{"id":375,"date":"2013-07-13T01:27:37","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:27:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=375"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:27:37","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:27:37","slug":"052-curzonism-for-the-university-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\/052-curzonism-for-the-university-vol-01-bande-mataram-volume-01","title":{"rendered":"-052_Curzonism for the University.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n

\n
\nCurzonism for the University<\/span><\/b><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n   <\/B><\/font>                
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span>A<\/B><\/font>T
\nLAST<\/font><\/b> <\/font>the
\n<\/span>brahmastra <\/span><\/I>which Lord Curzon forged for the
\nstifling of patriotism through the instrumentality of the University, is to be
\nutilised, and utilised to its full capacity. We all remember the particular
\nskirmish in the first Swadeshi struggle in which Sir Bampfylde Fuller fell. Sir
\nBampfylde insisted on the disaffiliation of the Serajgunge Schools because the
\nteachers and students were publicly taking part in politics. Lord Minto’s
\nGovernment refused to support him in this action because it was inadvisable,
\nhaving regard to the troubled nature of the times, and Sir Bampfylde had to
\nresign. Whatever stronger motives were behind Lord Minto’s action, this was the
\nostensible occasion for a resignation which practically amounted to a
\ndismissal. Now we find the same Government and the same Lord Minto out-fullering
\nFuller and threatening in much more troubled times against all Government or
\naided or affiliated Colleges and Schools the action which Sir Bampfylde
\ncontemplated against only two.
        The circular letter issued to the local
\nGovernments "with the object of protecting
\nHigher Education in India" from any connection with politics, is an awkward and
\nclumsily worded document such as we would not have expected from the pen of Sir
\nH. Risley, but it manages to make its object and methods pretty clear. The
\nobject is to put a stop to the system of National Volunteers which is growing up
\nthroughout Bengal, to use the Universities as an instrument for stifling the
\ngrowth of political life and incidentally to prevent men of ability and
\ninfluence in the educational line from becoming a political power. This is how
\nLord Minto, presumably with the approval of Mr. John Morley, proposes to bring
\nabout these objects. The objects of their benevolent and high-minded
\nattention are divided into four classes, schoolboys, college students, school
\nmasters, professors, and for each a scientifically varied treatment is carefully
\nprescribed.<\/span><\/font>

 <\/P>
\n


\nPage-327<\/SPAN><\/P>
\n

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For students in high schools, "In the interest of the boys
\nthemselves, it is clearly undesirable that they should be distracted from their
\nwork by attending political meetings or engaging in any form of political
\nagitation. In the event of such misconduct being persisted in and encouraged or
\npermitted by masters or managing authorities, the offending school can after due
\nwarning be dealt with — (a) by the local Government, which has the power of
\nwithdrawing any grant-in-aid and of withholding the privilege of competing for
\nscholarships and of receiving scholarship-holders; (b) by the University,
\nwhich can withdraw recognition from the school, the effect of which is to
\nprevent it from sending up pupils as candidates for matriculation examination."
\nStudents in high school are therefore to be debarred from all political
\neducation and brought up on an exclusive diet of Lee Warner and Empire Day.
\nAttending political meetings, outside school hours mind you, and, it may be,
\nwith the full consent of the guardians, is to be reckoned as misconduct coming
\nwithin the scope of school discipline. It is to be punished by the disciplining, that is to say, the flogging or expulsion of the boys. But what if the
\nteachers or the managing authorities remember that they are men and not dogs who
\nfor a little food from the Government are ready to do its will just or unjust?
\nWhat if they decline to do the Government’s dirty work for it? Then the local
\nmagistrate appears on the
\nscene and takes away the grant-in-aid and the privilege
\nof competing for scholarships and of receiving scholarship-holders. But
\nsupposing there should still be found a Vidyasagar or two who would
\ncontemptuously spurn these bribes and prefer to keep his manhood? For that also
\nthis provident circular has provided. The school can be refused recognition, a
\nrefusal which will mean exclusion of its students from a college education. For
\nthis purpose the local Government will report to the University "which alone is
\nlegally competent to inflict the requisite penalty". But if this sole legal
\nauthority should decline to act on the report of the local Government? Then, it
\nappears, there is another sole authority which is legally or illegally competent, the Government itself. The report is to be understood not as a report but
\nas an order, and if it is disobeyed, the University "would fail to carry out the
\neducational trust with which the law<\/span><\/font><\/P><\/p>\n

 <\/P>
\n


\nPage-328<\/SPAN><\/P>
\n

<\/p>\n

has invested
\nit, and it would be the duty of the Government to intervene".
       
\nThe next class is composed
\nof university students. In their case the Government is not prepared to punish
\nthem, as a general rule, for merely attending political meetings. We take it
\nthat, in special cases, e.g., if it were a meeting addressed by Srijut Bepin
\nChandra Pal or Syed Haldar Reza or Mr. Tilak, they will not be punished. But if
\nthey take an active part in the meeting, then the need for discipline will
\nbegin. Any action which will bring undesirable notoriety upon their college,
\nwill be sufficient ground for Government interference. Picketing is of course
\nforbidden to the student and so is open violence — such for instance as the
\ndefence of his father’s house, person and property from Mahomedan Goondas or
\nof the chastity of his wife, sister or mother from violation by political
\nhooligans.
        The schoolmaster is mercifully treated. He is graciously conceded
\nthe right of having his own opinions and even of expressing them within limits
\nset by the alien bureaucracy. "If, therefore, the public utterances of a
\nschoolmaster are of such a character as to endanger the orderly development of
\nthe boys under his charge by introducing into their immature minds doctrines
\nsubversive of their respect for authority and calculated to impair their
\nusefulness as citizens and to hinder their advancement in after life, his
\nproceedings must be held to constitute a dereliction of duty, and may properly
\nbe visited with disciplinary action." In plain unofficial English the
\nschoolmaster will be allowed to teach loyalty
\nand subservience, but if he teaches patriotism, he must be
\nsuspended, degraded or dismissed. If he takes his pupils or encourages them to
\ngo to political meetings, — barring celebrations of
\nthe Empire Day, — he will, of course, be dismissed at once. Finally, the College
\nProfessors, men like Srijut Surendranath Banerji, Aswini Kumar Dutt, Krishna
\nKumar Mitra, are not to be altogether gagged, but their hands are to be bound.
\n"If he diverts his students’ minds to political agitation", as Srijut
\nSurendranath has done for decades; "if he encourages them to attend
\npolitical
\nmeetings or personally" conducts them to such meetings, — this is obviously
\naimed at Srijut Krishna Kumar Mitra and the Anti-Circular<\/font><\/P><\/p>\n


\n <\/P>
\n


\nPage-329<\/font><\/P>
\n

<\/p>\n

Society
\n— "or if he adopts a line of
\naction which disturbs and disorganises the life and work of the College at
\nwhich he is employed", — whatever this portentous phrase may mean, — the
\nCollege is to be disaffiliated or the offender expelled.
       
\nThis ukase
\nout-Russias Russia. Not even in Russia have such systematically drastic measures
\nbeen taken to discourage political life and patriotic activity among the young.
\nNot even the omnipotent Tsar has dared to issue an ukase so arbitrary,
\noppressive and inquisitorial. It means that no self-respecting patriot will in
\nfuture enter or remain in the Government educational service in any position
\nof responsibility; or if he remains, he will not be allowed to remain long. It
\nmeans that the position of private schools and colleges will become unbearable
\nand they will be compelled to break off connection with the Government
\nUniversity. It means, if there is a grain of self-respect left in the country,
\nthat the Government University will perish and a National University be
\ndeveloped. And for this reason we welcome the circular and hope that its
\nprovisions will be stringently enforced.<\/font><\/P><\/p>\n

\nBande Mataram<\/I>, <\/I>May
\n8, 1907<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\n
\nBy The Way<\/b><\/font><\/a><\/P><\/p>\n


The Anglo-Indian Defence Association exists, we
\nbelieve, in order to take up the cause of Anglo-Indians individually and
\ngenerally, whether that cause be just or unjust, whether the individual be a
\ngood citizen or a criminal pursued by the law. It is not surprising that such a
\nbody should also be found championing the Mahomedan hooligans who, for the
\npresent, are the good friends, allies and brothers-in-arms of Anglo-India in its
\nfight against Swadeshi. A certain Mr. Garth, said to be a son of the late Sir
\nRichard Garth, Chief Justice and one of the cheap and numerous tribe of "Friends
\nof India", was the oratorical hero of the occasion. This gentleman was
\ndelivered in Mangoe Lane on Monday of a speech which runs to more than a column
\nof insults and misrepresentations against Swadeshi Bengalis. He informed a
\nwondering world that things in East Bengal were<\/font><\/P>
\n


\n <\/P>
\n


\nPage-330<\/font><\/P>
\n

<\/p>\n

quite the opposite of what the Bengali press
\nreported. We do not exactly understand this phrase. Does Mr. Garth mean that it
\nis the Mahomedans who are being plundered, their men wounded and injured, their
\nwomen outraged, while the officials give their assailants a free hand and are
\nbusy repressing any attempt at self-defence? That would be the opposite of what
\nthe Bengali papers represent.
        But Mr. Garth then assures the world
\n— which ought by this time
\nto be quite dumb with awe — that he, Mr. Garth, is quite satisfied of the
\nabsolute falsity of the charges against the local officials. He does not pretend
\n— this easily-satisfied Mr. Garth — that there is a single fact
\nor the smallest fragment of evidence to disprove these charges which the
\nofficials impugned have not tried and the Anglo-Indian journals have not been
\nable to disprove. No, the inner consciousness, the subliminal self of Mr.
\nGarth has assured the outer barrister in him of the innocence of Messrs. Clarke, Loghman & Co., and they are acquitted. Mr. Garth is equally cocksure that
\nthe Mahomedans did not begin any of the recent riots so — it was the Hindus who
\nwent and compelled them to riot and plunder and worse — so anxious were the
\npeople of Jamalpur and Dewangunj to bring on themselves the worst outrages and
\ninsults. With such brilliant powers of insight and reasoning Mr. Garth ought
\nto have come much more to the front as a
\nbarrister than he has succeeded in doing.
       
\nThe case for the
\nMahomedans as presented by this brilliant special pleader is that they were
\ngoaded to madness. In order to prove his point, he makes no bones about
\nfalsifying history. The Hindus, he says, tried their hardest to get the
\nMahomedans to join with them but absolutely failed. When we remember the
\nunanimity of Hindus and Mahomedans at the time of the Partition Agitation, we
\ncannot but admire such fearless lying. Well, the Hindus failed and then they
\ntried intimidation on the poor sellers of Bideshi articles who are all, if you
\nplease, — yes, one and all Mahomedans in Mr. Garth’s pleasant romance. But
\nstill Mahomedans would not lose their angelic patience, still they would not
\nlisten to the pipings of Hare Street. But at last the Hindus began to form
\nbodies of volunteers and learn stick- play and sword-play. This was the last
\ninsult which drove the<\/font><\/P><\/p>\n

 <\/P>
\n


\nPage-331<\/SPAN><\/P>
\n

<\/p>\n

Mahomedans to madness.
\nThat Hindus should learn sword-play and stick-play is enough, in Mr. Garth’s
\nopinion, to justify outrage, plunder, murder, mutilation, and the violation of
\nwomen. After this, he says, no wonder the Mahomedans began to ask their leaders,
\n"What is this?" All this tumult and violence, all these Armenian and Bulgarian
\nhorrors under British rule, are only the inoffensive, patient, loyal Mahomedan’s
\ngentle way of asking his leaders, "what is this?"
       
\nWe have written the above
\nin the very bitterness of our heart. It is clearer than ever that the unspeakable
\noutrages inflicted on the Hindu community had the full moral support of the
\nEnglish in India. Officials allow them, Anglo-Indian papers sympathise with
\nthem, Anglo-Indian speakers defend them, and the speeches and writings in which
\nthey are defended, are full of intolerable insults to the whole Hindu population
\nof Bengal. Yet we do not cease to buy the Englishman <\/I>and Empire<\/I>,
\n<\/I>we do not cease to give briefs to Mr. Garth and men of his kidney. We even
\nhear that a prominent Swadeshi leader gave a brief to Mr. Garth the very next
\nday after his speech, presumably as a reward for calling the whole Bengali
\nBar and Press a pack of liars. If it is so, we deserve every humiliation that
\ncan be inflicted upon us.<\/font><\/P><\/p>\n

 <\/P><\/p>\n


\nBande Mataram<\/I>, <\/I>May 9, 1907<\/font><\/P><\/p>\n


\n <\/P>
\n


\nPage-332<\/font><\/P><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Curzonism for the University                       AT LAST the brahmastra which Lord Curzon forged for the stifling of patriotism through the instrumentality of the University,…<\/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-375","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\/375","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=375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}