Mother's Chronicles - Book Six

50

Pondicherry Elections

Well, the Richards were in Pondicherry.

In 1910 Paul Richard had come to French India for electioneering. He was a friend of Paul Bluysen's, a candidate. Mother told us that after becoming a lawyer, Richard entered politics. "He was a first-class orator who fired his audiences with enthusiasm." That is why Bluysen sent him to Pondicherry to canvass for him. "And since Richard was interested in occultism and spirituality, he took this opportunity to seek a 'Master,' a yogi." Instead of launching himself in politics, the first thing Richard did upon arrival was to make known that he was seeking a yogi. Mother went on, "Someone told him, 'You are incredibly lucky! The Yogi has just arrived." Sri Aurobindo was not particularly pleased when asked to meet the Frenchman, "but the coincidence seemed rather interesting, so he received him."

In 1914 Paul Richard was himself a candidate for the French Chamber of Deputies, standing against Bluysen among others.

And how were the elections conducted in those far-off days? It may not lack interest today.

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France, like India, has two houses of Parliament. The Upper House—like our Rajya Sabha—is called the Senat; the Lower House—Lok Sabha—is called the Chambre des Deputes (in plain English, the Chamber of Deputies). It was during the Third Republic, which was established in 1870 and which lasted until the occupation of France by the Germans in 1940, that the French settlements in India were accorded the right of representation in the French Parliament. But five enclaves together could send only one Senator and one Deputy for the whole of India. The elections to the Chamber of Deputies were held every four years, and every nine years for the Senate. However it was always Frenchmen who represented India, not Indians.

Paul Bluysen was the winning candidate in the elections of 1910. He was then the editor of an Algerian paper, Journal des Debats. He was also 'Agent of the Republican Press.' So far as I have been able to gather, he was from India, and had stood unsuccessfully for legislative elections in 1898 and once before. In 1910 Bluysen's main rival was the ex-deputy Lemaire, who had been elected in 1906. The polling took place on 24 April and the acting governor Levecque sent a telegraphic despatch to the Colonial Ministry the very next day giving the first results. In his report the acting governor also described the situation. 'Yesterday many incidents common to Pondicherry and Mudaliarpet; scuffles, blows, violent disputes around ballot-boxes, some wounded; exchange of blows, a few mortal wounds." The blame for all this violence was squarely laid at Gaeble's door. Henri Gaebele was Pondicherry's mayor from 1907 to 1928. Lemaire, however, complained bitterly against Levecque, accusing him of adopting tactics in favour of Bluysen. In fact, the

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minister for Colonies had to send some urgent telegrams to the governor for obtaining the final results. In the end, it was on 4 May 1910 that Governor Levecque announced the poll results: Bluysen = 20,580 votes, Lemaire = 17,453. In the announcement he said that the President had declared Paul Bluysen deputy for French India.

Electoral malpractices were very much there.

What happened was that in August 1904Jean Lemaire had been appointed governor of French India. From the beginning he took interest in the people and the country he was ruling. He met directly with the people, enquired after their needs, and even tried to do something about them. Anyway, he became popular. That was a change for the people, and dismay for the 'fetters' of social progress. Their status quo was disturbed. Their pockets were unfilled. The fetters, in desperation, wrote to the Colonial minister and managed to persuade him to recall the governor. Which was done. The minister offered Lemaire the post of governor of New Caledonia. But Lemaire had taken a fancy to India. The Indians too had come to like him. As soon as the elections for the deputy was announced the 'Hindu' party chose Lemaire as their candidate. The polling was to take place on 6 May 1906. It was duly held. This time people really went to vote, unlike the previous occasions when their names were only on paper. Not only that, but on the ballot counting day the people turned out in great force. The committee set up by the governor for counting the votes was packed with members opposed to Lemaire, but it was obliged to concede the high number of votes cast in his favour. But they would not declare him as the winning candidate. Finally, it was

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the Chamber of Deputies in France which validated Lemaire's electoral win on 15 March 1907 by an overwhelming majority of 451 for and 11 against.

Only Europeans could stand for election in those days, although the Whites were in a woeful minority—some few hundreds, mostly in government jobs, against a local population numbering 270,000 individuals in 1911. It is a wonder how so few foreigners were masters of so many for so long.

Of the preceding deputies, Pierre Alype never once set his foot on the soil of the land he represented for four terms; Henrique did visit the land once during the eight years he was deputy for French India. However, it was senator Godin who took the cake. For the eighteen years he was senator, he never ever touched the soil of the land he represented. It would be truer to say that he was more an obstruction than a help for the colony's progress. Godin and Lemaire were always at cross-purposes. In the end the people of Pondicherry got rid of Godin on 3 January 1909. Etienne Flandin, till recently the attorney-general, became the new senator. Moreover he seemed to get on well with Jean Lemaire. Between them, and urged by the then mayor H. Gaebele, they managed to get some long-pending reforms for the French Indian settlements through.

This "economically viable self-sustained colony"¹ sorely needed some mod cons. Power, for instance. It was but from 14 July 1909 that the municipality began to supply electricity,

¹ "Slatistiques Colonials—Population, Cultureei Commerceet Navigation" (Minis-lere de la Marine et des Colonies) says that "During 1870-1900 it was only once in 1877, due to drought, that French India was in deficit. Otherwise the Metropolitan Government had never subsidized the Colony."

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an uninterrupted supply of 220 volts, to the town. Not the whole town, mind you. In 1929 the Service des Travaux Publics took charge of power distribution. Anyway, when I first went to Pondicherry in 1935 the whole town had electricity.

Pondicherry was a busy port of call. Import and export went on regularly with hundreds of ships calling there every year. At first the goods brought by ships were loaded on country boats, brought to shore, stocked in god owns, then transported by bullock carts to the interior. A time-consuming affair. So the French built an iron pier—inaugurated on 15 August 1866— spanning 192 metres from end to end. Not long enough. It was extended by another sixty-four metres in 1881-82. Not yet adequate. Finally a third portion measuring eighty metres was joined to it. When Sri Aurobindo landed there, in Pondicherry, he walked all the 336 metres down the pier.

For the safety of the ships, and to guide them, a lighthouse, a fixed light, began operating from July 1836, and was visible to a distance of twenty-nine kilometres. But in 1935 we saw that it was a revolving light. The original fixed light had been replaced in 1931 by the revolving light of 1000 watts. It turns a full circle in thirty-six seconds. The lighthouse is a landmark.

Of course, the colony being French, educational institutions were almost the first to come up. The Lycee Francais was started by Viscount Desbassyns de Richmont. College Calve, where Amrita had his education, was founded in 1875 for Indian students.¹

¹ These scraps of information were procured by my brother Abhay from Pondicherry Government Archives. Thanks to them all.

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Now, in spite of their Manet and Monet, the French are colour blind. At least where skin colour is concerned. No distinction do they make between white or red, brown or black or yellow. Quite unlike the British to whom all non-Whites are 'coloured' people ... therefore not to be mixed with white. Just coming from British India as he did, Moni must have been struck at the difference of attitude between the two neighbouring European nations. A Frenchman, as Moni observed, never bothered a whit about the skin colour of anybody, but would put his arms around the neck of another and say, "Nous les Francois?'

In 1910 there were only two political parties in Pondicherry. The European Party and the Hindu Party. If you think that only Europeans were the members of the European Party and only Indians of the Hindu Party, well think again. The leader of the Hindu Party was a French barrister, Gaston Pierre. Suvrata's father-in-law, Henri Gaebele, was the leader of the European Party. One big pillar of the European Party was an Indian, Nanda gopal Chettiar. He was a big fish of the area. He was actually the chief of the fishermen, and also controlled the port workers who loaded and unloaded ships. Nanda gopal made very good use of his men. Specially at election time. "Lebanese Nanda gopal" (the "Rowdies of Nanda gopal") were used by him for voter intimidation, booth capturing, perpetrating electoral frauds, and what not. That is why although the Hindu Party had a greater number of members, it was the European

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Party with fewer members which always won the elections. The election of May 1906 was an exception.

Now the 1914 election to the Chamber of Deputies was once again upon the people of French India. That is when Paul Richard came, ostensibly to stand for election. He was to stand as a nominee of the Hindu Party. The polling was due to take place on 26 April 1914.

And Sri Aurobindo was there.

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