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Poona Speech
Babu Aurobindo Ghose, Editor of Bande Mataram, arrived privately in Poona on Saturday evening. On Monday afternoon, he was entertained at Pan Supari Parties, at Prof. S. M. Paranjape’s (Kal) at Swadeshi Vakhar, then Godse’s Swadeshi Stationery Shop and at Narayandas Chhabildas Shop. Babu Aurobindo addressed a Meeting on Monday (January 13, 1908) evening at Gayakawad Wada (Tilak’s premises) where people thronged from 4 o’clock. Mr. S. K. Damle, Pleader proposed Dr. Anna Saheb Patwardhan, the Maharshi of Poona, to the Chair. Dr. Patwardhan, introducing the Lecturer observed that Aurobindo Babu was the fourth Bengali leader to address the Poona public. The first two, Kesab Chandra Sen and Babu Pratap Chandra Roy, had preached the new doctrines of the Brahmo Samaj. The third had been Surendranath, the President of the 11th. I.N.C., in 1895. The fourth or the present one was their friend and brother, the leader of the new spirit in Bengal. Then Dr. Patwardhan asked the Babu to begin the speech. Babu Aurobindo Ghose addressed the audience thus:
Page-62 the storm at Surat this year. A number of people asked the question: ”What next?” Our answer is: Let us see how much more happens and how much more we suffer.” By our education and circumstances, a negative and doubting temprament is created in us. Men of that temperament are always asking, "Why are you going so fast and so far? Where is the strength in you to take up such a programme ?" We are charged with being very superstitious and admit the charge. I myself am very superstitious and my superstition is that we have sufficient strength and we should succeed whatever we undertake. I propose to expound the creed of thought that is preached in the Bande Mataram. The nationalistic movement, which began with Swadeshi and boycott, was not adopted by the leaders’ exhortations. The congress movement was very strong in Bengal, but after the repressive policy of the government, which began even before Lord Curzon, people lost hope in the Congress. The Congress believed that by education and petitions, by rousing the British public and the bureaucrats, success would be achieved, but when people found all this was of no use and a mere loss of money and energy, they became despondent abut the Congress. This feeling of despondency and apathy towards the Congress was gaining ground in the public mind three or four years before the Swadeshi movement. People became more and more convinced that their efforts were doomed to failure and the Nation doomed to decay, if the methods that had failed were to continue. Lord Curzon came and he hastened the reactionary movement of the Government .He passed several Acts, the Municipal Act floated by the previous Lt. Governor of Bengal and the Universities Act. In spite of strong protest from Bengal, where private school and colleges were started, these Acts were imposed. Then came the partition of Bengal, which struck a blow at the heart of the Bengali Nation. Some Indians did not understands at first why the partition was a grievance. But the Bengali are people are a people fond of ideas and sentiments. They were a provincial unity and did not like Partition. They were wounded to their hearts and could not keep going along with it. They petitioned and protested from every quarter but met with nothing expect failure. Then there arose the question: what to do next? Three or four years before Page-63 the Partition, the Swadeshi idea had been gaining ground in Bengal but it was not accepted by the Leaders. The first shout of boycott came from Kishoregunj, an insignificant town, which had taken no part in any movement till then; a second shout came from Malgura (Jessore) then from Calcutta. Previously people had seen the effect of the Chinese boycott of American goods and the leaders of Calcutta accepted the idea of boycott and Swadeshi. Swadeshi was first started in Poona and offered to the Bengali leaders, who ‘at that time said that Swadeshi was a mere wild dream, an impracticable idea. Secondly, at the time of the Age of Consent Bill, the orthodox papers preached boycott and Swadeshi but the nation was not strong enough to take them up then. Even recently when Swadeshi and boycott were preached it was again put forward that Swadeshi was impracticable and boycott was still more so and against the principle of political economy. It was also urged that our circumstances were different. We were wanting in strength of character, we would make ourselves a laughing stock. But people with a new spirit in their hearts did not listen to such doubts; they said, "We will not hear these scepticisms. We want to do something and we will do this, – namely, Swadeshi and boycott, and we insist on you that you should lead the way." Then the leaders said, "All right, let us use them temporarily and see what we can do." It was resolved to boycott British goods for six months and then, if the step was found useful, to continue it. If it succeeded, well and good. If it failed, it would be dropped. So long we were on the wrong path. We were thinking we were weak, we had many national defects, we were hypnotising ourselves or allowing others to hypnotise us. If we went on thinking that we were weak, we should ever remain so. Let us believe in our strength and let us take the idea from Vedanta, think that we are strong and divine and powerful. Never mind the difficulties but proceed. Don’t try boycott as a temporary measure but take it as a method of policy and carry it through. The leaders opposed this; they began to declare their opposition publicly but people were not willing to hear them. They resolved to make boycott a permanent measure. The people then discovered their strength. They found that they were not weak but strong. They could carry it out and Page-64 would carry it out. They were able to carry it out. The doubters were amazed to see the boycott successful. After the first year of boycott, though it did not redress the Partition grievances, yet it gave a blow to the Manchester cotton trade. Now the boycott became an accepted and permanent fact. People’s strength is justified now. Another charge that was thrown at the doors of the Indians was that they were not capable of sacrifice. Bengal in especial would never make any sacrifice. The Bengali people would just begin a hunt and leave it. Another thing that was done in Bengal was the Swadeshi movement. The doubters put it forth that Swadeshi cloth was inferior and less fine than English cloth and dearer. "How can you expect under these circumstances the people to follow Swadeshi permanently?" The people did not believe in them and they proceeded and even poorer people, educated, uneducated and totally ignorant people also began to buy Swadeshi cloth. Young men from Bengal came forward and volunteered for the spread of Swadeshi; they undertook picketing in spite of police troubles; they carried the gospel to every distant comer and in the beginning sold Swadeshi cloth at cost price without taking any profits; both the demand for and supply of Swadeshi cloth were increased by the efforts of the young volunteers. In the end the prices became equalised and ultimately English cloth became dearer. By self-reliance we proved boycott and Swadeshi a success. The third thing that we have done is national education. The people were for a long time dissatisfied with the British system of education. After the success of boycott and Swadeshi, a cry was raised for national schools and colleges. After much discussion, people resolved to make national education a fact. The Rangpur students were the first to leave the Government school and demand a national school. Then at Rangpur was established the first national school, after which a National University became necessary. Voluntary contributions came from Zemindars. Now a scheme for National primary education is being planned. The lecturer next explained how the Bengali people found that they were strong, bold and capable of doing things. He alluded to the teachings of Ramakrishna and Vivekananda and gave the fable of the cub of a lion in a sheep-fold. The lecturer Page-65 strongly preached self-reliance. Then coming to show the difference between the Moderates and the Nationalists, he remarked that all those who were self-diffident were Moderates and all who were self-confident were Nationalists. The Moderates would always make preparations and say, "We are not yet ready", and they would never be ready. Then he exhorted the audience to depend upon themselves and make themselves successful, great, prosperous and free.
Mr. Tilak proposing a vote of thanks to the Lecturer remarked that one
would never learn to swim unless one threw oneself in the water, and he
requested Babu Aurobindo to lecture more often in Poona than he intended. Babu Aurobindo was garlanded and, after the concluding remarks from the chair, the gathering dispersed amid loud shouts of "Bande Mataram, Shivaji ki Jai, Aurobindo Babu ki Jai." January 13, ’1908 Page-66 |