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.
The Morning Leader in casting about for reasons,—let us call them reasons, not excuses—for defending Mr. Morley's Russian policy, has discovered the fact that the case of India is sui generis, a thing apart which stands on its merits and to which ordinary principles cannot be applied. The Morning Leader need not have taken refuge in Latin in order to hide its embarrassment. All
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India, Moderate and Extremist alike, have begun to realise that the principles of Liberalism which are so loudly mouthed about in Westminster and on the hustings, are not meant to be applied to India. They may be applied to England and the Colonies but they are obviously unsuitable to a subject nation where the despotic supremacy of the white man has to be maintained, as it was gained, at the cost of all principles and all morality. Ireland also was sui generis once, until by moonlighting, Fenianism, dynamite and Passive Resistance she managed to break down the barrier and place herself on the same level with other nations. Yes, India is a case apart. In England politics is a question of parties. In India politics is a conflict of principles and of mutually destructive forces,—the principle of bureaucracy against the principle of democracy, the alien force of Imperialism against the indigenous force of Nationalism. Our relations with our rulers are not those of protector and protected, but of eater and eaten. As man and the tiger cannot live together in the same circle of habitation, so Indian Nationalism and bureaucratic despotism cannot divide India between them or dwell together in peace. One of them must go.
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