{"id":312,"date":"2013-07-13T01:27:15","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:27:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=312"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:27:15","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:27:15","slug":"141-the-weapon-of-secession-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\/141-the-weapon-of-secession-vol-01-bande-mataram-volume-01","title":{"rendered":"-141_The Weapon of Secession.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n

\nThe Weapon of Secession<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n                       
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span>T<\/font><\/span>HERE<\/font><\/b>
\nhas been much talk recently of drawing up a constitution for the Congress, but
\neven if we are able to decide the question of the constitution, the next step
\nbefore us will be to carry it out. To think that a paper constitution will help
\nto bring about peace between the parties, is to ignore the fact that men are
\nswayed by feelings and not by machinery. Paper constitutions have always failed
\nto effect their object, except when they are in harmony with the feeling of the
\nnation and express the actual situation in their arrangements. Whatever
\nconstitution we may draw up, must be one which will suit the conditions of the
\ncountry and meet the difficulties of the present crisis. We propose to go into
\nthe question from time to time and deal with the chief points which in our
\nopinion ought to be decided in order to form a real starting-point for the fresh
\nlife of the Congress. The first and initially essential question is the object
\nof the Congress, the function which it proposes to discharge and the aim which
\nit sets before itself. We agree with the Moderates that this is the first point
\non which a clear understanding is necessary, but we do not follow them in their
\ncontention that the decision of this question need imply the exclusion of all
\nwho differ from the precise terms in which it is decided. The Congress is an
\nexpression of the life of the nation, and the will and aspiration of the nation
\nmust decide the function and object of the Congress; but that will and
\naspiration are not immutable; they develop, change, progress, and it is always
\nthe function of the dissentient minority to stand for that potential development
\nand progress without which life is impossible. The exclusion of the minority by
\na rigid shibboleth means the perpetuation in the Congress of a state of things
\nwhich may correspond for the moment to the desire of the nation, but may cease
\nso to correspond in a few years. It means the conversion of a national assembly
\n<\/font>
\ninto
\na party caucus.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n        The
\nfunction of the Congress has hitherto been to pass in-<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-773<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\noperative
\nresolutions, its aim to influence British opinion. Needless to say, the
\noriginators were men of ability and wide views, and they had an ulterior object
\nin instituting this body and giving it the shape it took. The situation in India
\nas they envisaged it, resembled that of the patricians and plebeians in Rome;
\nfor they accepted the permanence of British control almost as a law of Nature
\nthough they were anxious to alter its conditions. A caste of white patricians
\narrogated the control of the State in all its functions and effected an inborn
\nsocial superiority accompanied not only by an intolerable arrogance and
\naloofness but often by actual brutality; yet it was the indigenous mass that
\nsupplied the sinews of war and did the substantial work which secured the
\npeaceful and efficient conduct of the administration. The political and social
\ngrievances were farther accentuated by the economical sufferings of the
\nproletariat, which were largely caused by the selfish policy of the ruling
\ncaste. Yet there was no legal or constitutional means of redress, the people had
\nno votes, no means of checking directly or indirectly either executive or
\nlegislature, no power over the purse. The only force at their command was the
\nvague strength of public opinion. The object of the Indian leaders, like that of
\nthe Roman plebeians, was to give a definite form to that public opinion, \u2014
\nfocus it, as it is commonly expressed, and, secondly, to make that definitely
\nformulated opinion effective. In each case a new body was formed within the
\nState which served the purpose of formulating popular sentiment with a view to
\nbring pressure on the ruling caste and bring about a change in political
\nconditions. But while the Roman comitia became a new sovereign assembly in the
\nState, existing side by side with the already recognised organs of Government,
\ninvested with full legislative powers, governing by means of plebiscites or
\nresolutions of the people and appointing magistrates of its own who were
\nempowered to exercise a check on every action, legislative, executive or fiscal
\nof the Government, the Congress has remained from beginning to end a nullity.
\nThe difference lay partly in the conditions, partly in the means employed.<\/font><\/p>\n


\n           
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span>The originators of the Congress had undoubtedly before them an object
\nvery similar to that of their Roman prototypes.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-
\n774<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nThe
\nCongress has sometimes been described as His Majesty’s permanent Opposition; but
\nthe aim of the originators was to make it something less futile than a mere
\nmeeting of powerless critics; they certainly hoped that the plebiscites or
\nresolutions of the Congress would eventually come to have a sovereign force and
\ntranslate themselves almost automatically into laws. But they took no sufficient
\nnotice of the immense difference in the conditions of a struggle for popular
\nrights which is introduced by the foreign character of the ruling caste. There
\ncan always be an accommodation between the contending factions or classes within
\nthe same nationality, even though the accommodation may not come till after a
\nsevere and even violent struggle, but when the ruling caste is a caste of
\nforeigners, it is unlikely to give up its powers, on any lesser compulsion than
\nthe alternative of extinction and will often prefer extinction to surrender.
\nEven when the Congress leaders discovered that the bureaucracy were implacable
\nand irreconcilable, they did not lay their hands on the right source of
\nstrength. The bureaucracy in India is in itself weak and powerless; it subsists
\ngreatly by the acquiescence and support of the people, partly by the existence
\nbehind it of the strength of the British Empire. The Congress leaders saw only
\nthe second source of its strength and sought to cut it off by depriving the
\nbureaucracy of the moral support of the British public. Their initial
\nmiscalculation pursued them. They forgot that the British justice to which they
\nappealed was foreign justice, the justice of alien to alien, of self-satisfied
\nand arrogant masters to discontented dependents with whom they have no bonds of
\nblood, culture, religion or social life. Justice might be on their side, but
\nnature and self-interest were against them. Therefore they failed.<\/font><\/p>\n


\n           
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span>The real strength of their position lay in the other source of
\nbureaucratic security, the acquiescence and support of the people. As at Rome,
\nso in India the ruling caste cannot last for a moment except by this aid and
\nacquiescence of the plebeian mass and when the plebeian leaders found their
\nrulers deaf to the opinions and loudly-expressed feelings of the oppressed
\npopulace, they discovered an infallible weapon, a brahmā<\/font>stra <\/i>of peaceful
\npolitical struggle, the weapon of secession. They gave the patricians notice
\nthat they would cease to give their aid and acquies-<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-775<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\ncence
\nto the patrician rule and would form a new city over against Rome. In India, by
\nforce of a similar situation, we rediscovered this weapon of secession. For
\nboycott is nothing but this secession; we threaten to secede industrially,
\neducationally, politically, to refuse our aid and acquiescence to the
\nmaintenance of British exploitation and British education and British
\nadministration in India, and build ourselves a new city, a State within the
\nState, by creating our own industries, our own schools and colleges, our own
\ninstruments of justice and protection, our own network of public, executive and
\nadministrative bodies throughout the realm. Only while it was enough for the
\nRomans to threaten, we have to carry out our threat before the weapon can be
\neffective, because our ruling caste, being foreign, will certainly refuse to recognise the Congress as a sovereign body whether existing side by side with
\nthe present organs of Government or replacing them until it has such a position
\nas an actual fact; they will recognise only the realised aspiration, not the
\ndistant possibility. The party of peaceful secession of thoroughgoing passive
\nresistance does not forget that besides the support and acquiescence of the
\npeople the bureaucracy have another source of strength in the military force of
\nthe British Empire. They are often accused of forgetting it, but they realise it
\nfully, only they also realise that this weapon of secession, of boycott and
\nself-help, is the only chance which yet remained of a peaceful solution of the
\nproblem, \u2014 and they are willing to make full use of that chance.<\/font><\/p>\n


\n           
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span>The question of the function of the Congress hinges upon this acceptance
\nor rejection of this weapon. Whatever be the aim of the Congress, whether it be
\nSwaraj or Colonial Self-government or administrative reform, it cannot be
\nbrought about by inoperative resolutions, it can only be brought about by
\npressure; and the only means of pressure in our hands is the threat or the
\npractice of boycott or secession. If the function of the Congress is merely to
\nfocus public opinion, it need do nothing but pass resolutions and a few slight
\nchanges of procedure will be sufficient. But if its function is to pass
\neffective resolutions, if it is not only to focus public opinion but to collect
\nand centralise national strength, it will have to use the weapon of secession to<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-776<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\norganise
\na State within the State, and for that purpose the body will have not only to be
\nreadjusted but gradually reconstructed.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\nSleeping
\nSirkar and Waking People<\/font><\/a><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n


\n <\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\nIn
\ncommenting on the helplessness of the frontier Hindus, the Afridi raids and the
\ncallous indifference of the British authorities, the Punjabee <\/i>reports the
\nconversation between the old Chowdhury of a raided village and a high officer of
\nthe district. "Were you awake or asleep when the raiders came in?"
\nasked the belated Heaven-born. "Sir," was the old man’s reply,
\n"we were all asleep, for we thought our great Sirkar was wide awake. Had we
\nknown the Sirkar had gone to sleep, we would have, in that case, taken care to
\nkeep awake." The reply carried with it a lesson which lies at the very root
\nof all stable government. The king is king because he tries to please his
\npeople; he rules not by right of strength and power which are given to him by
\nGod to help him in his duties, but by service,
\n<\/span>\u2014<\/span>
\n<\/span>because he gives protection, because he
\ndeals justice, because he helps his people in their wants and in their sorrows.
\nThat is the ideal on which kingship is based, and when the ruler wilfully falls
\nshort of the ideal, he is punished first by demoralisation, last, by loss of
\nthe strength and power which are not his but delegated. The British are in India
\nbecause they had a certain mission to perform; but the condition of their tenure
\nwas justice, protection and sympathy, and if their rule has lasted for these
\nhundred years, it was because some of them tried to satisfy the condition.
\nUnfortunately for them, they allowed commercial greed to overcome their kingly
\ninstincts and the punishment of demoralisation has come upon them in full
\nmeasure. Their sympathy exists only in Mr. John Morley’s stock of liberal cant
\nphrases, their justice is no longer believed in and their protection is now
\nfollowing the other virtues. Protection is vested in a corrupt and oppressive
\npolice of which the ruler of a great Province does not feel ashamed to be
\ngreeted as the friend and protector. Protection takes the form of making Afridi
\nraids an excuse for military practice on the frontier and then quietly allowing
\nthe raids to continue. The other kingly qualities, pro-<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-777<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nvident
\nwisdom, calm courage, the instinct for the right action and the right moment are
\nalready decayed. Only the power and the strength remain and that will disappear
\nwhen the people are compelled to feel their own strength. The strength of God in
\nthe people has slumbered because they "thought that the great Sirkar was
\nawake". But they find, like the old Punjabi that the Sirkar is asleep and
\nit is time for them to awake. Self-protection, not the protection of military
\nexercises in the frontier; self-protection, not the curse of a police enquiry
\n\u2014 when this ideal wakes in the heart of the people, what will become of mere
\npower and strength which has no office left but selfishness and self-aggrandisement?
\nHow long will it be before it is withdrawn as the strength of Arjuna was
\nwithdrawn when Krishna went from him; as the strength of Ravana was withdrawn
\nwhen Rama beheld the Power of God protecting the Rakshasa in her arms, and
\nprayed to the Mother?<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n


\nAnti-Swadeshi in Madras<\/font><\/a><\/h3>\n

\n <\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe
\nMadras Standard <\/i>has undoubtedly hit the right nail on the head when it
\nderives the Tinnevelly disturbances from the establishment of the Swadeshi Steam
\nNavigation Company and the attempt to throw difficulties in the way of its
\nsuccess. The struggle generated an acute feeling on both sides and when the
\ncommercial war extended itself and the people took sides with Indian labour
\nagainst British capital in the affair of the Coral Mills, the patience of the
\nEnglish officials gave way and they rushed to the help of their mercantile
\ncaste-fellows, misusing the sacred seal of justice and the strong arm of power
\nas instruments to maintain their trade supremacy. This unjust and unwarrantable
\naction has been responsible for the riots and the corpses of dead men lying with
\ntheir gaping wounds uncared for in Tinnevelly streets, \u2014 uncared for but not
\nforgotten in the book of divine reckoning. Nations as well as individuals are
\nsubject to the law of karma<\/i>, <\/i>and in the present political and industrial
\nrevolt British rule in India is paying for the commercial rapacity which
\nimpelled it to prefer trade returns to justice and kingly duty and<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-778<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nuse
\nits political power to turn India from a land of fabulous wealth into a nation
\nof starving millions. The payment has only just begun
\n<\/span>\u2014<\/span>
\n<\/span>for these karmic debts are usually repaid
\nwith compound interest.<\/font><\/p>\n


\nBande Mataram<\/i>,
\n<\/i> <\/font> March 23, 1908<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-<\/font>779<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Weapon of Secession                           THERE has been much talk recently of drawing up a constitution for the Congress, but even if we are…<\/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-312","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\/312","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=312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}