Mother's Chronicles - Book Six

10

God to the Rescue

We have digressed.

Let us see what was going on in the British House of Commons.

Ramsay MacDonald may not have understood Sri Aurobindo properly, but there is no doubt at all of the impact the latter made on him. He again put his question on 14 April to which Montagu gave only a partial reply. To an additional query on the fate of the publishers he replied that the Secretary of State was 'not aware' of any other warrants in this matter. Amrita Bazar Patrika, in its editorial on 20 April expressed great surprise.

"Mr. Montagu, the Under Secretary of State for India, said in answer to Mr. Ramsay MacDonald: that he was not aware of any warrants having been issued against the publisher of Babu Arabindo's paper. We are surprised at this reply, for, not only printer and publisher have been arrested about a fortnight ago, but he has been put on trial. His bail was refused by the Chief Presidency Magistrate, but the High Court has granted it. The India Office, we wonder, knows nothing about all this. Mr. Montagu complains that 'considerable delay occurs just now in obtaining information.' This is indeed strange, for, he

Page 76

can surely get information from India by wire in a few hours. 'I must ask patience' said Mr. Montagu, 'while fullest information is being produced.' This is reasonable request; and we dare say, Mr. Ramsay MacDonald will gladly wait, but, in that case, it is also not unreasonable to ask that the proceedings in connection with the trial of Babu Arabindo and his printer might be stayed till fullest information is placed before the House...."

Well, Ramsay MacDonald did show his goodwill and patience. But when days and days passed without a word from the Government, he repeated his question on 26 April. The Under Secretary's reply was bland. "The Secretary of State is not yet in a position to add anything to the answer given."

The Member's patience was wearing thin. Besides he had effectively utilized the time to obtain directly a great deal of information from India. Once again on 28 April Ramsay MacDonald put the same question to the same person. Yet again Montagu denied having received any further information. To his oft-repeated denial he added a few pieces of advice to the Labour M. R The latter was fed up with the Under Secretary's prevarications. The Member said that this was the fourth time he had put the question and all the information he had been able to get was that the warrant had been issued under Section 124a of the Indian Penal Code.

MacDonald expressed his concern about the type of the official mind that was dealing with the exceedingly delicate situation in India: "I feel perfectly certain that unless the India Office will insist upon its officials administering India with some generosity, some catholicity of sentiment and some serious

Page 77

attempt to associate with themselves men like Mr. Arabindo Ghose, the future is going to be very much darker than it at present is."

The Labour M. P. Keir Hardie, member for Methyr Tydvil, supported MacDonald. "Everything that tells against the Indian people" he observed, "is blazed forth, and matters which might tell in their favour do not receive anything like the same publicity."

J. Ramsay MacDonald disclosed that "I have myself received, in the ordinary course of my Indian post, during at least the last three weeks, newspapers, each one of which stated that Mr. Arabindo was at a certain place and each one of the statements agreed." He stated additionally, "It is perfectly well known, he has left what we call in this country the public life. He has left the cares and concerns of the material affairs of the universe and has gone into retirement to make his peace with the Eternal."

Criticizing the Government of India for putting Mr. Arabindo Ghose on its 'black books' and for branding him a 'sedition-monger' who needed watching, MacDonald reproved it saying, "... he has been put in the suspected list, and there is not a single thing that he does but is twisted and misrepresented. Even as a matter of fact—and this is my own version of the issue of the warrant—when he retires from public life to private life, although that again was known, and although all his friends said it was imminent, and although he himself practically told me when I saw him that he would not be very much longer in the affairs of the world and engaged in journalistic work— when that step was taken, and he did retire, it was apparently regarded by the Government of Bengal as a move in some

Page 78

deep-seated hidden political plot, and that was the thing which causes the issue of the warrant—at any rate that is my theory."

To the discomfiture of the Under Secretary of State, Ramsay MacDonald said ironically, "What is this article about which so much has been said? My Hon. Friend has not been able to furnish me with a copy, I have it myself." With a flourish he brought out the article from the Karmayogin of 25 December 1909.

A good deal of prayer must have gone up to God from the bureaucrats of the Colonial government; He took pity on them.

The Eternal sent an intimation to the ardent Nationalist whose ideal was independence. In this way it came about that Sri Aurobindo "on receiving an inner intimation left politics for spiritual lifework. The intimation was that Swadeshi movement must now end and would be followed later on by a Home Rule movement and a Non-cooperation movement of the Gandhi type, under other leaders."

A first Command sent him to Chandernagore.

A second Command sent him to Pondicherry.

That is how God came to the rescue of the Indo-British government.

Page 79