The stars are blotted out.
The clouds are covering clouds,
The sea has joined the fray
And swirls up mountain waves
The flash of lurid light
Reveals on every side
A thousand thousand shades.Kali by Swami Vivekananda,
“Who broke the Congress at Surat ?” In reply ^ we ask, " Who wanted to go back on the Calcutta resolutions ?" “Who hailed the Surat split with rapture ?” “Who wanted to rally round the banner of Lord Morley?” Not the least important question is " whose conduct was unconstitutional and un-Parliamentary ?"
Mr. Tilak sends to the Chairman of the Congress Reception Committee a notice of adjournment with a constructive proposal. Writers on constitutional law hold that " a motion for adjourning the debate may be offered at any period of the discussion. Dr. Smith,* the great English authority on the subject remarks that on such occasions " the Chairman will feel bound to
- Author of Handbook 0/ Law and Practice of Public meetings.
TOWARDS REPRNSSION l8l
put it (i.e. the motion of adjournment) to the vote." Mr. Malvi merely * thinks ’ it to be * irregular and out of order ‘. Mr. Tilak asserts his right to speak. He is not allowed to proceed. The Chairman is anxious to gag him. TheTresident is impatient to read his address. Confusion drowns the rest.
Regarding the diplomatic hurry shown by the Con###gress authorities in declaring Dr. Ghose duly elected, we may note that such incidents are by no means rare. Let Dr. Smith speak : —
" Sometimes, especially at meetings, where the Chair###man and the party appointing him are anxious to have a certain resolution carried and wish to remove every opportunity for opposition to it, the Chairman will in###sist upon putting it to the vote, the moment it is moved and seconded ; and although some member claims to be heard before the votes are completely taken, the Chair###man goes on taking the votes and then tells the member that the question is now decided and he cannot speak to it because it is not before the meeting. In such a • case, the member should of course endeavour to attract the Chairman’s attention in a way which the latter can###not ignore, and may then proceed to speak in spite of the Chairman."
Mr. Tilak’s views on the relations between the Moderates and the Nationalists are sound and refresh###ing. He says* : —
" Both the Moderates and the Nationahsts must remember that persons belonging to both the parties are actuated by a sincere desire to promote the welfare -of he country; and that none is deliberately working to
♦The Kesari,
tSz LOKAMANYA TDLAK
bring about the ruin of the country. If both parties start mth this assumption, if both are wilhng to accept the existence of difference of opinions as inevitable, and as constituting a healthy sign in the body politic, there would be less room for misunderstandings. Both the parties should realise that only in Unity there is safety and that this unity they have to keep in spite of acute differences of opinion. Neither should try to stamp out the other and both should, while exerting their utmost to get the upper hand in the National assemblies conducted by the united efforts of the Moderates and the Nationalists, never abuse their supremacy by try###ing to crush or cripple their opponents in the other party. The Moderates should remember that it is because the New Party has come into existence that the Bureaucracy condescends to " rally " themo The Nationahsts must understand that though the caution and hesitation of the Moderates is often galling to them, still their influence and prestige is not to be despised. If these are the advantages, which one gets from the other, there are some inevitable disadvantages also. The Nationahsts have generally to bear the brunt of political fight, but the rewards of the political warfare go invariably to the Moderates. By their asso###ciation with the Nationalists, the Moderates do sometime receive official taunts and frowns. When taken to taskp the Moderates must however poiut-black tell the autho###rities that though they differ in many important res###pects from the * Extremists *, still, so long as the latter are willing to co-operate with them, they would not part company. True, some of the Nationahsts have set up " Independence " as the ultimate goal of theht
TOWARDS REPRESSION 183
ambition ; but even Lord Morley does not find any###thing illegal in such " faiths and aspirations." True, also that some of the Nationalists preach boycott which is more than a boycott of British goods, still there is nothing wrong in the Moderates co-operating to the point both the parties are agreed. If these points are kept in mind, the unity between the two parties will be ever-lasting" .
In contrast with these statesman-like utterances.lread the following petulant and short-sighted remarks of Dr. Rash Behari Ghose : —
" The Extremist Party is an ominous shadow, which has projected itself over the future fortunes of the
country It has no place in the pale of the
Congress. Secession, therefore, is the only course open to it. (Turning to his brother Extremists, Dr. Ghose said) you may deny it, but I fear, you are in danger, slowly but surely of drifting into treason. “•!■
Immediately on his return to Poona from Surat, Mr. Tilak commenced collecting funds for starting a Nation###alist Daily (Marathi). The Paper — Rashtra-Mat — came out in June (1908) and in its very short career, justified its existence by bravely fighting for the National cause. About the end of February (1908) Mr. Tilak started on, what he intended to make, a long tour throughout all
“^ Undelivered Presidential Address. Since the above lines were written. Dr. Ghose, alas, has passed away. He lived to nnderstand and appreciate the Nationalists and to recognise their place in the National Movement. Indeed, it may be con###fidently said that latterly, Dr. Ghose’s agreed more with the views of Mr, Tilak than with those of his own " friend and master” the Hon. Sir Surendranath Banerjea.
184 LOKAMANYA TILAK
Marathi-speaking districts of the Presidency in order to collect about five lakhs of rupees to put the Samartha Vidyalaya, the well-known National School on a sound basis. He went first to Sholapur and then to Barsi. He was extremely well-received and he collected a sum of Rs. 50,000. He had, however, to return to Bombay to give evidence (9th March) before the Royal Com###mission of Decentrahsation. The work of the Poona District Conference (20th, 21st, and 22nd March) then claimed his attention. Then came the work of organising the picketing at the liquor shops. This movement lasted for about a month. Then he attended the Provincial Conference at Dhulia. To top all, came the bomb (30th April), changing the political atmosphere in its entirety. It threw the shadow of misfortune and failure over every public activity. The Samartha-Vidyalaya was subsequently suppressed by the Government (1910).
Mr, Tilak’s pithy and closely-reasoned evidence before the Decentralization Commission concluded thus : —
" The mere shifting of the centre of power and autho###rity from one official to another is not, in my opinion calculated to restore the feelings of cordiality between the officers and the people, prevailing in earlier days. English Education has created new aspirations and ideals amongst the people and so long as these national aspirations remain unsatisfied, it is useless to expect that the hiatus between the officers and the people could be removed by any scheme of official Decentraliz###ation. In is no remedy — not even a palliative against the evil complained of, nor was it put forward by the people or their leaders. The fluctuating wave of Decentralize
TOWARDS REPRESSION 185
-mtion may infuse more or less life in the individual members of the Bureaucracy, but it cannot remove the growing estrangement between the rulers and the ruled, unless and until the people are allowed more and more effective voice in the management of their own affairs in an ever expansive spirit of wise liberalism and wide sympathy, aiming at raising India to the level of Self-Go verning countries.”
The Poona District Conference, which met on 20th, 2 1st and 22nd March, 1908 bespeaks the resource###fulness, patience, tact and the organizing power of Mr. Tilak. Immediately on his return from Surat, while the dust of controversy still darkened all quarters, he sent round his lieutenants all over the district and established Taluka Associations. Two months of pro###poganda work left nothing to be desired either in the thoroughness of the preparations or in the representa###tive character of the delegates who attended the Con###ference from different parts of the district. But that the Moderates should have, so soon after the breach at Surat stood on the same political platform with Mr. Tilak is as great a compliment to their good sense as to Mr. Tilak’s tact in managing men. Perhaps the Moderates felt it their duty to accept what they might have thought to be Mr. Tilak’s challenge and so they mustered strong. They must, however, have been surprised to find the intellectual tenacity and political zeal of the delegates hailing from the nooks and corners of the district. The late Rao Bahadur Joshi, the famous Statistician, was the President. Fourteen Resolutions were passed. One of them appealed to the leaders of the various parties to sink, differences and restore
l86 LOKAMANYA TILAK
unity in the National Congress. Another resolution advocated the Swadeshi and Boycott movement ; an attempt was made to substitute the words " boycott of foreign goods ** for the words ** the Boycott movement" but it met with a miserable failure. A resolution on National Education was also passed and a strong Com###mittee was appointed to work it out. Most of the re###solutions were mandates to the people and not appeals to the Government. " Self-reliance, no mendicancy ** was the watch- word of this Conference. It was resol###ved to take steps to encourage sugar mdustry in Poona;. to make an industrial survey of the district, to start at least 25 primary schools during the course of one year, to encourage arbitration and discourage liquor. Alto###gether a nice programme of work, unluckily required to be totally shelved by the coming of the bomb.
It was a nice and most inspiring speech that Mr. Tilak delivered in the District Conference on the " Evils of Drink." He ridiculed the idea of carrying on “a Temperance propaganda " by means of magic lantern performances and like otlier methods. These methods according to him, were «!dl right in countries having the hereditary poison of drink in their blood. But where^ as in India, morality, religion, social opinion, instinct and heredity were strongly against the use of liquor, picketing was the only way to rouse indivi###dual, social as well as the Abkari conscience. ^ He wound up his speech with an impassioned appeal to the young men sitting opposite in the gallery. The effect was electric. A band of youths formed themselves into a Volunteer corps and spontaneously started peaceful picketing before the principle liquor-shops of Poona. It
TOWARDS REPRESSION 187
would be a mistake to suppose, that this movement was merely impulsive. Years since, it had been in ex###istence ; the Swadeshi movement, which in its wider significance was a movement for the reconstruction of the National Life, made it powerful. Especially in Thana, Belgaum and Ahmednagar, systematic efforts had been made to check the evil of drink. It was, however, reserved, for the picketng movement to make *’ Temperance " which in Indian Vernaculars always means total abstinence, a hve issue. Within less than a fortnight, it was estimated that the sale of liquor in Poona City was all but stopped. It was impossible that the keepers of the liquor shops would take this agitation lying down. They tried their best to put obstacles in the way of the Volunteers. But cautious, tactful and well-disciplined that the volunteers were, they worked in spite of rebufifs, insults and provoca###tions. The experiences of the Swadeshi picketing at Calcutta had taught them not to court any collision with the Police ; and in their well-meant efforts, they could rely upon the support and advice of three differ###ent sections of people, the Nationalists, the Moderates and Loyahsts of the type of Dr. Mann and the Rev. Mr. MacNickel the purity of whose motives at least was sO far as the Bureaucrats were concerned beyond question. The Volunteers worked under the direct supervision of the Poona Temperance Society, whose members, be###sides framing stringent rules for the observance of the Volunteers took special care to see that those rules were scrupulously observed. The Volunteers were selected after careful inquiry ; the work they were set to do was <:arefully apportioned. They were strictly directed to
LOKAMANYA TILAK
preach peacef^lly and modestly to persons entering the liquor shops. On no account were they to use intimi###dation or force. A deputation consisting of the Hon. Mr. Gokhale, Mr. Tilak, the Rev. Mr. MacNickel and others waited on the then Collector of Poona to discuss the rules and it is said that in accordance with some of his suggestions, certain changes were introduced therein ; and still as ill-luck would have it, in spite of every care, caution and foresight exercised, more than 40 Volun###teers out of about 150 working in the City were hauled up before the Magistrate and convicted and fined for having disobeyed orders of the Police. Technically they were offenders ; for the Police had ordered them to stop picketing, which they had refused to do. Undoubtedly, the Policeman has got the power to order any person to quit a place where he is standing on a public street. But where such an order is given tDnly to disallow a peaceful citizen from doing a peaceful legitimate and philanthrophic duty, conscientious per###sons will feel bound to dis-obey such orders. In this con###nection, it should be remembered that in Europe and America, pickets are allowed even to enter liquor-shops and there do their work.
The movement spread like-fire in the whole of Maha###rashtra and in the enthusiasm .that it awakened, even Swadeshi and Boycott were for a time forgotten. But the custodians of law and order, afraid that it would lead to disorder, took early steps to " suppress picket###ing.” At Lonavla (near Poona) the District Magistrate issued an order (nth April 1908) under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, enjoining people not to
congregate and loiter daily in the vicinity of the coun*
.’((
TOWARDS REPRESSION iSg.
try liquor shops at Karla and Lonavla with the purpose of preventing customers from entering the shops." The Magistrate wanted to save " persons lawfully resorting" to the liquor-shops from annoyance. On or about April 17th, instructions were issued to the Poona Police to suppress the movement.
On April 23rd, a huge meeting of about 12,000 persons was held, under the Presidency of Dr. Bhandarkar to protest against the high-handedness of the District Magistrate and to devise means of continuing the work thus interrupted. A deputation consisting of Dr. Bhandarkar, Mr. Tilak, the Rev. Mr. MacNickel and others was appointed to meet the Governor who received members of the Deputation (In the mean-while Mr. Tilak was arrested on June 24th, 1908) on July 6th, 1908. After expressing his general sympathy with the Temperance Movement, His Excellency Sir George Clarke (Now Lord Sydenham) explained the Government’s policy with regard to the sale of liquor, took exception to certain statements made by the members of the Deputation and concluded by saying that though the rules made by the Association were unexceptionable, still it was impossible owing to the difference in indivi###dual temperaments to expect uniform and consistent observance of them. He reminded the deputation, how, even at Poona, the rules failed to keep order and how therefore, their universal application was fraught with evil consequences. He concluded " Picketing is an interference with liberty which in Poona, certainly would have the appearance of class legislation, that it would in many places inevitably lead to breaches of peace and to police prosecutions which we all wish to
IQO LOKAMANYA TELAK
avoid, that it cannot permanently promote the object you have in view and that it may help to defeat that object. I sincerely hope, you will not regard this as an arbitrary decision of an alien Government which does not sympathise with your valuable Association.*’. .
A sadder commentary on the incapacity of the Bureau###cracy to understand the Indian view-point and a stronger argument for the immediate establishment of Swaraj can hardly be imagined.
While engaged in these and other activities Mr. Tilak had not forgotten the question of the Congress-compro###mise. The first time that this problem was tackled since the Surat solit w£is at the Provincial Conference of United Bengal held in February 1908 at Pabna under the Presidency of Srj. (Dr.) Rabindranath Tagore. In this Conference, both the parties were strongly repre###sented and after full and mature consideration, the Calcutta Resolutions on Swaraj, Swadeshi, Boycott and National Education were passed. The resolution on the Boycott did not speak merely of the Boycott of British goods but referred to the Boycott Movement — words Mr, Gokhale had taken strong objection to at Surat — and it is remarkable that though in the Swaraj resolution, demand was made only for Colonial Self###Govemment still, the Nationalists were allowed to bring in a formal amendment expressive of their longing for ab###solute Independence. The harmony that prevailed bet###ween the Bengal Moderates and the Bengal Nation###alists on such heated subjects as Boycott and Self###Government was of happy augury and Mr. Tilak expect###ed the same reasonable attitude from both the parties in the Bombay Provincial Conference that was to be held
TOWARDS REPRESSION I9I
at Dhulia, under the Presidentship of the late Mr. Daji Abaji Khare. The Convention Committee appointed by the Moderates at Surat was to meet at Allahabad in the Easter Holidays ; and it was the earnest wish of many that the Bombay Conference should be held before the Easter. But to suit the convenience of the President, it was decided to be held after the Easter. At the eleventh hour, however, Mr. Khare refused to preside, and his place was filled by the late Hon. Mr. G. V. Joshi. Before, however, the Conference could meet, the Convention Committee held its sittings at Allahabad and passed certain rules and re###gulations which were not likely to commend themselves to the Nationalists. The work of Congress compro###mise thus became more difficult than ever, but with his usual optimism, Mr. Tilak refused to be discouraged. The Dhulia conference commenced its sittings on April 17th. Resolutions on Swadeshi, Boycott, and National Education were passed. To the last two Resolutions there was in the Conference a slight opposition. The resolution appointing a Committee to bring about Con###gress Compromise was moved by Mr. Tilak ; speaking to this resolution he declared how suicidal it would be to leave out of the Congress any party pledged to peaceful and “constitutional” methods, only because that party preached independence.
It is not impossible that the Congress Compromise on which Mr. Tilak had set his heart, would have been an accomplished fact long ago, had not the whole poli###tical atmosphere been suddenly changed for the worse by the unexpected appearance of the bomb. On April 30th, a bomb intended for Mr. Kingsford, Sessions
192 LOKAMANYA TILAK
Judge at Mozufferpore struck Mrs. and Miss Kennedy leaving them killed on the spot. This incident created a panic, intensified by the rapid arrests of a number of Bengali youths. The fury of the Anglo-Indian Com###munity knew no bounds and some fanatics like the Pioneer and the Asian began to cry for blood. The Moderates and the Loyalists were terrified and lost all sense of proportion. The Government was panic-stri###ken. The delicate duty of warning the Government of the dangers of repression, the Terrorists of the utter futility of their doings and the Moderates of the neces###sity of keeping their heads cool, fell upon the " Extre###mists " and this duty Mr. Tilak discharged with his usual candour. He did not " speak of murders with approval " nor did he " hail the advent of the bomb in India as if something had come to India for its good." He did not, like Mathew Arnold, refuse to call a man murderer who “for some great public cause, without love or hate, austerely raised his arm against a power exempt from common checks.” On the contrary he considered it to be " the country’s misfortune " that the bomb had come ; and he called upon the Government, with all the fervour at his command to uproot this ’ poisonous tree ’ by giving larger political rights to the people. He clearly saw through the attempts made to fasten the responsibility of such events upon the much###disliked agitator. But really speaking " the ultimate cause of terrism in Bengal must be sought in the utterly selfish, high-handed and tyrannical policy of the Govern###ment and in the contemptuous and insulting manner in which most official and non-official Anglo-Indians have spoken of and treated the Bengalees. They have
TOWARDS REPRESSION 1 95
ridden rough-shod over the feelings of the Bengalees and turned a deaf ear to their strongest and most reasonable representations, supported by facts and figures. The Russianization of the administration in spirit and me###thods has led to the conversion of a small section of the people to the methods of Russian teiroism. It is sim###ply a question of action and re-action, ’ Stimulus * and
- response ‘."
Mr. Tilak had nothing but contempt for those who in their hurry to save their skin and position were osten###tatiously profuse in their condemnation of the Terro###rists. His views may be summed up in the following words of the talented editor of the Modern Review.^ ** It may be easy for arm-chair critics who are incapa###ble of risking or sacrificing anything for humanity, to inveigh in unmeasurable terms against persons who have made terrible mistakes, but who nevertheless were prepared to lose all that men hold dear, for their race and country ; — persons whose fall has been great, be###cause perhaps, equally great was their capacity for rising to the heights of being ; but for ourselves, we pause awe-struck in the presence of this m-ystericus tragedy of mingled crime and stern devotion. Deplore as we do the death of the two European women, and strongly condemn the murderous deed, we scorn to associate ourselves in our condolence and condemnation with those Anglo-Indian editors and others who have not even a word of regret to express, when brutal Anglo###Indians kill inoffensive and defenceless Indians or assault helpless Indian women. Whatever feelirgs we express, we must do independently and in measured terms."
- The Modern Review (June 1908).
13
194 LOKAMANYA TILAK
On May 22nd, the following statement was issued over the signatures of Mr. Tilak and 24 leading Nationalists of Maharashtra : —
" We view with deep regret the recent acts of violence on the part of certain young men in Bengal, resulting i» lamentable deaths.
" We firmly believe that these regrettable occurances are the result of prolonged and persistent disregard of public opinion and a continued pohcy of repression on the part of the Government, and not as alleged in some quarters of any speeches or writings.
" We are convinced, that the true remedy for the present state of things, lies, not in the adoption of any measures of repression and coercion, which must prove futile, but in the prompt redress of popular grievances and in making liberal concessions to the legitimate demands and aspirations of the people in a spirit of large-minded sympathy and far-sighted statesmanship.
" We hold that such a pohcy of concihation will be in harmony with the best traditions of British Rule in India."
But just as Mr. Tilak and others were convinced that the real cause of these fanatical outbursts lay in the ■unsympathetic rule of a Bureaucracy, irresponsible to the people of this country, so was the Bureaucracy con###vinced that it was the agitators whose pernicious wri###tings and speeches had created such a tense situation. They, therefore, set themselves to stamp out the bomb by making penal the mere possession of chemicals re###quired for preparing bombs, by a stringent Press Act and a vigorous hunting of * sedition.* A Press Act was contemplated, but it saw the light of the day a couple
TOWARDS REPRESSION I95
of years later. Newspaper prosecutions commenced right earnestly. Early in June as many as four editors were arrested in the Bombay Presidency, om charges of sedition. When the smaller fry was thus being disposed of, Mr. TUak could not be ignored, and when on June 20th, 1908, the (then) Governor of Bombay re###marked that certain persons possessing influence over the people were exciting hatred and contempt against the Government and that they were playing with fire it was clearly understood that the remarks were specifi###cally meant for Mr. Tilak, who, four days later, was arrested (June 24th, 1908.)