{"id":396,"date":"2013-07-13T01:27:45","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:27:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=396"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:27:45","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:27:45","slug":"152-the-constitution-of-the-subjects-committee-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\/152-the-constitution-of-the-subjects-committee-vol-01-bande-mataram-volume-01","title":{"rendered":"-152_The Constitution of the Subjects Committee.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n

\nThe Constitution of the Subjects Committee<\/b><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n               
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span>W<\/font><\/span>HEN<\/font><\/b>
\nwe first wrote of the Constitution we pointed out the importance of the Subjects
\nCommittee as the first approach towards the democratisation of the Congress. The
\nwhole assembly of delegates is too large and too loose a body to discuss what
\nresolutions shall be placed before it or what particular form of words should be
\nused. This has necessarily to be done by a smaller body. But before the Subjects
\nCommittee came into existence these questions were decided irresponsibly by a
\nsmall cabal of leaders in secret. When the first difference arose between the
\nold leaders and younger men, the prospect of a difference of opinion on the
\nplatform of the Congress was sufficient to bring about the substitution of a
\nCommittee for the cabal. It was a step forward but a very small step. The
\nCommittee was nominated by the cabal, not elected by the Congress, with the
\nresult that only those who were likely to be subservient to the cabal, their
\nsatellites, their mofussil lieutenants or others who were too prominent to be
\nignored, became members of the Committee. The change widened the basis of the
\noligarchy, it did not introduce a democratic principle. The Committee met to
\nconsent to what the leaders proposed, the Congress met to consent to what the
\nCommittee suggested. Freedom of discussion was restricted in the Committee by
\nthe autocratic intervention of dominant members of the cabal, in the Congress it
\nwas tabooed as a violation of unity.<\/font><\/p>\n


\n           
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span>In any future constitution of the Congress the election of the Subjects
\nCommittee must be regulated by the principles of democratic representation, not
\nof oligarchic nomination. The state of things during the last two years has been
\none of transition, the leaders attempting to dictate their choice to the
\ndelegates, the delegates attempting to force theirs on the leaders, and the
\nformation of the Subjects Committee has been invariably the occasion of scenes
\nof tumult, confusion and chaos which were<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-830<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\npainful
\nto all lovers of orderly procedure. The only remedy is the frank acceptance of
\nthe principle of democratic representation. At Surat when the Bengali delegates
\nwere electing their representatives on the Subjects Committee, Srijut
\nSurendranath Banerji let fall a remarkable expression of sentiment which
\nexplains the difficulty felt by the leaders in frankly accepting the principle
\nof district or divisional election which can alone ensure that the Subjects
\nCommittee will represent the will of the country. "If the delegates are
\nallowed to elect their representatives," he said, "the best men will
\nnot be chosen." The aristocratic nature of the objection was a surprise to
\nmany of the delegates, for it contains the very essence of the oligarchical
\nspirit. The distrust of the people, the sense of aristocratic superiority, the
\nconfidence of superior wisdom which it conveyed are the stamp of this spirit in
\nall ages. The best men are the men of position, rank, status, the men with a
\nstake in the country, the men who have succeeded and are on the top of the
\nladder, and these have a right to lead by virtue of their position apart from
\nthe will of the people. The party of privilege in all ages have posed as the
\nsuperior people, the monopolists of wisdom, the optimates <\/i>or best men,
\nthe boni <\/i>or good people. The party opposed to them are the ignorant, the
\npestilent demagogues, the crazy fanatics, the men without stake or substance who
\nwish to create a revolution in order to benefit themselves. If democratic
\nelection is allowed, these men will be elected in increasing numbers and
\nshoulder out their betters. This spirit of oligarchical exclusiveness is the
\nsecret of all the friction which has been evident and the scenes of anger,
\nstrife and disorder, the frequent outbreaks of popular indignation which have
\nmarked the Conferences and Congresses since the birth of the democratic spirit.
\nThe Congress oligarchs, unwilling to allow that spirit to assert itself, are yet
\nunable to disavow openly the principles of democracy in the name of which they
\ndemand from the bureaucracy rights and privileges which they themselves refuse
\nto the rank and file of their own followers. The conflict goes on behind the
\nscenes and the outbreaks in the Conference or Congress are rare and the results
\nof a growing impatience of the evasions, tricks, shufflings by which the leaders
\ntry to hold an untenable position. They can neither disown<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-<\/font><\/span>831<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\ndemocracy
\nnor frankly accept it. They are eager to keep up its forms, determined to
\nexclude its spirit. We shall not dwell farther on this aspect of the question,
\nfor the democratic spirit cannot be permanently repressed or baffled by
\nevasions. That the constitution must be based on democratic principles is one of
\nthe axioms with which we have started. The Subjects Committee is the brain of
\nthe Congress and must be democratised if the Congress itself is to be
\ndemocratic. Otherwise we shall have a repetition of the scenes which we are all
\nanxious to avoid. An oligarchical Subjects Committee preparing resolutions which
\nhave to be repeatedly challenged in the full house, is an unworkable
\narrangement. The delegates must be made to feel that the Committee is really
\nrepresentative of their wishes and opinions and the inclination to scan with
\nsuspicion the Subjects Committee’s resolutions and amend them in full house,
\nwill then disappear.<\/font><\/p>\n


\n           
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span>The election of the members of the Committee is at present no election at
\nall, but a scramble for the membership. It must be reduced to order and rule by
\na serious, settled and deliberate form of election. The representatives of each
\ndivision in a province must be allowed to sit separately and vote their choice
\nof representatives for their own division, the names must be written down by a
\ntemporary secretary and handed in to the Secretary for the Province who will
\nread out the full list of names to the assembled delegates of the Province.
\nThese names should be sent in to the Secretaries of the Congress who will put in
\nthe full list as soon as the President’s address is over. In this way the
\nbusiness of forming the Subjects Committee can be done quietly, timely and
\nthoroughly. No objection should be allowed from one division against the choice
\nof another division or from one Province against the choice of another Province.<\/font><\/p>\n


\n           
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span>But the method of election is not the only obstacle in the way of full
\ncorrespondence between the will of the Subjects Committee and the will of the
\nCongress. The method of discussion in the Committee is at present hampered by
\nirregularities which often prevent the real sense of the Committee from being
\nproperly ascertained. It is only when a strong and conscientious President
\nacquainted with the forms of discussion in a free country sits in<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-832<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nthe
\nchair, that the proceedings of the Committee are worthy of itself. These
\nirregularities arise partly from ignorance of the rules of debate, partly from
\nover-eagerness to make points and score tactical successes. The only remedy is
\nfor the rules of discussion to be formalised, made known to each member and
\nrigidly enforced by the President. When this is done, the habit of orderly
\ndiscussion will gradually create a public sentiment against excess of party
\nspirit. Finally, the secrecy of the sitting is a feature which ought not to be
\ncontinued. It is undemocratic in its origin, fosters irresponsibility and helps
\nto create misunderstanding and facilitate crooked methods. There is no reason
\nwhy our discussions should not be carried out in the full light of day, since we
\nhave nothing to conceal; on the contrary, the knowledge of the discussion in the
\nSubjects Committee will serve the same end as the publicity of Parliamentary
\ndiscussions in free countries. It will keep up a living interest in the people,
\neducate the public mind to deal with political questions in a graver and more
\nresponsible spirit, accustom the representatives of the people to feel that they
\nare speaking and acting with the eye of all India upon them and train the
\ncountry to prepare itself the habits of mind, speech and action which are
\nnecessary for the success of representative government. Secrecy is the enemy of
\ngood government, but it is still more fatal to self-government. Publicity is the
\nvery breath of life to democratic institutions.<\/font><\/p>\n


\n           
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span>These then are the changes which we would suggest for the democratisation
\nof the Subjects Committee \u2014<\/span> the members to be elected by the divisions of each
\nProvince by a regular and orderly method, the discussions of the Committee to be
\nregulated by fixed rules of procedure and the sitting to be thrown open to the
\nPress and the public or at least to the delegates. When these changes have been
\neffected, the foundations of representative government in India will have been
\nlaid, for it is only out of the Congress that representative institutions can
\narise in India. The Congress is the seed and only by the proper development of
\nthe seed can the life of the tree be ensured.<\/font><\/p>\n


\nBande Mataram<\/i>,
\n<\/i> <\/font> April 6, 1908<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-833<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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