Part 8

Madam President, Ladies and Gentlemen. I have the honour to support the resolution which has been placed before you. Brother delegates, at the very outset I desire to refer to the song to which you have just listened; it is a song of the glory and victory of India. We stand here to-day on this platform for the glory and victory of India, (Cheers) and I urge you that amidst the many discussions which have taken place on the form of the resolution, you should not forget the essential idea which runs through it and which stands behind it. It is a resolution which has for its object the growth and the development of the great Indian nation. We are all agreed about that. The question is how to bring that about. Gentlemen, the Bengal ideal has been presented to you to-day by my friend, Babu Bipin Chandra Pal. I accept that ideal and if I thought that there was anything in this resolution which was inconsistent with that ideal, I should not have supported it. I do not think there is anything in this resolution which goes against the ideal which Bengal has unanimously declared by its resolution at the Bengal Provincial Conference. What is that ideal? That ideal is firstly, Provincial Autonomy _viz._, that the Government of India must have its sphere demarcated, its functions defined; all other functions should belong to the Provincial governments of the particular province. Gentlemen, is that an ideal which is foreign to that resolution? I ask you to look into it carefully. I find within it a careful demarcation of the sphere of the Government of India and those of the Provincial governments. Therefore, so far as that ideal is concerned I do not think that this is at all inconsistent with the resolution which I have the honour to support. Now gentlemen, what is the next point in the ideal of Bengal? And that is: that the functions of the Executive Government must be made subordinate to the Legislative Council which would represent the wishes of the people of the particular province. Now is there anything in this resolution which goes against that? It may be that Bengal has provided for that in one particular way and in this resolution you have provided for that in another way, but so far as the ideal is concerned, I say that there is absolutely no difference between that of Bengal and that which is shadowed in this resolution (Hear, hear.) You say in this resolution that the power of the purse should be in the hands of the Legislature. Now, gentlemen, just pause for one moment to think what that means. Let us take it that your scheme is accepted by the Government. What does that mean? That means that the Executive must be obedient to the Legislature. If they do not obey the commands of the Legislature, the Legislature will say we stop the supplies. It may be said that the British Parliament will never grant you that; but are we considering that at present? When they make a definite pronouncement as to what they are willing to give us, it will be time then to meet again and formulate a definite scheme as to the way in which that ideal may be given effect to. But the time has not come to discuss about it, because I am afraid in the discussion of it, the main ideal may get lost and I am most anxious to keep up that ideal before you. But whatever happens to the drafting of this resolution, the matter of drafting may be corrected,--I hope, gentlemen, that whatever happens, you will stick to this; that the time has come when the British Parliament must make up its mind to transfer the powers from the hands of the Bureaucracy to the people of this country. (Loud Cheers). We have had enough of the Bureaucracy in this country. We have suffered and groaned under the misrule of 150 years and not one day is to be lost in declaring our will and to see that our wishes are given effect to--that the powers which are in the hands of the Bureaucracy to-day are transferred to the people of the country. (Cheers). Now, gentlemen, having regard to that ideal, I must say that I do not see any inconsistency between what we want in Bengal and that which is put forward in the resolution. But my revered friend, Mr. Tilak said that this scheme is very much better than the Bengal scheme or any other scheme. I am speaking of Provincial Governments--of the scheme which relates to the ideal of the Provincial Governments and I do not see any difference there. Mr. Tilak thinks it is not wise to ask too much. I ask him to read the resolution again and he will find in it that it does not claim one item less than the Bengal scheme--not one item less. It claims the whole thing--it claims perfect responsible government for India. I do not understand the power over the purse to mean anything less than that. Without saying perfect responsible government for the provinces as well as for the central government, you may convey the same idea by saying: "I do not care what you do but give me the power over the purse. But if you give me the power over the purse I can have my own way. You, the executive, you say you will not obey my command but I will stop your supplies. Where are you then? You will have to obey my command." And if they obey your command what is the good of saying that we have not asked for Responsible Government? You have asked in an indirect manner, but as effectively as we have done in Bengal. You have asked not only for full responsible government for the provinces but also for the central government. Now it may be, that this ought to be put in another shape, the words may have to be changed, for this scheme does not pretend to be a perfect or an exact one.

I agree with my friend Mr. Jinnah who said: let the Government come out with a definite pronouncement--the government declaration is vague--let the government come out with its declaration--a definite pronouncement as to what they are willing to give. It will be time then to sit over this resolution again, to consider what words are to be used and what words to reject or what new words are to be put in. I think we have been fighting unnecessarily. We are all agreed as to the great ideal. Let us gather strength to fight for it--let us fight for it with all our might and let us not rest content till the whole thing is granted to us (Hear, hear), viz., Responsible Government in the Provinces, responsible Government in Imperial matters--till the whole of the Government is put into the hands of the people. I rely on no dictum of politicians--I rely upon my natural right (Cheers). I do not care what the constitution of England or the constitution of Switzerland or that of Australia is (Cheers). I want to build my own constitution. I want the power to build my own constitution in a way which is suited to this country and which afterwards will be referred to as the great Indian constitution (Loud cheers). That is what we want and that is what we must have. Do not engage in endless discussion in the meantime. Gather all your strength and say with one voice all over India, in every village, in every town, in provincial gatherings and in this Congress that nothing less than the transference of the Governmental powers into the hands of the people will satisfy us. It is our natural right, it is the birthright of every individual to live and to grow (Hear, hear). It is the natural right of every nation to live and to grow according to its nature. (Loud cheers). We demand that right--that right has been unjustly withheld from us--by excuses and pretences--by subterfuges--we have discovered that. We were sleeping, but by God's grace, we are awake and we claim our natural right. (Prolonged cheers).

THE GREAT TRANSFORMATION.

_A meeting held at Chittagong under the auspices of the local Home Rule League on the 12th June 1918, under the presidency of Babu Jatra Mohan Sen, when Mr. C. R. Das delivered the following speech:--_

Mr. Chairman and gentlemen,--I thank you heartily for the many kind words with which your distinguished Chairman has introduced me to you this evening and for the kindness with which you have received me. When I set out for Chittagong I made up my mind to place before the people of Chittagong my views and the views of our friends in Calcutta on many of the important topics of the day. I am afraid I shall not be able to do so as fully as I had intended after a long day's work in Court. But I shall try to place before you in short the thoughts which are agitating the minds of our friends in Calcutta. I mean those who have worked with us the whole of last year and for many years before that in support of the cause of this country.

THE QUESTION OF THE HOUR

Gentlemen, I need hardly tell you that the most important question of the hour is the question of self-government. Upon the solution of this question depends the solution of many other questions, upon which again depend the full development of our nationality and if for the whole of last year we have been putting forth our best energies and our earnest efforts in the cause of Home Rule or self-government it is because we feel--I feel and many of my friends feel--that unless and until we have the government of this country in our own hands it is impossible to carry on the work of nation building. (Hear, Hear). Gentlemen, we could afford to be idle in the past when we hoped that the Government would do everything for us. But now after 150 years of British rule, where do we find ourselves? If you consider our position, the actual realities of our position to-day after 150 years of British rule, you will at once see that we are in a hopeless condition.

HOW DO WE STAND?

What have we got which we can call our own? If the enemy knocks at our door have we got strength to fight him? Have we got the weapons of warfare? Have we got even a lathi with which we can defend our hearths and homes?--No. (Cheers) Have we got money?--No. (Cheers) Are the people, the vast majority of the people of Bengal educated?--No. One hundred and fifty years of British rule have passed by without conferring real education on the people of this country. You need not enquire into the causes. I am only trying to give you a picture of the helplessness of our position to-day. We have not got anything--we have not got money, we have not got arms, we have not got education. Well, an analysis of our position to-day will tell you more eloquently than any speaker can that the only solution of this question is self-government. The very objections which are urged against the granting of self-government are to my mind good reasons for granting home rule to this country (Cheers). It is said that we do not deserve Self-Government because the people of this country are not educated. My answer to that is why have they remained uneducated so long? In other countries education has been introduced and carried far within a period of 20 years or 25 years--in some countries in less than that. But why is it or how is it that within the last 150 years of British rule--the bureaucratic government in the country has not succeeded in educating the people of this country? Why is it so? It is not necessary for them. It is not necessary for the bureaucracy to do that, but it is necessary for the people of this country. It is necessary for the development of our race. It is necessary for the very existence of our nationality. Now, if you say that we are not fit for self-government because we are uneducated, I say that is the very reason why you ought to give us Home Rule, because if you do so we will succeed in educating the vast majority of our countrymen in 20 year's time (Cheers).

DO WE WANT AN OLIGARCHY?

Now, they say, well, it is only a few of you educated people who will exercise the franchise, How can you represent the country? You will be only an oligarchy. The Government, instead of being in the hands of the bureaucracy, will be transferred into the hands of an oligarchy--of another bureaucracy. My answer to that is that we do not want that. I ask you particularly to consider that question, gentlemen, and to realise its importance. My answer to them is that we do not want it. We want the franchise to be extended far and wide--we want our ryots and our cultivators to enjoy that franchise. We want them to exercise their franchise. It is against our self-interest but we want that it should be done because after all the difference between those who are against the granting of Home Rule to this country and ourselves is this: bureaucracy is against it because the granting of Home Rule means death to the bureaucracy. The Europeans, the Anglo-Indian merchants in Calcutta are against it because it is against their interest, because they thrive well under the protecting shelter of this bureaucracy. Our personal interest also lies in not getting the franchise extended all over the country--but rather in keeping it confined within the educated community, an insignificant portion of the Mahomedan community and an equally insignificant portion of the Hindu community, a few Brahmins, Baidyas and Kayesthas. If you grant franchise to all the people of this country where shall we be? In saying this I remember a conversation I had with an old friend of mine who shall be nameless. This gentleman said to me, well, if you get Home Rule, what does it mean? It means that the common people of this country will have a voice--it means they will have power and we, Brahmins, Baidyas and Kayesthas, where shall we go? I said to him in answer that they will go to a very hot place where they deserve to go. Gentlemen, I want you to realise this.

WHAT ARE WE FIGHTING FOR?

Gentlemen, we are not fighting for our narrow sordid self-interest--we are not fighting for the interest of to-day--we are not fighting for the betterment of myself or yourselves--of the present generation or of the educated community. If there are any selfish ideals pursued by any portion of our community, I stand dissociated from them and I say I take my stand on this and nothing more--it does not matter what happens to me--it does not matter what happens to the present generation--it does not matter what happens to the educated community of to-day, but what matters with me is the development of the nation (Cheers.) I look forward to the time when the Bengalee nation will rise and stand in all its glory. I do not care whether I am alive or dead at that moment (Loud Cheers)--whether my children will be living then or not--but the time will come when by God's grace, Bengalees as a nation will make themselves felt and will stand in all their strength and face the world. That is the ideal which appeals to me every moment of my life. I feel within myself that that is my appointed task. I shall devote all that I hold dear to the service of that cause and--if I die in that attempt--what then? "Fail we alone"?--if I die in this work, I believe I shall be born in this country again and again, live for it, hope for it, work for it with all the energy of my life and with all the love of my nature, till I see the fulfilment of my hope and the realisation of this ideal (Loud Cheers).

SHALL WE FOLLOW A LEADER OF YESTERDAY EVEN WHEN HE IS WRONG

Gentlemen, when we started this agitation--basing it on the ideal to which I have just referred--ever since then we have been living under a cross fire. The bureaucracy has been against us, as it is natural they would be against us, as it is natural they should be against us. But I am sorry to say that along with these there is a party of Bengalees in Calcutta who also have set themselves against the fulfilment of this noble ideal. When I read the criticisms which appear in the _Statesman_ or the _Englishman_ I feel glad because I know that we have succeeded in exposing the illogical position which they take. But when I read similar things in the _Bengalee_, I assure you, I feel a great pain in my heart. I cannot understand it. Is this ideal to be pursued from the consideration of purely personal question? We have been told that the leaders of yesterday are the only people who can lead us. I do not deny their claim to lead. But I am not one of those who would follow a leader simply because he was a leader yesterday. I want him to lead. Anybody who leads the real politics of the country at the present time is a man whom I honour and I am prepared to bow down and take the dust of his feet. But if a man comes to me and says: look here you will have to do this--it does not matter what the people of Bengal want--I am the leader of Bengal--this has been done by me--it has got to be supported--well, my answer to him is: "thou imposter!" No one has got that right. We stand or fall as we pursue or desist from the popular cause. I am nothing. No leader is anything. The strength belongs to the nation whose representative I am, whose representative every one of us may become. It is not my own strength. It is the peoples' strength. Take your stand on that and we will worship you as a leader, as a martyr, as anything which you can claim but fall short of that ideal once by a hair's breadth, your claim is no longer to be recognised. If I have expressed myself strongly, believe me, gentlemen, it is because I have felt deeply--I feel, I have been stabbed to the heart by this attitude--this contempt of public opinion.

WAS THERE AN UNDERTAKING?

Now, gentlemen, you all know that we are expecting a scheme of self-government from the British Parliament. What that scheme is I do not know. No one has got the right to know but we are expecting some scheme. We heard that Mr. Montagu had shown or talked about the outline of that scheme to some Indian leaders--Mr. Surendranath Banerjea of Bengal, Pundit Madan Mohan Malaviya of the U. P. and Mr. Shastri of Madras and certain other gentlemen. I do not know if it is true but I suspect it is. We are also told--it is not admitted--we are told that some of these gentlemen had given a promise to the Secretary of State that they would get the people of this country to accept that scheme. I am not saying that this is admitted but that is what I have heard.

THE CONFIDENTIAL LETTER.

Now what do we find after that? A few days after Mr. Montagu's departure, a confidential letter over the signature of Babu Satyananda Bose was circulated and anybody who reads that letter will see that the attempt is to give up what was decided in the Bengal Provincial Conference for all Bengal,--to give it up, and to take whatever is offered to us by the Secretary of State! Why was that circular issued? Was it only Mr. Satyananda Bose who circulated this or was there a party behind it? We know Mr. Satyananda Bose is a follower of Mr. Surendranath Banerjea. Was it the attempt of only Mr. Satyananda Bose or was it a subtle attempt made in the dark to throw out to the people the suggestion that they ought to be satisfied with anything which it may please Mr. Montagu to give, to prepare the ground for the acceptance of Mr. Montagu's scheme? After that we heard that a special session of the Congress would be held in Bombay.

THE CONGRESS COMMITTEE'S CIRCULAR

It is after that that the secretaries of the Provincial Congress Committee wrote this letter:

"Dear Sir,--It appears that the Secretary of State for India will very soon make his announcement about the proposed Reforms. It is in contemplation to hold a special session of the Congress and of the Provincial Conference after the announcement. We have a duty to perform. The future of our country for at least a generation will depend upon the nature of the Reforms. You will therefore keep yourselves ready to hold public meetings, to attend the Congress (wherever held) and the Conference in very large numbers and to fearlessly criticise the proposals if they fall short of our ideal. We must make a united stand and see that they meet our legitimate aspirators.

Yours faithfully,--_I. B. Sen, Bejoy Krishna Bose, Secys."_

Now, gentlemen, you have heard the whole of this letter. Do you think there is anything objectionable in this letter? What does the letter say? It says merely that Mr. Montagu is going to make his pronouncement and that we have to watch, if it falls short of our ideal and our legitimate aspirations and if so we ought to fight against it, we ought to attend in large numbers, the special session of the Congress and conference to show a united front, and to criticise the scheme fearlessly. Now, is there anything in this to which any Nationalist, any person who has the good of his country at heart can take the slightest objection?

THE 'BENGALEE'S PATHOS

I will read out to you what the _Bengalee_ says. Unfortunately we cannot dissociate the Editor of the _Bengalee_ from the paper. Otherwise I would have cast it into the waste-paper basket and would not have thought about it. This is what the _Bengalee_ writes in its editorial of June 6th;--

"We confess that we have read the above with pain and regret, though not with surprise, for in a recent article, we pretty clearly indicated the constitution and the policy of the present Bengal Provincial Congress Committee. The old leaders are the men of yesterday and they of course should have no voice in the deliberation of the _New India_ which they have helped to build up. For we are always wiser than our fathers, and to acknowledge our indebtedness to them is to belittle our own importance which must always be a prime consideration. There is only one little risk which their policy involves and they may as well be reminded of it thus early, _viz_., that they may be paid back in their own coins and with compound interest by those who come after them."

What is there in this innocent letter to call for this personal and vehement attack? Are we to be condemned because we are asking the people of this country to watch the pronouncement of the Secretary of State? We are asking the people of this country to examine it and if it falls short of popular demands to criticise it, fearlessly and to hold meetings and to attend those meetings in large numbers. "Large numbers" is italicised by the _Bengalee_. It is a crime, a new crime to hold meetings where "large numbers" attend. It used not to be so in the past but it has become a crime now! I will go on reading another passage from this article:--

THE REALLY GREAT DANGER

"Let us now pass on to the consideration of the circular. The tone is pessimistic. It is even worse: it is that of the alarmist who raises the signal note of warning, as if we were on the eve of a great danger."

Well, gentlemen, if I am to tell you the truth, I admit that I suspect we are on the eve of a great danger and that grave danger is the acceptance of a system of self-government which will not give us the reality, which will give us self-government in name but not in fact. It is the duty of every Nationalist to raise that alarm. It does no harm to watch, even suspiciously watch what it is and if it does not satisfy the people of this country, to reject it, to say that we do not want it,--Take it back.

"Our countrymen are asked to be ready to fearlessly criticise the proposals, if they fall short of our ideal."

Very wrong indeed! Now mark what follows:--

"Brave words indeed coming with special aptness from some of those who ran away as fast as their legs could carry them when the Police broke up the Barisal Conference."

That is worthy of the leader of the Bengalee nation! To circulate--this falsehood! It may be within the recollection of many of you (Jatra Mohan Babu nods his head)--it is within the recollection of our distinguished Chairman--this falsehood originated in Colootolla in the year 1906 or 1907. The falsity of this was demonstrated then, and now in the year of grace, 1918, we find the truthful Editor of the _Bengalee_ newspaper referring to that lie and putting forward that lie as an argument against the popular party.