I will not go further back than October last. At the beginning of that
month a manifesto, signed by Mr. Gandhi and a large number of other
prominent non-co-operators, laid it down that it was the duty of every
Indian soldier and Civilian to sever his connection with Government.
There followed two important developments--an intensive campaign to
undermine the loyalty of the police and a rapid development in the
activities of "volunteer" corps. Alongside of these two significant
developments was to be observed a rapid increase in open lawlessness and
defiance of constituted authority. There were breaches of the peace in
Howrah and Calcutta which are within the recollection of all. But such
episodes were not confined to Calcutta. All over the Presidency persons
were moving, stirring up dissatisfaction among the masses. This process
was assisted by an intensive campaign of highly inflammatory speeches
which had been in progress for some months past. Between the beginning
of June and the middle of November, I received reports of no less than
4,265 meetings held in different parts of the province. I could quote
passages from these speeches which are so inflammatory, so violent in
their abuse that they would shock the Council. I refrain from doing so
for the sole reason that I do not want to excite feeling unnecessarily.
But I can assure the Council that, addressed, as in nine cases out of
ten these speeches have been, to audiences made up of the illiterate and
emotional masses, they could have but one result, namely that of
spreading broadcast feelings of hatred and disaffection and of goading
the people to violence. And that, indeed, has already been the actual
result. Assaults on Settlement Officers have taken place. Government
servants have been threatened and boycotted. Now let me return to
Calcutta; and I take the events of November 17th to illustrate the state
of affairs which had been reached. The life of city was paralysed. Were
the police provocative? Certainly not. On the contrary the almost
universal complaint made to me was that the police remained inactive and
refrained from making arrests....
I have now to inform the Council of the discovery on the night of
December 8th of a number of sinister weapons concealed in an untenanted
house in the heart of the town. The nature of these weapons left little
doubt as to the sort of use to which they were intended to be
put--swords ingeniously concealed in the handles of umbrellas, daggers
of a peculiarly vicious type, tulwars and jars of acid. Very well, then
I would lay stress upon this--that with so many recent outbreaks of
rioting in the streets of the city fresh in one's mind, and with these
further evidences of the sort of activities which were in progress at
the movement, it was not unreasonable as a precautionary measure to have
recourse to a limited number of military patrols.
Only three days ago an Urdu manuscript leaflet was found posted up in
the city of which the following is a translation:--
"What are you thinking about only? Just come face to face with your
opponent. Let yourself be cut to pieces, even to death but do not let
any loss come to the Khilafat. Do not look towards Bagdad, neither do
you look towards the Army, but kill your enemy right and left. Do not
let any of your enemy to be left unkilled if you see him, and do not
think that you are alone, because you are being helped by Imam Mehdi,
who is standing in front of you. Call him, just fly a flag in your hand
and cry out Khoda, Khoda, beat a drum in the name of Din Muhammad
throughout the lanes."