All surviving political writings and speeches from 1890 to 1908 including articles originally published in the nationalist newspaper 'Bande Mataram'.
All surviving political writings and speeches from 1890 to 1908. The two volumes consist primarily of 353 articles originally published in the nationalist newspaper 'Bande Mataram' between August 1906 and May 1908. Also included are political articles written by Sri Aurobindo before the start of 'Bande Mataram', speeches delivered by him between 1907 and 1908, articles from his manuscripts of that period that were not published in his lifetime, and an interview of 1908. Many of these writings were not prepared by Sri Aurobindo for publication; several were left in an unfinished state.
It is evidently with a sigh of relief that the Indian Mirror learns the news that Lala Lajpat Rai is to be sent not to the Andamans but to Mandalay. It says:—"Soon after his arrest, it was reported widely that Lala Lajpat Rai was going to be taken to the
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Andamans. But instead of being sent to that penal settlement, he has been conveyed as a State prisoner to Mandalay in Upper Burma where there is a large fort. Mandalay is certainly a far better place than the Andamans." To those like us outside the esoteric circle—and they by no means form a microscopic minority—the distinction between the two places, on the present occasion, seems immaterial. Of course it needs no ghost to tell us that Mandalay is not the Andamans. But are not both places equally suited to the requirements of the Government? It was not the intention of the Government to remove Lajpat Rai to a particular place with a view to subject him to a particular kind of climate. In Mandalay in Upper Burma "where there is a large fort", the Punjab leader will not be allowed to do as he likes. The object of the Government in deporting him was to remove him from the scene of his labours and thus attempt to put a stop to his career of usefulness—call it political activity if you like. The first object the Government has succeeded in accomplishing by removing him to Mandalay. And it would have been equally accomplished by removing him to the Andamans. But the second object cannot be accomplished by such a removal. If the people are ready to carry on his work—which since his deportation it has become their sacred duty to do—the object of the Government will be frustrated. The work of an individual often becomes the work of a people, and such work reaches its glorious culmination only when it is taken up by the people at large from whom come the energy and the character of a nation. If the people are prepared to take up his work, then his deportation, which has given them an impetus, will prove but a blessing in disguise.
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