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Bande Mataram { CALCUTTA, March 14th, 1908 }
Perpetuate the Split! T
he Mehtaist Press in Western India seems to be unable to make up its mind for a compromise or against a compromise. It cannot conceal its repugnance to the idea of giving up its darling scheme of excluding the Nationalists from the Congress or the creed which Mr. Gokhale had so skilfully drawn up for that purpose. On the other hand the Pabna Conference has filled it with dismay, for it perceives a force in Bengal which may prove strong enough to separate the Bengal Moderate leaders from the ranks of pure Moderatism in this crucial matter. It is curious that while trying to throw the whole blame of the Surat fiasco on the Nationalists, the Bombay Moderates have never concealed the fact that it was their intention to jockey the Nationalists out of the Congress. Their chief organ openly declared that it had been the Moderate plan to get rid of passive resistance and other Extremist heresies which had been read into the Calcutta resolution by the Extremists. The Gujerati is equally plain about the creed, its object is to get rid of the spectre of Swaraj by exorcism and the creed is the magic formula which is to drive Swaraj and Swarajists out of the National Assembly. Mr. R. C. Dutt has declared that the split was a consummation much to be desired and must be perpetuated and the Gujerati heartily endorses the sentiment. The Pabna Conference, it contends, was a got-up affair arranged by Mr. Tilak, and so its opinion has no value. The Mahomedans and Parsis will join the movement if the Nationalists are driven out and the British public and British Government are, according to Babu Bhupendranath Bose, an excellent authority, deeply interested in seeing the creed preserved. For all these reasons let the creed be preserved. We
Page – 927 wonder whether these cogent reasons will confirm the wavering allegiance of Srijut Surendranath Banerji and his followers and keep them in the Mehtaist fold! They ought at least to show unprejudiced people all over the country who were really desirous of the split and with what motives it was engineered. __________
Loyalty to Order
The action of the Bharat Dharma Mandal in presenting themselves before the Viceroy as representatives of Hindu society and offering their loyalty and the post of defender of the Hindu faith has been so severely criticised by the vernacular Press in Calcutta that it would be unkindness to add a final stroke. We cannot refrain, however, from reminding the Mahamandal that the foundations of Hinduism are truth and manhood, esha dharmah sanatanah. Hinduism is no sect or dogmatic creed, no bundle of formulas, no set of social rules, but a mighty, eternal and universal truth. It has learned the secret of preparing man’s soul for the divine consummation of identity with the infinite existence of God; rules of life and formulas of belief are only sacred and useful when they help that great preparation. And the first rule of life is that man must live the highest life of which he is capable, overcoming selfishness, overcoming fear, overcoming the temptation to palter with truth in order to earn earthly favours. The first formula of belief is satyannasti paro dharmah, there is no higher law of conduct than truth. We leave it to the conscience of the Mahamandal to decide how much of truth and manhood there was in their demonstration of loyalty and their ridiculous appeal to a representative of Western materialism and practical atheism to defend Hinduism and its institutions.
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