been remembered in history as a unique example of
\nself-denial and far-seeing statesmanship. But human nature is too feeble to
\narise to such heights of wisdom and. self-abnegation, except in those rare
\ninstances when the divine breath enters into a nation and lifts it to a pitch of
\nenthusiasm which <\/font>
\nordinary
\nhuman weakness cannot support.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n           
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span>The persecution of Swadeshism which is now
\nreaching the most shameless lengths in Madras, is a sure sign that God has
\nwithdrawn Himself from the British bureaucracy and intends<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-802<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\ntheir
\nrapid fall. Injustice is an invitation to death and prepares His advent. The
\nmoment the desire to do Justice disappears from a ruling class, the moment it
\nceases even to respect the show of justice, from that moment its days are
\nnumbered. The cynical disregard of all decorum with which the shows of law are
\nbeing used to crush the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company in Tuticorin will
\nexasperate the whole of the mercantile community in the country. It will
\nconvince those who still dream that industrial development is possible without
\npolitical power, of their mistake. The Marwaris are already alienated, the whole
\nJain community seething with an indignation too deep-rooted for words. The
\nTuticorin reign of terror directed against the one Swadeshi enterprise which can
\nprevent all the rest from being rendered futile by the refusal of British Steam
\nservices to help the carriage of Swadeshi goods has begun to shake the
\ncomplaisant acquiescence of the commercial classes in bureaucratic absolutism.
\nThe collapse of the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company will mean that from Cape
\nComorin to Budaricashram the cry will go forth of "Swadeshi in Danger"
\nwith the result that the whole nation will awaken to the necessity of uniting in
\none desperate struggle to force the bureaucracy to surrender its monopoly of
\npower. Swadeshi is now the dream and hope of all India. Loyalist, Moderate,
\nNationalist, all are at one on this point, all are agreed, that without Swadeshi
\nthere is no hope for the people of India. When it becomes evident that the
\nbureaucracy is bent on destroying the only means by which Swadeshi can be secure
\nof its existence, the greatest supporter of the present Government will feel
\nthat his choice lies between loyalty to his country and the hope of her
\nresurgence on the one hand and loyalty to the bureaucracy and the destruction of
\nhis people and his motherland on the other.<\/font><\/p>\n


\n           
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span>When Srijut Chidambaram Pillai set himself to the task of establishing a
\nSwadeshi Steam Navigation Company between Tuticorin and Colombo, he was taking a
\nstep which meant the beginning of the end for the British commercial monopoly in
\nIndia. There are three departments of Swadeshi which have to be developed in
\norder to make India commercially independent, first, the creation of
\nmanufactures, secondly, the retail supply,<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-803<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nthirdly,
\nthe security of carriage from the place of manufacture to the place of supply.
\nOf all these the third is the most essential, because the others are bound to
\nlead a precarious existence if all the means of carriage are in the hands of the
\nenemies of Swadeshi. The difficulties experienced in East Bengal by those who
\ntried to import Swadeshi goods from Calcutta in the face of the control of the
\nrailway and the steam services by hostile interests, are only a slight foretaste
\nof the paralysing obstacles which will be thrown in our way the moment it is
\nseen that Swadeshi has got the upper hand. The only remedy for this state of
\nthings is for the people of the country to organise steamer services both by sea
\nand by river, so that all carriage by water at least may be in their hands. The
\ncarriage by land cannot come into our hands without a political revolution, but
\nif we hold the waterways, we shall not only hold an important part of the system
\nof communications but be able to use our possession of it as a weapon against
\nBritish trade if the railway is utilised against us. The instinct of the country
\nhad seized on this truth and the organisation of Swadeshi steam services has
\nbeen one of the first and most successful outcome of the new movement. The
\nChittagong Company and Tuticorin Company have both been a phenomenal success
\nand, owing to the spirit of self-sacrificing patriotism which has awakened in
\nthe hearts of the people, they have been able to beat their British rivals
\nwithout entering into a war of rates, for the British steamers charging
\nextravagantly low rates have been unable to command as much custom as the
\ndearer Swadeshi services. A network of Companies holding the water carriage from
\nRangoon to Karachi and the Persian Gulf would soon have come into existence and
\nthe waterways of East Bengal would have been covered with boats plying from town
\nto town in the ownership of Swadeshi concerns. If the Swadeshi Steam Navigation
\nCompany is crushed, this fair prospect will be ruined and all hope of commercial
\nindependence disappear for ever. The bureaucracy well know the tremendous
\nimportance of the issue at stake and have sacrificed everything, honour,
\njustice, decency, to the one all-important chance of success. We also must
\nawaken to the necessity of saving Swadeshi in this hour of danger. The time is a
\ncritical one and it is as if Providence had determined to<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-<\/font><\/span>804<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\ntest
\nthe spirit of the people and see whether it was strong enough to deserve
\nassistance. The Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company was on the point of crushing
\nits British rival, if the bureaucracy had not interfered; it is now on the point
\nof being crushed itself unless the people interfere. The people have the power
\nto save it by blotting out its rival. If the merchants refuse in a body to ship
\nby the alien service, if the people refuse to tread its decks, no amount of
\nbureaucratic help, no amount of magisterial injustice and police tyranny can
\nsave it from the doom it deserves. We look to the Nationalists of Madras to see
\nthat this is done. The British jails are not large enough to hold the whole
\npopulation of Tinnevelly district; let every man follow the noble example of
\nChidambaram Pillai and, for the rest, let God decide.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n


\nA Misunderstanding<\/font><\/a><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nWe
\nhave noticed a paragraph in the last issue of Basumati <\/i>which may lead to
\nsome misunderstanding in the public mind and needs therefore to be corrected.
\nThe Basumati <\/i>practically charges the National Council with disregarding
\nthe claims of Srijut Aurobindo Ghose to reoccupy the post of Principal and
\nSrijut Satish Chandra Mukherji who has done so much to organise the College,
\nwith clinging to the post to the exclusion of his colleague. We are able to
\nstate the real facts. Srijut Aurobindo Ghose left the College when he was
\nimplicated in the Bande Mataram <\/i>sedition trial and a conviction seemed,
\nfrom the temper of the authorities, to be a foregone conclusion. He expressed in
\nhis letter of resignation a readiness to rejoin his duties at some future date
\nif the Council thought his services required. After his acquittal the Executive
\nCommittee at an early date passed a resolution appointing Srijut Aurobindo Ghose
\na Professor of History and Political Science in the College, but as the result
\nof a special request from Srijut Aurobindo himself to the Secretary to excuse
\nhim from the onerous duties of a Principal which he had neither the time nor, as
\nhe himself thought, the necessary capacity to discharge, the post of Principal
\nwas not included in the reappointment. Srijut Satish Chandra Mukherji had no
\nhand<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-805<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nor
\nvoice in the matter; he had taken the post of Principal with reluctance and
\nholds it now as a duty until it pleases the Executive Committee to relieve him.
\nMany groundless rumours have been afloat from time to time about the National
\nCollege, and it is a pity that they should be printed without previous
\nverification. Srijut Aurobindo Ghose sent in his resignation spontaneously, and
\nwould certainly not have returned if, as it was at one time persistently
\nrumoured, he had been compelled to retire; and his return as Professor and not
\nas Principal was also due to his own unwillingness to accept the latter charge.
\nNeither the National Council nor any one else can be held responsible in either
\ncase.<\/font><\/p>\n


\nBande Mataram<\/i>,
\n<\/i> <\/font> March 30, 1908<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-<\/font>806<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Struggle in Madras                           THE new spirit of spiritual and political regeneration which is today becoming the passion of the country, has arrived…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-01-bande-mataram-volume-01","wpcat-8-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283","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=283"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}