{"id":773,"date":"2013-07-13T01:30:19","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=773"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:30:19","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:30:19","slug":"03-the-constitution-of-the-congress-vol-27-supplement-volume-27","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/01-sabcl\/27-supplement-volume-27\/03-the-constitution-of-the-congress-vol-27-supplement-volume-27","title":{"rendered":"-03_The Constitution of the Congress.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n

\nThe Constitution of the Congress<\/b><\/font><\/h1>\n

 
\n               
\nC<\/b><\/font>ONSIDERABLE<\/font><\/b> misconception seems still to exist in many quarters
\nregarding the character of the constitution that is being demanded for the
\nCongress by those who hold that a reform of the methods and ideals of that great
\nnational movement has become absolutely imperative owing to the altered
\nconditions of public life in the country. A constitution for the Congress has
\nbeen wanted for some time past; but the main idea of those who had hitherto been
\ncrying for it was clearly to secure a due recognition of the views and opinions
\nof the general body of Congressmen in the country in the management of its
\naffairs, and to ensure regularity and continuity of its work between one session
\nand another. All that they wanted was to formulate the different authorities and
\norganisations that would be responsible for the different branches of the work of the Congress. It was with this view that
\na standing committee was appointed at the Lahore Session of the Congress, and
\ndirected to meet at least twice during the succeeding year, to discuss
\nimportant matters affecting the movement; and the failure of that scheme, to
\nwhatever cause or causes it might be due, has lent considerable support to the
\nview propounded by more than one Congress leader, that to formulate any hard and
\nfast constitution for the Congress would be bound to burden it with an
\nunworkable machinery, such as would be sure to hinder instead
\nof to help its work. And it will have to be admitted that there is considerable
\nforce in this objection. To try to give any rigid constitution to the Congress,
\nand encumber it with a number of more or less complicated organs would surely
\nweaken instead of strengthening the movement, – as long as its central idea
\nand ideals have not been reconsidered and readjusted to suit the altered
\ncircumstances of the country.<\/font><\/p>\n

 
\n          
\n<\/span>The new demand for a constitution of the Congress is, however, dictated
\nby the very need of such a reconsideration of its ideals and methods. Those who
\nhave recently put forward this<\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-1<\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

demand, want at the same time
\nalso a reconsideration of the whole programme of the Congress. Their main idea
\nis that the Congress should give up more or less completely its old mendicant
\nmethods and apply itself to the organisation of the forces and resources of the
\nnation. And a constitution is wanted, first and foremost of all, for this very
\nwork itself.<\/p>\n

 
\n          
\n<\/span>The constitution that is wanted now for the Congress will, therefore,
\nhave to build itself up from the lowest units of our national life. In some
\nplaces these units will be, perhaps, the villages; in others, where education is
\nless advanced, they will be only the subdivisional towns; and in others the
\ndistricts will have to be taken as the unit of our organisation. These village
\norganisations will combine and form district organisations composed of their own
\nrepresentatives and these district organisations will combine into one large and
\ncomprehensive provincial organisation; and it is on these provincial
\norganisations that the final Congress organisation will have to be built up, on
\nsome care- fully considered lines of federal union and government. This is the
\nsort of constitution that is now demanded for the Congress. It is no mere
\norganisation of general and executive committees of the Congress that will
\nadequately meet this demand. The very methods of the election of the delegates
\nwill have to be changed; and regular constituencies, with a register of
\nqualified voters, will have to be organised for the due exercise of the
\nCongress-practice; and the whole organisation will have to be worked up on a
\nscheme of self-taxation; for self-taxation is the very soul of that practical
\nself-government which it ought now to be the one central aim of the Indian
\nNational Congress to set up in the country. This is the real meaning of the new
\ndemand for a constitution for the Congress, and the objections urged against the
\nold cry cannot, therefore, be urged against it; though to meet this demand, the
\nwhole plan and programme of that great national movement will have to be
\nreconsidered and recast.  <\/span><\/p>\n

\n                           
\n<\/span>           <\/span><\/p>\n

Bande
\nMataram,<\/span><\/i>August20,1906<\/span><\/p>\n

 Page-2<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Constitution of the Congress                   CONSIDERABLE misconception seems still to exist in many quarters regarding the character of the constitution that is being…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-27-supplement-volume-27","wpcat-16-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773","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=773"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}