{"id":403,"date":"2013-07-13T01:27:47","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:27:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=403"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:27:47","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:27:47","slug":"042-bureaucracy-at-jamalpur-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\/042-bureaucracy-at-jamalpur-vol-01-bande-mataram-volume-01","title":{"rendered":"-042_Bureaucracy at Jamalpur.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n

\n
\nBureaucracy
\nat Jamalpur<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n               
\nT<\/b><\/font>HE<\/font><\/b>
\nmost recent accounts of the Jamalpur outrage emphasise the sinister nature of
\nthe occurrence and the defects in our own organisation which we must labour to
\nremove. The most disgraceful feature of the riots has been the conduct of the
\nBritish local official who seems to have deceived and betrayed the Hindus into
\nthe hands of the. Mahomedan Goondas. The nature of the attack, its suddenness
\nand completeness, show beyond doubt that it had been carefully planned
\nbeforehand and was no casual outbreak either of fanaticism or rowdyism. It is
\nimpossible to believe that the Joint Magistrate, responsible for the peace of
\nthe country, was totally uninformed of the .likelihood of an organised attack
\nwhich was generally apprehended by the Hindus. Yet it is reported that the local
\nofficial induced the Hindus to be present at the Mela by a distinct pledge that
\nthey had nothing to fear from the Mahomedans, and then, in violation of his
\npledge, left them utterly unprotected for brutality and sacrilege to work their
\nwill upon them. If he had any inkling of the outbreak which was then in
\npreparation, his action amounted to cynical treachery. Even if he was so
\nimbecile as to be unaware of what was going on in his own jurisdiction, his
\nfailure to provide against the possibility of his pledge coming to nothing lays
\nhim open to the worst constructions. At the very least he showed a light-hearted
\ndisregard for his official obligations and his personal honour. His subsequent
\naction was equally extraordinary. All the accounts agree in saying that the
\npolice were quite inactive until the anti-Swadeshists had their fill of plunder
\nand violence and were making for the station. Even then, they confined
\nthemselves to depriving them of their lathis, — the mischief being done and further violence superfluous,
\n—
\nand with a
\npaternal indulgence dismissed them to their homes unarrested. The only people
\narrested were a few of the Hindus who, if they were guilty of anything, can have
\nonly been guilty<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage-285<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

of
\nself-defence. The accounts on which we base these comments are unanimous and have not up to
\nthe present moment met with any denial. We can only conclude therefore that, as
\nat Comilla, the local officials looked with sympathy on the rioters as allies
\nin the repression of Swadeshism, and acted accordingly. To stand by while the Mahomedans carry out that violent repression of Swadeshism which the sham
\nLiberalism of the present Government policy forbids them to undertake
\nthemselves; to clinch this illegal repression by legal repression in the form of
\nprosecution of respectable Hindus for the crime of self-defence; to strain
\nevery nerve to prevent outside help coming to the distressed and maltreated
\nSwadeshists, and finally to save appearances by sending a few of the Mahomedan
\nrioters to prison —
\na punishment
\nwhich has no terrors for them, since they are all hooligans and some of them old
\njail birds: — such has been the consistent attitude of the local officials. The
\nonly new circumstance in the Jamalpur incident has been the assurance given by
\nthe local official which amounted to a promise of protection, and which alone made the outrage
\npossible. For the last century the British have been
\ndinning into our ears the legend of British justice, British honour, British
\ntruth. The belief in the justice of the British nation or of British
\nMagistrates is dead. Generated by liberal professions it has been killed by
\nreactionary practice. The belief in the personal honour and truth of individual
\nEnglishmen has somehow managed to survive; but it will not stand such shocks as
\nthe East Bengal bureaucrats have managed to administer to it. We would earnestly
\npress upon the people of East Bengal the unwisdom of trusting to official
\npromises or to anything but their own combination, organisation and the strong
\narm for their protection. We have already pointed out more than once what the
\nComilla officials took some pains to point out to those who applied to them for
\nprotection, that it is folly to raise the cry of Swadeshi and Swaraj and yet to
\nexpect protection from the bureaucrats whose monopoly of power the movement
\nthreatens.<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage-286<\/span><\/p>\n

\n


\n
\nIs This Your
\nLion of Bengal?<\/a><\/b><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n


\n
\n <\/span><\/font><\/b>
\nIt is painful to see how utterly helpless and at sea the "recognised
\nleaders" of Bengal are showing themselves in face of the growing acuteness
\nof the crisis in East Bengal. The Bengalee<\/i>‘s <\/i>comments on the Jamalpur
\noutrage are, we are compelled to say, a .model of cold timidity and heartless
\nover-caution. The Bengalee <\/i>declares that the whole Hindu community in
\nCalcutta is intensely excited over the outrage done to their community in
\nJamalpur. It hints and insinuates that the connivance of the British officials
\nis mainly responsible for these outrages; but even these vague insinuations it
\ndefends with a triple line of "ifs<\/i>". <\/i>It threatens dim and
\nterrible consequences if the Government do not take proper measures. But in
\nthe meantime what does our contemporary, voicing as it does the mind of the most
\nfamous politician in Bengal, propose in order to meet the emergency? It
\nproposes to hold a mass meeting in order to devise steps to minimise the evils
\nof the situation, and, having held a meeting, it proposes to wait and do
\nnothing. Or at least, if anything is to be done, it is merely to boast of our
\nsuperiority to "lowly passions" and to wait patiently to see what the
\nGovernment might <\/i>do! These superior and enlightened journals cannot be
\nexpected to yield to such "lowly passions" as indignation against
\noppression, active sympathy with our outraged fellow-countrymen, and the desire
\nto avenge their wrongs. We are sick to death of this false mealy-mouthed
\naffectation of moral blamelessness which is merely an excuse for
\npusillanimity. Nero fiddled and Rome burned. Jamalpur is in a state of siege,
\nthe town held by Goorkhas, succour from outside excluded; one man lies dead and
\nothers wounded, some, it is said, fatally; the broken image of Durga, the
\noutraged sanctity of religion, the blood of our kindred, the offended honour of
\nour cause and country, — all cry out for succour and vindication. Yet the Bengalee <\/i>finds time to fiddle about its
\nsuperiority to "lowly passions". Such is the leading Bengal finds in
\nthe crisis of her destinies. Oh, the pity of it!<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage-287<\/span><\/p>\n

\n


\n
\nAnglo-Indian
\nBlunderers<\/a><\/font><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Englishman
\n<\/i>has its own standing suggestion for the treatment of incidents like the
\nJamalpur disturbance. The theory is, the riots are the result of Mahomedan
\nindignation at the Swadeshi Boycott; therefore, Swadeshi is the cause of the
\nwhole trouble; therefore, put down Swadeshi with the strong hand. No one knows
\nbetter than the Englishman <\/i>that the disturbances have been caused by the
\nsinister alliance of Anglo-India with the Nawab of Dacca and his following
\ncontracted to put down Swadeshi by fair means or foul. For our part we should
\nwelcome open oppression by the bureaucracy; it would be more honourable at least
\nthan local connivance at violence and brutal lawlessness, and it would be a
\npleasure to meet an open and straightforward opponent. But open or secret,
\ndirect or indirect, no measures whatsoever will succeed in crushing the
\ninsurgent national spirit. We wonder whether these complacent bureaucrats and
\nexploiters have any idea of the growing mass of silent exasperation to which
\nthe present policy is rapidly giving shape and substance. Possibly, the idea
\nis to force the exasperation to a head and crush it when it breaks into overt
\naction, the old policy of the English in Ireland. But we would remind these
\nblundering Anglo-Saxon Machiavellis that India is not Ireland; it is easier to
\nunchain the tempest than to decree to it what course it shall take and what it
\nshall spare or what destroy.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/font>
\nBande
\nMataram<\/i>, <\/i>April 25, 1907<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage-288<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bureaucracy at Jamalpur                   THE most recent accounts of the Jamalpur outrage emphasise the sinister nature of the occurrence and the defects in our…<\/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-403","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\/403","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=403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}