{"id":2872,"date":"2013-07-13T01:44:18","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:44:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=2872"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:44:18","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:44:18","slug":"153-bande-mataram-23-10-07-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\/153-bande-mataram-23-10-07-vol-06-07-bande-mataram","title":{"rendered":"-153_Bande Mataram 23-10-07.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\n\n
\n\t<\/p>\n

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

\n

\n\t
\n\t{
\n\tCALCUTTA, October 23rd, 1907 }
\n\t<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n
\nThe Nagpur Affair and True Unity
\n<\/b>
\n\t<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nThe Nagpur Nationalists are now being run down in every quarter for having failed to work in unison with the Moderates. The
\ncause of rupture as disclosed by the Indian Social Reformer<\/i>, a hostile critic of the Nationalist party, will convince every
\nright-thinking man that the Nationalists had ample provocation for what is being denounced as a highly reprehensible conduct on
\ntheir part. They had a Nationalist majority in the Executive Committee and the Moderates were arranging for a fresh meeting of the Reception Committee to alter this state of things. This unconstitutional step led to the subsequent unpleasant development. It is very difficult to disentangle the truth from the apparently exaggerated reports of “Nationalist rowdyism” of
\nwhich so much has been heard of late. But we have a suspicion that it is the wonted game of the Moderates to have it all their
\nown way and then to try to discredit the opponents by making them responsible to the country for the disunion and dissension
\nin the camp. Why do they not adopt a straightforward course from the very beginning? It is they who stand in the way of a
\nunited India by denying a fair representation to those who hold advanced political views. They always want the Nationalists to
\ncompromise their principle by an appeal in the name of unity. But their selfishness and autocracy never allow them to reflect
\non the true way of achieving unity. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nThere is a cant phrase which is always on our lips in season and out of season, and it is the cry for unity. We call it a cant phrase because those who use it, have not the slightest
\nconception of what they mean when they use it, but simply employ it as an effective formula to discourage independence
\n    <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\tPage \u2013 720<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nin thought and progressiveness in action. It is not the reality of
\nunited thought and action which they desire, it is merely the appearance of unity. “Do not let the Englishman think we are
\nnot entirely at one on any and every question,” that is the bottom idea underlying this formula. It is a habit of mind born of the
\nspirit of dependence and weakness. It is a fosterer of falsehood and encourages cowardice and insincerity. “Be your views what
\nthey may, suppress them, for they will spoil our unity; swallow your principles, they will spoil our unity; do not battle for what
\nyou think to be the right, it will spoil our unity; leave necessary things undone, for the attempt to do them will spoil our unity”;
\nthis is the cry. The prevalence of a dead and lifeless unity is the true index of national degradation, quite as much as the
\nprevalence of a living unity is the index of national greatness. So long as India was asleep and only talking in its dreams, a show
\nof unity was possible, but the moment it awoke and began to live, this show was bound to be broken. So long as mendicancy
\nwas our method and ideal, the show was necessary, for a family of beggars must not vary in its statements or in the nature of its
\nrequest to the prospective patron; they must cringe and whine in a single key. Under other circumstances, the maintenance of
\nthe show becomes of less paramount importance.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nThere is another idea underlying the cry for unity and it is
\nthe utterly erroneous impression that nations have never been able to liberate themselves and do great deeds unless they were
\nentirely and flawlessly united within. History supplies no justification for this specious theory. On the contrary when a nation
\nis living at high pressure and feelings are at white heat, opinions and actions are bound to diverge far more strongly than at
\nother times. In the strenuous times before the American War of Independence, the colony was divided into a powerful minority
\nwho were wholly for England, a great hesitating majority who were eager for internal autonomy but unwilling to use extreme
\nmethods, and a small but vigorous minority of extremists with men like John Adams at their head who pushed the country into
\nrevolt and created a nation. The history of the Italian revolution tells the same story. We are fond of quoting the instance of
\n   
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\tPage \u2013 721<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\tJapan, pointing to its magnificent unity and crying shame on
\nourselves for falling below that glorious standard; but those of us who talk most of Japan often betray a sovereign ignorance
\nof its history. Nowhere was there a more keen, determined and murderous struggle between parties than in Japan in the days
\nof its preparation, and the struggle was not over the ultimate ideal or object\u2014 the freedom and greatness of Japan, on which
\nall parties were agreed\u2014 but on questions of method and internal organisation. Until that question as between the moderate
\nShogun party and the extremist Mikado party had been settled, it was felt by all that the approach to the ultimate ideal of all
\ncould not be seriously attempted. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\tTrue national unity is the unity of self-dedication to the
\ncountry when the liberty and greatness of our motherland is the paramount consideration to which all others must be subordinated. In India at the present hour there are three conflicting ideals; one party sets the maintenance of British supremacy
\nabove all other considerations; another would maintain that supremacy in a modified form; a third aspires to make India
\na free and autonomous nation, connected with England, if it may be, but not dependent on her. Until one of these conflicting
\nideals is accepted by the majority of the nation, it is idle to make a show of unity. That was possible formerly because the
\nideal of a modified British supremacy was the prevailing ideal, but now that new hopes and resolves are entering the national
\nconsciousness, these must either be crushed or prevail, before true unity of a regenerated nation can replace the false unity of
\nacquiescence in servitude.   
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\tPage \u2013 722<\/font><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bande Mataram { CALCUTTA, October 23rd, 1907 }   The Nagpur Affair and True Unity   The Nagpur Nationalists are now being run down in…<\/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-2872","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\/2872","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=2872"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2872\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}