{"id":370,"date":"2013-07-13T01:27:35","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:27:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=370"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:27:35","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:27:35","slug":"071-the-rawalpindi-sufferers-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\/071-the-rawalpindi-sufferers-vol-01-bande-mataram-volume-01","title":{"rendered":"-071_The Rawalpindi Sufferers.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n

\n
\nThe Rawalpindi Sufferers<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n               
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span>T<\/font><\/span>HE<\/b>
\nbureaucracy which has decided upon coercion as the most effective means of
\ncrushing the growing national spirit in India must necessarily turn the
\nmachinery of judicial administration also to its advantage. We have observed on
\nprevious occasions that a certain portion of the positive laws enacted by the
\nBritish Government has been designed not so much to secure the rights and
\ninterests of the people as to repress their free manhood. There is a popular
\nsaying that almost every action of a man can be construed as an offence
\naccording to the Penal Code. This attempt to penalise many natural human
\nactivities in a conquered country, should have long ago convinced us of the true
\nspirit of official-made British law but we instead have lived in a Fool’s
\nParadise and run for safety to the institutions and professions of the
\nforeigner, obstinately blind to the manner in which they illustrate the British
\ngenius for "ruling" subject races. Where the ordinary law does not
\ncover all the conceivable offences against the interests of the foreigner,
\nordinances and ukases can easily be invented to put a stop to undesirable
\nactivities as we have lately seen. Thus the bureaucratic machinery grinds slow
\nor grinds fast, but grinding is its object. In the ordinary course of things we
\ndo not become immediately conscious of its baneful consequence; but when the
\nbureaucracy is face to face with an adverse force or interest it at once sets
\nitself to the work of repression with all its demoralising consequences. Viewed
\nin this light what is being described as unprecedented and
\n"humanity-staggering" police violence and police licence in the
\nalleged Rawalpindi riot case, is no more than natural and expected. The tales of
\npolice oppression while inducing the most wholehearted sympathy with the noble
\nsufferers have not the least feature of novelty in them. The Patrika <\/i>is
\nvery much affected by the severe distress of the alleged rioters now on their
\ntrial; and moved by softer feelings, it has appealed to Lord Minto who<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-423<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\naccording
\nto our contemporary is "goodness personified" to come to their rescue.
\nThe Patrika <\/i>is no doubt actuated by the very best of motives but our
\ncontemporary should remember that such nervousness while doing no good to the
\nsufferers is demoralising to our firmness and high spirit. So far as the accused
\nare concerned the die is cast. Suffer they must; their only care now must be so
\nto suffer that their martyrdom may be a strength and inspiration to their
\ncountrymen. If their heroic and manful conduct during the trial and their
\nreadiness to face the grim sequel of a conviction puts courage into other
\nhearts, then only will it be said that they have not suffered in vain. Otherwise
\nthere is not much on the credit side of the account. The duty of the publicist
\nat such a
\ntime is to seek to brace the nerves of the martyrs and not to take away from the
\nmerit of their service to the country by any advocacy humiliating in form or
\nabject in spirit. The public attitude at such a time reacts on that of the
\nsufferer and if we give way to weakness at the report of their sufferings, we
\nset them a bad example. We also have been moved, and not merely by feelings of
\ngrief and pity, at the dim, but only too sinister and significant hints of what
\nis going on behind the decent show of a fair and public trial.<\/font><\/p>\n


\n           
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span>But this is not a time when we should give vent to feminine emotions. To
\ntry to rouse pity in the rulers is as unprofitable as it is unworthy of our
\nmanhood and of our cause and in these rough
\nand still only superficially civilised descendants of the old sea-robbers it can
\nonly excite a deep contempt towards us and increase their arrogance. If we must
\nshow our grief and pity, let it be in substantial help to the victims or their
\nrelatives. If we must pray, let it be not to the goodness personified of any
\n"sympathetic" repressor, but to the goodness unpersonified of the
\nPower that makes and breaks kings and viceroys, empires and dominations. Let us
\npray to Him to give our brothers in Rawalpindi a stout and cheerful heart and a
\nsteadfast courage so that in the hour of their trial they may nothing common do
\nor mean upon that memorable scene, and that we too, if our turn comes to suffer
\nsuch things or worse for our country, may so bear ourselves that our country may
\nprofit by our sufferings. This is the only<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-424<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nprayer
\nthat befits us in this hour of the new birth of our nation. For all that the
\ncountry suffers now or will suffer hereafter are but the natural birth-pangs of
\na free and regenerated India.<\/font><\/p>\n


\nBande
\nMataram<\/i>,
\n<\/i> <\/font>June 18, 1907<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-425<\/p>\n

 <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Rawalpindi Sufferers                   THE bureaucracy which has decided upon coercion as the most effective means of crushing the growing national spirit in India…<\/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-370","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\/370","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=370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}