{"id":384,"date":"2013-07-13T01:27:40","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:27:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=384"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:27:40","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:27:40","slug":"038-the-old-year-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\/038-the-old-year-vol-01-bande-mataram-volume-01","title":{"rendered":"-038_The Old Year.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n


\n
\n The Old Year<\/font><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

   <\/font>              
\n<\/span> 
\n<\/span><\/font>T<\/b><\/font>HERE<\/font><\/b>
\nare periods in the history of the world when the unseen Power that guides its
\ndestinies seems to be filled with a consuming passion for change and a strong
\nimpatience of the old. The Great Mother, the Adya Shakti,
\nhas resolved to take the nations into Her hand and shape them anew. These are
\nperiods of rapid destruction and energetic creation, filled with the sound of
\ncannon and the trampling of armies, the crash of great downfalls, and the turmoil of swift and violent revolutions; the world is thrown into the smelting pot
\nand comes out in a new shape and with new features. They are periods when the
\nwisdom of the wise is confounded and the prudence of
\nthe prudent turned into a laughing-stock; for it is the day of the prophet, the
\ndreamer, the fanatic and the crusader, — the time of divine revelation when
\nAvatars are born and miracles happen. Such a period was the end of the
\neighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth; in such a period we find
\nourselves at the dawn of this twentieth century the years of whose infancy have
\nwitnessed such wonderful happenings. The result of the earlier disturbance was
\nthe birth of a new Europe and the modernisation of the Western world; we are
\nassisting now at the birth of a new Asia and the modernisation of the East. The
\ncurrent started then from distant America but the centre of disturbance was
\nWestern and Central Europe. This time there have been three currents, —
\ninsurgent nationalism starting from South Africa, Asiatic revival starting from
\nJapan, Eastern democracy starting from Russia; and the centre of disturbance
\ncovers a huge zone, all Eastern, Southern and Western Asia, Northern or Asiaticised Africa and Russia which form the semi-Asiatic element in Europe. As
\nthe pace of the revolution grows swifter, each new year becomes more eventful
\nthan the last and marks a large advance to the final consummation. No year of
\nthe new century has been more full of events than 1906-07, our year 1313.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n    <\/font>
\n
\nIf we
\nlook abroad, we find the whole affected zone in agita-<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage-259<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\ntion and new births everywhere. In the Far East the year has not been marked by
\nastonishing events, but the total results have been immense. Within these twelve
\nmonths China has been educating, training and arming herself with a speed of
\nwhich the outside world has a
\nvery meagre conception. She has sent out a Commission of Observation to the
\nWest and decided to develop constitutional Government within the next ten
\nyears. She has pushed forward the work of revolutionising her system of
\neducation and bringing it into line with modern requirements. She has taken
\nresolutely in hand the task of liberating herself from the curse of opium which
\nhas benumbed the energies of her people. She has sent her young men outside in
\nthousands, chiefly to Japan, to be trained for the great work of development.
\nWith the help of Japanese instructors she is training herself quietly in war,
\nand science, has made an immense advance in the organisation of a disciplined
\narmy, and is now busy laying the foundations of an effective navy. In spite of
\nthe arrogant protests of British merchants, she has taken her enormous customs revenue into her own hands for
\nnational purposes. By her successful diplomacy she has deprived England of the
\nfruits of the unscrupulous, piratical attack upon Tibet and is maintaining her
\nhold on that outpost of the Mongolian world.
\n        Japan during this year has been vigorously pushing on her industrial expansion
\nat home and abroad; she has practically effected the commercial conquest of Manchuria and begun in good earnest the
\nstruggle with European trade and her manufactures are invading Europe and
\nAmerica. Her army reorganisation has been so large and thorough as to make the
\nisland Empire invincible in her own sphere of activity. A little cloud has
\nsprung up between herself and America, but she has conducted herself with her
\nusual sang froid<\/i>, moderation and calm firmness; and, however far the
\ndifficulty may go, we may be sure that she will not come out of it either
\nmorally or materially a loser.
\n        In other parts of the Far East there have only been slight
\nindications of coming movements. The troubles in the Philippines are over and
\nAmerica has restored to the inhabitants a certain measure of self-government,
\nwhich, if used by the Filipinos with energy and discretion, may be turned into
\nan instrument for the<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-260<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n recovery
\nof complete independence. Siam has purchased release from
\nhumiliating restrictions on her internal sovereignty at the heavy price of a
\n large cession of territory to intruding France; but she is beginning to pay
\nmore attention to her naval and military development and it will be well if
\nthis means that she has realised the only way to preserve her independence. At
\n present Siam is the one weak point in Mongolian Asia. Otherwise the events of
\nthis year show that by the terrible blow she struck at Russia, Japan has
\narrested the process of European absorption in the Far East.
\n         But the most remarkable feature of the past year is the
\n awakening of the
\nMahomedan world. In Afghanistan it has seen the inception of a great scheme of
\nNational Education which may lay the basis of a State, strong in itself,
\norganised on modern lines and equipped with scientific knowledge and training.
\nAmir Abdur Rahman consolidated Afghanistan; it is evidently the mission of
\nHabibullah, who seems not inferior in statesmanship to his great father, to
\nmodernise it. In Persia the year has brought about a peaceful revolution, — the
\ngranting of Parliamentary Government by an Asiatic king to his subjects under
\nthe mildest passive pressure and the return of national life to Iran. In Egypt
\nit has confronted the usurping role of England with a nationalist movement, not
\nonly stronger and more instructed than that of Arabi Pasha but led by the rightful sovereign of the country. The exhibition of
\ncold-blooded British ferocity at Denshawi has defeated its object, and, instead
\nof appalling the Egyptians into submission, made them more determined and
\nunited. It is now only a question of time for this awakening to affect the rest
\nof Islam and check the European as effectually in Western Asia as he has been
\nchecked in the East.
\n         In this universal Asiatic movement what part has India to play? What has she
\ndone during the year 1313? In India too there has been an immense advance, — an
\nadvance so great that we shall not be able to appreciate it properly until its
\nresults have worked themselves out. The year began with Barisal; it closes with
\nComilla. The growing intensity of the struggle in Eastern Bengal can be measured
\nby this single transition, and its meaning is far deeper than appears on the
\nsurface. It means that the two<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-261<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nforces which must contend for the possession of India’s future, — the British
\nbureaucracy and the Indian people, — have at last clashed
\nin actual conflict. Barisal meant passive, martyr-like endurance; Comilla means
\nactive, courageous resistance. The fighting is at present only on the far
\neastern fringe of this great country; but it must, as it grows in intensity,
\nspread westwards. Sparks of the growing conflagration will set fire to Western
\nBengal, and India is now far too united for the bureaucracy to succeed long in
\nisolating the struggle.
\n        The
\nsecond feature of the year has been the rapid growth of the Nationalist Party.
\nIt has in a few months absorbed Eastern Bengal, set Allahabad and the North on
\nfire, and is stirring Madras to its depths. In Bengal it has become a distinct
\nand recognised force so powerful in its moral influence that petitioning is
\npractically dead and the whole nation stands committed to a policy of
\nself-development and passive resistance. The Press a few months ago was, with
\nthe exception of a few Marathi weeklies, one journal in the Punjab, and the
\nSandhya<\/i>
\nand New India<\/i> in Calcutta, almost entirely Moderate. The increase of Nationalist journals
\nsuch as the Balbharat<\/i> and Andhra Keshari<\/i> in
\nMadras, the Aftab<\/i> in the North and ourselves in Calcutta, the appearance of local papers filled with the new spirit, the sudden
\npopularity of a
\npaper like the Yugantar<\/i> and the extent to which the new ideas are
\ninfecting journals not avowedly of the new school, are indices of the rapidity
\nwith which Nationalism is formulating itself and taking possession of the
\ncountry.
\n        A third feature of the year has been the growth of National Education. The
\nBengal National College has not only become an established fact but is rapidly
\nincreasing in numbers and has begun to build the foundations of a better system
\nof education. The schools at Rungpore and Dacca already existed at the
\ncommencement of the year; but immediately after the Barisal outrage, fresh
\nschools at Mymensingh, Kishoregunj, Comilla, Chandpur and Dinajpur were
\nestablished. Since then there have been
\nfurther additions, — the Magura School,
\nanother in the Jessore
\nDistrict, another at Jalpaiguri, as well as a free primary school at Mogra. We
\nunderstand that there is also a probability of a National School at Chittagong
\nand Noakhali. No mean<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage-262<\/span><\/p>\n

\n


\nrecord for a single year. As was to be expected, most of these schools have
\ngrown up in the great centre of Nationalism, East Bengal.
\n        Such is the record of Nationalist advance in India in 1313. It is a record of
\nsteady and rapid growth; and the year closes with the starting of a tremendous
\nissue which may carry us far beyond the stage of mere beginnings and
\npreparations. Long ago we heard it prophesied that the year 1907 would see the
\nbeginning of the actual struggle for national liberty in India. It would almost
\nseem as if in the turmoil in Tipperah the first blow had been struck.<\/font><\/p>\n


\n
\n<\/span>Bande
\nMataram<\/i>, <\/i>April 16, 1907<\/span><\/p>\n


\n
\n<\/span>
\nA Vilifier
\non Vilification<\/font><\/a><\/span><\/b>
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>Our Bombay
\ncontemporary, the Indu Prakash<\/i>, is very wroth with the Nationalist Party
\nfor their want of sweet reasonableness. He accuses them of rowdyism "which
\nwould put the East End rowdy to shame", and adds, — "Their forte seems
\nto be abuse, vilification, impertinence and superlative silliness, and these
\nare exhibited alternately." It strikes us that the Indu Prakash<\/i> has
\nbeen guilty of  "abuse, vilification, impertinence and superlative
\nsilliness" not alternately, but in a lump within the brief
\nspace of these two sentences. This sort of phraseology is, however, part of
\nthe ordinary Moderate rhetoric which is usually the reverse of moderate in its
\ntemper. Unable to meet the Nationalists in argument, they make up for it in
\ninvective, denouncing them as "maniacs", "rowdies",
\n"mere school boys". We have already answered the charge of rowdyness
\nand we will only add here that violent personal attack is not confined to one
\nparty. But the moderates have their own methods. They attack individual
\nmembers of our party behind their backs or else in meetings in which the
\npublic are not admitted, like those of the Subjects committee, but not usually
\nin public. They vilify them in the correspondence columns of their papers and
\nignore them or only abuse the party generally in the leading articles. Then they
\ncall this the decency and "high dignity of public life". We<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage-263<\/span><\/p>\n

\n


\n
\nprefer to call it want of straightforwardness and courage. The Indu<\/i> thinks
\nthat personal attacks and violent outbreaks of temper have no part in English
\npolitics. This is indeed a holy simplicity; and it is not for nothing that the
\nBombay journal calls itself Indu Prakash<\/i>, "moonshine". It is
\ntrue, of course, that English politicians do not carry their political wranglings and acerbities into social life to anything like the extent that the
\nContinental peoples do or we do in India; and this is a most praiseworthy
\nfeature of English public life. We do not agree with the Indu<\/i> that the
\ndifferences which divide us are smaller than those which exist between English
\nparties; but small or great, we agree that they should not generate hatred, if
\nit can be avoided. But if the moderates are so anxious to avoid the acerbation
\nof feelings, why should they not set the example? Let them avoid autocracy and
\ncaucus tactics, frankly recognise the Nationalists as a party whose opinions
\nmust be consulted, be conciliatory and constitutional in their procedure;
\nand what the Indu<\/i> misterms "Extremist rowdyism" will die a
\nnatural death.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>
\n
\nBy The Way<\/a><\/span><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\n
\nA Mouse in a Flutter
\n<\/b>
\n
\n<\/span>
\n
\nPoor N. N. Ghose! When we dealt with him faithfully in our "By the
\nWay" column, we did so in the belief that it would do him good; the wounds
\ngiven by a friend are wholesome, though painful. We expected that if we printed
\nhim in his true colours, he would recognise the picture, grow ashamed and
\nreform; but it is possible we did wrong to pluck out so cruelly the heart of our
\nSankaritola Hamlet’s mystery. Certainly we did not anticipate that the sight of
\nhis own moral lineaments would drive him into such an exhibition of shrieking
\nand gesticulating fury as disfigures the Indian Nation<\/i> of the 15th
\nApril. Such self-degradation by a cultured and respectable literary gentleman is
\nvery distressing and we apologise to the public for being the cause of this
\nshocking spectacle. We will devote our column today to soothing down his ruffled
\nplumes. By the way, we assure Mr.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage-264<\/span><\/p>\n

\n


\n
\nGhose that when we talk of his ruffled plumes, we are not thinking of him in
\nhis capacity as a mouse at all. We are for a moment imagining him to be a
\nfeathered biped — say, a pelican solitary in the wilderness or else, if he
\nprefers it, a turtle-dove cooing to his newly-found mate in Colootola.
\n        What is it that Mr. Ghose lays to our charge? In the first place, he accuses us
\nof having turned him into a mouse. In the second place, he complains that after
\nturning him into a mouse, we should still treat him as a human being. "I am
\na mouse," he complains; "how can I have an arm of succour or a fully
\norganised heart? I am a mouse, ergo I am neither a politician nor a
\ncynic." We plead not guilty to both charges. We do not profess to have any
\nmagical power whatever and when we casually compared our revered contemporary to
\nthe mouse in the fable, we had not the least idea that we were using a powerful
\nmantra<\/i>
\nwhich could double the number of Mr. Ghose’s legs and change him into a
\nfurtive "rodent". The rest of our remarks we made under the impression
\nthat he was still a human being; why he should so indignantly resent being
\nspoken of as a human being, we fail to understand. No, when we made the
\nallusion, we did not mean to turn Mr. Ghose into a mouse any more than when we
\ncompared him to Satan reproving sin, we intended to turn him into the devil. But
\nthe Principal of the Metropolitan College seems as skilful in mixing other
\npeople’s metaphors as in mixing his own.
\n        If, after this explanation, he still persists in his "mouse I am and mouse
\nI remain" attitude we cannot help it. The worthy publicist seems to have
\nhad mice on his brain recently. The other day he discovered a winged or
\nfluttering species of the rodent; now the mere mention of a mouse has engendered
\nthe delusion that he is one himself. We do not believe in the existence of
\nfluttering mice, — but after Mr. Ghose’s recent exhibition we can well believe
\nin the existence of a mouse in a flutter. This time
\nhe seems to have discovered a new species which he calls "rhodents"!
\nThere was much discussion in our office as to this new animal. Some thought it a
\nbrilliant invention of the printer’s devil; others opined that in his wild
\nexcitement the editor’s cockney-made pen had dropped an "h"; others
\nheld that our<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage-265<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\n
\nCalcutta Hamlet, unlike the Shakespearian, cannot distinguish between a mouse
\nand a rhododendron. A learned Government Professor assured us, however, that rhodon<\/i>
\nis Greek for a rose and that Mr. Ghose has found a new species of mouse
\nthat not only flutters but flowers, — of which he believes himself to be the
\nonly surviving specimen. However that may be, we have learned our lesson and
\nwill never compare him to a "rhodent" again. A rose by another name
\nwill smell as sweet and a mouse by any other name will gnaw as hard.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n<\/span>Bande Mataram<\/i>, <\/i>April 17, 1907<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nSimple,
\nnot Rigorous<\/a><\/span><\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n<\/span>The finale of
\nthe Punjabee<\/i> case has converted a tragedy into a farce. The bureaucracy
\nstarted to crush the New Spirit in Punjab by making a severe example of its
\nleading exponent in the Press. They have ended by acerbating public feeling in
\nthe Punjab and creating racial hostility — the very offence for
\nwhich, ostensibly, the Punjabee<\/i> is punished, — without gaining their
\nends. The ferocious severity of the sentence passed on Srijut Jaswant Rai has
\ndefeated its own object. Reduced in length from two years to six months in the
\nSessions Court, it has in the final appeal been reduced in its nature from
\nrigorous to simple imprisonment. The upshot is that the Government enjoys the honour of entertaining two patriotic Nationalists with an unsolicited
\nhospitality for the next six months. Meanwhile, the tone of. the Nationalist
\nPress will not be lowered by one note nor its determination to speak the truth
\nwithout fear or favour affected even in the smallest degree. But the memory of
\nthe original sentence will remain; the gulf between the aliens and the people
\nyawns yet wider. Incidentally the Punjabee<\/i> has been endeared to all India
\nby its boldness and readiness to suffer for the cause; its circulation has been
\nlargely increased and its influence more than doubled. Well done, most simple
\nand rigorous bureaucracy!<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage-266<\/span><\/p>\n

\n


\nBritish
\nInterests and British Conscience<\/a><\/span><\/font><\/b><\/p>\n


\n
\n<\/span>"The
\ndemand for popular self-government must be resisted in the interests of
\nEgypt" — this is the Pioneer<\/i>‘s, verdict on the National Movement
\nin that unhappy land. We can understand why Egyptian aspirations must be stifled
\nin the interests of the "protectors" of Egypt; but to say that this
\nmust be done in the interests of the children of the soil is indeed monstrous.
\nThe inordinate self-conceit of Englishmen very often betrays them into
\nludicrous absurdities. ‘The Britisher fancies himself the Heaven-appointed
\nruler of the universe; and whoever ventures to stand in his way must be a
\nnuisance, a rebel, a traitor. The whole history of Britain is a long struggle
\nfor liberty; and even the other day the British Premier could not help
\nexclaiming, "The Duma is dead; long live the Duma." But whenever it is
\na question of Egypt or India where British interests are at stake, British greed
\noverpowers British conscience and all sorts of monstrous arguments are
\nfabricated to justify the suppression of popular movements. But the history of
\nthe British occupation of Egypt which began as a temporary measure and
\nperpetuated itself as a piece of expediency, is quite well known and the world
\ncan no longer be deceived by journalistic falsehoods.
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>
\nA
\nRecommendation<\/a><\/span><\/font><\/b><\/p>\n


\n<\/span>The Englishman<\/i> has arrogated to itself the office of
\nPress-censor and has commenced to
\nissue certificates of good conduct to our moderate contemporaries. Those that
\nhave not the good fortune to see with it eye to eye are branded as seditious.
\nThis is what it wrote in its yesterday’s issue: –
\n        "We regret that in a recent issue we confounded the two papers
\nSwadesh<\/i> and
\nSwaraj<\/i>, identifying
\nthe politics of the former with those of Bande
\nMataram<\/i> and other journals of the same bilious tinge. As a matter of fact,
\nSwadesh<\/i>
\nis conducted with moderation and ability and is by no means to be confused
\nwith the seditious sheets which are doing so much mischief in this country.<\/span>"<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage-267<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

A critic who
\nconfounds the names of journals on which he sits in judgment, is a sight for
\nGods and men; and we congratulate our Swadesh<\/i> friend on the testimonial
\nsecured from so high a quarter. But is it solicited or unsolicited? The
\nseditious rags may now envy the distinction. But will they be tempted to mend
\ntheir ways? We would suggest a kaisar-i-Hind for meritorious journals and
\nrecommend the Indian Mirror<\/i> and the Indian Nation<\/i> for the first
\ntwo medals.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nBande Mataram<\/i>, April 18, 1907<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage-268<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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