TYPES OF NATIONALISTS
We will now see how many types of Nationalists there are in India. From
what follows in the chapter, the reader should not conclude that the
Indian Nationalists are disunited. So far as the goal is concerned there
is practical unanimity in all ranks. Even those who stand for complete
independence would be glad to have self-government within the Empire, if
that were promised in the near future. As to methods, there is the usual
cleavage to be found in all struggles for freedom in all countries. One
party stands for the use of physical force, the other for peaceful
means. The Indian Nationalists, too, are divided into two parties, the
physical force party and the moderate party. The following account of
the types is intended to show the different lines of their thinking.
Complete unanimity in principles and methods can only be expected of a
collection of machine-made clogs of wood.
_The Extremists._ (1) To take up the extremists first: There are some
who do not recognise the British Government at all. They think that the
Government of the British in India is founded on force and fraud. They
have therefore no scruples to use force as well as fraud against the
Government. In their eyes every one who is helping the Government in
India either by accepting their service or otherwise by willing
co-operation, abets the crime of which the Britishers are guilty. They
do not recognise British laws nor their courts. They have no respect or
use for either. They believe that their nationalism gives them the right
of removing every one who stands in the way of their propaganda, whether
by force or fraud. In their heart of hearts they are against every one
who supports the British Government in India, but in the prosecution of
their object they do not desire to strike at all of them. But if need be
they are prepared to strike at any one. They have declared war against
the British Government. Their leaders have assumed the right of passing
sentences against those who are of the enemy. They judge and deal
severely with those whom they think guilty of treason against them. They
also consider themselves entitled to collect taxes as they call them,
and make impositions on people in India. Acting on the principle that
the safety of the state is the first consideration for all those who
form the state, and that in case of necessity the state has a right to
use the property of every private individual who is included in the body
politic, they are prepared to exact their impositions by force. The fact
that the British Government is the enemy against whom they have declared
war, gives them the right to loot British treasuries and injure their
property wherever and whenever they can.
The other principle stated above justifies in their eyes the taking by
force of the property or wealth of those who would not give it willingly
or voluntarily for the safety of the state as conceived by them. Hence
the “dacoities.”
_A few Nihilists._ The men engaged in those dacoities are of two kinds:
There are those who have no moral or religious scruples. They are
“_nihilists_.” But their number is exceedingly small. They are not
immoral people. For their own self or for private persons, they would
not do anything which in any way contravenes the prevailing code of
morality; they would neither steal nor rob, nor kill nor injure any
person. But for the purpose of their movement they would do anything.
Their number however is, as we said above, exceedingly small. Then there
are those who are extremely religious and spiritual. Some of them are
the followers of the “_Kali_”[80] cult as it is understood in Bengal;
others are Vedantists. There are some who are deists or theists.
_Religious Extremists._ In every case, however, they believe that the
British are the enemies of their Motherland and also of their religion.
They would not touch one hair of any one simply because that person
belonged to a religion different from theirs; but they would not scruple
to kill any one who interferes with their religion. They believe that
they owe their lives to the Motherland, whom they worship as the means
of enabling them to be worthy of the worship of the Supreme Mother of
the Universe. We will once more quote Mr. Pal[81] to explain what we
mean, or rather how he puts the idea:
_The Mother Worshippers._ “The so-called idolatry of Hinduism,” he says,
“is also passing through a mighty transfiguration. The process started
really with Bankim Chandra,[82] who interpreted the most popular of the
Hindu goddesses as symbolic of the different stages of national
evolution. _Jagatdhatri_--riding a lion which has the prostrate body of
an elephant under its paw, represented the motherland in the early
jungle-clearing stage. This is, says Bankim Chandra, the mother as she
was. _Kali_, the grim goddess, dark and naked, bearing a garland of
human heads around her neck,--heads from which blood is dripping,--and
dancing on the prostrate form of Shiva, the God--this, says Bankim
Chandra, is the mother as she is, dark, because ignorant of herself; the
heads with dripping blood are those of her own children, destroyed by
famine and pestilence; the jackals[83] licking these drippings are the
symbol of desolation and decadence of social life, and the prostrate
form of Shiva means that she is trampling her own God under her feet.
_Durga_, the ten-headed goddess, armed with swords and spears in some
hands, holding wheat-sheaves in some, offering courage and peace with
others, riding a lion, fighting with demons; with Sarasvati, or the
goddess of Knowledge and Arts, supported by Ganapati, the god of
Wisdom, on her one side, and Lakshmi, the goddess of Wealth, protected
by Kartikeya, the leader of the Heavenly army, on the other side--this,
says Bankim Chandra, is the mother as she will be. This interpretation
of the old images of gods and goddesses has imparted a new meaning to
the current ceremonialism of the country, and multitudes, while
worshipping either _Jagatdhatri_, or _Kali_, or _Durga_, accost them
with devotion and enthusiasm, with the inspiring cry of Bande Mataram.
All these are the popular objects of worship of the Indian Hindus,
especially in Bengal. And the transfiguration of these symbols is at
once the cause and the evidence of the depth and the strength of the
present movement. This wonderful transfiguration of the old gods and
goddesses is carrying the message of new nationalism to the women and
the masses of the country.”
_Vedantists._ “Behind this mighty transfiguration of the old religious
ideas and symbols of the country stands, however, a new philosophy of
life. Strictly speaking, it is not a new philosophy either, but rather a
somewhat new application of the dominant philosophical speculations of
the race. Behind the new nationalism in India stands the old Vedantism
of the Hindus. This ancient Indian philosophy, divided into many
schools, has one general idea running through it from end to end. It is
the idea of the essential unity of man and God. According to this
philosophy, Substance is one though expressed through many forms.
Reality is one though appearances are multitudinous. Matter, in the eye
of this philosophy, is not material, but essentially spiritual, the
thought of God concretised. Man is the spirit of God incarnated. The
meaning of cosmic evolution is to be found, not in itself, but in the
thought of the Absolute. It is, to adopt the Hegelian dictum, the
movement of the Self away from itself, to return to itself, to be
itself. The Absolute, or Brahman, is the beginning, the middle, and the
end of this evolutionary process. He is the Regulative idea. He is
cosmic evolution. He is progressively revealing himself through the
world process. In man, the Divine idea, or the Logos, comes slowly to
consciousness of itself. The end of human evolution is the fullest
realisation of man’s unity with God. Long, especially in what may be
called the middle ages in India, this essential unity between God and
man was sought to be realised through metaphysical abstractions, by
negation of the social and civic life. There was an undue emphasis on
the Subjective and the Universal to the neglect of the realities
(however relative they might be) of the Objective and the Particular.
Protests had, however, been made from time to time against these monkish
abstractions, but in spite of these abstractions the dominant note
continued to be that of Abstract Monism. Neo-Vedantism, which forms the
very soul and essence of what may be called Neo-Hinduism, has been
seeking to realise the old spiritual ideals of the race, not through
monkish negations or mediæval abstractions, but by the idealisation and
the spiritualisation of the concrete contents and actual relations of
life. It demands, consequently, a social, an economic, and a political
reconstruction, such as will be helpful to the highest spiritual life of
every individual member of the community. The spiritual note of the
present Nationalist Movement in India is entirely derived from this
Vedantic thought.
“Under the influence of this Neo-Vedantism, associated to a large extent
with the name of the late Swami Vivekananda, there has been at work a
slow and silent process of the liberalisation of the old social ideas.
The old bigotry that anathematised the least deviation from the rules of
caste, or the authority of custom, is openly giving way to a spirit of
new tolerance. The imperious necessities of national struggle and
national life are slowly breaking down, except in purely ceremonial
affairs, the old restrictions of caste. In the new movement, old and
orthodox Brahmins are rendering open obeisance to the heterodox and
non-Brahmin teachers. There is an evident anxiety to discover spiritual
and traditional authority for even the outrages that some of these have
committed against the old social and sacerdotal order. And where no such
authority could be found, their personal freedom of thought and action
is being condoned on the principle that those who are to be the saviours
of their nation stand, like the mendicant and the holy man, above all
law. And all this is a proof of the strange hold that the new
nationalist propaganda has got on the real mind and soul of the people.”
To these two classes, the Mother worshippers, and the Vedantists, belong
the great bulk of the Bengal Nationalists. They are neither “nihilists”
nor “anarchists.” They are patriots who have raised their patriotism to
the pitch of a religion. Their religion remarkably fits in with their
patriotism and makes the latter indescribably intense and alive. Their
whole life is permeated with it. They realise their “duty” every moment
of their life and they are prepared to do anything and take any and
every risk in the performance of that duty. They live on little; their
food is abstemious; they scrupulously avoid liquor; they clothe
themselves scantily; luxury they do not know. They can fast for days and
go without sleep for days. Generally they are men of their word, men of
honour, imbued with a strong idea of self-respect, true to their vows;
men who are not swayed by lust or passion.
To this class belonged most of the Maniktolah party, Barendra and his
friends. But it is evident that there are some theists among them,
_i.e._, theists in the Western sense of the term. The man who shot
Gossain, the first _approver_[84] in Bengal, was a
[Illustration: HAR DAYAL]
Brahmo (member of the Brahmo Samaj). They have some Mohammedans and some
Christians, too, among them. _Brahm Bhandu Bandhopadhyai_[85] was a
Christian at one time. These people have followers and adherents
throughout India, in the Punjab, in the United Provinces, in Maharastra,
in Gujrat, in Behar, in Rajputana, even in Madras.
_Advocates of Organised Rebellion._ (2) Next in order come those who
differ from the first in so far as they do not believe in individual
murders or dacoities. For traitors and approvers even they have no
mercy, but they would not murder individual British officers or Indians
in the service of the Government; nor would they rob private persons.
They are for organised rebellion, for tampering with the army, for
raising the standard of revolt, and for carrying on a guerilla war. For
the purposes of this rebellion or war they may do and will do anything
that is necessary to be done; but otherwise they would neither murder
nor loot.
_Har Dayal._ To this class, I think, belongs Har Dayal. It is very
interesting to note the development of this man. He comes from a
Kayastha family of Delhi and received his education in a mission school
and a mission college under Christian influence. He was a member of the
Young Men’s Christian Association when he graduated. Then he came to
Lahore and joined the government college there, as a stipend holder,
where he took his Master of Arts degree in 1903, standing at the top of
the list. His subject was “English language and literature” and so
thorough was his mastery of the language that in some papers he obtained
full marks. He continued there for another year and took his M.A. degree
a second time in History. All this time he was a cosmopolitan, more of a
Brahmo than a Hindu or a Nationalist. Then he left for England, having
secured a Government of India scholarship, and joined the St. John’s
College at Oxford. It is needless to say that even here he maintained
his reputation for brilliant scholarship, but what is remarkable is,
that it was here that he became a Nationalist. He is a man of strong
impulses. For him, to believe is to act. It appears that within a short
time he developed ideas of a rather extreme type. He came to believe
that the English were undermining Hindu character; that their
educational policy and methods had been designed to destroy Hinduism and
to perpetuate the political bondage of the Hindus, by destroying their
social consciousness and their national individuality. He studied the
history of the British rule and British institutions in India from
original documents, parliamentary blue books and varied other sources,
and came to the conclusion that the British were deliberately
Anglicising the Indians with a view to destroying their nationalism and
to impressing them with the inferiority of their institutions, so that
they might value the British connection and become Britishers. He
thought it wrong to study in their institutions, take their degrees, and
otherwise benefit from anything which they did as rulers of India. As we
have said above, for him to believe was to act. As soon as he formed
the above opinions, he made up his mind to resign his stipend, give up
his studies, and return to India, which he did towards the end of 1907.
Even before he reached India, he gave up English dress and began to
eschew all the peculiarities of English life. He took to Indian shoes,
Indian cap, Indian Kurta (shirt), Indian Pajama (trousers) and wrapped
himself in an Indian shawl. He would not even mix with Mohammedans and
Christians. For a time he was a strict Hindu in form, though not in
religion. When his old master, Principal Rudra of the Delhi St.
Stephen’s College, called on him at Lahore, he would not shake hands
with him nor offer him a seat on his mat, because he was a Christian (he
had no chairs). His cult at that time was a wholesale and complete
boycott of British government and British institutions. He aimed to
establish an order of Hindu ascetics to preach his ideas and to spread
his propaganda. With that view he collected about half a dozen young men
about him, who, under his inspiration, left their studies as well as
their homes and showed their readiness to do as he would wish them to
do. He lived a life of purity and wanted others to do the same. At that
time he did not believe in or preach violence. He discussed, argued,
preached, and wrote for the press. His writings began to attract
attention, and so did his activities, and it was feared that the
Government would soon find some means of putting him out of the way. So
he decided to leave the country, and in the beginning of the second half
of the year 1908 left India for good. He went to England, with the idea
of preaching his gospel among the Indian students in England. He stayed
there for some time and found out that there was not much scope for his
type of nationalism. He also feared that the British Government might
arrest him. So he left England and for about two years travelled, to and
fro, to find a place where he could live very cheaply and without fear
of molestation from the British Government and carry on his propaganda.
He was for over a year in France, where he came in contact with the best
political thought of Europe. Here he made friends with Egyptian
nationalists and Russian revolutionists. His knowledge of the French
language was good. He could not only speak that language fluently, but
could compose in it. He used to write occasionally for the French press.
He can use the German language also. Eventually he came to America and
settled here. The contributions that he made to the Indian press during
the first year of his sojourn in the United States did not indicate any
very great change in his views on Nationalism, but a year after he was
quite a different man. His political nationalism remained the same, but
his views on social questions, on morality, on Hindu literature and
Hindu institutions, underwent a complete metamorphosis. He began to look
down upon everything Hindu and developed a great admiration for
Occidental ideas of freedom. There is, however, one thing about him that
has stuck fast, and that is his hatred of British rule in India. His
present cult is to dissuade Indians from engaging in any work except
that of political propaganda. We are told by him (that was what he said
to American journalists at the time of his arrest in San Francisco as an
undesirable alien) that he is not an anarchist and that he does not
advocate the use of bomb and of revolver for private murders or for the
murders of individuals. We have no reason to disbelieve him. Nobody,
however, knows what changes are yet to take place in his views. He is a
quite uncertain item. He is an idealist of a strange type. He is simple
in his life and apparently quite indifferent to the opinions of others
about him. He does not court favour at the hands of any one and would go
out of his way to help others. He is loved and respected by hundreds and
thousands of his countrymen, including those who do not agree with his
views or his propaganda or his programme. Even the late Mr. Gokhale
admired him.
_Hardayalism._ Har Dayal is an advocate of open rebellion; he does not
advocate the use of the bomb or the revolver for killing individuals,
but he admires and glorifies those who have risked their lives using the
same.[86]
Neither of these classes is prepared to make any compromise with the
British. They stand for absolute independence; full _Swaraj_. They know,
perhaps, that they have a very difficult task before them, but they have
confidence in themselves and believe that the difficulties are not
insuperable. They do not believe that in order to gain Swaraj, India
should have more widespread education, or that social reform and social
consolidation must precede political freedom. They consider that these
are all fads, ideas with which the British have inoculated the Indians
in order to keep them busy with non-political activities and to keep
down their manhood. It is a part of the imperial game that the rulers
should manage to fill the ruled with the idea of their own incompetence
to manage their affairs, of their inability to unite, of many
differences and divisions among them, and of their incapacity to win
their freedom. These nationalists deprecate communal or sectional
activities. They do not countenance the organisations engaged in
religious and social reform. In their opinion all these so-called reform
organisations are doing positive mischief in keeping the nation engaged
in less important matters and in directing the nation’s mind from the
all important question of national freedom. They want to concentrate the
nation’s mind on this one point.
_Political Freedom the First Condition of Life._ According to them life
in political bondage or in political subjection is a negation of life.
Life signifies power and capacity to grow and progress. A slave, a
bondsman, is not free to grow. His interests are always subordinate to
those of his master. He must give the best in him to the service of the
latter. His will must always be under his master’s will, who is
practically his conscience’s keeper. No man can grow to the full stature
of his manhood; no man can rise to the best in him; no man can make the
best use of his faculties and opportunities; no man can develop either
his body or his soul according to his liking, under these circumstances.
Whatever he does, he does for his master, in his name and in his
interest. The credit and the glory and the benefit of it, all accrue to
him.[87] If this is true of an individual slave, it is equally true of a
nation in political bondage.
As a proof of the truth of their statements, they point to the history
and activities of the Indian National Congress. The Congress people ask
for Universal Primary Education; the Government says no. They can not
find money for it; “the country is not prepared for it; nor is it good
for the people at large.” If the masses are educated, they might become
discontented and create trouble for the Government. The Congress wants a
repeal of the Arms Act; the Government says no. The people might use the
arms against the Government, and that is a calamity to be avoided. The
Congress desires that Indians be enrolled as volunteers; the Government
says no. It is not desirable to give military training to the Indians.
They might use it against the Government. It is not desirable to have
companies of volunteers composed of Indians only, as they might conspire
against the reigning power. It is equally undesirable to force them on
European and Eurasian companies against their wishes, as that would
wound their social and imperial susceptibilities. The Congress
politician wants to protect Indian industries; the Government says no.
That will injure Lancashire. The Congress wants more of technical
education; the Government says, the country does not need it and they
can not spare funds for it. The Congress wants national schools and
national universities; the Government says no, “you may misuse them.”
The keynote of the situation is, that India must exist in the interests
of England and Englishmen; or at any rate England and English
politicians know what is good and useful for India, how much she should
and how much she should not have; in what line she should advance and in
what she should not. India and Indians have no right to think for
themselves. Anything they think or decide to do must be tested by
Englishmen according to their standards and in the way they think it is
likely to further the interests of their empire.
These nationalists therefore maintain that the first condition of
life,--life with respect and honour, life for profit and advantage, life
for progress and advancement,--is political freedom. Life without that
is no life. It is idle therefore to think of matters which are
manifestations or developments or embellishments of life.
Education can only profit a living being. A human being instructed on
the lines on which certain beasts or animals are instructed, can, like
the latter, only respond to the calls of his master. The master wants
them to salute; they salute. The master wants them to dance; they dance.
The master wants them to do any other job for him; they do it. Their
will and intellect are always subordinate to the master. Independent of
the master, they have neither will nor intellect. Education under these
circumstances, they maintain, is a degrading of human faculties, and a
travesty. In their opinion it would be best for their people to remain
uneducated, rather than be educated only for the benefit and use of
their masters.
Similarly they think that all the schemes for social reform, for
sectarian advancement, for commercial interests, are nothing more than
so many devices for dividing the nation and keeping them engaged in
never-ending internecine quarrels. They consider this to be a misplaced
dissipation of energies and a misuse of opportunities. They wish that
every man and woman in India should for the present think of nothing
else but political freedom. The first thing is to get rid of the
foreigner. Who will rule India and how, what shape will the government
of the country take, how will the different religions and different
interests be represented therein?--these and other cognate questions do
not trouble them. They believe that as soon as England leaves India,
some one will rise sphinxlike who will establish some form of national
government. The time will produce the man. It would be then time to
think and discuss how to improve it. They do not mind if the Hindus or
the Mohammedans or the Sikhs or the Gurkhas rule India; nor whether it
is the Maharaja of Nepal or that of Odeypore, or that of Baroda, or that
of Patiala, or the Nawab of Hyderabad, or that of Bhawalpore, who
becomes supreme; nor whether the form of government is monarchical or
oligarchic, or republican. These questions do not trouble them. They do
not, of course, want any foreign government, but if the way of eventual
national freedom lies that way, they do not mind even that. Anything
would be better than the present government. The British Government is
slowly dissolving the nation. If they have to die, they would rather die
of plague or cholera, than of typhoid or consumption. The apprehensions
of disturbances of peace do not frighten them. They are sick of peace.
Peace under existing conditions has unmanned the nation; it has
emasculated the people and sapped their manhood. Anything rather than
peace at such price. The desire for peace on any terms, has been the
curse of British rule. It has done them more harm than disorder or
anarchy ever did. Blessed was the disorder that preceded the rise of the
Mahratta power or the establishment of the Sikh commonwealth. Blessed
were the conditions of life that produced a Partap, a Sivaji, a Durga
Dass, and a Govind Singh.[88] Cursed are the conditions of peace that
can only produce Daffadars and Jamadars or at the most Risaldars[89] or
Kaiser-Hind-medallists.
This is Hardayalism. Most of the Nationalists of the two classes
described above belong to this school, but there are some among them who
do not wholly fall in with this view. They are prepared to agree that
the political question must always be in the forefront, and that nothing
should be done which may in any way overshadow this or relegate it to a
secondary position; but they do not believe that politics alone should
usurp the whole thought and life of the nation. It would not be right to
conclude from the above description that the Indian Nationalists have no
_constructive_ programme for the future, but it is obvious that in the
absence of freedom and opportunities to discuss it openly, opinions on
the subject can not be crystallised.
_Arabinda Ghosh--Vedantist and Swarajist._ It is difficult to say to
which of these classes, if to either at all, Arabinda Ghosh belonged or
still belongs. At one time it was believed that he belonged to the first
class, to which most of the other Bengalee extremists belonged, but
whether that belief was right and whether he still thinks on the same
lines, it is difficult to say. One thing is certain, that he was and is
quite unlike Har Dayal in his line of thought. In intellectual acumen
and in scholastic accomplishments he is perhaps superior to Har Dayal,
but above all he is deeply religious and spiritual. He is a worshipper
of Krishna and is a high-souled Vedantist. Even simpler and more ascetic
in his life and habits than Har Dayal, he is for an all-around
development of Indian Nationalism. His notions of life and morality are
pre-eminently Hindu and he believes in the spiritual mission of his
people. His views may better be gathered from an interview, which he
recently gave to a correspondent of _The Hindu_, of Madras. We quote the
interview almost bodily and in the words of the interviewer.
“But what do you think of the 1914 Congress and Conferences?” I
insisted.
He spoke almost with reluctance but in clear and firm accents. He said:
“I do not find the proceedings of the Christmas Conferences very
interesting and inspiring. They seem to me to be mere repetitions of the
petty and lifeless formulas of the past and hardly to show any sense of
the great breath of the future that is blowing upon us. I make an
exception of the speech of the Congress President which struck me as far
above the ordinary level. Some people, apparently, found it visionary
and unpractical. It seems to me to be the one practical and vital thing
that has been said in India for some time past.”
He continued: “The old, petty forms and little narrow, make-believe
activities are getting out of date. The world is changing rapidly around
us and preparing for more colossal changes in the future. We must rise
to the greatness of thought and action which it will demand from the
nations who hope to live. No, it is not in any of the old formal
activities, but deeper down that I find signs of progress and hope. The
last few years have been a period of silence and compression, in which
the awakened _Virya_[90] and _Tejas_ of the nation have been
concentrating for a greater outburst of a better directed energy in the
future.
“We are a nation of three hundred millions,” added Mr. Ghosh,
“inhabiting a great country in which many civilisations have met, full
of rich material and unused capacities. We must cease to think and act
like the inhabitants of an obscure and petty village.”
“If you don’t like our political methods, what would you advise us to do
for the realisation of our destiny?”
He quickly replied: “Only by a general intellectual and spiritual
awakening can this nation fulfil its destiny. Our limited information,
our secondhand intellectual activities, our bounded interests, our
narrow life of little family aims and small money getting have prevented
us from entering into the broad life of the world. Fortunately, there
are ever-increasing signs of a widened outlook, a richer intellectual
output and numerous sparks of liberal genius which show that the
necessary change is coming. No nation in modern times can grow great by
politics alone. A rich and varied life, energetic in all its parts, is
the condition of a sound, vigorous national existence. From this point
of view also the last five years have been a great benefit to the
country.”
I then asked what he thought of the vastly improved relations that now
exist between the Briton and the Indian in our own country and
elsewhere.
“It is a very good thing,” he said, and he explained himself in the
following manner: “The realisation of our nationhood separate from the
rest of humanity was the governing idea of our activities from 1905 to
1910. That movement has served its purpose. It has laid a good
foundation for the future. Whatever excesses and errors of speech and
action were then disclosed, came because our energy, though admirably
inspired, lacked practical experience and knowledge.
“The idea of Indian nationhood is now not only rooted in the public
mind, as all recent utterances go to show, but accepted in Europe and
acknowledged by the Government and the governing race. The new idea that
should now lead us is the realisation of our nationhood not separate
from, but in, the future scheme of humanity. When it has realised its
own national life and unity, India will still have a part to play in
helping to bring about the unity of the nations.”
I naturally put in a remark about the Under-Secretary’s “Angle of
Vision.”
“It is well indeed,” observed Mr. Ghosh, “that British statesmen should
be thinking of India’s proper place in the Councils of the Empire, and
it is obviously a thought which, if put into effect, must automatically
alter the attitude of even the greatest extremists towards the
Government and change for the better all existing political relations.
“But it is equally necessary that we, Indians, should begin to think
seriously what part Indian thought, Indian intellect, Indian nationhood,
Indian spirituality, Indian culture have to fulfil in the general life
of humanity. The humanity is bound to grow increasingly on. We must
necessarily be in it and of it. Not a spirit of aloofness or of jealous
self-defence, but of generous emulation and brotherhood with all men and
all nations, justified by a sense of conscious strength, a great
destiny, a large place in the human future--this should be the Indian
spirit.”
The oneness of humanity is a topic dear to the heart of Babu Arabinda
Ghosh and when I (_i.e._, the interviewer) suggested to him that
Vedantic ideas would be a good basis for unity, his reply was full of
enthusiasm:
“Oh, yes,” he said, “I am convinced and have long been convinced that a
spiritual awakening, a reawakening to the true self of a nation is the
most important condition of our national greatness. The supreme Indian
idea of the oneness of all men in God and its realisation inwardly and
outwardly, increasingly even in social relations and the structure of
society is destined, I believe, to govern the progress of the human
race. India, if it chooses, can guide the world.”
And here I said something about our “four thousand” castes, our
differences in dress and in “caste marks,” our vulgar sectarian
antipathies and so on.
“Not so hard, if you please,” said Mr. Ghosh with a smile. “I quite
agree with you that our social fabric will have to be considerably
altered before long. We shall have, of course, to enlarge our family and
social life, not in the petty spirit of present day Social Reform,
hammering at small details and belittling our immediate past, but with a
larger idea and more generous impulses. Our past with all its faults and
defects should be sacred to us. But the claims of our future with its
immediate possibilities should be still more sacred.”
His concluding words were spoken in a very solemn mood:
“It is more important,” he said, “that the thought of India should come
out of the philosophical school and renew its contact with life, and the
spiritual life of India issue out of the cave and the temple and,
adapting itself to new forms, lay its hand upon the world. I believe
also that humanity is about to enlarge its scope by new knowledge, new
powers and capacities, which will create as great a revolution in human
life as the physical science of the nineteenth century. Here, too, India
holds in her past, a little rusted and put out of use, the key of
humanity’s future.
“It is in these directions that I have been for some time impelled to
turn my energies rather than to the petty political activities which are
alone open to us at the present moment. This is the reason of my
continued retirement and detachment from action. I believe in the
necessity at such times and for such great objects, of _Tapasya_,[91] in
silence for self-training, for self-knowledge and storage of spiritual
force. Our forefathers used that means, though in different forms. And
it is the best means for becoming an efficient worker in the great days
of the world.”
_Ganesh Vináyak Savarkar._ At this stage we might mention the name of
another Nationalist, who exercised a vast influence on young Indians in
England for a number of years and is now serving a life-term in the
Andamans. We mean Ganesh Vináyak Savarkar. In the simplicity of his life
he was of the same class as Arabinda Ghosh and Har Dayal. In the purity
of his life he was as high as either. In politics he fell in the first
category minus their religious fervour. In his general views he was more
or less what Har Dayal is, minus his denunciation of those who are
engaged in non-political activities. Savarkar had extremely fine
qualities of a leader. He has been caught because he was reckless; he
never cared about his personal safety; he had the dash of the old
warrior who always put himself in the post of danger. Har Dayal keeps
himself in the background and avoids danger. Arabinda stands midway
between the two.
_The Terrorists._ (3) The third class of Nationalists consists of those
who would like absolute independence, but who do not believe that it is
possible in the near future. They approve of the occasional use of bomb
and revolver for terrorist purposes; especially now when no other method
has been left of carrying on a propaganda of freedom. The press has been
gagged; the platform has been dismantled. Any vigorous political
propaganda, including strong criticism of the Government and its
methods, is out of the question. No one can point out the political and
economic disasters of foreign rule, much less discuss it with reference
to actual facts and figures. There is no other way of reminding the
people at home and abroad of the standing and colossal wrong which the
British Government is guilty of in keeping India under her yoke. In
their opinion, the occasional use of the bomb and the revolver is the
only way to assert their manhood and their desire for freedom, and to
announce their dissatisfaction and discontent. It attracts attention all
over the world. It makes people think of India. At home it reminds
people of the wrongs they have suffered and are suffering at the hands
of the Government. At first it shocks the people, but then it stirs them
to think. The bomb has entered Indian life, perhaps never to leave it.
They abhor it, but they are getting accustomed to it. They do not now
think so badly of those who use the bomb as they once used to.
_Advocates of Constructive Nationalisation._ (4) In the fourth class are
comprised those who want independence, but not _at once_. They would
rather consolidate the nation, raise its intellectual and moral tone,
increase its economic efficiency, before they raise the standard of
revolt. They do not believe that England will ever free them or give
them even Colonial Self-Government except under very great pressure.
They do not believe that nations let things go out of their grip or hold
if they can help it, and unless their own safety demands it. In their
opinion the Congress as well as the bomb have come rather early. They
would have the nation apply herself wholeheartedly to the work of
education and consolidation.
_Independence, but not at once._ They do not want the British to go
until the people of India are sufficiently strong to turn them out by
force, and are able to protect themselves and to maintain their
independence and their liberties against the outside world. They
recognise the force of the argument that the British may never allow
them to grow so strong as to be able to win their liberty, and by
waiting they might lose all conscious desire for political freedom and
might become permanent parasites. They, however, think that they can
guard against such possibilities by keeping their nationalism alive and
by occasionally suffering for it. Driven to this corner, they admit that
now that the Congress and the bomb have come, they might stay. In the
opinion of some both are useful in their own way. They would not
advocate the use of the bomb and the revolver; in fact they might in all
seriousness dissuade people from using them, but when they are used,
they would not give up the offenders even if they knew who they were.
They would approve the use of the bomb and the revolver against
individual tyrants or against people who insult Indian manhood and
womanhood, as in the present state of racial and political feeling in
India no other way is open to bring them to book and get justice against
Englishmen, but they do not like the use of the bomb and the revolver
for general political purposes or for terrorising. These people believe
in a propaganda of selfless social service. The people must be
approached and won over by service and love, before any political
upheaval is attempted.
_Preparing the Nation for Freedom._ Nothing can be achieved without the
help of the people. “We must have the people with us,” say they. “And in
order to win the people to our side, we must show them conclusively
that we have their interests at heart, that we love them perhaps more
than we love ourselves, that we are disinterested and public spirited
and that we are in every respect better and more honourable than the
foreign rulers. Our moral superiority over the agents of the foreign
government must be ever present in the minds of the people in order to
enable them to support us and back us in the coming political struggle.”
In their eyes the Congress propaganda has no other value but
educational. They have no faith in the benevolence of British statesmen
and they do not believe that the Congress would achieve anything
substantial. They are very uncertain about the future, and therefore to
them, the best course open is to engage in educational and social work.
They are neither dreamers nor idealists, but practical patriots, who are
content to do the spade work and sow the seed. They confess that they
can not see far ahead and are therefore afraid of the demoralising
influences of the bomb and the revolver. Nor can they justify political
robberies and dacoities. They think that, this time, independence should
come never to be lost again, and in their judgment that is only possible
if independence is not won by a few but by the whole united nation. In
the meantime they would wait and build up their nation.
_Preparatory Work from Below._ The Congress has failed, they say,
because it has been trying to get political concessions from above. The
right policy is to work from below. They do not believe in “mendicancy”;
nor do they place any reliance in “benevolence and philanthropy in
politics.” On the other hand, they differ from the extremists in their
methods, as they believe in a steady development of the national mind
and the national will and have no faith in heroic remedies. They do not
care to run the risk of “relapses.” They contain in their number some of
the noblest sons of India, whose life is a record of continuous selfless
service in the field of social work. They should not be confounded with
the “resolution” patriots of the Social Conferences or other
conferences; nor should they be judged by the length of their speeches
or their fluency or capacity to deliver long orations in English. They
are generally modest people who do not claim erudite scholarship or
great statesmanship. They do not go in for any recognition, whether from
the Government or from the people. The satisfaction of their own
conscience and undisturbed work are the only rewards they seek.
_Brahmo Samaj, Arya Samaj, Ramakrishna Mission._ They are to be found in
all sections of the great Indian nation, in all religions, and in all
communities. They live simply on simple fare, in simple and scanty
garments and in simple houses. They earn in order to give. They live in
order to serve. To this class belong _some_ of the Bengalee deportees,
and to this class belong a great many members of the Brahmo Samaj, the
Arya Samaj, and the Ramakrishna Mission. They have large followings, but
yet their number is by no means great. They are well known in their
respective circles, but are not so well known outside, as the
“extremists” and “moderates” are. The C. I. D. (Criminal Investigation
Department) of the Government keeps a close watch over them; the
government officers keep themselves informed of their movements and
doings. They want to be left alone and allowed to do their work quietly
and unostentatiously, but the Government will not leave them alone and
suspects them of deep designs and secret propaganda.
_The Moderates._ (5) We now come to the moderates. There are some who
would not advocate the use of the bomb or the revolver, but who do not
desire the total disappearance of the extremist party; and the
occasional use of the bomb and the revolver gives a point to their
organisation which they would not lose. Lacking the intelligent support
of the masses in their propaganda, being too lazy to court it by
legitimate means, or too self-centred to run the risk involved therein,
they are heartily glad of the existence of a party in the country which
has raised their importance in the eyes of the Government and the
British public. Of course they do not say so and their abhorrence and
detestation of the bomb and the revolver is quite genuine, yet they
would be very sorry if the extremist party were extirpated altogether.
_Gokhale._ The noblest and the best of the Congress type from the
Nationalist point of view was represented by Mr. Gokhale. Mr. Gokhale
loved his country quite sincerely and lived and worked for it. With the
exception of Dadabhai Naoroji, he was the only Congressman of reputation
and name that
[Illustration: G. K. GOKHALE]
lived for his country only and gave his all to her service. His life was
fairly simple; his patriotism was of the highest type; yet he was not
the type of man fitted to be a hero. He had the qualities of
statesmanship, but lacked those of generalship. He objected to people
designating his policy as one of mendicancy, or questioning his
political ideals. He used to remonstrate and say in the most touching
way: “Do you think, my friend, we are so devoid of self-respect and so
base as to be happy at our country being under foreign domination; do
you think we wish that it should always remain under foreign yoke? No,
you do us great injustice if you think so. I would have my country be
free to-day if that were possible. But is it possible? Can we work on
that basis? In politics you must consider what is practical and what is
unpractical. We can in no way bind the future generations. Who are we to
bind them irrevocably? We are doing what we in our own times consider
best and practicable. We are not beggars and our policy is not that of
mendicancy. We are ambassadors of our people at a foreign court, to
watch and guard the interests of our country and get as much for her as
we can. That is our position.” Mr. Gokhale believed in the work of
consolidation and in the work for increasing the social efficiency of
the people of India regardless of caste, creed, or colour. He had a
great deal in common with class number (4). But he had great faith in
political agitation on moderate lines. He was fully conscious of the
weakness of the Congress methods and extremely disliked the behaviour
of some of the leaders. He quite bemoaned their lack of enthusiasm,
their want of self-sacrifice, their intolerance, the lack of spirit of
true comradeship in them, their self-sufficiency and, last but not
least, their luxurious lives. He often compared the type of human
material which found its way into the Congress with those who joined the
ranks of the extremists. He admired the spirit of the latter, their
devotion to the cause, their asceticism and their selflessness. He
wished he had some of that stuff to work for the Congress. He admired
Arabinda and Har Dayal. He used to say that he could not see very far
ahead and therefore he preferred to work for the immediate future. A few
days before his departure from England he said to two of his most
intimate friends (husband and wife) that India would be free in 25
years. What he meant by freedom we do not know. Probably he meant “as
free as the self-governed colonies.” Of late he was losing faith in
English liberalism. He noticed the lack of great minds among the
liberals, but he said they were the only people with whom we could work.
His experiences on the Royal Commission for Public Services saddened the
last days of his life. He could not bear the insults that witness after
witness (from among the Anglo-Indians) heaped on his countrymen, their
character, their honesty, and their capacity. He objected to the
extremists calling themselves nationalists to the exclusion of the
people of his ways of thinking. He said we were all nationalists. He was
by far the noblest of the moderates. There is no one who is even half
so good and noble as he was.
_Congress Leaders._ A great many Congress leaders are true patriots, but
they have such an abnormal love of peace and luxury, that they can not
even think of methods which might even remotely result in disturbances
of peace, in riots, and in disasters. Hence their detestation of the
extremist methods and their distrust of carrying on a propaganda among
the masses. They would proceed very, very slowly. Of course, there are
some among them who are cowards, some who are self-seekers, who hanker
after judgeships, memberships, knighthoods, and so on, but we do not
count them as nationalists, and history knows of no political party
which was absolutely free from such weaknesses. There are some among the
Congressmen who are moderates by profession, but extremists in their
ways of thinking, lacking the courage of identifying themselves with the
latter; just as there are some who are Congressmen in name, but are
really out and out loyalists seeking opportunities of advancing their
own interests. Then there are some who favour constitutional agitation,
but want to make the Congress more self-assertive and self-sufficient.
They would pass resolutions on current topics but would have no
petitioning or praying or memorialising.
_Passive Resisters._ There are others who would go even farther and
inaugurate a campaign of passive resistance and boycott. The Congress
thus claims as many types of nationalists as the extremists. The Passive
Resisters are likely to come to the front if Mr. Gandhi, the great
Hindu Passive Resister, undertakes to organise them.
For obvious reasons we can not classify the living Indian Nationalists
in India by name.