THE CONDITION OF INDIA
READER: I now understand why the English hold India. I should like to
know your views about the condition of our country.
EDITOR: It is a sad condition. In thinking of it, my eyes water and my
throat get parched. I have grave doubts whether I shall be able
sufficiently to explain what is in my heart. It is my deliberate opinion
that India is being ground down not under the English heel but under
that of modern civilization. It is groaning under the monster's terrible
weight. There is yet time to escape it, but every day makes it more and
more difficult. Religion is dear to me, and my first complaint is that
India is becoming irreligious. Here I am not thinking of the Hindu and
Mahomedan or the Zoroastrian religion, but of the religion which
underlies all religions. We are turning away from God.
READER: How so?
EDITOR: There is a charge laid against us that we are a lazy people, and
that the Europeans are industrious and enterprising. We have accepted
the charge and we, therefore, wish to change our condition. Hinduism,
Islamism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity and all other religions teach
that we should remain passive about worldly pursuits and active about
godly pursuits, that we should set a limit to our worldly ambition, and
that our religious ambition should be illimitable. Our activity should
be directed into the latter channel.
READER: You seem to be encouraging religious charlatanism. Many a cheat
has by talking in a similar strain led the people astray.
EDITOR: You are bringing an unlawful charge against religion. Humbug
there undoubtedly is about all religions. Where there is light, there is
also shadow. I am prepared to maintain that humbugs in worldly matters
are far worse than the humbugs in religion. The humbug of civilization
that I endeavour to show to you is not to be found in religion.
READER: How can you say that? In the name of religion Hindus and
Mahomedans fought against one another. For the same cause Christians
fought Christians. Thousands of innocent men have been murdered,
thousands have been burned and tortured in its name. Surely, this is
much worse than any civilization.
EDITOR: I certainly submit that the above hardships are far more
bearable than those of civilization. Everybody understands that the
cruelties you have named are not part of religion, although they have
been practised in its name: therefore there is no aftermath to these
cruelties. They will always happen so long as there are to be found
ignorant and credulous people. But there is no end to the victims
destroyed in the fire of civilization. Its deadly effect is that people
came under its scorching flames believing it to be all good. They become
utterly irreligious and, in reality, derive little advantage from the
world. Civilization is like a mouse gnawing, while it is soothing us.
When its full effect is realised, we will see that religious
superstition is harmless compared to that of modern civilization. I am
not pleading for a continuance of religious superstitions. We will
certainly fight them tooth and nail, but we can never do so by
disregarding religion. We can only do so by appreciating and conserving
the latter.
READER: Then you will contend that the Pax Britannica is a useless
encumbrance?
EDITOR: You may see peace if you like; I see none.
READER: You make light of the terror that Thugs, the Pindaris, the Bhils
were to the country.
EDITOR: If you will give the matter some thought, you will see that the
terror was by no means such a mighty thing. If it had been a very
substantial thing, the other people would have died away before the
English advent. Moreover, the present peace is only nominal, for by it
we have become emasculated and cowardly. We are not to assume that the
English have changed the nature of the Pindaris and the Bhils. It is,
therefore, better to suffer the Pindari peril than that some one else
should protect us from it, and thus render us effeminate. I should
prefer to be killed by the arrow of a Bhil than to seek unmanly
protection. India without such protection was an India full of valour.
Macaulay betrayed gross ignorance when he libelled Indians as being
practically cowards. They never merited the charge. Cowards living in a
country inhabited by hardy mountaineers, infested by wolves and tigers
must surely find an early grave. Have you ever visited our fields? I
assure you that our agriculturists sleep fearlessly on their farms even
to-day, and the English, you and I would hesitate to sleep where they
sleep. Strength lies in absence of fear, not in the quantity of flesh
and muscle we may have on our bodies. Moreover, I must remind you who
desire Home Rule that, after all, the Bhils, the Pindaris, the Assamese
and the Thugs are our own countrymen. To conquer them is your and my
work. So long as we fear our own brethren, we are unfit to reach the
goal.