Bande Mataram

Marionettes and Others

12-August-1907

The Englishman is naturally making the most of the Loyal Manifesto, but that most is miserably little. The unspontaneous character of the effusion has been emphasized by the difficulties and vicissitudes which it had to go through before it saw the light. Conceived in the Black and White Club, begotten, it is said, by Sir Andrew Fraser on the brain of Mr. Blair, the first attempt at delivery with Sjt. Pradyot Kumar Tagore as midwife ended in an abortion. Even the second time with an older and more experienced hand at work the pains of parturition were excessive. Not a single leader of the people or prominent political man signed the absurdity, even the most moderate declaring that no man with any sense of self-respect could sign such a document. Of the few Zamindars who have a real political sense and some position in politics, only one has signed and he, we believe, under the mistaken impression that the objectionable portions had been omitted. There are only two or three solid signatures, if we measure solidity by brains or public influence and not by wealth. Some of the signatories have obviously signed from fear of the consequences of refusal, others belong to that type of people found in every country who consider it their duty to bow their knees before the powers that be whenever required. Their loyalty is uncaused and unconditioned. It knows no ebb and flow, it is a constant quantity and can be manifested at the bidding of a superior person. These people are so well drilled and disciplined in loyalty that the master has simply to look at and down hangs the head, the hands automatically join and every limb falls into its fitting posture of humility. This dancing to the pipe is a natural phenomenon without any particular meaning.

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So this loyal manifesto of the Bengal landholders has excited less interest than even a bear-dance or the performance of a clown. There are professional and mechanical genuflexions with less significance than the automatic movements of marionettes. They think that the bureaucracy has made them and can unmake them at any moment, and the very instinct of self-preservation forces them to their knees. The surprising thing is that so able a political race as the English should think they can make anything substantial out of an advantage so unreal.