{"id":9812,"date":"2013-12-02T02:27:10","date_gmt":"2013-12-02T10:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/test.collectedworksofsriaurobindo.com\/?p=9812"},"modified":"2013-12-02T23:13:21","modified_gmt":"2013-12-03T07:13:21","slug":"45-an-extraordinary-prohibition-vol-08-karmayogin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/03-cwsa\/08-karmayogin\/45-an-extraordinary-prohibition-vol-08-karmayogin","title":{"rendered":"-45-An-Extraordinary-Prohibition"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\n\n
<\/p>\n

An Extraordinary Prohibition\n\t<\/p>\n

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PANDIT Bhoje Dutt of Agra has been in our midst for
\n\tsome time, and none had hitherto imagined that he was a
\npolitical agitator or his preachings dangerous to the public
\n\tpeace. We all knew him as secretary of the Suddhi Samaj, a
\nreligious body having for its object the re-admission of converts
\n\tfrom Hinduism into the fold of the religion and also, we believe,
\nthe admission of converts to Hinduism from other religions into
\n\tHindu society with the full status of Hindus. The society has
\nbeen working for some time with signal success and no breach
\n\tof the law or the peace. Yet the other day Mr. Swinhoe thought
\nfit to prohibit the Pandit from lecturing in Calcutta and the public from
\n\t\t\tattending his lectures for the space of two months. We reproduce the
\n\t\t\torder as it affords singularly clear proof of the contention, always
\n\t\t\tadvanced by Nationalists, that under the present system such public
\n\t\t\tliberty as we enjoy, is not an ensured right but an insecure
\n\t\t\tconcession, based not on status but on permission, and therefore
\n\t\t\tnot, properly speaking, a liberty at all. It runs: \u0096<\/p>\n

“Whereas it has been made to appear to me by evidence
\n\tadduced before me that Pandit Bhoje Dutt, political agitator and Editor of
\n\t\t\tthe vernacular paper ‘Musafir Arya’, Agra, has
\n\tarrived in Calcutta and intends to lecture in the Albert Hall in
\nCalcutta this evening at 8 p.m. on the subject of `Musulman logonke barkhilaf’ i.e.
\n<\/i>against the interests of Mahomedans: \u0096<\/p>\n

And whereas I am satisfied that such lecturing or preaching
\n\tby the said Pandit Bhoje Dutt at any place or in any building in
\nCalcutta may lead to a serious disturbance of the public tranquillity and rioting which will be a source of danger to human
\nlife and public safety: \u0096<\/p>\n

And whereas I am satisfied that the immediate prevention
\nof such lecturing and preaching by the said Pandit Bhoje Dutt<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tPage-261<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n

\n\twithin the town of Calcutta is necessary in the interests of human
\nlife and safety and in order to prevent any riot or affray, I do
\n\thereby under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code order
\nand direct the said Pandit Bhoje Dutt to refrain from delivering
\n\tany lecture or preaching or holding or taking part in any meeting within the town of Calcutta, and I hereby direct the public
\n\tgenerally to refrain from attending or taking part in any lecture
\nor preaching by the said Pandit Bhoje Dutt and to refrain from
\n\tattending or taking any part in any meeting or meetings held
\nby or on behalf of the said Pandit Bhoje Dutt in the town of
\n\tCalcutta and I farther direct that this order shall remain in force
\nfor a period of two months from the date thereof.\n\t<\/p>\n

\nGiven under my hand and seal of this court dated the 25th
\nSeptember 1909.”\n\t<\/p>\n

\nThe value of the evidence which so easily satisfied Mr. Swinhoe may be judged from its inaccuracy and triviality. Pandit
\n\tBhoje Dutt is not a political agitator, but a religious preacher
\nand social reformer; the proposed lecture had nothing to do with
\n\tthe Mahomedans and was upon the Hindu Puranas, and there
\nwas no breach of peace or any approach to a breach of the peace
\n\tat Monghyr. So much for the accuracy. Secondly, Mr. Swinhoe
\nought to have known that, although a lecture may be against
\n\tthe interests of the Mahomedans, “Against the interests of the
\nMahomedans” cannot be the title or subject of a lecture, and
\n\twe can only suppose that this satisfactory witness was a badly educated detective or informer who either did not know his own
\n\tmeaning or could not make it clear to Mr. Swinhoe. Nor is it
\nalleged that the preaching in Monghyr resulted in a breach of
\n\tthe peace, only that it nearly so resulted. On such incorrect and
\nflimsy evidence, given ex parte
\n<\/i>and without any opportunity to
\n\tthe lecturer to expose its falsity, a magistrate is able and willing
\nto deprive a citizen of his civic rights for two months and hamper
\n\ta legitimate movement. If, after proper enquiry, the Magistrate
\nhad found that there was likely to be anything inflammatory in
\n\tthe lecture, he could have stopped the speaker from giving that
\nor any similar lecture, but, even so, there would be no ground for
\n\ta prolonged denial of civic rights. Farther, it is not enough that<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

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\nPage-262<\/p>\n

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\n

\n\ta lecture should be against the interests of any community, for
\nthere may be such a thing as legitimate opposition of interests;
\n\tthe conversion of Hindus to Mahomedanism is against the interest of Hindus and the conversion of Mahomedans to Hinduism
\n\tis against the interest of Mahomedans, but neither religion can,
\non that ground, be denied the right of proselytisation. If it be
\n\targued that wherever the exercise of legitimate rights may lead
\nto a breach of the peace, that exercise may be stopped, we say
\n\tthat this is a most dangerous principle, since it would be enough
\nfor any section of the community to break or threaten to break
\n\tthe peace to stop others from the exercise of their legitimate
\nrights. On such grounds Mr. Asquith should be debarred from
\n\tholding any meeting because the suffragettes climb walls and
\nthrow stones wherever he goes! Such a principle simply means
\n\tputting a premium upon lawlessness. In other countries the indiscreet use of powers by Magistrates is restrained by public
\n\topinion but in India there is no such safeguard.\n<\/p>\n

\n(Since the above was in type, the Police have undertaken to
\n\tprove their statements, and the facts stated above must be taken
\nas Pandit Bhoje Dutt’s side of the case. Our general criticisms
\n\tof the policy of the order remain unaffected. The chance now
\ngiven to the Police to substantiate their case ought to have been
\n\tgiven to the Pandit before the order was passed. \u0097EDITOR)\n<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n\u0097\u0097\u0097\u0097\u0097\u0097<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

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\nOTHER WRITINGS BY SRI AUROBINDO IN THIS ISSUE\n\t<\/p>\n

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\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\nAnandamath V\n<\/p>\n

\nIndian Art and an Old Classic<\/p>\n

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\n <\/p>\n

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\nPage-263<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An Extraordinary Prohibition   PANDIT Bhoje Dutt of Agra has been in our midst for some time, and none had hitherto imagined that he was…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-08-karmayogin","wpcat-44-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9812","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=9812"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9812\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9816,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9812\/revisions\/9816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}