{"id":362,"date":"2013-07-13T01:27:33","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:27:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=362"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:27:33","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:27:33","slug":"064-the-question-of-the-hour-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\/064-the-question-of-the-hour-vol-01-bande-mataram-volume-01","title":{"rendered":"-064_The Question of the Hour.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n

\n
\nThe Question of the Hour<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

<\/font>
\n               
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span>
\nT<\/font><\/b><\/span>HE<\/b>
\nwriter of "A Word of Warning" which we publish today has voiced an
\nopinion which we find to be held by several Nationalists who have the success of
\nthe movement sincerely at heart. Our correspondent, however, lays himself open
\nto some misinterpretation when he speaks of "the suicidal folly of an
\nunarmed and disorganised nation trying to measure its strength with that of the
\nbest-organised power in the land." The kind of resistance which seems to be
\nsuggested here is something in the nature of rebellion and it goes without
\nsaying that such resistance for "an unarmed and disorganised nation"
\nwould be not merely foolish but physically impossible; an armed revolt without
\narms is an absurdity. But to measure our strength, in a very different way, with
\nthe bureaucracy, however well-organised the latter may be, is the whole purpose
\nand principle of the Nationalist movement. Our position has always been that the
\npotential strength of the people is far greater than the actual strength of the
\nclose oligarchy which governs them without regard to their wishes or
\ninterests and that this potential strength can only be <\/i><\/span>educated,
\norganised and welded into compactness and coherence by a direct struggle against
\nthe antiquated and semi-mediaeval system with which the country is still cursed
\nin this twentieth century, when all other nations "from China to Peru"
\nare busy modernising and humanising their governments and institutions. In the
\nactual course of the struggle questions will always arise as between rigid
\napplications of principle and concessions to policy and between the contending
\nclaims of sheer courage and courage tempered by calculation. We must remember
\nthat throughout the movement the immense advance we have made is due to the
\nenthusiasm for a great principle and the boldness, \u2014 in the opinion
\nof
\nmany an almost foolhardy boldness, <\/span>
\n\u2014<\/span>
\nwith which we have <\/span>met every fresh crisis.
\nWhen the whole of Bengal flung itself into a passionate struggle with the
\nbureaucracy, it was not from any<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-<\/font><\/span>389<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nconsciousness
\nof strength, for neither the people nor the rulers had any idea of the latent
\npossibilities of political strength in the country. It was in a moment of
\nuncalculating anger that Bengal took up the policy a few daring spirits
\nsuggested and was amazed to find that in doing so it had discovered itself and
\nbegun a new era of Indian history. The real point at issue now is whether it
\nwill or will not be wise to make a frontal in preference to a flank attack on
\nthe coercion ukase. We have defied an ukase before, but it was then the ukase of
\nlocal officialdom and of doubtful legality. The present ukase is the deliberate
\nact of the Government of India and the Secretary of State, and its legality is
\nas undoubted as its political immorality. The question therefore is
\n<\/span>whether we
\nshall persist in carrying on our movement rigidly <\/span>within
\nthe pale of the law, however oppressive the law may be, or follow the example of
\nthe Irish and the English Nonconformists by passive resistance to the law itself
\nwith a view to bringing about its repeal. The answer really hangs upon the
\npossible next move of the bureaucracy and our preparedness to meet it. If the
\nbureaucrats try to break our resistance as at Rawalpindi by wholesale arrest,
\ndeportation and police and military violence, as well as the still more
\nquestionable methods we have seen in operation in East Bengal, shall we still be
\nable to persist, and, if not, what will be our next course? This is the
\nquestion which has given pause for a moment to the active prosecution of the
\nNationalist campaign, since it involves a serious issue of policy which must be
\nsettled before concerted action can take place. For if the ukase is to be
\npassively resisted, the opposition must be offered in concert and ubiquitously.
\nA sporadic resistance will be ineffectual and give the advantage to our
\nadversaries.<\/font><\/p>\n


\n           
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span>We again repeat that in our opinion the boldest course is the best. If we
\nthought, as the Anglo-Indian papers affect to think, that the movement was the
\nresult of our own efforts, a mere human creation, we might be of a different
\nopinion. But throughout we have been conscious that our own efforts and the
\nimpulse given or the work done by leading men, whether Moderates or Extremists,
\nhave been so small, petty and inefficient that they are absolutely insufficient
\nto explain the extraordinary results. The machinery has been absurdly
\ninadequate, the organisa-<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-390<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\ntion
\nnil, the means at our disposal pitiably small, the real workers few and mostly
\nobscure, and yet the Indian world has stood amazed and the Anglo-Indian aghast
\nat the vast and incommensurate results of an apparatus so inefficient. We
\nbelieve, therefore, that Divine Power is behind the movement, that the
\nZeitgeist<\/i>,
\n<\/i>the Time-Spirit, is at work to bring about a mighty movement of which the
\nworld at the present juncture has need, that that movement is the resurgence of
\nAsia and that the resurgence of India is not only a necessary part of the larger
\nmovement but its central need, that India is the keystone of the arch, the chief
\ninheritress of the common Asiatic destiny. The Mongolian world, preserving the
\nold strong and reposeful civilisation of early Asia, flanks her on the right and
\nhas already arisen. The Mahomedan world, preserving the aggressive and militant
\ncivilisation of Islam, flanks her on the left and in Egypt, in Arabia, in
\nPersia, is struggling to arise. In India the two civilisations meet, she is the
\nlink between them and must find the note of harmony which will reconcile them
\nand recreate a common Asiatic civilisation. Viewing the movement in this larger
\nlight we believe that as its progress and development has been in the past, so
\nit will be in the future above ordinary human calculations, with only one thing
\ncertain about it, that no external force can frustrate it and no internal
\nintrigue divert. Neither John Morley nor Denzil Ibbetson nor Nawab Salimullah,
\nneither false friend nor open enemy, nor even our own mistakes and weakness can
\ncome in its way, but rather they are unconsciously helping it on and working for
\nit. In this belief we are willing to take any risk and meet any expense of our
\nblood and our labour for the great end. To husband our men or our resources and
\ntry to buy liberty in the cheapest market, would be a false and foolish economy.
\nLajpat Rai has been swallowed up in the maelstrom and hundreds more will follow
\nhim, but their disappearance will make no difference either to the strength of
\nthe movement or its velocity. Still it will move.<\/font><\/p>\n


\n           
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span>But, subject to this confidence and readiness to throw our all into the
\ngulf, we recognise the necessity of relying on our human judgment to guide us in
\nperplexity, leaving it to the Power behind to make our mistakes as useful,
\nperhaps more useful to the final<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-<\/font><\/span>391<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nsuccess
\nthan our wiser judgments. On one thing only we must lay fast hold, on the triple
\nunity of Swadeshi, Boycott and Swaraj. These must be pursued with unremitting
\nenergy, and so long as we hold fast to them, we cannot go far wrong.<\/font><\/p>\n


\nBande
\nMataram<\/i>,
\n<\/i> <\/font>June 1, 1907<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-392<\/font><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Question of the Hour                     THE writer of "A Word of Warning" which we publish today has voiced an opinion which we…<\/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-362","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\/362","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=362"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}