Chitta Ranjan's Part in the Non-Co-operation Movement.
While on the cessation of all hostilities in Europe India stood on the
tip-toe of expectation for the new age of freedom that was about to
dawn and while men conjured rosy visions of the future, Lord
Chelmsford inaugurated in an evil moment a policy of depriving India
of even the elementary rights of personal freedom and free
speech--rights which are most valued in an enlightened democracy.
Towards the close of December 1917 Lord Chelmsford thought it fit to
appoint a Commission presided over by Mr. Justice Rowlatt of the
King's Bench Division to investigate and report on revolutionary
conspiracies in India and to advise the Government to frame such
legislation as might enable them to deal more effectively with the
reactionary movements. The Commission was appointed without any sort
of compelling necessity and, to say the least of it, at a most
inopportune moment. The Commission held its sittings at different
places of India and after an one-sided and unjudicial enquiry
published a long report towards the close of April 1918. The war
having just then successfully terminated in favour of the Allies, the
Defence of India Act and other war-time measures which could only last
so long as the war continued, would necessarily cease to be in force
any longer and therefore the Commission suggested certain penal laws
as a more effective and permanent safe-guard against the so-called
anarchists of India. The report was emphatically protested against by
every section of the Indian press but in spite of all popular
opposition, Government drafted a bill substantially embodying the
recommendations of the Rowlatt Committee and hurried it through the
Imperial Legislative Council within six months of the report. The bill
is generally known as the Rowlatt Bill. The effect of its provisions
was two-fold: the Provincial Governments would be vested with an
authority similar to that which was given to them by the Defence of
India Act, and every person accused of a revolutionary crime would be
summarily tried by the tribunals specially appointed for the purpose.
Against such a cruel and tyrannical measure the whole of India
protested with one voice. Public feeling was in a state of high
ferment and yet in spite of all this, and in spite of the fact that
every Indian Non-official member of the Imperial Legislative Council
voted against the proposed measure, the Rowlatt Bill was passed into
Law in March 1919. The situation in India reached a state of very high
tension. Mahatma Gandhi advised his countrymen to take the Satyagraha
Pledge as the only means of securing redress for their grievances. The
pledge ran thus:--
"Being conscientiously of opinion that the Bills are unjust,
subversive of the principle of liberty and justice, and destructive of
the elementary rights of individuals, on which the safety of the
community as a whole and the state itself is based, we solemnly affirm
that in the event of these Bills becoming law and until they are
withdrawn, we shall refuse civilly to obey these laws and such other
laws as may be thought fit and further affirm that in this struggle we
will faithfully follow truth and refrain from violence to life, person
and property."
Mahatma Gandhi further suggested that the second Sunday after the
publication of the Viceregal Assent to the Rowlatt Act should be
observed as a day of humiliation and prayer, a twenty-four hours'
fasting should be observed by all adults, all work should be suspended
for the day and public meetings should be held on that day in all
parts of India at which Resolutions praying for the withdrawal of the
measure should be passed. Indians gladly and freely took this pledge.
Of the leaders in Bengal Chitta Ranjan was the first to rally round
Mahatma Gandhi in preaching the Satyagraha vow. In March 1919 at a
huge meeting of the citizens of Calcutta he delivered a speech in
Bengali on Satyagraha in course of which he said:--
"To-day is Mahatma Gandhi's day. To-day is the day for us to express
the afflictions of our heart. In days of prosperity we forget
ourselves, but on evil days when fallen we realise ourselves and hear
the message of God.
To-day at this national crisis we must search for the soul of the
nation. This soul is to be attained by strength. What is that
strength? It is not brute force, but the force of love. This is what
Mahatma teaches us and this is the message of all India. The
realisation of this message requires the abandonment of selfishness,
envy, malice, and hatred. Why do we protest against the Rowlatt Act?
We know it for certain that its enforcement means the dwarfing of our
national being. To avert this calamity we should abandon all envy and
malice and infuse into the hearts of our countrymen an ardent love for
mother-country. This is why Mahatma has said--"Do not hate even your
enemies, for the victory of love is ensured." This agitation,
therefore, springs from love and righteousness; it is the throbbing of
the heart of a nation. The only means to gain our object is
self-sacrifice--self-sacrifice inspired by love."
The campaign of Satyagraha was started and what followed is written
large in characters of fire and blood in the pages of Indian History.
The Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab, Sir Michael O'Dwyer, did in an
evil moment start a counter-campaign of repression. Drs Kitchelew and
Satyapal, two popular leaders, were arrested and Mahatma Gandhi who
proceeded to the Punjab from Bombay was prohibited from entering the
province, was arrested and sent back to Bombay. A strong rumour to the
effect that Mahatma Gandhi was imprisoned spread over all parts of
India and exasperated the populace. Disorder broke out at Calcutta,
Ahmedabad and many other places, but it took a serious form in the
Punjab where martial law was proclaimed, and scores of persons were
illegally hauled up before the martial law tribunals. Counsel for
defence was disallowed and the unfortunate victims were all sentenced
to death. In April 1919 the civil population of Amritasar convened a
public meeting at the Jallianwalla Bagh to protest against some of the
high-handed and tyrannous measures of the Punjab Government. The
military were ordered by their Commanding Officer, General Dyer, to
open fire on the harmless and defenceless crowd of men, women and
children. In the name of public peace aeroplanes bombed the civil
population from above and men were made to crawl on their bellies as a
sign of penitent submission. This conduct of the Punjab authorities
met with the full approval of Lord Chelmsford.
Independent public opinion demanded a thorough and sifting enquiry
into the atrocities of the Punjab and in compliance with the insistent
public demand, Mr. Montagu, the Secretary of State for India,
appointed a Committee consisting of official and non-official members
and presided over by Lord Hunter to investigate and report on the
Punjab disorders. The Indian National Congress deputed a Committee
consisting of Mahatma Gandhi, Srijut Chitta Ranjan Das, and other
prominent leaders to conduct an independent enquiry of the
disturbances. Chitta Ranjan was not then keeping good health, but the
call of the mother-country was paramount with him. For about four
months he served on the Committee at a great personal sacrifice. The
report of the Committee which was published in due time contained a
severe denunciation of the most cold-blooded atrocities committed by
the authorities of the Punjab. The official report, though the
European members forming the majority attempted at whitewashing,
contained much evidence to show that there had been some excessive use
of military force. Both the reports astounded the world with
first-hand knowledge of the unparalleled atrocities of the Punjab. The
matter was agitated in Parliament and the staunch friends of India
there tried their best to get justice done to India. The Secretary of
State expressed his confidence in the Viceroy, the Viceroy his
confidence in Sir M. O'Dwyer, who in turn fully approved of the deeds
of General Dyer and this gentleman openly prided over his bloody
performances at Jallianwalla Bagh. But the most shameful termination
of the affair was the fact that the House of Lords hailed General Dyer
as the Saviour of India. However four things relating to the Punjab
event augmented the discontented feeling of the people bringing home
to them their utterly helpless condition. First, the minority report
of the Indian members of the Hunter committee and the shameless
whitewashing of the European members of the same committee; secondly,
the non-impeachment of General Dyer and Sir M. O'Dwyer; thirdly, the
heinous approbation of Dyer's conduct by the House of Lords; and
fourthly the large contributions to the Dyer Fund both in England and
India as a reward of his gallant deed.
Simultaneously with these high handed and arbitrary proceedings in the
Indian administration a fresh wrong was done to every follower of the
Muslim faith. At the end of the European War, Mr. Lloyd George in
replying to Indian representations on behalf of Turkey, assured Islam
that Turkey would have full justice. But when peace was concluded, the
treatment meted out to Turkey was extremely derogatory to her
self-respect and dignity; the Khilafat, the supreme temporal and
spiritual power in Islam was most shamelessly handled. The Prime
Minister, when reminded of his previous promise, replied somewhat
ironically that Turkey had had justice done to her.
At this moment Mahatma Gandhi came forward with his scheme of the
passive resistance movement now generally styled, Non-Co-operation as
the only means of rectifying the Punjab and Khilafat Wrongs. On the
4th of September 1920 at the Special Session of the Indian National
Congress at Calcutta, which was presided over by Lala Lajpat Rai, the
Non-Co-operation resolution of Mahatma Gandhi was adopted by an
overwhelming majority. It laid down the following steps to prepare the
country for non-violent Non-Co-operation:
(_a_) National Education.
(_b_) Boycott of Law Courts.
(_c_) Boycott of Foreign Goods.
(_d_) Call for Self-Sacrifice.
(_e_) Organisation of the Indian National Service.
(_f_) The Swadeshi Vow.
(_g_) Tilak Memorial Swarajya Fund.
At the Special Session of the Congress held at Calcutta Chitta Ranjan
was not in favour of withdrawing students from schools and colleges
and boycotting Law-courts. But at Nagpur a prolonged discussion with
Mahatma Gandhi about the details of the Non-Co-operation movement
convinced him of the necessity for adopting the whole programme and at
the session of the Nagpur Congress Chitta Ranjan himself moved the
Non-Co-operation Resolution. Some of the delegates who did not know
Chitta Ranjan well doubted his sincerity, but when he told them
bluntly that in his whole life he had never failed to practise what he
preached, the non-believers were silenced. In course of the speech he
said:--
"I ask you to remember, that when I say anything, I mean it, and in
my life on public questions, I have never said anything which I do not
believe in."
Chitta Ranjan came back to Calcutta, gave up his unrivalled practice
at the call of his mother-country and devoted all his time and energy
to the attainment of Swaraj by the peaceful method of non-violent
Non-co-operation. The only thought which was uppermost in his mind
when he gave up his practice was his solicitude for his poor
countrymen. Some time after this one of his friends once asked him
what would be the fate of his enormous charities. Chitta Ranjan kept
quiet for a while and then replied with a deep sigh:--"What shall I
do? A greater call of duty has reached me, I must respond to it. Those
whom I have helped so long will be helped now by God Himself."
About two years ago when Chitta Ranjan was engaged in the Dumraon Raj
case an ascetic once said to him:--"My child, this life of worldly
enjoyment you shall have to renounce very soon." None could at that
time have any faith in that prophecy. Who could have ever dreamt that
the time was so near? Mysterious indeed are the ways of God which the
limited intelligence of man fails to fathom.
Chitta Ranjan's sacrifice in the Non-co-operation movement has
elicited admiration even from high-souled Englishmen. Sir Michael
Sadler, the late President of the Calcutta University Commission wrote
in the London Times:--"Chitta Ranjan's wonderful sacrifice is
unparalleled in the history of the world. Indians would do well to
follow him."
As we have already said Chitta Ranjan is never a politician in the
true sense of the term; he possesses none of the diplomatic ways of a
thorough-bred politician. He is only a high-souled patriot led by
emotions. He has loved his country with all his heart from childhood;
in manhood through all activities he has striven hard to keep alive
its sacred image in his heart; and now on the threshhold of age that
image has became clearer and truer than ever. The late Lokamanya
Tilak once said of him, "I believe the time is not very far when
Chitta Ranjan will devote all his energy to the services of his
country and his love of mother-land will burn as a torch-light to
guide his countrymen in the right path." That hope has now been
realised.
The People of India also as a mark of their heart-felt gratitude for
the noble sacrifice and selfless patriotism of Deshabandhu Chitta
Ranjan Das has unanimously elected him to be the President of the
Indian National Congress to be held at Ahmedabad in December 1921. For
some time he hesitated to preside over the most momentous session of
the Congress of this year, but at last in compliance with the united
request of his countrymen he accepted the honour--the highest they had
in their power to bestow.
It is after all the great ideal of Chitta Ranjan's sacrifice that has
led the young men of Bengal to respond to the call of mother-country
when even Mahatma's appeal has failed to move them. The
student-community of Bengal came out in a body to rally round
Deshabandhu Chitta Ranjan in attaining the object for which we are all
fighting. In one of the students' meetings at Calcutta Mahatma Gandhi
while addressing the students said:--"I knew that you were waiting for
Srijut Chitta Ranjan's leadership and I hoped the time was not very
far when he would sacrifice his all at the call of his country." In an
appeal to the students of Calcutta he said:--
"I advocate the method of Non-Co-operation, as every other method has
failed. I want you to cling to this method, come what may. This is our
last chance and this, at least, will not be in vain. Do you know what
Non-Co-operation means? You must withdraw your help in moving the
powerful machinery of the Bureaucracy. Do you realise how you can move
this machinery? The Bureaucracy works its wicked will through the
pleaders, through doctors, through clerks, through their police
officers and through Magistrates and Judges. And you now see what the
Calcutta University contributes. It contributes all the strength upon
which the strength of the bureaucracy depends.
The method that I advocate is the method of sacrifice. If you have to
destroy what you consider your chance of success in life, remember, it
is only to defeat the bureaucracy, and to attain Swaraj. How can
Swaraj be attained unless you realise your own right clearly,
unhesitatingly? How can you compel the bureaucracy to recognise that
which you yourself do not realise?
I repeat, therefore,--wake up, wake up, wake up. We have slept too
long. Realise the sense of your bondage and stand out boldly and
firmly on the road to Freedom."
In his Sagar Sangit Chitta Ranjan once sang this song:--
"As thou didst call with the roar of thy thunder
In the infinitely musical voice of thy soul,
My life over-flooded its banks
In the heart-churning torrents of thy sound."
When actually this call came to him, he went forth from place to place
to preach the Swaraj mantra. Bengal was already prepared to adopt it.
Wherever he went, the local people responded in a splendid manner and
national institutions grew up simultaneously. After starting a
national college at Dacca when Chitta Ranjan proceeded to Mymensingh
in the beginning of March 1921, the Joint Magistrate prohibited him
from entering the town. As the Congress had not then sanctioned civil
disobedience, he did not break that order. But on that occasion the
noble message that he sent to his countrymen is even now vibrating in
the air:--"We are treated like helots in our country. Life is
unbearable without Swaraj." He then came to Tangail and in the large
compound of Mr. Wajed Ali Khan Pani's house a mass meeting was held
where the labourers and peasants were present in a large number; the
large-hearted Zaminder Mr. Khan Pani started a national school and for
the benefit of the peasants a granary was proposed. From Tangail
Chitta Ranjan came to Sylhet via Maulavi Bazar and Habigunj and
presided over the Assam Khilafat Conference. The local people accorded
him a splendid ovation, the town was lighted in honour of his visit.
In course of the speech at the Khilafat Conference he said:--"The dawn
of a new era has come. It is the dawn of unity among the different
sects of the Indian people. This unity is never to be broken. We are
all united to attain Swaraj. If in our own home, we cannot preserve
our self-respect, if in our own country we are treated like cats and
dogs, then where shall we get justice? We starve for want of food, we
are turned naked for want of clothing. Our wives and children suffer
humiliation at all times and we lose our lives like insects and worms.
To set this right we want Swaraj. This is needed not only for Hindus
and Musalmans but by every Indian, by every righteous man."
After completing a long lecturing tour in the Eastern Bengal Chitta
Ranjan came to attend the Provincial Conference at Barisal. In one of
his lectures he said that Swaraj was urgently needed to get rid of the
cultural conquest of the West which has caused the denationalisation
of the Indian people. At the Barisal Provincial Conference he
delivered a very touching lecture on Swaraj in course of which he
said:--
"Swaraj is our birth right, it is a divine gift. When you realise
yourself by penances, you shall get freedom from within and without.
We look to others for our education, commerce and government; this is
bondage. We must get rid of that. We cannot even clothe our mothers
and sisters. What servility! We must be free men and not bondsmen as
we are at present. This yearning for Swaraj is meant for our
liberation. We are inimical to no body, ours is a peaceful struggle."
Chitta Ranjan came back to Calcutta in April 1921 and shortly
afterwards went to Bezwada to attend the meeting of the All-India
Congress Committee held in the middle of April 1921 where it was
decided that as a first step towards the attainment of Swaraj three
things would be necessary:--(1) a crore of rupees to be contributed to
the Tilak Swarajya Fund, (2) a crore of persons to be enrolled as
members of the Indian National Congress and (3) twenty lacs of
spinning wheels to be distributed to the Indian Villages. This first
step was to be completed on or before the 30th June 1921.
Chitta Ranjan came back and addressed many meetings at Calcutta and
the mufassil asking the people of Bengal to contribute Bengal's quota.
The Anglo-Indian Press and the Moderate Press with one voice declared
that it was beyond human power to work out the Bezwada programme
within such a short time. But when the soul of a nation is awakened,
everything is done in an unexpected manner. On the 1st of July 1921
the All India Congress Committee declared that contributions to the
Tilak Swarjya Fund exceeded one crore of rupees and that the other two
parts of the Bezwada programme were also accomplished beyond dispute.
In the mean-time a most deplorable event took place in Bengal. This
was the inhuman treatment of the Assam Tea-garden Coolies at Chandpur.
The tea-garden coolies had been for a long time smarting under acute
grievances. They did not get sufficient food, were now and then
brutally assaulted and even their wives and sisters were subjected to
occasional humiliation at the hands of the European managers. These
exasperated their feelings to such a pitch that they determined to go
back to their own country. In early May 1921 the Coolies of many
tea-gardens at Assam went on strike and in spite of many persuasions
from the Deputy Commissioner and the proprietors of the tea-gardens
they left the gardens for Karimganj. Coolies,--men, women and children
began to pour in from different tea-gardens. They were worn out,
shattered, half-naked and starving. In fact they presented a most
pitiable picture and the local people took charge of their feeding and
clothing. They were also making arrangements for the repatriation of
the Coolies. But the Railway authorities declined to issue tickets to
them. Perhaps they thought that the Coolies would of themselves return
to the gardens if they had to face starvation and were refused tickets
to go home. But the authorities were mistaken. The inhuman treatment
at the gardens had long overstepped the limits of their patience and
now they stood at all costs determined to leave the gardens once for
all. Even they suspected the Government of being implicated with the
managers of the gardens and refused to take food from them when
offered. At the request of the people of Karimganj Mr. J. M. Sen Gupta
went there and wired to the Traffic Manager to withdraw the
unjustifiable order of the local Station Master. The order was
withdrawn and the coolies came down to Chandpur in large numbers. The
Government declined to make any arrangement for their repatriation.
The coolies were left to their own fate and as it could have been
expected epidemic broke out among them. About midnight on the 20th May
the most horrible tragedy that was ever enacted in Bengal was
witnessed at Chandpur. At the instigation of the local authorities a
band of savage Gurkhas fell upon the innocent men, women and children
who were starving and dying of epidemic. They butchered the coolies
right and left amidst the glee of the Local Magistrate and the
Commissioner. The people of Chandpur were so much agitated over this
matter, that had not the leaders come in an opportune moment to the
place of occurrence there would have ensued a riot of the severest
type. Chitta Ranjan was informed of this event and was wired to come
to Chandpur as early as possible. He at once sanctioned on behalf of
the Provincial Congress Committee 5000 rupees for the relief of the
distressed coolies. The Railway employees went on a sympathetic strike
and Chitta Ranjan started from Goalundo for Chandpur in a boat. The
violent Padma became turbulent and it was most unsafe to face the
waves in a boat. Many of Chitta Ranjan's friends tried to desist him
from such a rash step. But he was not to be stopped. His heart was
moved at the agony of the coolies and go he must to send them back to
their home. If it wished God that he would be drowned, he was ready to
court death at the call of duty. He was accompanied in this perilous
journey by his wife and constant companion Srijukta Basanti Devi. The
wind was raging high, the waves dashed against the boat; cheerfully
did Chitta Ranjan proceed on his journey with his wife. It was his
firm determination to go to Chandpur and arrange for the repatriation
of the coolies. For this he feared not death. After an eventful
journey in course of which he was once overtaken by a heavy storm and
narrowly escaped being drowned Chitta Ranjan reached Chandpur. There
he managed to send a large number of coolies in a special steamer to
Goalundo and arranged for the repatriation of the rest. He came back
to Calcutta with his wife in a cheerful spirit--cheerful, as he knew
that he had been able to do his duty as the leader of Bengal.
Now when the first stage of the Non-Co-operation movement was so
successfully passed, the Working Committee of the Congress met at
Calcutta in the beginning of September to discuss the second step and
it was decided that the next step would be boycott of foreign cloth.
This step entailed a great difficulty as it would be necessary to make
the people self-reliant and independent of foreign cloth. It
necessitated that spinning should be introduced in every house and
Indians should be encouraged to weave their own clothes. Chitta Ranjan
proceeded on a lecturing tour all over Bengal to preach Swadeshi to
his countrymen and to make it clear to them that the salvation of
India lay in hand-spinning and weaving. In course of one of his
lectures he said:--
"At this commencement of a new era in the history of India, you must
take the Swadeshi vow. I know Indians can do everything only if they
_w_ish it. Their fortitude is unique and determination firm. Once take
the vow that you shall not use foreign cloth. If you cannot procure
sufficient country-made cloth, cut one cloth into two pieces and use
them separately. You have no reason to be ashamed of wearing a short
dress. On the other hand if you import fine cloth from Manchester, the
whole world will cry shame upon you. To-day at this dawn of national
consciousness take the vow that you shall wear only country-made
cloth, be it coarse or fine. With it is inter-woven the sweet
affection of your brothers and sisters. It will help you to develop
your manhood."
In another lecture Chitta Ranjan has said:--
"Our national life has become stagnant. We must purify it. This
requires penance for our past sins, this means we should give up all
our luxuries and strive for the realisation of our national spirit."
In course of one of his mufassil lectures he once remarked:--"Those
who still do not believe in Swaraj, must very soon change their minds.
For they also must strive to attain Swaraj as the only means of
developing their manhood. Swaraj is the birth right of a nation. It
comes to believers and non-believers as a divine blessing."
When this speech was published in the form of an article, many took it
for a visionary statement; but the time was not very far when it was
actually verified. People who did never believe in Swaraj have
actually joined this movement all on a sudden as if led by Providence.
While the country was being thus prepared step by step for the
attainment of its ultimate goal, the complete hartal on the 17th
November on the occasion of the Prince's arrival in India unnerved the
Europeans and the Anglo-Indians who saw that without any act of
violence or intimidation the whole of India obeyed the dictates of the
Indian National Congress. Not a murmur was heard, not a complaint
lodged. This produced a heart-burning in the Anglo-Indians whose
representatives urged the Government by saying that it was Gunda Raj
not British Raj on the 17th to take steps in striking the national
movement at its very root. The Bureaucratic Government of India,
misled by the Anglo-Indian Press thought it fit to crush the movement
and the Bengal Government in a fit of frenzy as it were, declared
towards the end of November that the Congress and Khilafat Volunteers
formed an unlawful association. The Working Committee of the Congress
met at Bombay and decided to continue the national service corps in
defiance of the Government notification and enjoined upon all
Congress-men to enlist themselves as Volunteers. Chitta Ranjan came
back to Calcutta from Bombay and convened a meeting of the Provincial
Congress Committee which delegated all its powers to him. In that
capacity Chitta Ranjan thought it proper to send volunteers who would
go from shop to shop requesting the shop-keepers to sell Swadeshi only
and to observe _hartal_ on the 24th December on which day His Royal
Highness the Prince of Wales would arrive at Calcutta. He knew that
the volunteers were to be arrested; yet he sent his only son Srijut
Chira Ranjan Das to lead a batch of volunteers. Chitta Ranjan is a
very affectionate father, his heart is all affection; yet the report
of Chira Ranjan's arrest and six months, rigorous imprisonment, nay,
the cruel assaults on his person did not move Chitta Ranjan in the
least for he knew that son was suffering in the cause of justice and
righteousness. He sent the following message to the persecuted:--
"What shall I say to those who have suffered, who are suffering, and
to those who are prepared to suffer for the cause of freedom? I repeat
the message which was delivered by a Persian Poet.
Truth, love and courage:--that is all you need to learn, all that you
need to remember. "Faith, Fortitude, Firmness, will they falter and
fail and fade at the hour of trial, in the moment of despair", asked
the Saqi in a mournful strain, "Or will they, tried and tested emerge
from the fire of life radiant, strengthened, ennobled, purified?"
"Not will I forsake them", answered the youth, "not even were the
heavens to fall."
"Thine then" said the Saqi, "is the path of glory, thine a nation's
gratitude, thine the fadeless crown.
Would that courage unbent, courage such as thine, be the proud
possession of all!
For naught but courage winneth life's battle, naught but courage
secureth souls' freedom, man's noblest and highest prize. Let,
courage, then, be thy gift, O God, to this wondrous land of love and
light."
The day following Chira Ranjan's arrest, Chitta Ranjan's worthy wife
Srijukta Basanti Devi and his noble sister Srijukta Urmila Devi along
with Srijukta Suniti Devi came out at the head of the volunteers. They
drove in a motor car up to the crossing of Harrison Road and College
Street. They got down from the car and walked by the foot path
requesting every one to wear khaddar, to discard foreign clothes and
to observe hartal on the 24th December. When they came back to the
crossing again, they were arrested and sent up to the Jorashanko
Police station. They were conveyed to the Presidency Jail from the
Lalbasar lock-up. Close upon midnight when they had already retired
to bed, they were released unconditionally. The splendid message which
they gave to their countrymen on their arrest is worth quoting here:--
"We came out fully prepared for arrest. It was torture for us as
mothers to stay away when our young boys were going to Jail
gloriously. We entreat all our sisters to take up the work left
unfinished. Let them not forget that their place is with their
brothers and sisters imprisoned. Let them realize that they are
practically living in prison, only a bigger one. It is more honourable
to live in a real prison than to breathe the polluted air of the
slave-land. We appeal to the students of Government institutions to
vacate the colleges in a body and take up the struggle for liberty.
Now or never is our last word. This noble struggle will lead us either
to victory or to death. Both are glorious. It must be life or death,
not this slavery any more."
The arrest of the noble ladies produced a profound impression
throughout the city. Crowds of volunteers began to pour in, in order
to continue Congress and Khilafat work and to court arrest in the act
of doing that. The students of the Colleges struck and enrolled
themselves in hundreds and in thousands as National Volunteers. Even
low class people responded to the country's call. The national work
went on with a redoubled velocity. Srijut Das issued the following
appeal to the people of Bengal:--
"Fear of Jail, fear of assaults and fear of being shot down--these are
three fears which every worker must conquer before we can get Swaraj.
We have conquered the fear of Jail; we are about to conquer the fear
of assault. It depends on the Bureaucracy when we shall succeed in
conquering the fear of being shot down. In the mean-time I charge
every one to remember that our success can only depend on non-violence
so real and so perfect that all God-fearing men must come over to our
side."
In the mean-time His Excellency the Governor invited Chitta Ranjan to
discuss with him the present political situation of Bengal. The points
of view of Chitta Ranjan and his party and also those of the
Government were freely discussed, and criticised but no actual result
came out of it. The Government decided to take the strictest possible
measures and arrest all the prominent leaders. Leaders of other places
outside Bengal--leaders like Lala Lajpat Rai, Pundit Motilal Nehru,
and others were arrested and tried summarily. On the 10th of December
at 4-30 P. M. two Deputy Commissioners went to the house of Srijut
Chitta Ranjan Das and there arrested him along with Srijut Birendra
Nath Sarmal, while they were taking tea. Srijut Das kept up a
dignified and smiling appearance all through. Srijuts Das and Sasmal
were taken to Lalbazar in two Motor-cars. The ladies commenced blowing
conches and crying _ulu_. A large crowd had assembled on the road and
shouts of "Bande-Mataram", "Gandhi Mahatmaki joy", "Deshabandhu Das's
joy" went up from them. The following is the last message sent to his
countrymen by Deshabandhu Chitta Ranjan Das, on the day of his
arrest:--
"This is my last message to you, men and women of India! Victory is in
sight, if you are prepared to win it by suffering. It is in such agony
as that through which we are passing that nations are born; but you
must bear this agony with fortitude, with courage and with perfect
self composure. Remember that so long as you follow the path of
non-violence, you put the Bureaucracy in the wrong; but move by a
hair-breadth from the path which Mahatma Gandhi has mapped out for
you, and give away the battle to the Bureaucracy. Swaraj is our goal,
Swaraj not in compartments not by installments; but Swaraj whole and
entire. Now it is for you men and women, to say whether we shall
attain the goal for which we are striving.
To my Moderate friends I say this. Survey the history of the world
from the beginning of all times. Has any nation yet won freedom by
pursuing the path which you are pursuing? If the appeal should reach
any waverer amongst you, I ask him to consider whether he will now
stand on the side of India in her conflict with the Bureaucracy? There
may be compromise in the matter of details, but there can be no
compromise in the essential question that divides us from the
Bureaucracy. And if you do not stand for India, you assuredly stand
for the Bureaucracy.
To the students, I say this:--You are at once the hope and the glory
of India. True education does not consist in learning to add two and
two make four; but it lies in the service which you are prepared to
give to the Mother of us all. There is work to be done for the mother:
Who amongst you is prepared to answer the Call?"
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