Talks with Sri Aurobindo

19 SEPTEMBER 1940

PURANI: It seems the Pétain Government is resisting the German demands and there is a possibility of Pétain resigning. Weygand is also dissatisfied with the ways of the Government. He intends to fly to Morocco, set up an independent government and declare for De Gaulle.

SRI AUROBINDO: Oh!

PURANI: And there have been clashes in Morocco between De Gaullites and Pétainites.

SRI AUROBINDO: Who won?

PURANI: That is not said.

SRI AUROBINDO: Where did you get all this?

PURANI : The Indian Express. (Laughter)

SRI AUROBINDO: You always keep the name out.

PURANI: But it must be in the Hindu also.

SRI AUROBINDO: Baron says that the Germans are trying to use the French navy and submarines. The sinking of a British ship by a French submarine near Indo-China was done by Germany, he says. And that is why Darlan has ordered those two French destroyers to proceed to Dakar.

PURANI: Something like that must be true. Otherwise they would not have escaped the British. If the French take the British side, they will be able to keep Italy out.

SATYENDRA: The British are offering no resistance to the Italians in Egypt. They don't seem to have enough forces there.

SRI AUROBINDO: No. They say they have transferred several thousand there. But it is not a question of thousands. They have one and a half million troops. Why can't they send one hundred thousand? These news correspondents are talking in terms of the old warfare. They say there are stretches of desert to cross.

SATYENDRA: What are deserts nowadays to tanks and cars?

SRI AUROBINDO: Quite so.

PURANI: Hitler seems to be putting pressure on Sumer, trying to displace the French.

SRI AUROBINDO: He doesn't require pressure. He has always been pro-Axis. He is a phalangist.

PURANI: The British have kept Spain neutral by offering joint control of Gibraltar after the war as well as now.

SRI AUROBINDO: If Hitler gets Spain, it will be only one point controlled.

EVENING

The radio reported that Sri Aurobindo had contributed Rs. 500 to the Madras War Fund as a token of his entire support to the British in their struggle for the cause of freedom. All of us were taken by surprise by this sudden disclosure though, of course, we knew Sri Aurobindo's standpoint,

NIRODBARAN: This has come as a counterblast to Gandhi's non-participation. (Laughter)

SRI AUROBINDO: It was not meant to be. For the money was sent some time back, before Gandhi's blast.

PURANI: The Italians have penetrated sixty miles into Egypt. The British are not offering any resistance, it seems.

SRI AUROBINDO: Yes, they say it is still only the desert the Italians are occupying. The whole of Egypt seems to be a desert, except for a small strip along the Nile. (Laughter) The English don't seem to have any forces there. They say they are waiting to come in contact with Italian forces. I don't understand their strategy. They talk of a blockade. But if Cairo and Alexandria are lost, then what effect would a blockade have in spite of their control of the Mediterranean? And I don't see either how they will keep that control.

SATYENDRA: They seem to have concentrated all their forces on home defence.

SRI AUROBINDO: That must be the fact.

SATYENDRA: They think that if they can prevent Germany from occupying England, everything will be all right.

SRI AUROBINDO: That is not enough. They will have to take back all these lost territories.

PURANI: Joad has written an article describing how and why he has turned from a pacifist into a supporter of the war. It is not only a war for defence, he says, but for civilisation.

SRI AUROBINDO: That is my standpoint also. They talk of independence, but nobody will remain independent if Hitler wins.

PURANI: Dr. André was asked by the pharmacist what he would do if Germany came to India. André was telling me it is a far-off thing yet.

SRI AUROBINDO: All the same, it is a pertinent question.