The Role of South India in the Freedom Movement

Introduction

This book presents the story of the freedom struggle that developed in South India and the ideals that inspired the national struggle for freedom in South India.

The presentation has two aspects; one, dealing with the events and incidents in which the freedom fighters were involved and two, the ideals and values that inspired the freedom fighters. The first represents the external side of the movement and the second the inner and deeper part.

It is evident that the inner part is more important as it portrays the lasting and abiding values and ideals that led and inspired this movement.

We shall therefore first trace and identify the source of the inspiring ideals that were at the root of the Indian nation.

The Psychological Unity of India

In the history of India, we shall note that India became a nation state only in recent times; in a sense, only after the conquest by the British. However, the psychological sense of unity was there from the most ancient times. India had a fundamental cultural and spiritual unity rather than a political and economical unity.

For in India the spiritual and cultural unity was made complete at a very early time and it became the very basis of life of all this great surge of humanity between the Himalayas and the two seas. The peoples of ancient India were not so much distinct nations, sharply divided by a separate political and economic life; rather, they were sub-peoples of a great spiritual and cultural nation, itself firmly separated physically from other countries by the seas and the mountains, and from other nations by its strong sense of difference, its peculiar common religion and culture.

The whole basis of the Indian mind is its spiritual and inward turn; its propensity has always been to seek the things of the spirit and the inner being first and foremost and to look at all else as secondary, dependent, to be handled and determined in the light of the higher knowledge; the outer world was seen as an expression, a preliminary field or aid to the deeper spiritual aim. In other words, this approach led to a tendency to create whatever it had to first on the inner plane and afterwards in its other and outer aspects. The early mind of India understood the essential character of this problem. The Vedic Rishis and their successors made it their chief work to found a spiritual basis of Indian life and to effect spiritual and cultural unity of the many races and peoples of the peninsula.

What were the methods adopted by the ancients to bring about this spiritual and cultural unity?

Observing the religious and spiritual tendency of the Indian people, the ancient seers adopted a combination of different psychological and practical methods to bring about spiritual and cultural unity. As a first step, they created sacred religious places and distributed them all over the country; some of the places are in Haridwar, Prayag near Allahabad, Gaya, Nasik, Dwarka, Puri, Kumbakonam and Rameswaram.

One may also note the great influence of temples all over India. Not only were they religious places of worship, but structures of grandeur and beauty. There can be no doubt that the temples of India were a very powerful unifying factor. Starting from the South in Madura and Rameswaram right up to the north in Kashmir, in the East from Dwarka to the great temples in Assam, they have been a powerful religious, cultural and aesthetic unifying force.

Another method they adopted was the repetition of the sacred text, which in ancient times Indians used every time they bathed:

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Gangecha Jamunechaiva Godavari Sarasvatee

Narmada Sindhu Kaveri jalesmin sannidhim kuru

And it means: May the Ganges, the Yamuna, the Godavari, the Sarasvatee, the Narmada, the Sindhu and the Kaveri enter into this water.

These are the great rivers of the Indian subcontinent and it is along the course of the great rivers that the sacred stream of Indian culture flowed all over the land.

 In addition, there were the legends of the gods and the two great epics - the Ramayana and the Mahabharata - which were read and moved people in every part of India. These legends were known by every Indian family and created a deep psychological bond among the people.

Finally, there was the universal reverence of the Vedas all over the country from the extreme North to the tip of South India.

Thus from a very early period of Indian history, the Indian subcontinent had fully realised a very deep, though complex form of organic unity behind all the apparent diversities and multiplicities of the land and the people.

All these created a feeling that India was not just a geographical entity or a collection of people merely having the same religion and language. The Indian nation became a living being with a distinct personality, a dynamic psychological entity.

It is this feeling that has been expressed by poets and writers throughout the ages. In modern times, this was the whole meaning of Bandemataram and the songs of Subramaniam Bharati. The same feeling is beautifully expressed in the following words of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo.

India - A Living Personality

'Each nation is a Shakti or power of the evolving spirit in humanity and lives by the principle, which it embodies. India is the Bharata Shakti, the living energy of a great spiritual conception, and fidelity to it is the very principle of her existence. For by its virtue alone she has been one of the immortal nations; this alone has been the secret of her amazing persistence and perpetual force of survival and revival.' 1

'Even as the individual has a soul which is its true self, governing more or less openly his destiny, each nation too has its soul which is its true self moulding its destiny from behind the veil: it is the soul of the country, the national genius, the spirit of the people, the centre of national aspiration, the fountain-head of all that is beautiful, noble, great and generous in the life of a country. True patriots feel its presence as a tangible reality. It is this which has been made almost into a divine being and all who love their country call it "Mother India" (Bharat Mata), and it is to her that they daily address a prayer for the welfare of their country.'2

It was this feeling that was at the psychological root of most of the freedom fighters whether they came from the North or the South of India. The driving force behind all their actions was the Indian consciousness, which we have referred to above. Therefore, while presenting the role of South India in the freedom struggle we will take great care not to present it in a narrow parochial manner. It will rather be done is such a way that we can illustrate the tremendous diversity in unity that is the foundation of the Indian nation.

However, we must note that India never became politically united. There were many attempts to convert the psychological unity into a political unity, but there was no durable success. Here is an extract from Sri Aurobindo illustrating this:

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But the most striking example in history is the evolution of India. Nowhere else have the centrifugal forces been so strong, numerous, complex, obstinate. The mere time taken by the evolution has been prodigious; and yet through it all the inevitable tendency has worked constantly, pertinaciously, with the dull, obscure, indomitable, relentless obstinacy of Nature when she is opposed in her instinctive purposes by man, and finally, after a struggle enduring through millenniums, has triumphed. And, as usually happens when she is thus opposed by her own mental and human material, it is the most adverse circumstances that the subconscious worker has turned into her most successful instruments. The political history of India is the story of a succession of empires, indigenous and foreign, each of them destroyed by centrifugal forces, but each bringing the centripetal tendency nearer to its triumphant emergence. And it is a significant circumstance that the more foreign the rule, the greater has been its force for the unification of the subject people.

This is always a sure sign that the essential nation-unit is already there and that there is an indissoluble national vitality necessitating the inevitable emergence of the organised nation. In this instance, we see that the conversion of the psychological unity on which nationhood is based into the external organised unity by which it is perfectly realised, has taken a period of more than two thousand years and is not yet complete. And yet, since the essentiality of the thing was there, not even the most formidable difficulties and delays, not even the most persistent incapacity for union in the people, not even the most disintegrating shocks from outside have prevailed against the obstinate subconscious necessity. And this is only the extreme illustration of a general law.3

The British conquest took place because the centrifugal forces operating in India at that time were very powerful. We were so badly divided that they never had to face a united opposition.

There was no Indian national feeling at the beginning of the 18th century. In fact Indian rulers of that time more often allied themselves with the British against other Indian rulers, than come together to fight the common enemy.

The British conquest may therefore be seen as Nature's way of helping India in the process of nation building. For it was the British conquest that awakened the national consciousness in a gradual way leading ultimately to the Freedom Movement.

This national consciousness manifested itself in a tremendous diversity of which South India represented one unique facet.

 In the words of Sri Aurobindo:

India, shut into a separate existence by the Himalayas and the ocean, has always been the home of a peculiar people with characteristics of its own recognisably distinct from all others, with its own distinct civilisation, way of life, way of the spirit, a separate culture, arts, building of society. It has absorbed all that has entered into it, put upon all the Indian stamp, welded the most diverse elements into its fundamental unity. But it has also been throughout a congeries of diverse peoples, lands, kingdoms and, in earlier times, republics also, diverse races, sub-nations with a marked character of their own, developing different brands or forms of civilisation and culture, many schools of art and architecture which yet succeeded in fitting into the general Indian type of civilisation and culture. India's history throughout has been marked by a tendency, a constant effort to unite all this diversity of elements into a single political whole under a central imperial rule so that India might be politically as well as culturally one. 4

This book will therefore present the South Indian contribution not only to the external aspects of the Freedom Movement leading to the independence of India but also to the contribution to the deeper cultural and spiritual dimension which is the basis of Indian unity.

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HOME

The British Conquest of India

Before we come to the main theme of the book, we shall make a brief survey of the advent of the British and the psychological factors that ultimately led to the aspiration for a united India.

The British came to India as traders early in the 17th century. The Moghul emperor Jehangir permitted the English to trade in India in 1608. As a result, the English established a factory at Surat. However, India's connection with the West had started earlier with the Portuguese, who were the first Europeans to establish themselves in India and the last to leave. They arrived as early as 1498 via the ocean route discovered by Vasco-da-Gama. But it was the East India Company, chartered by the British crown and ultimately responsible to the parliament, that launched British rule in India. The British East India Company was established on 31 December 1600 AD, under a Royal Charter of Queen Elizabeth I for a period of 15 years for spice trading, with a capital of £70,000. In 1640, the Company acquired the site of modern Madras (Chennai), where it quickly built Fort St George. In 1668, King Charles II transferred to the East India Company the site of Bombay (Mumbai), which he had received as part of a dowry when marrying the Portuguese princess, Catherine of Braganza. In 1690, Job Charnok, at the invitation of Nawab Ibrahim Khan, laid the foundations of Calcutta. The site was a swampy land on the Bhagirath comprising the village of Sutanati, to which in 1698 were added the villages of Kolikata and Govindapur.

From this time onwards the three presidencies of Bombay, Madras and Bengal were established and became for all practical purposes the centre of British India's political and military activities. Within a century Britain had acquired almost complete sovereignty over India; but this was neither a swift nor sudden process. Firstly, it entailed wars with the Company's rivals - the Portuguese, the Dutch and, more formidably, the French.

It was by the Battle of Wandiwash that the French threat was eliminated and by the Battle of Plassey, a few years earlier that it got a foothold over Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. The Battle of Wandiwash was a continuation of the Anglo-French armed struggle and rivalry in Europe and other parts of the world. Eyre Coote commanded the English troops while Comte de Lally commanded the French troops. The British captured the fort near Wandiwash in 1759. This battle sealed the fate of the French empire in India. The French were no longer in a position to challenge British superiority.

A few years earlier, the East India Company had succeeded in establishing itself and getting power in Bengal, Bihar, Orissa and the east coast. The decisive step in this direction was the Battle of Plassey, more correctly Palasi (from the Palas trees that abound in the area). Fought between the British forces and those of Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah on 23 June 1757, the battle lasted only one day when the forces of the Nawab were put to flight. The agility and far-sightedness of the English, coupled with their unscrupulous employment of treason, intrigue and conspiracy in the enemy camp crippled the strength of the Nawab's army. Robert Clive who was the commander of the British forces said in his report on the battle: 'Mir Jafar, Rai Durlabh and Yar Lutuf Khan gave us no other assistance than standing neutral.' These three were secretly in league with the East India Company. This battle gave the East India Company control over Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.

Immediately after the Battle of Plassey, Moghul emperor Shah Alam granted Dewani of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa to the British East India Company. As a result, it secured permission to collect land revenue from these provinces in return for an annual tribute and maintaining of order and peace. They collected the land revenues through the local

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Nawab and took control of his army. This made the East India Company a ruling power and not merely a trading group as it had started.

As long as the Company's chief business was trade, it was left to manage its own affairs. But after Plassey, when the Company acquired territory, the British Government felt that a Regulating Act was necessary. With Pitt's India Act, a Board of Commissioners as a department of the English Government was created to exercise control over political, financial and military affairs over British possessions in India. For the first time a Governor-General was appointed who was soon to emerge as politically all-powerful. Within another hundred years, the British took control of almost the whole of India.

Let us now take a look at the political map of India at that time immediately after the Battle of Plassey.

• The Moghul empire had more or less disintegrated, after the Muslim forces of Persian king Nadir Shah plundered Delhi in 1739. Later in 1756, Ahmad Shah, the Emir of Afghanistan, who had previously seized the Punjab, again captured Delhi. A united force of Marathas and Sikhs could not defeat the invaders, and the possibility of a reunification of Indian peoples into a strong national state began to dim.

In the South of India, an independent state of Hyderabad was established; this was one of the many Muslim and Hindu states to emerge amid the rapid decline of Moghul-centralised authority and political chaos in India.

The East India Company was on its way to the complete control of Bengal, India's most populous province. At the same time important areas of the Deccan came under the control of the East India Company. From favourable locations on coasts -Madras, Bombay and Calcutta - the East India Company started tapping the interior resources of India's well-developed manufacturing economy, vast population and solid agricultural base; also the British started limiting India's access to world trade with tariffs, by taking command of India's textile industry and exporting Indian gold.

Warren Hastings was appointed the first Governor-General of British India in 1772. From that time onwards, the British relied on superior military power, as well as bribery, extortion, political manipulation of native chieftains; at the same time they exploited the disunity among various Indian kingdoms, to subjugate the entire subcontinent.

The Marathas - the successors of Shivaji - had built a Maratha empire; but they were notorious for their plundering raids, and many states were forced to pay them protection money as a means of direct and indirect subjection. In 1761, Afghan Shah Durrani defeated them and this ended their expansion to the west.

In 1798, Lord Wellesley was appointed Governor-General. An imperialist, Wellesley combined the instruments of war and diplomacy to fulfil his ends. Determined to tame all opposition and to wipe out any desire for independence, Wellesley put in place the system of Subsidiary Alliances. The system was such that when an Indian ruler felt that he was in danger from his neighbours, he could take help of the English; in return he would have to pay and maintain British troops in his state. While the system was a complete success, it undermined the independence of Indian rulers and gave the British total power in India.

The Sikhs of Punjab, after the death of Ranjit Singh, attacked British positions, starting a costly war. The Sikhs were one of many groups or individual states that resisted British exploitation, brutality and territorial seizures at sporadic intervals.

The result was that a series of wars were fought between the British and the Indian kingdoms; these were the Anglo-Mysore wars, the Anglo-Maratha wars, the Anglo-Sikh wars and the Anglo-Gurkha wars. The Company took control of Mysore by defeating

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Tipu Sultan in 1792; the Marathas were convincingly defeated in 1819. Further, the company expanded its rule by defeating Nepal in 1814-16, Sind in 1843, Punjab in 1848-49 and Burma in 1886. In the wars against Mysore the British fought Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan, who proved to be formidable foes; it was only after four wars that they took complete control of the areas ruled by Tipu Sultan. The war against the Marathas led by Nana Phadnavis followed. By 1799, Tipu Sultan was defeated and in the following twenty years the mighty power of the Maratha confederacy was reduced to ashes and dust. In the meantime, the Moghul emperor in Delhi had shrunk to a mere shadow of his former self; soon he was to become a pensioner of the Company and its virtual prisoner. Moreover, by 1818 the proud Rajputs, driven by petty jealousies, had become feudatories of the Company. All that now remained was the conquest of Sind and the Punjab. The former fell in the aftermath of the disastrous Anglo-Afghan war. In Punjab as a result of the anarchy following the death of Ranjit Singh, his successors could not stand up to the British. A few years later Dalhousie became the Governor-General. Determined to extend direct British control over large areas, Dalhousie introduced the Doctrine of Lapse. Under this doctrine, if the ruler of a protected state died without a natural heir his state would not pass to an adopted heir but would be annexed to British dominions, unless the adoption had been clearly approved earlier by British authorities. This allowed the Company to get the lion's share of Indian states, like Satara in 1848, Nagpur, and Jhansi in 1854. Oudh was deposed on the grounds of misgovernment and was annexed in 1856.

While all this was happening, we must not forget that India was on the verge of the utter loss of her cultural and historical unity in the middle of the 18th century. For the patriotism that existed then in India was local or dynamic. There was no Indian national feeling at the beginning of the 18th century. In fact, Indian rulers of that time more often allied themselves with the British against other Indian rulers, than allied together to fight the common enemy. The Nawab of Oudh entered into a subordinate alliance with the British against the Marathas. The Rajput rulers wanted protection against the Marathas. Raghoba sold himself to the British to fight the Peshwa in Poona. The Nizam's forces marched against those of the British in the fight against Tipu.

The British took full advantage of the divisions in India. Right from the beginning they followed a policy of divide and rule. Diplomacy and deceit were used to gain control of revenue collection in the province of Bengal. This gave them effective control of the administration. The Marathas, the Sikhs and the rulers of Mysore could never unite to confront the foreign enemy and fell one by one. By the onset of the 19th century there was no local power that could cope with their onslaught.

Once the British had consolidated their power, commercial exploitation of natural resources and native labour became ruthless. By the middle of the 19th century, the arrogant exploitation of the people had tried the patience of the Indians to the limit. We shall touch upon some of these incidents which served as triggers to the sense of Indian Nationalism.

First there was the Sepoy Mutiny in 1857, which was suppressed most brutally and ruthlessly.

Next, the Partition of Bengal in 1905 triggered off a strong reaction not only in Bengal but in the whole of India.

Then there was the shooting and killing of innocent people in the Jallianwalabagh incident in 1919.

At the same time, the British, to serve their own purpose, set up educational institutions that imparted Western education through the English language and had established a vast railway network and telegraph lines. This brought the country some kind of administrative unity. But they also began a systematic exploitation of the Indian people.

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Despite this political division and total disunity, the concept of India existed. There was still a notion of Indian civilisation and culture existing in this geographical space called India. And that was because there was a strong fundamental unity based on a cultural and spiritual oneness that ran like the thread holding the garland, throughout the whole history of India.

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The Economic Exploitation

The main motivation of British domination and rule was the economic exploitation of India. Naturally, with the gradual political awakening, this caught the attention of some Indians and started the reaction against British rule.

The First Steps by the British

Before British rule, there was no private property in land. The self-governing village community handed over each year to the ruler or to his nominee a share of the annual produce. The East India Company put a stop to this and introduced a new revenue system superseding the right of the village community over land and creating two new forms of property on land - landlordism and individual peasant proprietorship. It was assumed that the State was the supreme landlord. Fixed tax payments were introduced based on land whereby payment had to be made to the government whether or not the crop had been successful. A British commentator is reported to have said that they have introduced new methods of assessing and cultivating land revenue which has converted a once flourishing population into a huge horde of paupers. Indeed the first effect was the reduction in agricultural incomes by 50%, thereby undermining the agrarian economy and self-governing village. In 1769, the Company prohibited Indians from trading in grain, salt, betel nut and tobacco, and discouraged handicraft. The Company also prohibited the homework of silk weavers and compelled them to work in its factories. Weavers who disobeyed were imprisoned, fined or flogged. In this way the Company's servants lined their own pockets.

When the British first reached India they did not find a backwater country. A report on Indian Industrial Commission published in 1919 said that the industrial development of India was at any rate not inferior to that of the most advanced European nations. India was not only a great agricultural country but also a great manufacturing country. It had a prosperous textile industry, whose cotton, silk, and woolen products were marketed in Europe and Asia. It had remarkable ancient skills in iron working. It had its own shipbuilding industry in Calcutta, Daman, Surat and Bombay. In 1802 skilled Indian workers were building British warships at Bombay. According to a historian of Indian shipping, the teak wood vessels of Bombay were greatly superior to the oaken walls of Old England. Benares was famous all over India for its brass, copper, and bell metal wares. Other important industries included the enameled jewellery and stone carving of Rajputana towns as well as filigree work in gold and silver, ivory, glass, tannery, perfumery and papermaking.

All this altered under the British, leading to the de-industrialisation of India - its forcible transformation from a country of combined agriculture and manufacture into an agricultural colony of British capitalism. The British annihilated the Indian textile industry unwilling to tolerate a competitor, which had to be destroyed.

The shipbuilding industry aroused the jealousy of British firms and its progress and development were restricted by legislation. India's metalwork, glass and paper industries were likewise throttled when British government in India was obliged to use only British-made paper. The vacuum created by the contrived ruin of the Indian handicraft industries, a process virtually completed by 1880, was filled with British manufactured goods. Britain's industrial revolution, with its explosive increase in productivity made it essential for British capitalists to find new markets. India turned from an exporter of textiles to an importer. British goods had virtually free entry into India while entry into Britain of Indian goods was met with prohibitive tariffs. It was also decided to curtail direct trade between India and the rest of the world. Horace Hayman Wilson in 1845 in

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The History of British India from 1805 to 1835 wrote: 'The foreign manufacturer employed the arm of political injustice to keep down and ultimately strangle a competitor with whom he could not have contended on equal terms. While there was prosperity for British cotton industry there was ruin for millions of Indian craftsmen and artisans. India's manufacturing towns were blighted as in the case of Dacca, once known as the Manchester of India; Murshidabad, which was once Bengal's old capital, was described in 1757 as at least as extensive, populous, and rich as London. Millions of spinners, and weavers were forced to seek a precarious living in the countryside, as were many tanners, smelters, and smiths. India was made subservient to the Empire and vast wealth was sucked out of the subcontinent.'

One of the first to raise this issue was Dadabhai Naoroji. His drain theory (focusing on the economic drainage from India) was presented around 1885. Around the same time Ramesh Chandra Dutt had written on famine and economic exploitation (cf. Poverty and Un-British Rule in India by Naoroji and Economic History of India by R.C. Dutt ). Earlier in 1837, F.J. Shore pointed out that India had been 'drained' of her wealth and in 1839, Montgomery Martin wrote that the annual drain of £3,000,000 on British India amounted in 30 years, at 12% compound interest, to the enormous sum of £723,997,917 sterling; or at a low rate, as £2,000,000 for 50 years to £8,400,000,000 sterling. Similarly it was stated and voiced by Naoroji and Dutt that the economic drainage produced successive famines. This was highlighted by Naoroji who wrote about 'the terrible poverty of India and its rapid increase under British rule' at a time when the emerging middle class citizens of India were 'destitute of political experience' and 'were obliged to accept Englishmen at their own valuation'.

However, the successive spells of famine and draught that were inflicted on India served a purpose. Our inert masses were hereto satisfied with a simple and Spartan village life and had no idea that unless the village sequentially linked up with the wider world, a nation could not be formed. It was the onslaught of famine and drought that forced people to sit up and realise that the country was being drained off its resources. It is this realisation that made Sri Aurobindo point out that if British Rule and increasing poverty were related as 'cause' and 'effect', then the inevitable conclusion was that the 'effect' could only be cured by removing the 'cause', i.e. 'by the substitution of autonomy in place of a British or British-controlled government'. It is with this economic logic that Sri Aurobindo convinced even a moderate like Dadabhai Naoroji who traditionally favoured 'Self-government within the British Rule' to declare publicly in an inspired moment, that 'swaraj' or 'complete freedom from British Rule' was the only governing idea of Indian Politics.

We thus see that economic exploitation was the root cause of the Indian people's poverty and hunger.

Under Imperial rule the ordinary people of India grew steadily poorer. As the economic historian Romesh Dutt said, half of India's annual net revenues of £44m flowed out of India. The number of famines soared from seven in the first half of the 19th century to 24 in the second half. According to official figures, 28,825,000 Indians starved to death between 1854 and 1901. The terrible famine of 1899-1900, which affected 474,000 square miles with a population of almost 60 million, was attributed to a process of bleeding the peasant, who was forced into the clutches of the moneylenders whom British regarded as their mainstay for the payment of revenue. Rich though its soil was, India's people were hungry and miserably poor. This grinding poverty struck all visitors -like a blow in the face as described by India League Delegation 1932. In their report, 'Condition of India 1934', they had been appalled at the poverty of the Indian village. The report said: 'It is the home of stark want - the results of uneconomic agriculture, peasant indebtedness, excessive taxation and rack-renting, absence of social services and the

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general discontent impressed us everywhere. In the villages there were no health or sanitary services, there were no roads, no drainage or lighting, and no proper water supply beyond the village well. Men, women and children work in the fields, farms and cowsheds. ...All alike work on meagre food and comfort and toil long hours for inadequate returns.'

India was sometimes called the 'milch cow of the Empire', and indeed at times it seemed to be so regarded by politicians and bureaucrats in London. Educated Indians were embittered when India was made to pay the entire cost of the India Office building in Whitehall. They were further outraged when in 1867 it was made to pay the full costs of entertaining 2,500 guests at a lavish Ball honouring the Sultan of Turkey. In India, the hunger and poverty experienced by the majority of the population during the colonial period and immediately after independence were the logical consequences of two centuries of British occupation, during which the Indian cotton industry was destroyed, most peasants were put into serfdom (after the British modified the agrarian structures and the tax system to the benefit of the Zamindars - feudal landlords) and cash crops (indigo, tea, jute) gradually replaced traditional food crops. Britain's profits throughout the 19th century cannot be measured without taking into account the 28 million Indians who died of starvation between 1814 and 1901.

As the British gained power and exploited the country and moved from Bengal to Madras to Bombay to North India, famines followed resulting in the death of millions of Indian peasants. Romesh Diwan and Renu Kallinapur have tabulated these famines chronologically in Productivity and Technical Change in Foodgrains. In Bengal alone, 10 million died in the 1771 famine. Such exploitation and killing famines continued for a full hundred years. In the famines of 1877-78 in Madras and 1897-1900 all over India 15 million people died. These are moderate estimates. Over hundred years, at least 100 million people were killed by famines alone resulting from British exploitation. It is important to understand, and recognise this reality and the enormity of this exploitation. 100 million people in a hundred years amounts to one million every year. Thus, the result of British exploitation was that at least 2,740 Indians died every day for one hundred years; and this is a conservative estimate. It excludes people killed by hired gunmen by an alien authority. A famine leads not only to deaths but enfeebles the young and weakens the strong. If one uses a multiplier of 30 destitute persons for every one dying, the level of destitution comes to 300 million. This is what colonial rule in India was.

Towards the end of the 19th century, one person who drew attention to the economic plight was Sakharam Ganesh Deuskar. He was a Bihar-born Maharashtrian (18691912), who spent most of his life in Bengal, and was an excellent teacher and writer in both Marathi and Bengali. An active public worker, his blending of rural roots and urban experience, of the language and cultures of two regions and of patriotic scepticism regarding the fruits of colonial rule, made him a symbol of the transformations of Indian society produced by the Nationalist Movement.

His book Desher Katha put forward in popular language the economic critique of colonialism developed by people like Ranade, Dutt, Naoroji and others and was very popular in Bengal as a pamphlet advocating Swadeshi and the boycott of Lancashire cotton. He was instrumental in the awakening of middle-class India as a thinker on economic Swadeshi; he was inspired by the nationalism of Sri Aurobindo and Tilak.

All these factors led to a gradual awakening of the Indian people to the British economic exploitation.

It was inevitable that sooner or later, there would be a revolt against British rule. Since the political consciousness was not yet fully awakened, it took the form of sporadic outbursts in different parts of the country. These revolts were not coordinated and

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therefore were not successful, but they created an atmosphere of courage and defiance which ultimately led to the formation of a national political consciousness. We shall deal in the next chapter with the revolts after the British embarked on their conquest of India.

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The First Revolts - Part I

India's struggle for freedom has been a long-drawn-out battle. Though it actually began in the second half of the 19th century, isolated attempts were made in various parts of the country to bring the British rule in India to an end about a century earlier. The real power in northern India passed into the hands of the British in 1757. The loss of independence provided the motive force for the struggle for freedom and Indians in different parts of the country began their efforts to throw off the yoke of the alien rulers. It took over 100 years for the struggle to gain full momentum. Very seldom, however, during this period (1757-1857) was the country free from either civil or military disturbances and there was plenty of opposition, often from very substantial sections of the common people.

Surprisingly enough, the opposition to foreign rule in early years came more from the peasants, labourers and the weaker sections of the society than from the educated bourgeois classes. Unscrupulous defiance of moral principle and the reckless exploitation of the masses that characterised the early activities of the traders made the rule of the East India Company hateful to the people. The proselytizing activities of the Christian missionaries were greatly resented all around. The deliberate destruction of Indian manufacturer and handicrafts aggravated agrarian misery and economic discontent. All these factors led to local resistance in different parts of this vast country which was basically united in its opposition to the British rule.

The uprisings of the Chuars in 1799 in the districts of Manbum, Bankura and Midnapore, which took an alarming turn, were masterminded by the Rani of Midnapore. The Rani was taken prisoner on April 6, 1799 which only made the Chuars more furious. Equally important in the annals of India's struggle for freedom is the rebellion of the Santhals (1855) occupying Rajmahal Hills against the British Government who in league with the mahajans or moneylenders oppressed the industrious people, there being even cases of molestation of women. Under the leadership of two brothers, Sidhu and Kanhu, 10,000 Santhals met in June 1855 and declared their intention to take possession of the country and set up a government of their own. In spite of the ruthless measures of the British Government to suppress them, the Santhals showed no signs of submission till February 1856, when their leaders were arrested and most inhuman barbarities were practiced on the Santhals after they were defeated.

The first attempt of an open revolt against the British was perhaps the lightning attacks by groups of sannyasis. In the latter half of the 18th century, such attacks took place at Dacca, Coochbehar, Saran, Dinajpur, Rajsahi, Rangpur, and even as early as 1773, Hastings acknowledged their capabilities. In 1768, there was a serious clash between sannyasis and British troops in Saran, Bihar. The sannyasis inflicted serious casualties, killing Capt. Tomes in Rangpur and Capt. Edwards in Dinajpur (vide Dr. Jadugopal Mukhopadhyaya: Viplabi Jibaner Smriti, a Bengali publication). The insurgent sannyasis were well-versed in guerilla warfare. The Sepoy mutiny of 1857 had a number of sadhus and gurus as motivators too. Spiritual backing of armed conflict was always present in the Indian tradition. Shivaji had as his inspiration the great Yogi Ramdas.

The Sikh militias were raised in the bosom of spiritual power. No wonder that Hem Chandra Kanungo, whom Sri Aurobindo initiated into revolutionary activities and was sent for training to Europe, was told by Mironow, the Russian revolutionary in Paris: 'We learnt revolutionary methods from the Chinese, who claim they got them from India. How is it, then, that you now come to us for light?'

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Boycott

Another form of resistance was through boycott of British trade, started in 1874-1876 and again in 1878. Boycott was initiated to revive indigenous industries. It was also powerfully voiced during the Anti-Ilbert agitation and imprisonment of Surendra Nath Banerjee. It was actually practiced a little in 1891 during protest against the Consent Bill. Perhaps the real originator of the idea of boycott of British goods was an Arya Samaj activist from North West India, Tahal Ram Ganga Ram who visited Calcutta during February-March1905 and inflamed the youth to boycott British goods. This was followed by successive calls for boycott of British goods through Krishna Kumar Mitra's weekly paper, Sanjivani on 13 July 1905 and an article in Amrita Bazar Patrika on 17 July 1905 by an unknown correspondent 'G' (probably Sri Aurobindo or his brother Barindra Kumar Ghosh). To cap it all, it was adopted at the Calcutta Town Hall meeting on 7 August 1905 amidst the tempestuous rendering of the song Bandemataram. This was a special meeting summoned to protest against the partition of Bengal and pass resolutions on Swadeshi and Boycott, where thousands of students of all communities marched from College Square to the venue. The seeds were thus sown for the later use of this technique in the Freedom Movement.

We shall see later how Sri Aurobindo worked on the concept of Boycott, enlarged and widened its scope. Still later, Gandhiji used the same technique in a big way for the Freedom Movement from 1920.

These are some instances of the simmering revolt that took place in North India. We will not go into the details of other revolts and disturbances throughout the country but it is apparent that there was a cry to drive out the British almost throughout the first century of the British rule in India.

The First Revolts in South India

 Poligar

In the Vijayanagara empire of southern India, local chieftains called 'palegars' were allowed to rule with limited autonomy by their overlords. They had the power to collect revenue, maintain a small army and impose punishments. They numbered up to 200 during this period. When the Vijayanagara empire weakened after the mid-16th century, the Vijayanagara Nayaks, or governors, became the independent rulers of large tracts of southern India. Of the prominent Nayaks were the Nayaks of Madurai (1549-1736), ruling from Madurai and Tiruchirapalli. The Tanjore Naickers opted for a conventional system of administration, while the other Vijayanagara offshoots, namely the Nayaks of Gingee, and other territories under the Aravidu line of later Vijayanagara kings based in Chandragiri - Vellore Fort, followed the Palayam or Palegallu system of administration.

Puli Thevar or Pooli Devar was a poligar (or palayakarar, a local chieftain) who ruled an area called Nelkatumseval or Avudayapuram, now situated in the Sankarankoil taluk of Tamil Nadu.

He is recognised as one of the earliest opponents of British rule in South India. He was involved in a dispute with the Nawab of Arcot, who was supported by the British. Puli Thevar was known for his astute diplomacy, cunningness and war strategy, though he was much maligned by British historians as a deceitful person who never kept his word. He defeated a battalion of British and Nawab Soldiers on the banks of Thamirabarani.

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Nelkatumseval was the headquarters of Puli Thevar, the first chieftain in Tamil Nadu to resist the British.

The author of the Thirunelveli District Gazetteer, H. R. Pate, observes: 'Nelkatumseval is chiefly memorable as having been the stronghold of the redoubtable Puli Thevar, who figured for many years as the leader of the Marava Confederacy against the troops of the Nawab and the Company. He had a shrewd insight into the political situation of the time and was a veritable thorn against the side of the Nawab's agents.'

Puli Thevar remains one of the illustrious figures in the chequered history of the palayakkars. The vivacity of his character gave him an ascendancy over the western palayakkars, while his determined resistance to the Nawab's overlordship made him a potential enemy of the Wallajahs. He was in fact the principal architect of the coalition of the palayakkars organised against the Nawab. The Nawab acknowledged his victory by presenting him with a gold plate and sword.

The first revolts in the South by local powers were in 1757.

When Mohammed Ali, the Nawab of the Carnatic, supported by the Company, attempted to extend his control over the 'Madura' and 'Tinnevelly' districts, the poligars rebelled. The western poligars, led by Puli Thevar of Nelkatumseval, forged local alliances and then a grand alliance as they revolted against Mohammed Ali. Of necessity he had to seek assistance from the East India Company, and after many battles the revolt was finally put down in 1761 by Yusuf Khan, who had been nominated the Governor of 'Madura' and 'Tinnevelly' in 1758 by the British, despite Nawab Mohammed Ali's objections.

The western confederacy was led by Nelkattumsevval which literally means 'Rice tribute paying place', but after its ruler Puli Thevar's successful attempts at defying Mohammed Ali, the name changed into Nelkattansevval ('place which does not pay rice tribute'). In effect, by 1757 these palayams had declared their independence. Then entered Yusuf Khan alias Marudhanayagam sent by the British to bring the poligars under control and make them pay tribute. Earlier campaigns in 1755 by Mahfuz Khan were unsuccessful in subduing the poligars; partly because of their sticking to each other and partly because British troops had to be withdrawn to raise the French siege of Madras (by Lally). Yusuf Khan quickly intimidated the eastern poligars and moved against Puli Thevar. A series of sieges of Puli Thevar's forts followed and eventually Nelkattansevval fort was reduced by British artillery.

Defeated, Thevar fell prey to the cunningness of the Nawab of Arcot. He was arrested by the British and led in a procession when he wanted to worship at the Sankaran kovil temple. Left alone in the sanctum sanctorum, he sang lyrics praising the female deity. Then there was the sound of handcuffs being broken. When the troops rushed in, all they were able to find were the broken handcuffs and chains. The invincible hero turned invisible into history.

Puli Thevar's descendants are spread all over southern Tamil Nadu. Most of them still live in Nelkattumsevval while the rest of them reside at Veppilangulam (near Vallioor), Kumilambadu, Vellarikai Oorani and Tirunelveli. They meet once every year at Puli Thevar's palace in Nelkattumseval on Siva Rathri day, in the month of December. 1.

The Maruthu Brothers

The Maruthu Pandiyar brothers (Periya Maruthu and Chinna Maruthu) ruled Sivagangai, Tamil Nadu towards the end of the 18th century. They were the first to issue a proclamation of independence from the British rule from Trichy Thiruvarangam Temple, Tamil Nadu on June 10, 1801; 56 years before the Sepoy mutiny which broke out in many parts of north India in 1857.

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Childhood

The Maruthu brothers were the sons of Udayar Servai and Anandayer. Periya Maruthu was born on 15 December 1748 in a small hamlet called Narikkudi near Aruppukkottai in the Ramnad principal state. In 1753 the younger Maruthu Pandiyar was born in Ramnad. Their father Udayar Servai served as a General in the Ramnad state military and he shifted his family to Ramnadu viruthunagar from Narikkudi.

Early Life

The brothers were trained in martial arts at Surankottai which served as a training centre for the Ramnad army. The boomerang is a peculiar weapon to India. Two forms of this weapon are used in India. These are normally made of wood. They are known as valari sticks in Tamil. It is said that the Maruthu brothers were experts in the art of throwing the valari stick and that they used valari in the Poligar wars against the British. They contested in and won many competitions of martial arts and distinguished themselves. The Raja of Ramnad, Muthu Vijaya Raghunatha_Sethupathy issued the title of 'Pandiyas' to honour the brothers.

The Raja of Sivaganga principal state (near Ramnad), Muthu Vaduganadhar came to know of their brave deeds and requested the Ramnad king to assign them to serve the Sivaganga army. They were appointed as generals of the Sivaganga military and the brothers left an indelible impression on the history of Tamil Nadu.

In the year 1772, the English military of the East India Company, under the command of Lt. Col. Bon Jour attacked the state at Kalayar Kovil. During the war, Raja Muthu Vaduganadhar lost his life in the battlefield. But the Maruthu brothers managed to escape along with Rani Velu Nachiar, wife of Raja Muthu Vadughanadhar and arrived at Dindigul which was ruled by Hyder Ali, the Sultan of Mysore, as refugees. Hyder Ali supported them in all respects.

The Nawab of Arcot, the alliance partner of the East India Company, was not able to collect any taxes from the people of Sivaganga state for eight years. He entered into an agreement whereby the rule of Sivaganga was restored to Rani Velu Nachiar after he collected his dues from her. The Maruthu brothers with 12,000 armed men surrounded Sivaganga and plundered the Arcot Nawab's territories. The Nawab on 10 March 1789 appealed to the Madras Council for aid. On 29 April 1789, the British forces attacked Kollangudi. It was defeated by a large body of Maruthu's troops. The Maruthu brothers are famous for tiger fighting - it is said that they could kill a tiger without any arms.

 The Maruthu brothers were not only warriors and noted for bravery, but they were great administrators. Rani Velu Nachiar made a will and paved the way for Maruthu Pandiyar Elder to rule. Maruthu Pandiar younger was made the Dewan of the state. During the period from 1783 to 1801, they worked for the welfare of the people and the Sivaganga Seemai was reported as fertile. They constructed many notable temples like Kalayar Kovil, Sivaganga and many Ooranis and Tanks.

Then came the final war against the British. During this time they were in close association with Veera Pandiya Kattabomman of Panchalankurichi. Kattabomman held frequent consultations with the Maruthus. After the execution of Kattabomman on 17 October 1799 at Kayattar, Chinna Maruthu gave asylum to Kattabomman's brother Oomadurai (mute brother). But the British took this reason to invade and attacked Sivaganga in 1801 with a powerful army. The Maruthu Pandiyars and their allies were quite successful and captured three districts from the British. The British considered it

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such a serious threat to their future in India that they rushed additional troops from Britain to put down the Maruthu Pandiyars' rebellion. These forces surrounded the Maruthu Pandiyars' army at Kalayar Kovil, and the latter scattered. The Maruthu brothers and their top commanders escaped. They regrouped and fought the British and their allies at Viruppatchi, Dindigul and Cholapuram. While they won the battle at Viruppatchi they lost the other two battles.

The Maruthu Pandiyars and many of their family members were captured at Cholapuram and they were hanged on 24 October 1801.2.

Poligars in Andhra Pradesh

Prominent among these freedom struggles in Andhra Pradesh was the revolt in Rayalaseema in 1800.

The poligars of Rayalaseema backed by people of the region were a terror to the British. According to the data available, there were 80 poligars in Rayalaseema in 1800, who had refused to accept the authority of the Englishman. The then principal collector of the region, Thomas Munroe, ordered the poligars to lay down their arms and pay cess to the East India Company. They refused to budge and Munroe had to fight it out for a full 18 months before they could be brought under control.

A patriot poligar, Narasimha Reddy of Kurnool district, rebelled and attacked the treasury at Koilakuntla and marched towards Cumbam. Capt. Holt tried to nab him but Reddy managed to give him a slip and moved over to the then Nizam State. After six weeks, he was caught and hanged in the full view of the people at Koilakuntla. Munroe then ordered the takeover of properties of all the poligars and introduced a scheme of permanent land settlement in the region. 3

The Revolt at Vellore

On 10 July 1806, exactly 200 years ago, as the moon shone over the ramparts of the Vellore fort, at 2 a.m., Indian sepoys rose in a bloody revolt against the East India Company's garrison. As shrieks and gunfire pierced the quiet, the sepoys shot at English officers, fired into the European barracks and massacred the sick in their hospital, leaving 14 British officers and 100 soldiers dead. In the counterattack unleashed at 9 a.m. by Colonel Robert Rollo Gillespie's men, who rushed from Arcot 14 miles away, 350 Indians sepoys were put to death. Some British accounts place the figure at 800. This little documented event was the first major rebellion against the emerging British Empire in colonial India. It cost the governor of Madras, Lord William Bentinck his job.

At the time of the revolt, the fort - a late 14th-century Vijayanagara construction of European design encased by a crocodiles-infested moat, captured by Shivaji in 1677, and garrisoned by the East India Company in 1768 - comprised four companies of His Majesty's 69th Regiment, six companies of the 1st Battalion, 1st Regiment, and the whole of the 2nd Battalion, 23rd Regiment, accounting for 1500 Indian sepoys and 370 Englishmen.

Though discontent had been brewing among the Indian soldiers drawn from various parts of the Deccan over poor treatment, loss of erstwhile status, and poor pay, the immediate provocation for the unbridled outburst of aggression was apparently the introduction of a controversial new turban, viewed by Indians as a firangi topi (hat), and the implementation of new regulations over the sporting of caste marks on foreheads,

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 earrings and facial hair. This Code of Military Regulations was given approbation on 13 March 1806 by Sir John Cradock, commander-in-chief of the Madras Army.

Lending political and historical weight to the cause of the rebels was the presence of a huge contingent of Tipu Sultan's family - twelve sons and eight daughters - stationed in various mahals within the fort precincts since the fall of Srirangapatnam in 1799. The entire retinue, with servants and followers numbering a few hundreds, lived in privacy and palatial comfort though stripped of their former princely glory. According to S. S. Furnell, the first historian to document the mutiny in his The Mutiny of Vellore, whose fragments survive in the Madras Archives, more than 3,000 Mysoreans (mostly 'Mohammedans') had settled in Vellore and its vicinity after it became the abode of the princes. After the English drubbed the French in the Carnatic wars, several 'native soldiers' were employed by the East India Company. Of these, a sizeable number were Tipu's former soldiers, especially of officer rank. They had reason to make common cause with their former masters - Tipu's legatees stationed in the Vellore fort.

The controversial turban (sported by the man in the middle)

A few months prior to the mutiny, Mohammedan fakirs from Mysore acting as agents provocateurs were spotted roaming the streets and bazaars of Vellore staging puppet shows lampooning the British and raising slogans against the firangis. The nomadic fakirs have had a historical association with various Indian armies - the Holkars, the Scindias, the kings of Jaipur - since the 18th century, sometimes acting as mercenaries, joining forces with whoever hired them.

But in the regulations-driven English army they had little place and were seen as troublemakers. Sighted in Vellore since 1805, they acted as agent provocateurs. Under the leadership of Abdullah Khan and Peerzada, former associates of Tipu, the fakirs staged puppet shows in Vellore lampooning the English and proclaiming their impending doom. Mocking the Hindus and Muslims in the army for accepting the new regulations, for sporting the turban which comprised a leather cockade - thus inviting caste and religious 'pollution' - and a turnscrew resembling a cross to be worn next to the heart, the fakirs proclaimed that these would lead to the eventual conversion of all sepoys to

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On 17 June, Mustafa Beg, a sepoy of the 1st Regiment, leaked news of the brewing conspiracy to his commanding officer Lt. Col. Forbes. The officer sought the opinion of the native officers who dismissed the plot and declared Beg to be insane. Beg was transferred and placed in confinement only to be later rewarded with 7,000 rupees and a subhedar's pension. Volumes of Secret Sundries (British military records), believed, in hindsight, that the mutineers, especially those of officer rank, seeking to reinstate the rule of Mysore, were in touch with the Poligars (feudal chieftains in the Deccan), the Holkars, the Marathas, the deposed rulers of Hyderabad and even the French in Pondicherry. They had set 14 July as the common date for mutiny, but Beg's treachery had hastened them.

Fatteh Hyder, Tipu's first son, was perceived to be of one of the key architects of the rebellion, besides Mohiuddin and Moizuddin, the third and fourth sons. Soon after the rebels took control of the Vellore fort on 10 July, they hoisted the flag of Tipu Sultan on the fort and Moizuddin promised to double the salary of the sepoys when the rebellion was completed. While Col. Fancourt, commanding officer of the Vellore garrison, and Lt. Kerras, commanding officer of the 23rd Regiment, were shot at pointblank range; several officers escaped and hid themselves and passed word to the nearest British military station at Arcot. Once the massacre ended and the fort was taken, the sepoys indulged in plunder - ransacking the English quarters and paymaster's office - losing focus of their larger goal. By 7 a.m., several civilians had also entered the fort. According to one British estimate, 5,48,429 pagodas were plundered in the mutiny. As the sepoys and civilians pillaged, Col. Gillespie from Arcot led the 19th Dragoons and the 7th cavalry quite easily since three of the four outer gates of the fort were left unattended. With Col. Kennedy arriving with more reinforcements and the Indian sepoys running out of ammunition, the fort was as easily taken back as had been won by the mutineers. In less than eight hours, the entire drama was over. Gillespie and his men spared the princes and others of Tipu's family; the entire princely retinue was shifted to faraway Calcutta by January 1807.

British military records say that 787 soldiers escaped and 446 were recaptured largely from areas such as Salem, Madurai and Tirunelveli. According to Secret Despatches, Vol 33: 'Six convicted mutineers were blown away from guns [canons], five were shot with musketry, eight were hung.' These executions took place in the western part of the fort. In the Manual of the North Arcot District (1898) magistrate Arthur C. Fox notes with unrestrained glee that the execution by blowing away from the guns 'produced the profoundest impression. A spectator describes how numbers of kites accompanied the

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party to the place of execution, flapping their wings and screeching as if in anticipation of the bloody feast, till the fatal flash which scattered their fragments of bodies in air, when, pouncing on their prey, they caught in their talons many pieces of quivering flesh before they could reach the ground. At sight of this the native troops employed on duty, together with the crowd assembled to witness the execution, set up a yell of horror.' Such horrors perhaps left a devastating impression on the south for it to bypass 1857.

On why this incident has remained on the fringes of the national imagination, A. R. Venkatachalapthy, associate professor with the Madras Institute of Development Studies, says: 'Tamil Nadu has always been on the margins of nationalist historiography, dominated as it has been by the north and Bengal. The "anti-nationalist" trajectory that TN took even by the late 1920s under Periyar and subsequent phenomena like the anti-Hindi agitation and the rise of the DMK, seemed to justify such marginalisation. The silence over Vellore must be understood in this background.' He reckons that Vellore was a mutiny in the strict sense of the word. 'It started in the barracks and lay confined to it, whereas 1857 began as a mutiny and spread over large parts of north India as a civil rebellion.'

Today, Tipu Mahal in Vellore fort, the seat of conspiracy, is under unsupervised renovation. It is now part of a Police Training College where sub-inspectors of the TN Police used to train - bathing and defecating where royalty once lived. The sub-inspectors made way for the mahal to be rendered a high-security prison for LTTE cadre. Another day, another rebellion. On 15 August 1995, 43 LTTE cadres lodged in Tipu Mahal escaped after digging a 153-foot tunnel through the moat. Shamefaced, the TN police have since barred access to the mahal. As a muted commemoration of the historic rising begins, the Tamil public may well be denied a peek into the place where history was made.4

Pazhassi Raja

The late 18th century was a time of wars for the British. The Americans had declared Independence from the British, in 1776 and the French Revolution took place between 1789 and 1799. King George III ruled Britain while George Washington was the President of United States in the 1790s. In South Asia at that time, the Marathas and Tipu Sultan of Mysore were fighting the British. It was at this time that Pazhassi Raja revolted against the British in present-day Kerala.

When Kerala was ruled from Mysore by Tipu and Haider, their officers used to collect taxes directly from the farmers, bypassing the landlords, but the British changed this and decided to collect taxes directly from the kings and Nair Lords. The amount fixed as tax by the British was unreasonable and people did not have the capacity to pay that much. Faced with revolts from people, the kings were unable to collect the taxes.

After Tipu left, the British ignored Pazhassi Raja and gave the land to his uncle on lease. This insult also helped in triggering the revolt. Pazhassi Raja stopped collecting taxes and this upset the British. Since the king was popular, they could not do anything but stop collecting tax for a year, but to add more insult, they extended the lease given to his uncle for another five years. On 28 June 1795, Pazhassi Raja challenged the British by stopping all tax collection and giving refuge to people who were considered revolutionaries by the British.

The Army, deployed under Lt. Gordon, tried to arrest the king in his palace, but he had already escaped. The British negotiated with him and allowed him to return, but another

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misunderstanding caused him to flee again to the mountains of Wynad. Showing that there are no permanent enemies or friends, he sought the help from Mysore; from the same people he helped the British fight. The year 1797 saw a series of revolts resulting in the loss of lives for many British soldiers and they were forced to withdraw. With an army of thousands of Nairs, Pazhassi inflicted such defeat on the British that they were forced to retreat and negotiate. The lease with his uncle was cancelled and Pazhassi agreed to live peacefully with the British.

In 1799, after the fall of Srirangapatnam, the British decide to take over Wynad which Pazhassi claimed as his own. The peace treaty was broken and with an army of Nairs and Kurichiyas, Pazhassi decided to wage a guerilla war from the mountains of Wynad. The fighting started in June 1800, and the British strategy was to isolate Pazhassi from his southern Malabar supporters. They succeeded and Pazhassi was left roaming in the forests with his wife and a few supporters.

His supporters like Chuzhali Nambiar, Peruvayal Nambiar and Kannavathu Shankaran Nambiar were caught and hanged, but this did not halt Pazhassi. In 1802 Edachena Kangan Nair and Thalakkal Chanthu captured Panamaram Fort and killed the 25 British soldiers there and this victory brought a new vigor to the resistance movement. An increase in tax at this stage upset the local population which rose in revolt. The Pazhassi soldiers made use of this and inflicted more damage on the British. Besides this the British troops caught diseases and it looked like they were in deep trouble.^[1]

Confrontation with the British

The potent cause of the revolt was the unpopular and unjust revenue policy followed by the occupying foreign British East India Company in Malabar. The Raja stopped all collections of revenue and further threatened to cut down all the black pepper vines if the Company's officers persisted in revenue collection.

In April 1796, an unsuccessful effort was made by the British to capture the Raja in his own palace at Pazhassi.

On 18 December, the British Commissioner issued a proclamation forbidding the people to assemble or to assist the Pazhassi Raja and warning them that if they did so, they would be considered as irreconcilable enemies of the Company and that their property would be confiscated. On 30 December, a futile attempt was made to reconcile the differences between the Raja and the Company. On 8 January 1797, Pazhassi Raja's Nairs launched a daring attack on the havildar's guard stationed at Pazhassi and the whole party except one man was killed. In the battles fought on successive days, 9th, l0th and 2 March 1797, the detachment made by the Company forces was overpowered by the swords, spears, bows and arrows of Pazhassi Raja's Nairs. As the situation was full of perils, reconciliation with the Pazhassi Raja became a matter of political expediency.

After south Canara and other parts of South India were occupied after battle of Seringapatnam in 1799, Pazhassi Raja raised the standard of opposition a second time and shook for a while the very foundations of occupying British power.

Colonel Stevenson's efforts early in 1801 cut off the Pazhassi Raja from his adherents; by May the British troops had made much headway and with every port both above and below the ghats in British hands and the entire Nairs disarmed, the Pazhassi Raja became a wanderer in the jungles accompanied by his wife and immediate attendants.

On 24 May 1804, Col. Macleod issued a proclamation warning the people that they would be treated as rebels if they failed to furnish information about rebel movements and if they helped the Pazhassi troops with arms, ammunition or provisions. Finally the proclamation of 16 June offered rewards for the apprehension of Pazhassi Raja, two

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other members of his family and his principal lieutenants and declared their estates and properties confiscated from that date.

Thomas Harvey Baber, a young British officer came as the sub-collector of Thalassery in 1804 and was assigned the responsibility of suppressing the Pazhassi revolution. In April, he issued a directive making it illegal for the local population to help the revolutionaries and he also mandated that the British should be informed about the movements of the revolutionaries. On 16 June, a reward was announced for the capture of Pazhassi and his commanders and soon Thalakkal Chanthu was captured.

On 1 November, Baber took direct charge of the operations and on 30 November 1805 he surrounded the Raja, but he committed suicide by swallowing his ring on the banks of a Nullah. The Raja's body was cremated with 'customary honours'. With the death of Pazhassi Raja, the resistance movement in north Kerala came to an end. His body was taken back with respect by the British and cremated, but his death brought an end to the resistance movement. The other leaders either committed suicide or left the country.⁵

Velayudhan Chempakaraman Thampi (1765-1809) was the Dalawa or Prime Minister of the Indian kingdom of Travancore between 1802 and 1809, during the reign of His Highness Maharajah Bala Rama Varma Kulasekhara Perumal. He is best known for being one of the earliest individuals to rebel against British East India Company's supremacy in India.

Velayudhan Chempakaraman Thampi was born in the village of Kalkulam to Sri Kunjumayitti Pillai and his wife Valliyamma Pillai Thankachi on the 6th of May 1765, near the town of Nagercoil in the present-day Indian state of Tamil Nadu which then comprised a southern district of the Travancore country. He came from a family that had been honoured with the high title of Chempakaraman for their services to the state by Maharajah Marthanda Varma. Velayudhan Thampi, better known as Velu Thampi, was appointed a Kariakkar or Tahsildar for the same district during the initial years of the reign of Maharajah Bala Rama Varma. His full name was 'Idaprabu Kulottunga Katirkulatu Mulappada Arasarana Irayanda Talakulatu Valiya Veetil Tampi Chempakaraman Velayudhan'.

Rise to Dalawaship

Bala Rama Varma was one of Travancore's least popular sovereigns whose reign was marked by unrest and various internal and external problems in the state. He became king at the young age of sixteen and came under the influence of a corrupt nobleman known as Jayanthan Sankaran Nampoothiri from Calicut, in the Zamorin kingdom. One of the first acts of atrocities during his reign was the murder of Raja Kesavadas, the existing Dewan of Travancore. Sankaran Nampoothiri was then appointed as Dewan (prime minister) with two other ministers. Due to corruption, soon the treasury was empty. So they decided to collect money by ordering the Tahsildars (District Officers) of the districts to pay large amounts of money which they determined without any reference to the revenue of the districts. They were called to the palace and told to pay the amount. Velu Thampi who was the Tahsildar of a southern district was called and ordered to pay Rs. 3000 to which he responded by asking for three days' time. Velu Thampi returned to the district, gathered the people together and there was an uprising. People from all parts of the State joined together and surrounded the palace demanding an immediate dismissal of Jayanthan Sankaran Nampoothiri and banishment from the country. They also demanded that his two ministers be brought to a public place, flogged

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and their ears cut off. The punishments were immediately carried out and the two ministers were put in jail at Trivandrum. Later Velu Thampi was appointed the Dalawa of Travancore.

Acts as Dalawa

Statue of Velu Thampy Dalawa in the Secretariat campus, Thiruvananthapuram

After Velu Thampi became Dalawa of Travancore he faced serious opposition from two relatives of the late Raja Kesavadas who applied for help from their associates at Bombay to get rid of Velu Thampi. These letters were intercepted and presented to the Maharajah in a negative light, who ordered the immediate execution of the two men, Chempakaraman Kumaran Pillai and Erayiman Pillai. Having cleared his way, Velu Thampi became the Dalawa facing no more opposition. The Madras Government sanctioned his appointment within a few months.

Velu Thampi was not an able statesman like Ramayyan Dalawa or Raja Kesavadas, his immediate two predecessors. He was of rebellious nature. Within three years of the death of Raja Kesavadas the country was plagued with corruption and various problems caused by the banished Namboodiri Dalawa. Velu Thampi resorted to harsh punishments with a view to improve situations in his country. Flogging, cutting of the ears and nose, nailing people to trees, etc. were some of the punishments meted out during his reign as Dalawa. The harshness however had its effect and peace and order was restored in the state within a year of Velu Thampi's accession to Dalawaship.

Intrigues Against Velu Thampi

The undue severity and overbearing conduct of the Dalawa resulted in resentment amongst his own colleagues, the very same people who had assisted his rise to power. A conspiracy was formed against him under the influence of Kunjunilam Pillai, a powerful cabinet official of Travancore who succeeded in getting the Maharajah to sign a royal warrant to arrest and immediately execute Velu Thampi Dalawa. The Dalawa was at Allepey when he received intimation of the conspiracy and immediately hurried to Cochin to meet the British Resident Major Macaulay who was a good friend. The Resident had already received evidence that Kunjunilam Pillai had a major hand in the murder of Raja Kesavadas and hence he, arming Velu Thampi with a small force of British soldiers, deputed him to Trivandrum where the conspiracy of Kunjunilam Pillai was investigated. Pillai was found guilty of murder and conspiracy and accordingly punished. With this obstacle removed, Velu Thampi regained his former influence once again.

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The armies of Travancore consisted of the Nairs and when in 1804 Velu Thampi proposed a reduction in their allowances, the same was met with immediate discontent. The troops believed that this proposal was at the suggestion of the British and could immediately be resolved by the assassination of both, the Resident Major Macaulay as well as the Dalawa Velu Thampi. Velu Thampi fled to Cochin again to his friend, the Resident, as the Nairs marched to Trivandrum in a strong army of 10,000 sepoys and demanded of the Maharajah the immediate dismissal of the Dalawa and ending of any alliance with the British. Meanwhile, the Resident and the Dalawa collected forces at Cochin and, assisted by the Carnatic Brigade, marched to Trivandrum and put an end to the mutiny. Several of its leaders were executed in the most gruesome manner. One Krishna Pillai, a commander of a regiment, had his legs tied to two elephants which were driven in the opposite direction, tearing him to pieces.

The Treaty signed with the British East India Company by the popular Maharajah Dharma Raja Rama Varma in 1795 was revised in what is known as the Treaty of 1805, after the insurrection of the Nair troops in Travancore. It increased the British force stationed in Travancore and the amount of money to be paid as tribute to the British. This was the main change brought about in the Treaty.

Travancore was at that time, owing to all its internal problems, facing a heavy financial crisis and the ratification of the Treaty by Velu Thampi created serious discontent as it increased the dependence of Travancore on the British and also indebted it to the English Company. In spite of being fully aware of the financial crisis in Travancore, the Resident Major Macaulay pressed Velu Thampi for immediate payment of the large amount of tribute and the expenses of putting down the mutiny of the Nair troops. The Maharajah meanwhile wrote to the Madras government for the recall of the Resident and appointment of a new resident, which was denied. But this news made the Resident more obstinate against Travancore and he pressurised the Dalawa immediate payments.

The Dalawa was now disillusioned with the British whom he had considered a friend and who considered any 'aggression on Travancore as an aggression on themselves' as per the previous treaties. His discontent was first given vent to by the assassination of the ambassador of the Resident in the court. The Maharajah had communicated his discontent with the Dalawa to this ambassador, a certain Subba Iyen, and this information was known to the Maharajah's wife, Arumana Amma, a noblewoman of the Arumana Ammaveedu family. She was a lady of influence, who apparently communicated Royal secrets to the Dalawa, and informed the Dalawa of the Maharajah's intention to dismiss him, with support from the Resident. This increased the anger of the Dalawa against the British. First the Resident demanded for impossible amounts of money and now he had started interfering with the internal affairs of the state.6

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Paliath Achan Govindan Menon

Just as in Travancore, affairs in the neighbouring Kingdom of Cochin were also in a state of great confusion and dislike against the Resident. The Rajah of Cochin had retired to a small village near Alwaye while the kingdom was actually run by his powerful minister and relative, the Paliath Achan Govindan Menon. Paliath Achan wanted the assassination of a powerful and trusted aide of the Rajah, a certain Kunju Krishna Menon (whose daughter later married Ayilyam Thirunal, Maharajah of Travancore), who was protected by the Resident. This increased the hostility between the Paliath Achan and the Resident who started interfering in the internal affairs of Cochin as well, incurring serious displeasure from the Paliath Achan.

Velu Thampi's Insurrection

Velu Thampi Dalawa and the Paliath Achan, Govindan Menon, met and decided on the extirpation of the British Resident and end of British supremacy in their respective states. Velu Thampi organised recruits, strengthened forts and stored up ammunition while similar preparations were made by the Paliath Achan in Cochin. Velu Thampi applied to the Zamorin of Calicut and to the French for assistance, but both did not acknowledge the request. The plan of the Paliath Achan and Velu Thampi was to unitedly attack the Fort of Cochin and murder the British Resident Major Macaulay and Kunju Krishna Menon. Another force was appointed to attack the British garrison at Quilon. This was in the year 1807.

The Resident realised the object of the simultaneous preparations on Travancore and Cochin and immediately wrote to the Madras government for reinforcements. His Majesty's 12th Regiment and two native battalions were ordered to aid the Resident. Velu Thampi pretended great alarm at these preparations and begged permission to resign his office and retire to Malabar in the English territories. The same was agreed upon and on 28 December 1808 Velu Thampi was to be escorted to Malabar. The intention of Velu Thampi, however, was to divert the Resident's forces away from Cochin in which he succeeded. That night a body of armed men led by the Paliath Achan, surrounded the Residency at Bolghatty Palace and surprised the

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Resident, who was under the impression that the menace of Velu Thampi was finally over. The Resident and Kunju Krishna Menon, however, succeeded in escaping and reached Quilon. The disappointed Velu Thampi asked his troops to attack them at Quilon.

The Nair troops meanwhile attacked the Subsidiary force of the British at Quilon. In spite of greater numbers, the troops were not organised and lacked a leader and hence for the night on 30 December 1808 the British under Col. Chalmers held their ground. The Dalawa did not lose heart. He collected a force of thirty thousand men and again attacked the British on 15 January 1809. The British organised their armies strategically and the Nair sepoys were finally repulsed. The British regiments in Cochin were attacked by the Paliath Achan but here too he was defeated.

Velu Thampi then went to Kundara where he made his famous proclamation in January 1809 urging the people to fight the British. The proclamation had its effect and the whole country rose like one man against the British. This was now a desperate game being played by Velu Thampi. He exploited the religious orthodoxy of the people by making them believe the British were Christian missionaries. The proclamation even influenced the Maharajah at Trivandrum who felt now that Velu Thampi was his only true friend. Wholesale butchery of foreigners took place in Travancore, thereby disgracing the cause of the rebellion. The British realised that the Dalawa was now desperate.

Rebellion Quelled

Colonel Leger came from Madras on 6 February 1809 and camped on the Aramboly pass. He entered Travancore the next morning and attacked the lines of the Nair troops near the Palamcottah fort. The Nair troops were defeated and the Dalawa himself fled to Trivandrum. Having secured entry into Travancore the British now moved into the interior and within a few days the two important forts of Padmanabhapuram and Udayagiri also fell into their hands. Meanwhile the Nair troops at Quilon, where they were planning yet another final attack, heard of the fall of these forts and losing heart dispersed, the cause of overthrowing the British yoke being forgotten.

Velu Thampi himself fled from Trivandrum touching at Kilimanoor where he called on the Royal family there. After staying there for the night he proceeded northwards but was overtaken in the Bhagawati Temple at Mannadi where he was surrounded by the British. The Maharajah had joined hands with the British for his capture under the influence of Ummini Thampi, a government official. However, the Dalawa was not taken alive. In the Temple he asked his brother to cut his throat, which on being refused, he did it himself. Velu Thampi thus died in the Mannadi Temple.

His brother surrendered and was taken to Quilon and executed there. Velu Thampi's body was taken to Trivandrum and exposed on a gibbet. The man who informed the British of the Dalawa's whereabouts received an award of Rs. 50,000 from the British. Velu Thampi's ancestral home was razed to the ground and his relatives after being flogged and banished were taken to the Maldives, where upon reaching Tuticorin many of them committed suicide.

It is true that Velu Thampi failed militarily against the British - though he commanded a well-trained army equipped with muskets and artillery organized on modern basis -3,000 men and 18 guns. Also the warrior Nair caste which had nearly 80,000 fighters and common people in general was supportive of Dalawa. Velu Thampi though a good administrator was no first-class general. Even the British were not impressed by the performance of the Travancore army, which could have fought vastly better than it did. Was this not the same Travancore army that fought so well in defence of Nedumkotta against Tipu's hordes in 1790? The answer lies in the fact that even

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Pagrtough and brave troops, which the Travancore army defintely had, if not led by a capable commander would fall apart at the first blow from a strong enemy. It undoubtedly was a tragedy that Velu Thampi was neither himself a good general nor did he have services of good generals.

It would be instructive to remember that Pazhassi Raja with no more than 1,000 men mostly armed with swords, spears and bows-arrows and a territory that was limited to present-day Wynad district and Thalassery taluk of Kannur district, held out against the British for nearly a decade [1793-97/1800-1805]. Had Dalawa followed guerrilla warfare in the hilly terrain of eastern Travancore, perhaps he could have held out against the British for years or perhaps for decades.

To the valiant memory of the great Dalawa,The Kerala State Government has instituted an apt memorial at Mannadi which includes a research centre, a museum, a park and a grand statue in bronze.

Following the end of Velu Thampi Dalawa, the Paliath Achan, without any support left, surrendered to the British. He lost all support from the Rajah of Cochin, who wished to get rid of the Paliath Achan, who was the actual ruler of Cochin, and recover his position under subordination of the British. Govindan Menon, the then Paliath Achan was first deported to Madras, where he was kept prisoner at Fort St. George for 12 years. He was then taken to Bombay and remained a prisoner there for 13 years, finally passing away at Benares.7

Kandukuri Veeresalingam also known as Kandukuri Veeresalingham Pantulu (16 April 1848-27 May 1919) was a social reformer from Andhra Pradesh. Born in an orthodox Andhra family, he is widely considered as the man who first brought about a renaissance in the Telugu people and Telugu literature. He was influenced by the ideals of the Brahmo Samaj, particularly those of Keshub Chunder Sen. He got involved in the cause of social reforms. In 1876 he started a Telugu journal and wrote the first prose for women. He encouraged education for women, and started a school in Dowlaiswaram in 1874. He started a social organisation called Hitakarini (Benefactor).

Son of Subbarayudu and Punnamma, he was born on 16 April 1848 in a Brahmin family (6000 Niyogi) at Rajahmundry (now in Andhra Pradesh). When he was six months old, he survived an attack of small pox, a killer disease in those days. His father died when he was four years old and he was adopted by his paternal uncle Venkataratnam, who raised him as his own son.

After a basic grounding in the Indian classics, he joined an English school and attracted attention as a keen scholar with an analytical mind. He was unanimously elected as the best student of the school and was exceptional in his conduct. He mastered both English and Sanskrit.

His first job was that of a teacher in Koranki village. After serving as a teacher and later as headmaster for two years at Koranki, he moved on to Davaleswaram as headmaster in an English-medium school.

In 1861, he married Bapamma Rajyalakshmi. He was then 13 and she was only eight years old. When Bapamma grew up, she played an important role in his life, sharing his progressive ideas and extending support to him in his difficult days.

He was influenced by the Brahmo Samaj leader, Atmuri Lakshmi Narasimha. The ideas of Raja Rammohun Roy, Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar and Keshub Chunder Sen had a powerful impact on him. David Kopf says; 'The new social conscience and consciousness of Unitarianism was in Rammohun almost entirely directed to the miserable state of Hindu women. He found them uneducated and illiterate, deprived of property rights, married before puberty, imprisoned in purdah, and murdered at widowhood by a barbaric custom of immolation known as sati. One has only to read

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Rammohun's works on social reform to realize that most of it deals with one aspect or another of man's inhumanity towards women in Bengal. The conclusion is that only by freeing women and by treating them as human beings could Indian society free itself from social stagnation.'

Kandukuri Veeraselingam Pantulu expressed the opinion that '[t]he denigration of women has ruined our society', and dedicated his entire life to the cause of uplift of women in his society. He started a magazine named Vivekavardhini (Knowledge Improver) at Davaleswaram, in which he wrote about women's uplift, criticised superstitious beliefs among people and rampant corruption among officials. Initially, he had the magazine printed at Chennai but when it gained in popularity, he set up his own press at Rajahmundry. He launched Satihitabobhini, a special magazine for women. Through it, he enlightened women about their rights.

He organised the Rajahmundry Social Reform Association in 1878. Initially, it concentrated on the anti-nautch movement to discourage the hire of nautch girls for celebration, but later concentrated on widow remarriage.

He organised the first widow remarriage in the area on 11 December 1881. Pyda Ramakrishnayya of Kakinada extended financial support for it. However, both of them faced severe opposition from society. He succeeded in bringing about a change in the mindset of his people and gradually more and more people accepted widow remarriage. His progressive thoughts brought in severe criticism and opposition but he continued unabated. He fought to abolish child marriages and Kanyasulkam (a kind of dowry given by the groom to the bride's parents).

In 1881, his contemporary social and religious reformer, Kolkata-based Sivanath Sastri met him at Rajahmundry, during one of his missionary visits. About his meeting, Sivanath Sastri writes: 'The next day I went by boat to Rajahmundry, and shall gratefully remember the love and affection of Veerasalingam and the hospitality of his wife. Veerasalingam's wife is a remarkable person. On one hand, she is strong willed, powerful and dutiful. On the other, she is soft hearted and dedicated to the well being of others. It is because Veerasalingam got a wife like her that he was able to carry on with his work in spite of social oppression.'^[3]

In the History of the Brahmo Samaj, Sivanath Sastri writes about Kandukuri Veeraselingam Pantulu: 'He constructed the first Brahmo Mandir in the Andhra country at Rajahmundry in 1887, he constructed a Widows' Home, a two storied building and a similar one for the Social Reform Association at Madras; he started the first theistic high school, the Hithakarini School at Rajahmundry in 1908; during the same year he willed away all his property for the benefit of Rajahmundry Widows' Home and the school, and placed them under the management of an association, the Hithakarini Samaj. The movement spread from Rajahmundry to Coconada (presently Kakinada), Parlakimedi, Palakole, Narsapur, Vijaywada and Tenali.'

He is also credited with the setting up of Brahmo Samaj at Bangalore.

Veeresalingam Panthulu is popularly called Gadhya Thikkana. He wrote around 100 books between 1869 and 1919^[5] and introduced the essay, biography, autobiography and the novel into Telugu literature. His Satyavathi Charitam was the first social novel in Telugu. He wrote Rajasekhara Charitamu, inspired by Oliver Goldsmith's The Vicar of Wakefied. To him literature was an instrument to fight social evils. He was a poet of considerable renown.

He was also one of the members of the first Indian National Congress meeting held in 1885.

He died on 27 May 1919. His statue has been installed on Beach Road, Visakhapatnam.8

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HOME

The First Revolts - Part 2

From 1844 onwards, the resistance to British supremacy manifested in the South in Madras Presidency at the political as well as social and religious levels. Of course this resistance was fitful. It was also moderate. Nevertheless, it was present. Newspapers and organizations like The Crescent, the Madras Native Association, The Hindu and the Madras Mahajana Sabha played a seminal role in rousing public consciousness among the commercial and professional elite of the Presidency even in the 19th century. Their founders were the pioneers of nationalism in South India.

The Crescent was a journal founded in 1844 by the Hindu leader Gazulu Lakshminarasu Chetty, the earliest public agitator in the Presidency. Its declared intention was to defend traditional Hindu values against what was considered to be alien religious thought. From his childhood Gazulu was deeply interested in the political gestures of the day. Although the son of a wealthy businessman, his interest lay in achieving the political emancipation of his countrymen. He liberally spent his father's fortune in waging political campaigns, chiefly to counteract the Christian missionary agitation against the Government policy of religious neutrality. He engaged Harley, an Englishman sympathetic to the Indian cause, as its editor. The leaders of the journal were noted for their dignity, force of argument and logic. The popularity of the journal increased with the formation of the Madras Native Association in 1852 by a group of Western-educated Hindu youths under the captaincy of Gazulu. The chief object of this Association was to petition the British Government, bringing to its notice 'the grievances and wants of the inhabitants of the Presidency¥'. To a vast majority of the Hindus of those days, the executive authorities in Madras constituted the entire ruling body. Through its petitions the Madras Native Association demanded of the British the same sort of freedom which their own Magna Carta had given them. In those days, the Government did not prohibit public servants from participating in political discussions.

The very first act of the Association under Gazulu's leadership was waging a war against European missionaries who were engaged in a vigorous proselytization of the Hindus who were given to sending their children to the missionary institutions. About a decade earlier, in 1841, three Hindu students were converted to Christianity. This 'conversion' caused a great panic among the Hindu community. This was also directly responsible for the founding of the Pachaiyappa's School in 1842 with a view to providing education to the students withdrawn from missionary institutions. By the 1850s the missionaries had almost set the stage for introducing the Bible as a textbook in Government schools. About this time, in 1852, Danbay Seymour, Member of British Parliament, was sojourning in Madras as the guest of Gazulu. The latter availed himself of this favourable opportunity to bring to the knowledge of his guest the high-handedness of the local authorities in curtailing the civil and religious rights of the Hindu community and also the other serious defects in the then British administration. Accompanying the British dignitary on his tour to Kumbakonam, Cuddalore and Coimbatore and other places, Gazulu enabled Seymour to learn by personal observation the prohibitive rates at which the landholder was assessed and other malpractices indulged in by the British officers. Agitation over the Lex Loci was another and more important case in point. The Indian Law Commission drafted a code of law - the Lex Loci Draft Act - in which three clauses which had no relevance whatsoever to the measure were inserted. It was done deliberately to neutralise those sections of the Hindu and Muslim Laws which inflicted forfeiture of rights to ancestral property on anyone renouncing these religions. This Draft Act confirmed the worst fears of the Madras Native Association that the Government was behind the missionaries' activities in subverting Hinduism.

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By these, such sections of the Hindu or Mohammedan law that inflicted forfeiture of rights and property upon any party renouncing his or her religion would cease to be enforced (M. P. Jain, Outlines of Indian Legal History, Fourth Edition, N. M. Tripati Pvt. Ltd. 1981 p. 417). Thanks to the initiative and energy of Gazulu, meetings were organised to protest against this Act. A memorial was sent to the Government of India charging them with a 'breach of faith'. Stating that the three 'obnoxious' clauses were 'a palpable invasion of their ancient rights and a direct attack upon their religion and a peremptory subversion of their ancestral and inalienable law', the memorialists demanded their expunction. Gazulu was perhaps the first Indian to employ, as early as the mid-19th century, Western methods of political agitation. In the words of a contemporary historian: '[T]his was the first known Hindu gathering in Madras which had all the trappings of a modern protest meeting; the permission of the Sheriff of Madras was secured; a Chairman was elected to conduct the meeting; resolutions were passed; and the memorial was approved and signed for submission to the Government.' The issue had stirred strong Hindu emotions throughout the country. The Government was forced to delete the three controversial clauses from the Draft Act. However, five years later, it enacted them separately under the rubric of 'Caste Disabilities Removal Act, 1850'. There was a fresh volley of protest from the Hindus through the Crescent which accused the Government of 'shameful duplicity, profound stupidity and insulting tyranny'.

The Madras Native Association was largely responsible for the appointment of the Torture Commission by the British Government. It organised an agitation against torture employed in many parts of the Presidency by the revenue officials in exacting revenue from ryots and by the police in extorting confessions from criminals. Danbay Seymour, who had obtained a first-hand knowledge of the medieval practice of torture used in the mofussil areas of the Presidency during his visit in early 1852, asserted in the House of Commons in July of the same year that torture was inflicted on the people not only in the investigation of criminal cases under enquiry but also in the collection of revenue. Two years later in September 1854, a Torture Commission was appointed to investigate the alleged cases of torture and corruption. The Commission found most of the allegations well-founded. It brought to light all kinds of abuses, particularly those indulged in by the police of Madras which had become 'the bane and pest of society, the terror of the community and the origin of half the misery and discontent that exists among the subjects of government'. Of the many petitions sent by the Madras Native Association, those of 1853 and 1855 were the most prominent. In the first, the Association demanded the establishment of a Legislative Council on the precedent of the Council of Ceylon, Cape of Good Hope and New Zealand, so that there would be Indian representation in the Government. The Indian Councils Act of 1861 provided for the establishment of Legislative Councils. In the second petition it complained bitterly of the misrule and oppression of the Company's Government and demanded direct Government by the Crown. The Proclamation of Queen Victoria in 1858, provided for these. The public in Madras never lost sight of their main demand for responsible Government and pressed for it whenever an opportunity presented itself. Even in their farewell address presented in 1859 to Trevelyan, the most popular Governor since Munro, they reiterated their demand for responsible Government. In reply, the Governor exhorted them to qualify themselves for representative institutions by cultivating the 'literature of England which is instinct with the spirit of self-government'. The Madras Native Association deliberated on all public questions and its inestimable document on local self-government is pronounced to be an enduring monument of its labour. It contributed to the fostering of local self-government institutions by the Government through the Towns Improvement

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Act of 1884; the District Municipalities Act of 1884 and the Local Boards Acts of 1871 and 1884. The municipalities and local boards created by

these Acts had elected members also, besides the official ones. These bodies were entrusted with the management of local affairs such as sanitation, roads, schools, etc. Unfortunately, they did not pave the way to responsible government. The Madras Hindu Debating Society was founded by M. Venkatarayulu Naidu in 1852. Its main aim was to promote the mental and moral development of its constituents. Though the word 'Hindu' was there, its members belonged to all creeds and races. The Society also dabbled in politics. A tone of rivalry seemed to have characterised its attitude to the Madras Native Association. It became defunct after Naidu's death in 1863.

The next major milestone in the annals of the National Movement in the Madras Presidency was the founding of The Hindu in 1878. The paper was launched by six adventurous young men with a paltry borrowed capital of a rupee and three quarters. G. Subrahmania Iyer headed this team of youth. Its first issue appeared on 20 September 1878 under the auspices of the Triplicane Literary Society which was founded in 1868 by a Muslim, Mir Ibrahim Ali.

The very birth cry of this paper which enjoys international reputation today was a vibrant nationalism. The first issue commended the appointment of T. Muthuswamy Iyer as a Judge of the Madras High Court and joined issue with the Anglo-Indian Press which did not take kindly to the appointment of an Indian as a High Court Judge. With The Hindu began a new era in the political life of the Madras Presidency. It was the sole representative of public opinion in the Presidency during its early days. Its reputation rose meteorically.

As early as 1882 - that is, within four years of its birth - it became a reliable barometer for public opinion in the Presidency. Whenever Viceroy Ripon wanted to ascertain public opinion on any important measure, he would say: 'Take The Hindu and see what it says'. First founded as a weekly, The Hindu sought to reflect public opinion on to its alien rulers. Soon the paper discovered that it had a more vital role to play than merely reflecting public opinion. The paper took the initiative in shaping public opinion in the direction of an ultimate demand for national liberation. The paper became a tri-weekly in 1883 and a daily within six years thereafter. 'It was the first English daily newspaper owned and edited solely by Indians' - G. Subrahmania Iyer, M. Veeraraghavachari, T.T. Rangachari, P.V. Rangachari, D. Kesava Rao Pant and Subba Rau Pantulu. The first two who became its sole proprietors were school masters. The other four were doing law. The Hindu was largely responsible for educating the voters, canalising public opinion and initiating debates on vital public questions. It steadily nurtured and protected nationalism from the day of its humble origins unto the time of its growth into full stature when it became capable of challenging and dislodging the colonial power. It came to a head-on collision with the Madras administration almost from the date of its birth. It waged a grim and relentless battle to secure justice for the people against a tyrannical administration whose fountain-head was the Governor. The Hindu was also instrumental in bringing back to life the Madras Native Association under the care of V. Bhashyam Iyengar.

The revived Association began its work in right earnest: its main aim was to gain recognition for the claims of the sons of the soil to a proper share in the administration of the country. But it was unable to survive the harsh policies of Governor Grant Duff. Government servants who took part in the deliberations of the Association were looked upon with suspicion by the administration. The enthusiasm of the non-official members

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 also slackened, thanks to this attitude of the administration. Thus the revived Madras Native Association was short-lived. The Hindu rightly observed that the Association had done its work and spent itself.

A periodical in Tamil, Swadesamitran espousing the cause of Indian nationalism appeared on the scene in 1882 within four years of the founding of The Hindu. It was founded by G. Subrahmania Iyer, who was Editor of The Hindu. After leaving The Hindu in 1898, he converted this Tamil weekly into a daily and vigorously sponsored nationalist views. The great patriot Subrahmania Bharati, who attained instant popularity owing to his great poetic talents, was for some time attached to this paper. However, when the rebel in him dragged him into the vortex of extremist politics, Bharathi left the Swadesamitran to join India, a new Tamil weekly. His fiery articles espousing the cause of India were read widely. He continued to edit the India from Pondicherry during his exile there. Years later, when he came under the spell of Mahatma Gandhi he was welcomed back to Swadesamitran.

After the extinction of the Madras Native Association, Madras was again bereft of an organisation to ventilate public grievances. However, there was a dire necessity for concerted action on the issues of public interest and importance. This necessity brought together Veeraraghavachari, Anandacharlu, and Rangaiah Naidu along with a few other patriots. They constituted themselves into the Madras Mahajana Sabha on 16 May 1884 under the Presidency of Rangaiah Naidu. Its moving spirit was, however, Anandacharlu, its Secretary. Thanks to Charlu's tireless efforts, within six months of its foundation the Sabha became the premier nationalist organisation in the city with a number of associations in the mofussil centres affiliated to it. It drew its support from the English-educated Hindu elite and, to a limited extent, from their counterparts within the Muslim population of the city. At the very first conference of the Sabha held in December of the year Anandacharlu explained its aims and objects as follows: 'This Sabha expects to bring to focus nearly all the non-official intelligence now spreading without any visible proof of cohesion all over the Presidency. This, however, is not an object which is striven after for its own sake. It is pursued as a means to an end, that end being to promote mutual understanding among the people separated by space to ascertain what consensus of opinion there is among them on questions of vital interest to us and, from time to time, submit for the consideration of Government the views and suggestions such a consensus of opinion may warrant. One of the necessary conditions to achieve this object is a free and frequent interchange of thought and one of the means for the attainment is to hold periodical conferences.' Anandacharlu, the man who built up the Madras Mahajana Sabha, was a creative writer, eminent advocate and a versatile personality. Earlier he had been President of the Triplicane Literary Society and Secretary of the Madras Native Association. He was active in public life and consistently upheld the cause of the nation on many occasions: as a representative of the Sabha he pleaded before the Public Service Commission, which visited Madras in 1884, for the conduct of simultaneous Civil Service examinations both in England and in India. Though the British Parliament also passed a resolution in 1890 in favour of this, the Government of India did not execute it. When the latter held an inferior type of examination for the Indian candidates, Anandacharlu vehemently protested against the new injustice through his speeches and writings. He also consistently fought for the abolition of the India Council in London which was too far away to understand the feelings of Indians and to serve any useful purpose. Delivering his Presidential address to the Nagpur session of the Congress in 1891 he described the India Council as 'the oligarchy of fossilised Indian administrators who were superannuated for services in India'. He was the first South Indian to be made President of the Indian National Congress. Having been the President he later grew in stature to become a Proposer of

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Presidents to that prestigious body. And no Congress meeting was held without his 'weighty presence'. He was one of the ten Congress leaders who dominated the Congress both as President and Secretary. Anandacharlu served as a member of the Imperial Legislative Council for eight years from 1895. He pleaded repeatedly for reduction of taxes in general and of salt tax and land revenue assessment in particular. He insisted on reducing the civil expenditure so as to encourage agriculture and indigenous industries and to extend relief to the poor. He criticised most severely the military expenditure at all budget sessions. No one fought with greater vigour in this Council than Anandacharlu. What endeared Anandacharlu most to the public as a fearless champion of their cause was his opposition to Government's move to amend the Indian Penal Code in 1897 towards curbing the speeches and activities of the Nationalists. The Postal Act was so amended by the Government as to empower the postal authorities to stop letters which they considered objectionable from reaching the addressees. Section 108 was introduced in the Criminal Procedure Code to empower the Magistrate to punish offenders. Anandacharlu and the Maharaja of Dharbanga were appointed members of the Special Committee to go into the question of amending the Indian Penal Code. When the Committee submitted its proposal both the Indian members who differed from the rest submitted their views separately. They stated plainly that the amendments if passed in their existing form would only engender an eternal feeling of fear and hatred in the minds of the public about the Government as being irresponsible. An irate Secretary of State, George Hamilton, remarked in the House of Commons that the critics of the Government who 'never enjoyed either the freedom of speech or of action formerly, now make exaggerated claims to their rights and liberties as British subjects. Sir Anandacharlu of the Imperial Legislative Council is one among them'. Anandacharlu had also some British friends of high standing. Viceroys Elgin and Curzon held him in high esteem. Having remained for about two decades 'a shining light of the South Indian political firmament', Anandacharlu, retired in 1902. When the difference between the Extremists and Moderates became acute in the Congress in 1907, the moderate leader Rash Behari Ghosh sought his help. While in the midst of helping the national body forge together, Anandacharlu passed away on 28 November 1907.

The Inspiration to Form the Congress Party

When A. O. Hume, a philanthropic Scotchman and a great friend of Indian Nationalists, arrived in Madras in 1885 to assess for himself the level of national awakening in the Presidency, he found it bubbling with political life. He spoke of a band of patriotic and dedicated men chief amongst whom were G. Subrahmania Iyer, M. Veeraraghavachari, S. Subrahmania Iyer, P. Rangaiah Naidu, R. Balaji Rao, C. Vijayaraghavachari, P. Anandacharlu and Salem Ramaswamy Mudaliar. During this period, political activities in this Presidency were paradoxically catalysed at once by the liberal policies of Viceroy Ripon and the reactionary regime of Governor Grant Duff. Whereas the Viceroy's liberal policies directly encouraged political activism, Duffs reactionary attitude indirectly provoked the same. In other words, political activity in the Presidency did not thrive merely on benevolent, paternalising vice-regal policies but also arose in defiant protest against reactionary repression.

It was in Madras that the idea of setting up a national political body originated. Viceroy Dufferin had desired that Indians must have a national forum where political issues could be debated and public opinion crystallised. This idea was seriously pursued by veterans like Anandacharlu, G. Subrahmania Iyer and Rangaiah Naidu. In December 1884 when the annual Theosophical Convention met at Madras, seventeen Indian stalwarts of

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national stature among its delegates had a conclave at the house of the great social reformer Raghunatha Rao and mooted the subject of a national forum. According to some, the idea of setting up a national body was mooted at an informal gathering among those assembled at Bombay to bid farewell to Viceroy Ripon in October 1884. Even if that was so, there was every possibility of the idea being seriously

followed up at the Madras meeting two months later in December 1884 when it took a concrete shape. The Indian National Congress was formally born on 28 December 1885 in the hall of the Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College in Bombay, with W. C. Bonnerjee presiding. The Madras contingent to this first Congress was headed by G. Subrahmania Iyer, the Editor of The Hindu, who had the honour of moving the first resolution. The motion was that the promised enquiry into the working of the Indian administration should be by a Royal Commission with adequate representation of Indians thereon. He said: 'Parliament took control in theory but abandoned it in fact - except where English Party interests were concerned — and the Indian Council took the place of the defunct Company, but ruled without enquiry.' He relentlessly followed up this recommendation for twelve years through his brilliant editorials in The Hindu. In January 1897 he wrote that nothing short of a Royal Commission could mend or end the whole system of administration which was 'culpable, guilty, incapable and selfish'. The recommendation was given effect to in the same year. In March 1897, Subrahmania Iyer was invited to London to give evidence before the Royal Commission on Indian Expenditure presided over by Welby. He deposed before the Commission in May 1897. He acquitted himself exceedingly well in representing the Indian view on the financial administration of India. His twin objections to the prevailing mode of financial administration were the drain on India's resources on account of heavy borrowing for constructing railways and the devastating effect of the latter on indigenous industry which had been the livelihood of millions for centuries. He laid special emphasis on the weaving trade which had become well-nigh extinct thanks to the invasion of English textiles. He said, 'Every machine-made article imported from Europe and carried into the Indian village with the help of railways, drives a nail in the coffin of native industry and in this manner the railways have to answer for a good deal of the poverty which makes the lot of the Indian poor so miserable.'

English-educated public in Madras was a force to reckon with even in 1885. During this year, the Madras Government proposed certain measures which provoked a powerful protest in the Presidency. The Governor and his Executive Council wanted to make Ootacamund the permanent capital city of the province and shift all government offices to that place. Secondly, they also planned to make it the permanent military headquarters. Thirdly, they wanted to transfer the military audit department to Bangalore. The public in the Presidency protested against these measures: apart from the unnecessary extra expenditure they involved, such measures would sever public contact with the Government. A large number of persons met outside the Pachaiyappa's hall in Madras and appointed a Committee to draft a memorandum to the Government. Anandacharlu was one of the members on the Committee. Seeing the magnitude of the opposition, the Government gave up its plan.

The enlightened public in the Presidency did not also hesitate to condemn the extravagant pomp and show during the visit of Viceroy Elgin in December 1895. The nationalist press voiced its concern over the avoidable wastage of expenditure at a time when people were in dire need of more food, more schools, more drains, more water, less price for essential commodities like salt and a smoother settlement of disputes. If the Viceroy helped the people in any of these directions, 'they will themselves arrange for a show in His Excellency's behalf. If not, let not insult be added to injury and let no senseless pageantry mark Lord Elgin's tour. Hyderabad will spend lakhs and Mysore

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thousands and the people in British India may be satisfied with the waste in native states', wrote The Hindu. A bold statement that attests to an awakened nationalist spirit. The Madras Mahajana Sabha which first decided to present the Viceroy an address subsequently withdrew it. The Viceroy, to whom an advance copy of it was sent as per norms, directed the Sabha to delete three paragraphs relating to essential public issues such as reduction in military expenditure from the address. The Sabha, which insisted on having the whole hog of it or none, declined to present the address and thus honour Viceroy Elgin. The Madras Mail wrote a scathing editorial describing the Sabha as a pigmy which dared to defy the giant! The Sabha sent a copy of the correspondence to this Anglo-Indian paper for publication, whereupon it advised the 'disloyal curs of the Madras Mahajana Sabha', to seek favour at the hands of the 'seditious Hindu and the fire brand Madras Standard'. The paper even said that the Sabha had cut its nose to spite its face. Such violent and boisterous attacks and pejorative language employed by pro-Governmental agencies were born out of a real fear that the loyalty of the Presidency to the British Government could no longer be taken for granted. The literary contributions of G. A. Natesan, editor of the renowned Indian Review, shedding light on the growth of public opinion of the period also deserve a brief note here, His first regular publication was the Indian Politics which appeared in 1898. Adorned with an introduction by W. C. Bonnerjee, one of the founders and the first President of the Indian National Congress, this work aimed at educating public opinion in the country and at rallying 'British democracy to the cause of Indian freedom'. The various publications issued from the house of Natesan in the form of political biographies, speeches and writings served as 'an eye-opener to the middle-aged and an inspiration to the young'. Besides making such literary contributions Natesan played a significant role at all levels of political life in the Presidency. In the annals of the Indian National Movement the period up to 1905 could be characterised as mild and moderate.

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HOME

Kittur Rani Chinnamma

She was the first woman independence activist of India. She stood all alone with a vibrant fiery eye against the British Empire. She did not succeed in driving them away, but she did inspire many women to rise against the British rule. She was Chennamma Queen of the princely state of Kittur in Karnataka. Today she is well known as Kittur Rani Chennamma.

Chennamma (1778-1829 CE) was born at Kakati (Belgaum district) and had the proper education that the girls of the ruling class received in those times. She married Mallasarja Desai, ruler of Kittur at the age of 15. After his death, his son Shivalingarudra Sarja, who had no children, adopted a boy, Shivalingappa who was his relative. Shivalingrudra died prematurely and Chennamma ruled as the regent.

The Doctrine of Lapse was imposed on native states by the British. Under this declaration, native rulers were not allowed to adopt a child if they had no children of their own. Their territory formed part of the British Empire automatically.

The state of Kittur came under the administration of Dharwad collectorate in the charge of Mr. Thackeray. Mr. Chaplin was the commissioner of the region. Both did not recognise the new ruler and the regent, and informed that Kittur had to accept the British regime.

Both the local people and Rani Chennamma strongly opposed British high-handedness. Thackeray invaded Kittur. In the battle that ensued, hundreds of British soldiers were killed along with Thackeray.

The humiliation of defeat at the hands of a small ruler was far too much for the British to swallow. They brought in bigger armies from Mysore and Sholapur and surrounded Kittur.

Chennamma tried her best to avoid war; she negotiated with Chaplin and Governor of Bombay Presidency, under whose regime Kittur had fallen. It had no effect. Chennamma was compelled to declare war. For 12 days the valiant queen and her soldiers defended their fort; but as is common, traitors sneaked in, mixing mud and dung in the gunpowder in the canons. The Rani was defeated (1824 CE). She was taken prisoner and kept in the fort of Bailhongal for life. She spent her days reading holy texts and performing puja till her death in 1829 CE.

Chennamma became a legend. During the Freedom Movement, her brave resistance to the British formed the theme of plays, songs and song stories. Folk songs or lavanis were legion and the freedom struggle got a good boost through singing bards who moved throughout the region.

It is heartening news that a statue of Kittur Chennamma was installed in the Parliamentary Building premises at New Delhi on 11th September 2007. It is the most fitting tribute to a brave queen, who was the earliest ruler in India to fight the British rule.

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The small town of Kittur is known worldwide for the Kittur Chennamma Fort, a historical monument and a major tourist attraction in Karnataka. The fort is situated at a distance of 50 km from Belgaum and 32 km from Dharwad. Kittur is also an interesting tourist spot because of its old palaces, monuments and statues and also as an important archaeological site. The Kittur Chennamma Fort stands as evidence of the great freedom struggle that was led by Rani Chennamma and as a symbol of bravery and women's pride. 1

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HOME

The Sepoy Mutiny and South India

The Background

For more than 150 years the East India Company (John Company) had raised its own armed forces. The three administrative areas of India, the Presidencies of Bombay, Madras and Bengal, each maintained their own army with its own commander-in-chief. The commander-in-Chief of Bengal was regarded as the senior officer of the three. These armies were paid for entirely out of the Company's Indian revenues and together were larger than the British Army itself. All the officers were British and trained at the Company's military academy in England. There were a few regiments of European infantry but the vast majority of the Company's soldiers were Indian troops. These sepoys, as they were called, came mostly from Oudh in what is now Uttar Pradesh. They were organised in numbered regiments and drilled British style. These regiments were officered by Europeans, with a stiffening of European NCOs.

Attached to this formidable force were Queen's regiments, actual units of the British Army lent by the Crown to the East India Company. In 1857 the total number of soldiers in India was 34,000 Europeans of all ranks and 257,000 sepoys.

The Causes

There had been a British presence in India for more than 200 years before the rising of 1857 took place. The British had started as merchants and their initial toeholds on the subcontinent had been perilously small. Over the years they had expanded, building larger trading stations and forts to protect them. Eventually, to ensure the stability that an uninterrupted flow of trade required, they had raised forces of their own and become an active power in the politics of 18th-century India. Clive, with his victory at Plassey, had ended French pretensions to an Indian empire and firmly established the British as one of the arbiters of India's fate. A generation later, Arthur Wellesley (later Duke of Wellington) and his galloping guns had crushed the power of the Peshwas and Britain no longer had any serious rivals to its Indian domination. Sometimes by design, at other times almost by accident the area controlled by the British increased, until by 1857 everything from the borders of Afghanistan in the west to the jungles of Burma in the east, from the Himalayas of Nepal to the beaches of Ceylon were, if not directly under the Company's rule, very definitely in its pocket.

While the British were consolidating their position in India a sentiment of national awareness along with a feeling of revolt was developing among the Indian people. This was hastened by certain factors. First, there was the arrival of missionaries, which caused great unease among the Indian people. Evangelical Christians had little understanding of, or respect for, India's ancient faiths and the attitude of non-interference in religious affairs that prevailed in the 18th century had disappeared.

Secondly, on the political stage, the annexation of the state of Oudh by Lord Dalhousie and the Doctrine of Lapse, which decreed that the lands of any Indian ruler dying without a male heir would be forfeited to the Company, struck directly at the heart of India's

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traditional ways of life and were widely condemned and hated throughout the subcontinent.

Third, the economic exploitation of the Indian people by the British was slowly becoming evident even to the average Indian.

Before 1857, there was resistance to British rule and these may be classified into four types: peasant counter assaults, peaceful Satyagraha, armed mass tactics combining the town and the countryside and, lastly, sepoy mutinies.

Against this backdrop of Indian unease, tales of old prophecies began to circulate. There was talk of chappattis being secretly passed from regiment to regiment on the stations of the Grand Trunk Road, which led from Calcutta to Peshawar. People whispered of the old prophecy which stated that 100 years after the battle of Plassey, the rule of John Company would end. The battle of Plassey had been fought in 1757 and in the hundredth year after the battle it seemed everyone was awaiting a spark. When it came, it was in the shape of a new cartridge. The projectile for the new Enfield rifle was part of a self-contained paper cartridge that contained both ball and powder charge. It required only the end to be bitten off and the cartridge then rammed down the muzzle of the weapon. To facilitate this process the cartridge was heavily greased with animal fat. The Indian soldiers heard this and soon the news was passed around that the grease was a mixture of cow and pig fat. Biting such a cartridge would hurt the sentiments of the Hindus and the Muslims. The stage was set for a great tragedy to unfold.

The Spark

It began at Barrackpore at the end of March 1857. Mangal Pande, a young sepoy of the 34th Native Infantry, shot at his sergeant-major on the parade ground. When the British adjutant rode over, Pande shot the horse out from under him and as the officer tried to extricate himself Pande severely wounded him with a sword. Drawn by the commotion, the commanding officer of the station, General Hearshey galloped to the scene accompanied by his two sons. The sepoy panicked and instead of shooting at the general, turned his rifle on himself and pulled the trigger. He survived this suicide attempt and was later court-martialled and hanged. As a collective punishment the 34th Native Infantry was disbanded, its shameful fate being publicly proclaimed at every military station in British India. Pande achieved a certain kind of immortality and the 34th Native Infantry were regarded as martyrs.

This event became the signal for a more widespread movement. Soon, Kanpur, Gwalior, Meerut and Delhi were involved in the uprising. Some of the leading figures in this movement were Nana Saheb and Tatya Tope. In Meerut a few weeks later, 85 troopers of the 3rd Light Cavalry refused to obey orders to handle the new cartridges. They were arrested, court-martialled and sentenced to 10 years hard labour. At an appalling ceremony in front of the whole Meerut garrison, they were publicly humiliated: their uniforms were stripped from them; they were shackled with leg and arm irons and led off to imprisonment. The following day was a Sunday and as Britons prepared for church parade, Meerut exploded. Enraged sepoys broke open the town gaol and released their comrades. The cantonment was put to the torch and the sepoys moved down the main road to Delhi and the Palace of Bahadur Shah, the last of the Moghuls. Although initially the mutiny was spontaneous, it quickly became more organised and the sepoys even took over the cities of Delhi and Kanpur. However, by the winter of 1857 and the first six

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months of 1858, the British gradually retook everything they had lost; soon there were no large pockets of British lives to be saved and no serious possibility of British defeat. Massively reinforced from Britain, the armies which spread out over the north of India were vengeful and cruel, with a distinct taste for looting. They saw themselves as dispensers of divine justice and, given the frenzy of murder that had accompanied the start of the mutiny, felt their cruelties to be simply repayment in kind. There was little room for mercy in the hearts of the British troops. The Times called for the execution of every mutineer in India and in a debate at the Oxford Union, one speaker roused his audience by declaring: 'When every gibbet is red with blood, when the ground in front of every cannon is strewn with rags and flesh and shattered bone, then talk of mercy. Then you may find some to listen.'

In the early months of the British recovery, few sepoys were left alive after their positions were overrun. The British soldiers seemed to have made a collective decision not to take prisoners and most actions ended with a frenzied use of the bayonet. On the line of march whole villages were sometimes hanged for some real or imagined sympathy for the mutineers. Looting was endemic and neither the sanctity of holy places nor the rank of Indian aristocrats could prevent the wholesale theft of their possessions. Many a British family saw its fortune made during the pacification of northern India. Later, when prisoners started to be taken and trials held, those convicted of mutiny were lashed to the muzzles of cannon and had a roundshot fired through their bodies. It was a particularly cruel punishment with a religious dimension in that by blowing the body to pieces the victim lost all hope of entering paradise. Ultimately, the mutiny was severely crushed by the British. On 20 September 1857, the British recaptured Delhi, and in the following months, recaptured Kanpur and withstood a sepoy siege of Lucknow. The British victories were accompanied by widespread recrimination, and in many cases, unarmed sepoys were bayonetted, sewn up in the carcasses of pigs or cows, or fired from cannons. For more than a year the people of northern India trembled with fear as the British sated their thirst for revenge. It was called 'the Devil's Wind'.

And finally, in one of those ironical twists that the forces of history seem to revel in, the prophecy that a hundred years after the Battle of Plassey the rule of John Company will end actually came true. When the British desire for punishment and revenge was spent, they started to think about how future mutinies could be prevented. They realised that it was inappropriate for a land the size of India to be governed by a private company and instead introduced direct rule through the India Office, a British Department of State. A hundred years after Plassey the rule of the Honourable East India Company finally did come to an end.

Repercussions in South India

What were the repercussions of the Sepoy Mutiny in the south of India? There was apparently very little on the external plane.

A question that naturally comes to mind is: Why didn't the Madras Army join the Bengal Army? The Madras Regiment was the oldest Battalion in the Indian Army and was known as the 9th Battalion, formerly the Nair Brigade. It was raised in 1704 at Padmanabhapuram, as bodyguards for the Maharajah of Travancore; they were active in the Battle of Colachel in defeating the Dutch forces. In 1748, Major Stringer Lawrence,

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a veteran of action in Spain, Flanders and the Highlands, was hired by the East India Company to take charge of the defence of Cuddalore. He laid the foundations of what was to become the Indian Army. Training the levies to become a militia, the Madras Levies were formed into 'companies' and trained to become a disciplined and fine fighting force. In 1758, Lawrence raised the Madras Regiment, forming the several companies of Madras Levies into two battalions. The regiment has been through many campaigns with both the British Indian Army and the Indian Army. Many well-known British officers have commanded this regiment, Robert Clive being one of them. The regiment fought the Carnatic wars in South India.

Thereafter, the British annexed the Indian subcontinent, largely with the help of the sepoys of the Madras Regiment. The coming of the British rule led to a complete reorganisation in the British Indian Army.

The Reaction in the South

However, it is not that the south was entirely silent. There were a few ruffles that, fortunately for the British, did not turn out to be the heralds of the forthcoming storms. An article in People's Democracy claims that as many as 1,044 sepoys of the Madras Army were court-martialled for being sympathetic to the struggle and gives several instances of minor eruptions that took place in various towns of Tamil Nadu.

A book published in 1859 - The History of the Indian Revolt and Expeditions to Persia, China and Japan, written by George Todd - narrates this incident: 'The 8th Cavalry was ordered to march from Bangalore to Madras and then embark for Calcutta. On arriving at a place about 25 miles from Madras on August 17 1857, the men put forward a claim for the rates of pay, and pension which existed before 1837. Such a claim put forward at such a moment was perplexing to the officers. They obtained the consent of the government to make conciliatory offers to the men. After a further march of 13 miles, the troopers again stopped and declared that they would not wage "war against their countrymen". This being an act of insubordination, two guns and some artillerymen were promptly brought forward; the 8th Cavalry was unhorsed and disarmed. The affair caused great excitement in Madras.'

A letter written in 1858 from Nagpur, speaking of the Madras sepoys stationed at Kampti, states: 'The sympathies of the Madras sepoys were entirely with the insurrectionary movement, and if they had got a tempting opportunity they would have joined it. They only want a beginning to be made, and a rallying point of some sort. We must never suppose that the Madras men are different from those of Bengal.' One of the reasons why not even a single of the many fuses of the rebellion was lit in the south is given in the above letter. There was no rallying point. They felt no loyalty towards the tottering emperor in Delhi. But there is another, weightier reason.

The Quarterly Review of 1858 (volume 103) says this in a tone that typifies the unsurpassed arrogance - and ignorance - of the Englishmen: 'That the sepoys of the Madras Army have not revolted is simply because the Tamil races to which they belong have no literature, no traditions, or none worthy of the name, no pride of ancestry, no country in fact and no caste.'

This statement is totally untrue. The principal reason why the Madras Army and the Tamils in it did not revolt was caste.

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While Muslims in the cavalry of the Madras Army outnumbered Hindus by 7:1, the infantry had considerably more Hindus. For any revolt to succeed, the infantry's support was needed. What was the caste composition of the Madras Army's infantry?

This is what an 1845 book - Travels in India, by Leopold von Orlich - says: 'The Hindoo sepoy of the Madras Army is still more alien to the great body of the Hindoo people than the sepoys of Bengal; he is generally of a low caste, born and brought up in the field.'

This statement brings to the fore the horrendous realities of rural Tamil Nadu in the 19^th century. These are explained succinctly by another author, Henry Mead, in his book The Sepoy Revolt: Its Causes and Consequences (1857): 'In the Southern Presidency the families of the men always accompany them, a custom which, however inconvenient in general affords an almost certain guarantee for the fidelity of men. Their sons, when they grow up, hang about the lines and officer's quarters, pick up a modicum of English and by the time they arrive at manhood, or the age at which they are permitted to be taken on the strength of the corps, they have been thoroughly identified with it.'

The book does not speak of the women of the families. But it is clear that only men who had absolutely nothing to hold on to at the place where their ancestors once lived would even contemplate allowing their women and children to follow them wherever they went. They must have been abysmally poor, without land, without hope. The Madras Army provided succour to them. Obviously, they had no reason to revolt.

 Yet we should not be misled by the outer appearances. The psychological impact of the Sepoy Mutiny was great. A gradual sense of revolt was awakening among both the educated class and the working and toiling masses. It needed a field of expression and that was provided by the formation of the Indian National Congress in 1885.

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The Formation of the Indian National Congress

We have seen in the previous chapter that the chief result of the Sepoy Mutiny was to create a new awareness in the nation. The psychological forces unleashed after the Mutiny were very powerful and it was evident that before long this awareness would have to be given shape and a concrete form. However, let us first look at some of the developments that took place immediately after the Mutiny.

Soon after the Mutiny, the British Government effected major changes in India. In 1858, the East India Company was abolished. It was decided that India was to be ruled by the Crown; in other words the king or queen of the United Kingdom was to rule India under the advice of the British Government. The Secretary of State assisted by a fifteen-man council was put in charge of Indian policy. However, the direct responsibility was with the Viceroy and his council. Queen Victoria was proclaimed the first Empress of India in 1858. As far as the Princely States were concerned the Crown promised to respect the rights, dignity and honour of the Native Princes. Rulers who had remained loyal during the Revolt were allowed to remain on their thrones without political power but as royal institutions.

Economic Exploitation

The economic exploitation of India to which we have already referred in an earlier chapter now became very acute. It has been recorded that there were more than twenty-four famines in the following few decades. While the suffering of the people was terrible, the Secretary of State drew a salary equivalent to the yearly income of over 10,000 peasants of India. Here is a quotation from Modern History Sourcebook describing the economic exploitation as seen by Dadabhai Naoroji: 'The political drain, up to this time, from India to England, of above 500,000,000, at the lowest computation, in principal alone, which with interest would be some thousands of millions. The further continuation of this drain at the rate, at present, of above 12,000,000 per annum, with a tendency to increase. The consequent continuous impoverishment and exhaustion of the country, except so far as it has been very partially relieved and replenished by the railway and irrigation loans, and the windfall of the consequences of the American war, since 1850. Even with this relief, the material condition of India is such that the great mass of the poor have hardly tuppence a day and a few rags, or a scanty subsistence.'

One factor that helped the national feeling to grow was the introduction of the printing press; this made communication much easier. There was a greater spread of knowledge, while in the field of public administration and politics there was a far greater awareness. The Press played an important role. By the 1870s, there were a few hundred newspapers in India. Thus, the remarkable psychological change brought about by the Sepoy Mutiny created at the same time a sense of national awareness. A distinct national identity began to take shape. It was inevitable that this would try to express itself in the formation of national organizations and societies. It will be of some interest to note that even before the Sepoy Mutiny these trends were visible.

One important personality who helped to awaken the spirit of Nationalism was Rajnarain Bose. An ardent nationalist, given the title Rishi, he played a vital role in establishing the National Society and the National School. The national feeling was thus slowly taking shape and it was not long before that it took a concrete form. It took the shape of the Indian National Congress. Ironically, it was an Englishman, Allan Octavian Hume, who was responsible for the formation of the Indian National Congress. In the words of an

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Indian historian: 'The Congress was the natural and inevitable product of forces already at work in the country; it would have emerged soon enough, Hume or no Hume.' Allan Octavian Hume, who was the son of a radical politician, entered the Indian civil service in Bengal in 1849. After serving as magistrate in the district of Etawah at the time of the Indian Mutiny of 1857, he was assigned to the board of revenue in the North-Western Provinces. From 1870-79 he was attached to the central government of India as secretary in the revenue and agriculture department. His views favouring greater participation for Indians in Indian affairs created difficulties, and he was returned to provincial administration. On his retirement from the civil service in 1882, he involved himself in political activities aimed at giving Indians more democratic, representational government and was one of the conveners of the first session of the Indian National Congress, held at Bombay in 1885. Many questions have been raised about the motives for starting the Congress. The most widely accepted view is that Hume, under Lord Dufferin, organised the Congress with two main purposes: to provide a 'safety-valve' to the anticipated or actual discontentment of the Indian intelligentsia and to form a quasi-constitutional party similar to Her Majesty's Opposition in England. Lala Lajpat Rai maintained that it was organised to serve as a 'safety-valve' for the growing unrest in the country and to strengthen the British Empire. However, very soon the Indian National Congress was taken over by the Indians.

The first meeting of the Indian National Congress was held in Bombay in 1885. We reproduce a report of the Presidential address of the First Congress in Bombay by The Hon'ble W. C. Bonnerjee:

The President-elect, in rising to acknowledge the honour done him, said he might well be proud of being thus called on to preside over the first National Assembly ever yet convened in India. Looking round he saw the representatives of all the important centres of the Bombay Presidency, Karachi, Ahmedabad, Surat, Poona, Bombay itself, and other less populous though still important, towns; almost every district in the Madras Presidency was represented, as well as the towns of Madras, Salem, Coimbatore and others. Bengal was very inadequately represented so far as the members actually present were concerned, though as the delegated exponents of educated native thought in Bengal they might claim a consideration to which their numerical strength would hardly entitle them. Then, there were the representatives of Lahore, Lucknow, Agra, Allahabad Benares, each representing Political Associations collectively of very widespread influence. Besides these representatives, who would take an actual part in the proceedings, he rejoiced to see present, as it were as amicus curim, several of the most distinguished native officials of this country, whose presence would materially enhance the weight and the dignity of the proceedings. It was not merely provinces that were represented, almost all the Political Associations in the Empire were represented by one or more of the gentlemen present, while as regards the Press, the proprietors, editors or delegates of the Mirror, the Hindu, the Indian Spectator, the Tribune and others showed, conclusively, the universality of the feelings which had culminated in the great and memorable gathering. Surely never had so important and comprehensive an assemblage occurred within historical times on the soil of India. He claimed for it an entirely representative character. 1

Indeed it was representative of the Indian nation and this was a major step in the formation of the national consciousness. From this day onwards, the national consciousness began to loom large over India. No doubt there were many hurdles, due to the shortcomings and limitations in the working of the Congress but this first step

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having been taken, there was no turning back to the narrow regional approach which generally characterised the earlier revolts.

The first period in the history of the Congress was dominated by four leaders, namely Dadabhai Naoroji, Pherozeshah Mehta, Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Surendranath Banerjee. For the following two decades till about 1905, they dominated the scene and controlled the Congress party. Here is a brief note on these four personalities.

Dadabhai Naoroji  entered the political fray in 1852 at the age of 27. He felt that the British misrule of India was because of ignorance of the way of life and the needs of the Indian people. To remedy this he felt that he must educate the Indian masses of their rights. He also believed that the British bureaucracy in India must be made aware of the problems of India. He wrote several petitions to Governors and Viceroys regarding India's problems. Finally he felt that the British people and the British Parliament must be made aware of India's plight. He yearned to go to England to put forward India's case there. Dadabhai wanted to win friends and sympathisers for India. He joined several learned societies, delivered many speeches and wrote articles on the plight of India. He founded the East Indian Association on 1st December 1866. The association comprised high-ranking officers from India and people who had access to Members of the British Parliament. Dadabhai had become the unofficial ambassador of India. Dadabhai was elected to the British Parliament in 1892. This made it possible for Dadabhai to work for India from within! He got a resolution passed for holding preliminary examinations for the I.C.S. in India and England simultaneously and also got the Wiley Commission, the Royal commission on India expenditure, to acknowledge the need for even distribution of administrative and military expenditure between India and England. Dadabhai's efforts were rewarded in 1866 when the Secretary of State for India agreed to appoint 9 Indians out of 60 to the Indian Civil Service (I.C.S.) by nomination.

As the years passed, Dadabhai grew more and more disillusioned with the 'fair-minded' British. After spending years collecting statistics, Dadabhai propounded the drain theory: 'The inevitable consequence of foreign domination is the drain of wealth of the subject nation to the country of the rulers.' Dadabhai proved that the average annual income of an Indian was barely Rs. 20. Examining the import and export figures for 37 years, he proved that India's exports exceeded its imports by Rs. 50 crores (approximately $135 million) annually. The 'Grand Old Man of India', as Dadabhai was fondly known, believed that the methods for gaining justice for India should always be non-violent and constitutional.

Pherozeshah Mehta was born on August 4, 1845. After completing his education in Bombay he went to England to study law. He was called to the bar in 1868. He is known for the reforms he brought about in the municipal government in Bombay and is known as the Father of Municipal Government in Bombay. He gave up his successful career as a lawyer to enter public life as a nationalist, and was elected the president of the Indian National Congress in 1890. He became a member of the Bombay Legislative Council in 1893. He founded the newspaper Bombay Chronicle in 1910.

Gopal Krishna Gokhale entered into public life in 1886 at the young age of 20. While contributing articles to the English weekly Mahratta, he was attracted by the idea of using education as a means to awaken patriotism among the people of India. He was promoted to Secretary of the Deccan Education Society. Later he was given charge of the Bombay Provincial Conference in 1893, and was elected to the Senate of the Bombay University. In time, Gokhale came to devote all his spare time to the causes of the common man: famine, plague relief measures, local self-government, land reform, and communal harmony. He also published a daily newspaper entitled Jnanaprakash, which allowed him to voice his reformist views on politics and society. Gokhale visited England and voiced his concerns relating to the unfair treatment of the Indian people by

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the British government. He pleaded for gradual reform to ultimately attain Swaraj, or self-government, in India. He was instrumental in the formation of the Minto-Morley Reforms of 1909, which eventually became law. Unfortunately, it was disappointing to see that the people were not given a proper democratic system despite Gokhale's efforts. The dream of communal harmony he had longed for was shattered when he realised that the Muslim community was steadfast in considering itself as a separate unit.

Surendranath Banerjea was president of the Indian National Congress twice, in 1895 and 1902. He was an ardent advocate of social reform including widow remarriage and the raising of the age of marriage of girls.

Born on 19 November 1848, Surendranath Banerjea had his early education in Calcutta. He appeared for the Indian Civil Service Examination in London and started his career in 1871 as an Assistant Magistrate. He was dismissed from the service on a flimsy charge. He went back to England and prepared himself for his future career as a national leader. He was a gifted orator and writer.

The Indian National Congress thus became the vanguard of the Nationalist Movement for the following decades till the advent of freedom in 1947. Let us analyse the basic assumptions on which the movement was based during this first phase from 1885 to 1905. In this stage (1885-1905), the vision of the Indian National Congress was somewhat dim, vague and confused. The movement was confined to a handful of the educated middle-class intelligentsia who drew inspiration from Western liberal and radical thought.

The essentials of the Congress movement at this time may be summed up thus:

• An implicit faith in the British sense of justice and fair play

A determination to work within the framework of the constitution and by nonviolent methods

No clear-cut goal for political freedom; only some reforms and a greater participation in the government

The method adopted to fulfil these demands were: pray, petition and protest; even for its shamefully modest demands, flattery to gain the goodwill of the British

A disinterest and neglect of the masses or the proletariat; the Congress was a movement of the elite upper classes

Here are some illustrations of this psychological attitude through some of the resolutions and statements of the leaders of the Congress party. The Congress held its first session on 28 December 1885. All the delegates affirmed their loyalty to the British Crown and they declared that 'all they desired was the basis of the government should be widened and that the people should have their proper and legitimate share in it'.

From that year onwards the Congress met every year and passed resolutions, which were reprinted in newspapers and widely discussed. The main idea of these resolutions was to educate public opinion and to persuade the British to effect various measures of political reform. The British in their turn completely ignored these resolutions. As a matter of fact, the British had nothing but contempt for the Congress party. As Lord Curzon said: 'The Congress is tottering to its fall, and one of my greatest ambitions, while in India, is to assist it to a peaceful demise.' In another of those ironies of history, it was Lord Curzon who was directly responsible for giving the Freedom Movement a new lease of life.

Here is one illustration of a resolution of the Indian National Congress:

'The Indian National congress tenders its loyal homage to His Gracious Majesty the King Emperor and respectfully welcomes the message sent by His Majesty to the Princes and People of India on the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Memorable Proclamation issued in

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1858 by his Illustrious Mother Victoria the Good. This Congress begs to record its satisfaction that the interpretation placed by it upon the pledges contained in that Great Charter of 1858 has been upheld by His Majesty.

The Congress gratefully welcomes the pronouncement made by His Majesty that the time has come when the principle of representative institutions, which, from the first, began to be gradually introduced in India, may be prudently extended and that the politic satisfaction of the claim to equality of citizenship and greater share in legislation and Government made by important classes in India, representing ideas that have been fostered and encouraged by British rule, will strengthen, not impair, existing authority and power.'

(Resolution No. 1 of the 23rd Indian National Congress held at Madras on 28th, 29th and 30th December 1908)

Even a leader like Gokhale said in one of his statements: 'Only men inside lunatic asylums could think or talk of independence ... there is no alternative to British Rule, not only now but for a long time to come.' What was worse was that even for its shamefully modest demands it resorted to flattery to gain the goodwill of the British.

Another point to be noted at this time is the use of the policy of 'divide and rule' adopted by the British. The British officials relied upon the policy of 'divide and rule' to weaken the Nationalist Movement. They encouraged Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Raja Shiv Prasad and other pro-British Indians to start an anti-Congress movement. They tried to drive a wedge between the Hindus and Muslims. They fanned communal rivalries among the educated Indians on the question of jobs in Government service. Indeed they succeeded in their game and the consequences are apparent even today.

If we critically evaluate the work of the Indian National Congress, it is evident that they did not achieve much success. Very few of the reforms advocated by them were carried out. The foreign rulers treated them with contempt. The party failed to acquire any roots among the common people and even those who joined the Congress with high hopes were feeling more and more disillusioned. The politics of the moderates as it was called was 'halting and half-hearted'. Their methods can best be described as those of mendicancy or beggary through prayers and petitions.

But it would be wrong to say that their political record was a barren one. They made possible a decisive shift in Indian politics. To a certain extent they succeeded in creating a political awakening and in arousing among the Indians the feeling that they belonged to one common nation. They exposed the true character of British imperialism in India. They successfully brought to light the most important political and economic aspects of the Indian reality that India was being ruled by a foreign power for economic exploitation and thus undermined the moral foundations of British rule in India.

This was the seed time of Indian nationalism. In spite of their many failures, they laid the foundation for the Nationalist Movement to grow upon and they deserve a high place among the makers of modern India.

But at the same time it is also clear that the forces released by the Sepoy Mutiny did not get the chance to manifest; the direction and the leadership were lacking. The flame that was lit did not get the chance to grow into a fire. The attitude of the leaders was so weak and submissive that the masses could not be aroused. The nationalist feeling had to lie low for a more opportune moment. It must however be noted that even during this period, some leaders and writers proclaimed loudly their disenchantment with the Congress. We shall mention two such leaders: Sri Aurobindo then known as Aurobindo Ghose and Bal Gangadhar Tilak.

As early as 1893, immediately after his return from England at the young age of 21, Sri Aurobindo wrote a series of articles in the Indu Prakash. In these articles he severely criticised the Congress for its mendicant approach. He felt that instead of having a clear-

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cut goal of national freedom, it wasted its time on immaterial trifles and paltry administrative reforms. He advocated a leonine policy rather than the mendicant policy being followed then by the leaders of the Congress party. Here is an extract from the Indu Prakash: 'I say of the Congress, then, this - that its aims are mistaken, that the spirit in which it proceeds towards their accomplishments is not a spirit of sincerity and whole-heartedness, and that the methods it has chosen are not the right 143 methods, and the leaders in whom it trusts not the right sort of men to be leaders; - in brief, that we are at present the blind led, if not by the blind, at any rate by the one-eyed.'

Bal Gangadhar Tilak was another severe critic of the Congress and its methods. Tilak was a brilliant politician as well as a profound scholar who believed that independence was the foremost necessity for the well-being of a nation and that extreme measures need not be dispensed with. He was one of the few leaders who understood the importance of mass support and subsequently became one of the first mass leaders of India. He realised that the constitutional agitation against the British in itself was futile; however, he felt that India was not yet prepared for an armed revolt. He had a genius for organisation and started the newspapers 'Kesari' and 'The Maratha' in 1881; later in the early 1890s he started the annual celebration of 'Shivaji Festival' and 'Ganapati Festival' which served as a platform for people to join in the Nationalist Movement against the British.

It is evident that the leaders of the Congress did not capitalise on the spirit generated by the revolt of 1857. Instead, by asking for inconsequential reforms, which were even scoffed at by the British, they frittered it away. But the spirit remained dormant and was waiting for a chance to manifest itself. A spark was needed and that came with the partition of Bengal in 1905.

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HOME

The Partition of Bengal and VOC

Rise of Nationalism

The nineteenth century witnessed the awakening of the national consciousness. This manifested itself not only in politics but in all fields of Indian life, culture, society and religion.

One of the most important personalities who contributed to this awakening was Swami Vivekananda. After the passing away of Sri Ramakrishna, he toured all over India as a parivrajak and got a first-hand view of the condition in which India was at that time. He made a great impression wherever he went; but it was in South India that the response was the most enthusiastic and widespread. The youth were touched and inspired by Swamiji. As a manifestation of this, it was the Raja of Ramnad who sponsored and helped Swami Vivekananda to undertake his voyage to Chicago.

Swami Vivekananda spent quite some months in South India and in all the states he visited, he had a tremendous impact. Here is one report of a speech in Madras.

Swami Vivekananda's first public lecture in Madras was on 'My plan of campaign' and made a profound and indelible impression on me. I felt thrilled to the innermost core of my being by his words and my eyes were wet with tears. Many others who heard the speech were in the same predicament. Then and there some of us took a vow to do what we could to relieve the ignorance, poverty, and misery of the masses of India to the extent possible for each one of us.1

The following are some extracts from his speeches, given in different parts of the South: 'Practical patriotism means not a mere sentiment or even emotion of love of the motherland but a passion to serve our fellow-countrymen. I have gone all over India on foot and have seen with my own eyes the ignorance, misery, and squalor of our people. My whole soul is afire and I am burning with a fierce desire to change such evil conditions. Let no one talk of karma. If it was their karma to suffer; it is our karma to relieve the suffering. If you want to find God, serve Man. To reach Narayana you must serve the daridranarayanas — the starving millions of India.'2

'May I be born again and again and suffer thousands of miseries so that I may worship the only God that exists, the only God I believe in, the sum total of all souls: and, above all, my God the wicked, my God the miserable, my God the poor of all races, of all species, is the special object of my worship.' 3

Although these speeches were not political, they kindled the spirit of nationalism and love for India. The press, particularly The Hindu, Swadesamitran and Desabakthan, also played a significant role in awakening the people. As a consequence of this awakening, the Madras Native Association was founded in 1852. Through this association, the grievances of the people were submitted to the British Government. The Madras Mahajana Sabha was later established in 1884. G. Subramaniya Iyer, P. Anandacharlu,

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and Rangaiya Naidu played a significant part in the association to redress the miseries of the people.

Rise of Indian National Congress

The Indian National Congress was founded in 1885. With its formation the Freedom Movement gained momentum in Tamil Nadu. The first conference of the congress was held at Bombay under the presidentship of W. C. Bonnerji. C. Vijayaraghavachariyar of Salem, a close associate of A. O. Hume, was one of the members of the committee which drafted the constitution of Indian National Congress. G. Subramaniya Iyer of Chennai participated and moved a resolution in the congress. In the beginning, the role of the Indian National Congress was not to oppose the British government, but to submit their grievances in a peaceful way. The sessions of Indian National Congress were convened at Madras in 1887, 1895 and 1898. C. Vijayaraghavachariyar played a prominent role in framing the rules of the congress during these years.

The Partition of Bengal and VOC

The year 1905 is one of the most important years in the history of the Freedom Movement of India; the year that the British Government decided to partition Bengal. The decision to partition Bengal into two provinces shocked the whole country. It was part of the British political trump card; the policy of divide and rule. As a matter of fact, from 1870 onwards, the British started inciting the Hindus and the Muslims to form their own political parties in order to establish their distinct religious identities. That was the beginning of the communalisation of politics. The British not only encouraged the two communities to form political parties along religious lines, they took various steps to create a situation whereby Hindus and Muslims would be forced to think that their religious identity was at peril. This effort culminated in the partition of Bengal in 1905. The Presidency of Bengal was divided into two parts apparently for administrative reasons. It was argued that Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, which formed a single province of British India since 1765, had grown too large to handle under a single administration; but it was quite clear that the partition was made along communal lines in order to divide the communities. Lord Curzon on a tour of East Bengal, confessed that his 'object in partitioning was not only to relieve the Bengali administration, but to create a Mohammedan province, where Islam could be predominant and its followers in ascendancy'. It thus provided an impetus to the religious divide and one of the consequences was the formation of the Muslim League. The people of Bengal were indignant and outraged. For them the partition was not merely a fresh application of the British policy of divide and rule, but the sundering of the soul of a people. This single event brought about united opposition from all groups, political and non-political. Poet Rabindranath Tagore, Sir Gurudas Banerjee, a judge, and the Maharajas of Mymensingh and Cassimbazar all joined in the protest. This triggered off a tremendous awakening and manifested in a sudden outburst of the genius of the Bengali race, flowering in the field of literature and music. So great was its impact that Ramsay Macdonald exclaimed: "Bengal is creating India by song and worship, it is clothing her in queenly garments.' The same phenomenon was visible in South India through the personalities of Subramaniam Bharati and other poets and writers.

Thus began the second phase of the Freedom Movement. This period was between 1905 and 1915. It must be noted that the movement was not restricted to Bengal. The

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whole of India was thrown into the cauldron; in Maharashtra, Bal Gangadhar Tilak took direct part, in Punjab it was Lala Lajpat Rai and in South India it was Subramaniam Bharati. Slogans of Swaraj, Swadeshi, Boycott, and National Education, emerged during the anti-partition campaign. Tilak carried on a vigorous propaganda of this programme and recommended its adoption at the session of the Congress held at Calcutta in 1906. Dadabhai Naoroji and other leaders of the liberal faction supported the proposal and it was adopted. Tilak emerged as a leader of national stature from that year.

But the most important consequence of the partition of Bengal was the advent of Sri Aurobindo in active politics. Sri Aurobindo was then in Baroda and he wrote about the partition: 'This measure is no mere administrative proposal but a blow straight at the heart of the nation.' Then the Vice-Principal of the College in Baroda, he left his comfortable job and moved to Calcutta and joined active politics. It was then that the Bengal National College was founded and he became its first Principal. He began writing editorials for 'Bandemataram', an English daily started by Bipin Chandra Pal, and by the end of the year was the paper's chief editor. Sri Aurobindo stated that his first occupation 'was to declare openly for complete and absolute independence as the aim of political action in India and to insist on this persistently in the pages of the journal'. He was the first politician in India who had the courage to do this in public and he was immediately successful. Bandemataram soon circulated through the country and became a powerful force in moulding its political thought.

There were three sides to Sri Aurobindo's political ideas and activities. First, there was the action with which he started; a secret revolutionary propaganda and organisation of which the central object was the preparation of an armed insurrection. Secondly, there was a public propaganda intended to convert the whole nation to the ideal of independence, which was regarded by the vast majority of Indians as unpractical and impossible; an almost insane chimera. Thirdly, there was the organisation of the people to carry on a public and united opposition and undermining of the foreign rule through an increasing non-cooperation and passive resistance.

Regarding the public propaganda intended to convert the whole nation to the ideal of independence, Sri Aurobindo devised a two-pronged strategy. The first was to use the columns of the Bandemataram to spread the ideal of total freedom and, secondly, to capture the Congress. For this purpose Sri Aurobindo, Tilak and other leaders formed a new party called the Nationalist Congress Party.

At the same time, Sri Aurobindo built up a comprehensive scheme of political action known as Passive Resistance or Boycott, the most potent and fruitful contribution to the whole of India in the beginning of the twentieth century. This is what he wrote: 'The first principle of passive resistance, which the new school have placed in the forefront of their programme, is to make administration under present conditions impossible by an organized refusal to do anything which shall help either British commerce in the exploitation of the country or British officialdom in the administration of it - unless and until the conditions are changed in the manner and to the extent demanded by the people. This attitude is summed up in one word Boycott.' It was originally devised as an economic weapon to hit the British rulers at their most vital point; but Sri Aurobindo endowed it with far-reaching possibilities. It soon expressed itself in the fourfold non-cooperation - economic boycott, educational boycott, judicial boycott and the boycott of the executive administration. And this boycott was to be kept judiciously within the bounds of law.

He wrote a series of brilliant articles in the Bandemataram entitled 'The Doctrine of Passive Resistance'; in these articles, he expounded a detailed programme of non-cooperation. We find here an incisive analysis of its importance and also valuable hints

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regarding its technique. While advocating non-cooperation, Sri Aurobindo was careful to define its limits. Here is a quotation from Sri Aurobindo: 'There is a limit however to passive resistance. So long as the action of the executive is peaceful and within rules of the fight, the passive resister scrupulously maintains his attitude of passivity, but he is not bound to do so a moment beyond. To submit to illegal or violent methods of coercion, to accept outrage and hooliganism as part of the legal procedure of the country, is to be guilty of cowardice, and, by dwarfing national manhood, to sin against the divinity within ourselves and the divinity in our motherland... Passive resistance cannot build up a strong and great nation unless it is masculine, bold and ardent in its spirit and ready at any moment and at the slightest notice to supplement itself with active resistance. We do not want to develop a nation of women who know only how to suffer and not how to strike.'4

We thus see that the non-violent non-cooperation movement of Gandhi was found to be anticipated substantively by the movement of Passive Resistance in the early part of the century and that its foundations were firmly laid at least a decade before he came on the Indian political scene. It should be clear from the above quotation that with Sri Aurobindo passive resistance was only a tool and not a creed to be followed in all situations and circumstances.

Regarding the plan for armed revolution, one of the ideas of Sri Aurobindo was to establish secretly, under various pretexts and covers, revolutionary propaganda and recruiting throughout Bengal. This was to be done among the youth of the country while sympathy and support and financial and other assistance were to be obtained from the older men who had advanced views or could be won over to them. Centres were to be established in every town and eventually in every village. Societies of young men were to be established with various ostensible objects, cultural, intellectual or moral and those already existing were to be won over for revolutionary use. Young men were to be trained in activities which might be helpful for ultimate military action, such as riding, physical training, athletics of various kinds, drill and organised movement. It was in 1901 that Sri Aurobindo made his first move by sending Jatin Banerjee as his lieutenant to Bengal with a programme of preparation and action, which he thought might occupy a period of 30 years before fruition could become possible. Jatin was also charged with setting up centres in every town and eventually in every village. As soon as the idea was sown, it attained rapid prosperity. It must be noted that there were many other secret societies in Bengal already flourishing. Rajnarain Bose had already formed one in which the Tagore brothers were members, and Sarala Ghosal founded several clubs where not only boys but girls too were taught to wield lathi and sword. Sarala Ghosal was indeed the foremost organiser of physical education in Bengal.

It will be of some interest to note that Sri Aurobindo first met Tilak in 1901 at Baroda. Later in 1902 at the Ahmedabad Congress, the two met again. Tilak took him out of the pandal and talked to him for an hour in the grounds expressing his contempt of the action of the Reformist movement (of the Indian National congress) and explaining his own line of action in Maharashtra. The Congress was held under the chairmanship of Surendranath Banerjee, who declared: 'We plead the permanence of British rule in India.' From this time onwards, Sri Aurobindo and Tilak were in close contact. Sri Aurobindo and Tilak, however, soon realized that an armed revolt at that stage of India's history was not feasible, and though he continued to support and guide the underground terrorist movement in the hope that it would demoralise the British, he had no illusions as to the possibility of mere terrorism securing the country's freedom.

The Nationalist Congress Party was formed and it was decided that they should capture the Congress Party, which was then led by the Moderates.

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All these events had a tremendous impact in the South. One of the leading figures in the agitation and revolt against the British was V. O. Chidambaram Pillai.

The Impact in the South and V. O. Chidambaram Pillai

V. O. Chidambaram Pillai was born in Ottappidaram, now in Tuticorin district, on 5 September 1872, to an eminent lawyer Vulaganathan Pillai and Paramyee. After completing schooling in Ottapidaram and Tirunelveli, he worked for a few years in the the district administrative office. Later following his fathers footsteps he completed law.

That was the era when lawyers, men of education ready to fight for causes were in the forefront of public service as leaders of society. Thus VOC emerged as one such leader in his town, and leading champion of the underdog, the oppressed and the depressed.

As a lawyer he often pleaded for the poor, at times appearing against his father, who appeared for the affluent. Among his notable cases, he proved corruption charges on three sub-magistrates. In the Kulasekaranallur Asari case he proved innocence of the accused. He evinced interest in Saiva Siddhanta, taking part in the local Saivite association and pursuing his literary and religious interests. But with 1906, 'The New Spirit' that was the outcome of the Swadeshi movement, everything changed. The year and a half that followed radically changed his life, propelling him to brief all-India fame and immortality in the Tamil world.

In the Madras Presidency the Independence Movement was championed by the likes of Subramanya Siva, the poet Subramanyam Bharathi, later to be joined by V.O.C. He entered politics in 1905 following the partition of Bengal, joining the Indian National Congress and taking a hardliner stand. He also presided at the Salem District Congress session.

At that time there was a flourishing commerce between Tuticorin and Colombo; this was entirely the monopoly of the British India Steam Navigation Company (BISN) and its Tuticorin agents, A. & F. Harvey.

Influenced by Sri Aurobindo's call for Boycott, VOC advocated that the Indians should boycott foreign goods especially the British and encourage local products or 'swadeshi' goods. This would be one of the ways to drive the alien Englishman from our Motherland and establish Swarajya and Independent India. The words 'Swarajya' and 'Swadeshi' were in the air in those days and thrilled people. Besides speaking in public, VOC floated a corporate enterprise. He garnered the support of local merchants and launched the first indigenous Indian shipping enterprise, on 12 November 1906, 'The Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company', thus earning himself the sobriquet, 'Kappalottiya Tamilan' (the Tamil who launched ships). This was indeed a daring move for its day, something extraordinary for a small-town lawyer even to dream about. The steam navigation business was then the monopoly of the ruling British and this 'native' company attracted a good deal of the sea traffic between Tuticorin and Colombo. This business was then dominated by the British India Steam Navigation Company and VOC made inroads into it. Thus, VOC became an opponent of the British-owned shipping company. VOC's political work, his clout with the public, his shipping business enterprise, all these and more did not please the ruling class. The fledgling company soon made it clear that it was up against the very might of the colonial Indian state. VOC's pioneering attempt was

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lauded across the subcontinent and he went on to purchase two steamships, S. S. Gallia and S. S. Lawoe for the company. In all this he had the support of Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Aurobindo Ghose. The ships commenced regular service between Tuticorin and Colombo (Sri Lanka), against the opposition of the British traders and the Imperial Government. VOC was thus laying the foundation for a comprehensive shipping industry in the country, more than just a commercial venture.

The British had assumed the Indian venture would collapse like a house of cards, but soon found the Indian company to be a formidable challenge. To thwart the new Indian company they resorted to the monopolistic trade practice of reducing the fare per trip to Re. 1 (16 annas) per head. Swadeshi company responded by offering a fare of Re. 0.5 (8 Annas). The British company went further by offering a free trip to the passengers plus a free umbrella, which had S. S. Gaelia and S. S. Lawoe running nearly empty. By 1909 the Swadeshi company was heading towards bankruptcy.

Conflict with the British

VOC's efforts to widen the base of the Swadeshi Movement by mobilising the workers of the Coral Mills, also managed by A. & F. Harvey, accentuated the confrontation. In the Nationalist Movement, he backed Bal Gangadhar Tilak. He led a contingent (which included the poet Subramaniam Bharati) from the Madras Presidency to the Surat Congress (1907) where the Congress had split into two camps — the Extremists and the Moderates. By the time he returned, he had become the most popular leader of the Extremists in South India — galvanising the Swadeshi shipping company, organising the mill workers to strike and conducting a series of nationalist meetings in Tuticorin and Tirunelveli.

On 12 March, 1908, he was arrested on charges of sedition and for two days Tirunelveli and Tuticorin witnessed unprecedented violence, quelled only by shooting four people to death (a Muslim, a Dalit, a baker and a Hindu temple priest). Police forces were brought in from neighbouring districts. Poet Subramaniam Bharathi and Subramanya Siva too appeared in the court for questioning. A sentence of two life imprisonments (in effect, 40 years) was imposed. He was confined in the Central Prison, Coimbatore (from 9 July 1908 to 1 December 1910). The Court sentence may be seen as a reflection of the fear the British had of VOC and their need to contain the rebellion and be sure that others would not follow in Chidambaram Pillai's footsteps.

But newspapers had taken note of VOC and his activities. Sri Aurobindo's nationalist newspaper Bande Mataram acclaimed him (27 March 1908) with 'Well Done, Chidambaram'. Apart from the Madras press, Anand Bazaar Patrika from Kolkata (Calcutta) carried reports of his prosecution every day. Funds were raised for his defence not only in India but also by the Indians in South Africa.

Here is an extract from an article written in the Bandemataram by Sri Aurobindo on the strike in Tuticorin.

For passive resistance to succeed unity, perseverance and thoroughness are the first requisites. Because this unity, perseverance and thoroughness existed in Tuticorin, the great battle fought over the Coral Mill has ended in a great and indeed absolutely sweeping victory for the people. Every claim made by the strikers has been conceded and British capital has had to submit to the humiliation of an unconditional surrender. Nationalism may well take pride in the gallant leaders who have by their cool and unflinching courage brought about this splendid vindication of Nationalist teaching. When men like Chidambaram, Padmanabha and Shiva are ready to undergo exile or imprisonment so that a handful of mill coolies may get justice and easier conditions of

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livelihood, a bond has been created between the educated class and the masses which

is the first great step towards Swaraj.5

In another article Sri Aurobindo paid tribute to Chidambaram.

Well Done, Chidambaram!

A true feeling of comradeship is the salt of political life; it binds men together and is the cement of all associated action. When a political leader is prepared to suffer for the sake of his followers, when a man, famous and adored by the public, is ready to remain in jail rather than leave his friends and fellow-workers behind, it is a sign that political life in India is becoming a reality. Srijut Chidambaram Pillai has shown throughout the Tuticorin affair a loftiness of character, a practical energy united with high moral idealism which show that he is a true Nationalist. His refusal to accept release on bail if his fellow-workers were left behind, is one more count in the reckoning. Nationalism is or ought to be not merely a political creed but a religious aspiration and a moral attitude. Its business is to build up Indian character by educating it to heroic self-sacrifice and magnificent ambitions, to restore the tone of nobility which it has lost and bring back the ideals of the ancient Aryan gentleman. The qualities of courage, frankness, love and justice are the stuff of which a Nationalist should be made. All honour to Chidambaram Pillai for having shown us the first complete example of an Aryan reborn, and all honour to Madras which has produced such a man.6

But the draconian sentence of two life imprisonments (even Tilak got only six years) was received with shock and disbelief. After the witch hunt following Tirunelveli District Collector Ashe's assassination (in 1911) by youths patently inspired by VOC, the Swadeshi Movement, with its limited popular base, petered out.

VOC, languishing in prison, was left to fend for himself. His young wife, Meenakshi Ammal followed him — almost single-handedly organising the logistics of his appeals — from the Tirunelveli sub-jail to the Coimbatore and Kannur central jails, where he spent his term. In those 'pre-Non Cooperation days', when there was no category of political prisoners, he did hard (convict) labour. VOC was even made to work the oil mill, depicted so poignantly in a poem by his friend Subramaniam Bharati. In prison he continued a clandestine correspondence, maintaining a stream of petitions going into legal niceties and giving evidence against them in a jail outbreak.

Confinement in Prison

It is to be noted that Chidambaram Pillai was not treated as a 'political prisoner', nor was the sentence 'simple imprisonment', simple; he was rather treated as a convict sentenced to life imprisonment and required to do hard labour. V.O.C. was in fact subjected to inhumane torture, which took a heavy toll on his health. The noted historian and Tamil scholar, R. A. Padmanabhan, would later note in his works "yoked (in place of Bulls) to the oil press like an animal and made to work it in the cruel hot sun...." Even from prison VOC continued a clandestine correspondence, maintaining a steady stream of petitions going into legal niceties. Later the High Court reduced his sentence and he was finally released on 12 December 1912.

After His Release

The huge crowds present during his arrest were obviously absent, reminding him of Aurobindo's similar fate upon his release from Uttarpara in 1909 and his famous remark: 'When I went to jail the whole country was alive with the cry of Bande Mataram... when I came out of jail I listened for that cry, but there was instead a silence... a hush had fallen on the country and men seemed bewildered.'

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Upon VOC's release he was not permitted to return to his Tirunelveli district. With his bar license stripped from him he moved to Chennai with his wife and two young sons. To his dismay, the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company had already been liquidated in 1911, and the ships auctioned to their competitors. VOC and his family had lost all their wealth and property in his legal defence. In Madras, almost broke, he continued organising labour welfare organisations. VOC attended the Calcutta Indian National Congress in 1920.

On hearing of VOC's destitute condition, Justice Wallace, the judge who had sentenced VOC and was now Chief Justice of Madras Presidency, restored his bar license. But VOC spent his last years (1930s) in Kovilpatti heavily in debt, even selling all of his law books for daily survival. He died on 18 November 1936 in the Indian National Congress Office at Tuticorin as was his last wish.

V.O.C. was also an erudite scholar. The autobiography in Tamil verse which he started in prison was completed upon his release in 1912. He also wrote a commentary on the Thirukural, compiled ancient works of Tamil grammar, Tolkappiam and showed ingenuity in his works, 'Meyyaram' and 'Meyyarivu'. He is praised for spontaneous style and earned an indisputable reputation for translation of James Allen's books. He also authored a few novels.

VOC was one of the colourful figures in Indian political life. He showed the way for organiszed effort and sacrifice. He finished his major political work by 1908, but died in late 1936, the passion for freedom still raging in his mind till the last moment. He was an erudite scholar in Tamil, a prolific writer, a fiery speaker, a trade union leader of unique calibre and a dauntless freedom fighter.

His life is a story of resistance, strife, struggle, suffering and sacrifice for the cause to which he was committed.

Post-Independence Honours

Today VOC's name among people in Tamil Nadu evokes his sufferings in jail and his shipping company. He is aptly called 'Kappal'ottiya Thamizlan', the Tamil who drove the ship, and as 'Chekkiluththa Chemmal', a great man who pulled the oil press in jail for the sake of his people.7

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HOME

Subramaniam Bharati

It will be difficult to enumerate the heroic qualities as they are normally understood in the personality of Subramaniam Bharati. However, there is heroism and heroism; indeed there is the heroism of the patriot and poet who loves his nation and pours out this love in poetry. This literature which becomes immortal inspires men to acts of great valour and self-sacrifice. Of this type Subramaniam Bharati stands out as one of the great exemplars.

Bharati was born in Ettayapuram, in Tamil Nadu, a place well known for the great arts of poetry and music. Its fame had spread throughout the southern parts of India and Tamil scholars and musicians lined up to seek patronage in the court of Ettayapuram. Bharati was a born poet and gifted with the qualities of genius. He learned the nuances of the Tamil language and poetry through his association with the scholars at the court of Ettayapuram. Bharati began writing poetry at the age of seven. When he was eleven he wrote poetry in such a way that even learned men praised him. It was at this time that the title of Bharati -a name of the Goddess of Knowledge was conferred on him. Bharati was mature in mind, proficient in the language and had great talent for poetry. He had the poet's love of solitude and nature, pleasure in composing poetry, sweet sense of rhythm and love of learning. In addition to these, he had qualities like straightforwardness and a strong belief in truth. He had great intelligence and simplicity.

Bharati was married at the age of fifteen to Chellamai, a beautiful girl of seven. She was a source of inspiration for Bharati later in life and he sings many songs which express the heights of his advaitic experience.

Many years of Bharati's life were spent in the field of journalism. He began his career as a journalist, as sub-editor in 'Swadeshmitran' in November 1904. During this time, he was much involved in politics and wrote prolifically. He composed and sang a poem praising Bengal and published it in the Swadeshmitran in September 1905.

Bharati was a great admirer of Sister Nivedita. His meeting with her brought about many changes in his personality; he was greatly attracted by her rare vigour, love and strength. Above all he was deeply touched by her intense patriotism. Bharati soon had a vision of Mother India or Bharata Devi and visualised Mother India as Bharati Shakti. As a result of these experiences he decided to fight for the independence of India and the equality of women in India. He received an added impetus when a weekly magazine, 'India' was started by Thirumalachariar. It was here that he wrote fiery articles on the Indian nation and awakened in the people of south India the will to fight the British.

An important event in the history of the Indian Freedom Movement was the meeting of the Congress at Surat; this meeting represented the clash between the two camps known as the Moderates and the Nationalists. The Moderates were led by Dadabhai Naoroji and the nationalists were led by Tilak and Sri Aurobindo. The meeting ended in disarray.

After his participation in the Surat Congress, Bharati was fascinated by the personalities of Tilak and Sri Aurobindo. Every event in the political history of India during the freedom struggle came to Bharati's notice, and he wrote his own commentary about it in Swadesamitran. At that time Bharati wrote an appeal to Tamil scholars asking them to find poems from Tamil literature which praised India or to send their own poems to him. His intention was to publish poems with national fervour, written at different times by different scholars. At the same time he began writing his own songs and published them in the books, Swadesha Githangal and Gnana Ratham. In this way he aroused an intense patriotism among the Tamil people. It was not therefore surprising that soon a warrant was

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issued for the arrest of the editor of the magazine M. Srinivasan, who was arrested and imprisoned for five years. It was then that Bharati decided to go away to Pondicherry and there he continued publishing the India magazine.

The most profitable years of Bharati's life were the ten years spent in Pondicherry. The poet, the philosopher and the patriot in him flourished through the most difficult but wonderful years in Pondicherry. He had a large circle of friends whose influence on him is marked. He was fortunate to have Sri Aurobindo's friendship at this time. As it turned out, this proved the greatest influence on his spiritual growth. The two of them joined together in reading and doing extensive research on the Vedas. They read almost all the originals along with the available interpretations. Bharati translated some of the Veda mantras in Tamil, which is truly an extraordinary piece of work.

Nolini Kanta Gupta, one of the close disciples of Sri Aurobindo writes:

"At one time, one of our main subjects of study was the Veda. This went on for several months, for about an hour every evening, at the Guest House. Sri Aurobindo came and took his seat at the table and we sat around. Subramanya Bharati the Tamil poet and myself were the two who showed the keenest interest. Sri Aurobindo would take up a hymn from the Rigveda, read it aloud once, explain the meaning of every line and phrase and finally give a full translation. I used to take notes. There are many words in the Rigveda whose derivation is doubtful and open to differences of opinion. In such cases, Sri Aurobindo used to say that the particular meaning he gave was only provisional and that the matter could be finally decided only after considering it in all the contexts in which the word occurred. His own method of interpreting the Rigveda was this: on reading the text he found its true meaning by direct intuitive vision through an inner concentration in the first instance, and then he would give it an external verification in the light of reason, making the necessary changes accordingly."1

Amrita, another disciple of Sri Aurobindo writes:

"Because of Bharati's association with Sri Aurobindo and his immense respect and devotion for him, I felt in me a great inexplicable attraction to Bharati. Every evening, a little after dark, Bharati would go to Sri Aurobindo's house. He chose that time not with the purpose of avoiding people who would want to make a note of his visit. It was because Sri Aurobindo used to come out of his room and receive his friends only after seven in the evening. An exception, however, was made for close friends like Bharati and Srinivasachari, who, at a very urgent need, could see him at any time of the day. Their visits to Sri Aurobindo's house after seven had become a regular affair. Bharati would visit without fail; it was not so with Srinivasachari, however. There was hardly any subject which they did not talk about in their meetings at night. They discussed literature, society, politics, the various arts; they exchanged stories, even cracked jokes, and had a lot of fun. In the absence of Srinivasachari their talks would no doubt disregard all limits of sect or cult. In Bharati's absence, Sri Aurobindo's talks with the inmates of the house at dinnertime would reach the height of the humorous. That apart, I heard people say that Bharati and others would return home by eight-thirty or nine at night and carry in their hearts lovingly whatever share of the divine riches they had the capacity to receive. In consequence of their inner and outer change they would find the exterior world also changed the next morning. A long time after, I too had a little of this mystic experience. But now as I cast a retrospective look, I perceive that the past was in a way a period of tapasya before reaching the Gurudeva.

As I said, not a single evening would pass without Bharati's calling on Sri Aurobindo. Bharati delighted in pouring out to Sri Aurobindo all that he had read in the dailies, all about local affairs and happenings in the suburbs. And if, however, Sri

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Aurobindo made comments on one or two of the points raised, his joy would know no bounds.

On his way to Sri Aurobindo's house, Bharati would first call at Srinivasachari's, go with him to the beach, stay there till 7 p.m., and then make for Sri Aurobindo's house. The three together would jocularly discuss a variety of subjects. Bharati, on his way back, would often halt for a while at Srinivasachari's and then go home. As soon as they reached home from Sri Aurobindo's, the people assembled there would put the identical question: "What did Sri Aurobindo say today?" It was as though the Jivatman wanted to know the Will of the Paramatman."2

Bharati lived in Pondicherry till 1916. He returned to British India and continued writing inspiring poetry and his love of India became more intense. He was a great devotee of Shakthi and he strove to possess in his soul, spirit, body and mind, great vigour and strength, and attaining this became the chief aim of his life. But along with Shakti, he also aspired for Bhakti and Knowledge. All this he poured out in celestial poetry which inspired the youth. He believed that India could lead the world in many respects and knew that in order to do that India must first herself become free. Till the end of his life he strove to awaken the people of India to her great mission. He died on 11 September 1921.

Bharati was inspired by the passion for freedom; indeed to him freedom was the very breath of his life. His whole aim of life was to kindle the same passion for freedom in fellow Indians and this he did through his great poetry. Today his is a household name among all the Tamil-speaking people of India and his very name inspires reverence and patriotism.

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HOME

Omkar Swami and the Assassination of Ashe

'From a terrorist revolutionary sentenced to a long prison to a spiritual ascetic and teacher would seem to many to be a far cry indeed. Yet this is exactly what happened in the case of Sri Sadguru Omkar who is today a revered octogenarian Saint who has his Ashram opposite the Nandi Hills in Kolar district', wrote Sri Dharma Vira, Governor of Karnataka in 1970.

Nilkantha Brahmachari - Sadguru Omkar's former name - was born on 4th December 1889 in Tanjore in an orthodox Brahmin family. From a very young age in high school, he was involved in national revolutionary activities. His group in South India was closely connected with the Jugantar group of Bengal. Because of his activities, Sadguru had to take asylum in the French territory of Pondicherry. He was one of the group along with the poet Subrahmaniam Bharati, which received Aurobindo Ghosh at Pondicherry on 4th April 1910. He was closely connected with the Mopla agrarian revolution in Kerala. His group published the Communist Manifesto in the South even before the Communist Revolution in Russia. He was the first accused in Kolkata by Teggart and was imprisoned for more than eleven years. In jail, the transformation from a revolutionary to a spiritual Sadhaka took place, as vividly described in his notes which he later collected as 'Confessions on the way towards Peace' (now being published). After coming out of the jail, he took the 'Confessions' to Sri Aurobindo, who wrote a small foreword. After going through a spiritual itinerary, Sadguru Omkar settled down at the lower Nandi Hills in 1930 and built a small ashram around a dilapidated Shiva Temple - which he called Omkareswara - by a rivulet, the source of the river Pennar or Penganga. Gradually his name spread and visitors from all over India and abroad began to pour in. His talks with the visitors, friends and disciples were published in two small volumes, 'Upadesh' and 'Selected Talks'. These are also included in the present volume to give a proper perspective of the thoughts of Swamiji Sadguru. About his ashram at Nandi Hills Swamiji said: 'My Ashram is a beautiful place with all the inconveniences necessary for spiritual life, but disappointing to a lover of case and comfort.' Sadguru Omkar passed away on 4th March in his Ashram at the Nandi Hills at the ripe old age of 89.

The Case of the Train Murder: Ashe Murder Case

Those were the days when the seeds of the struggle for freedom, sown during the Indian Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, had begun to sprout glowingly all over the sprawling British-ruled India. Many young men fired by the blaze of national spirit burst on the horizon spreading the message of freedom in secret, and also openly, committing acts of protest to tell the world what they sought. Some called them 'misguided youth', and some branded them as 'traitors', but they were neither. Indeed they were the heroes of the Indian Freedom Movement. They laid down their precious young lives at the altar of their motherland, Bharatha Mata. The stirring story of one such group of noble patriotic sons of Mother India, which spun round the murder of a British civilian officer, came to be known as 'Ashe Murder Case'. It occupies a place of honor in the history of the Indian Freedom Movement.

Robert W. D. E. Ashe, a member of the Indian Civil Service (ICS, also known as the 'Steel Frame' of the British Indian Government) and a tradition-bound Britisher was then the sub-collector at the small sea port town of Tuticorin (now Thoothukudi) on the Bay of Bengal in South India. Like most Britishers in India of the day Ashe felt that the British owned India lock, stock and barrel, and Indians were destined only to serve their white alien masters, and their duty was to do and die and not to reason why. He hated Indians

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who dared to ask him why and the man he hated most in the town famed for pearl fishing was the celebrated patriot V. O. Chidambaram Pillai.

On 17 June 1911, Ashe was travelling by train in a first-class compartment and when it stopped at Maniyachi, a railway junction, a young man made his way into the compartment. Suddenly he whipped out an automatic Browning revolver and shot Ashe dead at point blank range. As crowds, cops and all rushed, he escaped and ran down the unpaved gritty, gravelly platform. As cops chased him he ran into a lavatory on the platform and shot himself in the mouth using the same weapon. His name was Vanchinatha Iyer, a Brahmin from Shencottah, then situated in the princely native state of Travancore ruled by its Maharaja. The police found a letter on his body, which suggested a political conspiracy behind the murder. It read as follows: 'Every Indian is at the present time endeavoring to drive out the Englishman who is the enemy of [our] country and to establish "Dharma" and liberty... we 3000 Madrasis have taken a vow. To make it known, I, the least of them did this day commit this act.'

A search of the dead assailant's residence revealed more letters which threw further light on the conspiracy. The letters mentioned Arumugham Pillai, who had been in touch with Vanchi. He was traced and the British Indian Police were able to extract a lot of information from this weak-kneed man. Later he was taken as approver. Another man, Somasundaram was also traced and he too cracked at the seams and let out a good heap of sawdust inside. He too turned approver.

The cops did not leave a single stone unturned. Searches were made all over South India and the root of it all pointed to Pondicherry, the port town on the Bay of Bengal, then a part of French territory beyond the pale of British India. As the public prosecutor of Madras High Court, C. F. Napier commented later during the trial on '[t]he extraordinary way in which the town of Pondicherry seem[ed] to permeate this case'. This historic town of Dupleix and Anandarangam Pillai played a significant role in the fight for Indian Freedom.

Pondicherry, being alien French territory, proved a haven for Indian revolutionaries hounded and hunted by the British Indian Police. The friendly quiet beautiful small town gave political asylum to great freedom fighters like Aurobindo Ghosh; V. V. S. Iyer, a lawyer turned rebel who trained men in armed combat and guerrilla warfare; and Mahakavi Subramaniam Bharati, the great rebel poet of India whose works in Tamil were banned by the British Indian Government. Many publications in English and Tamil were produced here and circulated secretly in British Indian territory in spite of the ban on them. Indeed Pondicherry was a veritable factory of patriotic fervour.

Soon the police rounded up as many as fourteen men who were charged with various offences under the Indian Penal Code like murder, waging war against the King-Emperor of India, and criminal conspiracy. The accused were the following:

1) Neelakanta, alias Brahmachari, a Brahmin youth of twenty-one, a journalist, fiery patriot and person of considerable persuasive skills and charm, and the leader of a conspiracy to murder Ashe, according to the police

2) Sankarakrishna Iyer, a young farmer

3) Madathukadai Chidambaram Pillai (no relation of VOC), a green-grocer

4) Muthukumarasami Pillai, a pot vendor in his forties

5) Subbaiah Pillai, a lawyer's clerk

6) Jagannatha Ayyangar, a young cook

7) Harihara Iyer, a young merchant

8) Bapu Pillai, a farmer

9) V. Desikachari, a merchant

10) Vembu Iyer, a cook

11) Savadi Arunachalam Pillai, a farmer

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12) Alagappa Pillai, a teenaged farmer...

13) 'Vande Matharam' Subramania Iyer, a schoolmaster

14) Pichumani Iyer, a cook

Altogether, the list included a motley crowd of men mostly in their twenties from different professions and castes but all of them had something in common. They were all patriots burning with desire and thirst for freedom, their muscles all set to drive out the Imperialistic British from India.

In the ordinary course this case would have been tried by the District and Sessions Judge at Tinnevelly. But in view of its political importance and the murder victim being a Britisher and an ICS Officer at that, the case was sent up to the High Court at Madras. Here a Full Bench of three judges consisting of Sir Arnold White, then Chief Justice of Madras, Mr. Justice Ayling and Mr. Justice C. Sankaran Nair (later Sir C. Sankaran Nair) tried it as a special case. The case not surprisingly attracted attention all over India and even beyond achieving the status of a 'cause celebre'.

C. F. Napier, public prosecutor assisted by T. Richmond and A. Sundara Sastrigal appeared for the Crown, while a glittering array of eminent Madras lawyers defended the accused. Neelakanta was defended by British Barrister, J. C. Adam. Another Barrister, a brilliant and mercurial Indian, a great patriot and future leader who gave away his wealth and all for his native land, Tanguturi Prakasam appeared for Sankarakrishna and three other accused.

In later years T. Prakasam known as 'Andhra Kesari' - the Lion of Andhra - occupied several high positions in South India as Chief Minister of Madras, and Andhra Pradesh, Central minister at Delhi and others. He began as pleader in Rajamundry now in Andhra Pradesh where he quickly scaled to the top. Realising that the District Headquarters town was too small an arena for a person of his brilliance and talents he went to England and qualified as Barrister. Back home he set up practice at Madras where he soon made a mark and moved to the forefront of the Bar. Sadly in recent years this great patriot and warm human soul has been sidelined.

M. D. Devadoss (later Mr. Justice Devadoss), J. L. Rozario, B. Narasimha Rao, T. M. Krishnaswami Iyer (a future leader of the Madras bar and later, Chief Justice of the Travancore High Court; he was also a great savant of Hindu religious lore), L. A. Govindaraghava Iyer, S. T. Srinivasagopalachari (a high-ranking Freemason, an eminent epigraphist and numismatist with a fabulous collection of ancient coins of solid gold) and V. Ryru Nambiar held the brief for the other accused.

Who was Nilakanta Bramhachari, as he came to be known? A person of some education born in Erukkoor in Thanjavur district he had been engaged from his late teens in journalism and was drawn to revolutionaries like Aurobindo Ghosh, then the idol of Indian youth. Soon he moved to Pondicherry where he published a Tamil magazine 'Suryodaya'. The British Indian government promptly proscribed it in March 1910. He ran other publications too which were also banned but he managed to circulate copies in British India with the help of friends some of whom were accused in this case. He also worked on other plans and methods to promote his cause, ideals and ideas. He toured the Tinnevelly district meeting people, and recruiting volunteers to drive out the alien British and attain freedom.

The Ashe Murder trial was a prolonged affair and the hearing at Madras went on long for a period of ninety-three days, between September 1911 and January 1912. Witnesses of over a hundred gave evidence on both sides and a mass of the documentary evidence like letters, diaries, publications, records and reports was filed in this case. It was a quite a task for the three judges who sat and heard the case without the benefit of a jury.It was a unique trial indeed, in many ways.

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The Prosecution case was that the conspiracy was initiated by Nilakanta as early as April 1910, when he toured places like Thenkasi and conducted meetings in secret. Here he exhorted people to take cudgels against the alien rulers and strain every nerve, sinew and cell to drive away the Englishman out of the land. During such meetings he met and made friends with Vanchi who felt drawn to Nilakanta at once.

The meetings, understandably in secret, had all the characteristics of an esoteric secret society with its own rituals and rites. One witness, Arumugham Pillai described it thus: 'There was a picture of Goddess Kali. There were red powder (kunkum), sacred ash (vibhuthi), and flowers. On the floor sat four or five people in a line. Nilakanta sat a little away and wrote on sheets of paper. We put that red powder into water and made a solution of it and each of us applied it on the paper. Now it was the white man's blood... on the top of the paper "Vande Matharam" was written... We should kill all white men.... We must sacrifice our lives, person, and property for this society. But whoever reveals the affairs of this society, he shall go to hell and he will be killed.... As we drink the red powder solution, now to us it is the white man's blood....'

When they corresponded among themselves Nilakanta, Vanchi and the lot used phony names to avoid detection. Such fake names were written down on a sheet against each name and the concern man pricked his finger with a knife and affixed his thumb impression in blood!

Vanchi was highly inspired by his guru and the revered members of the Pondicherry band who advocated and justified violence and sabotage as the rightful tools to achieve their goals. He was equally drawn to VOC who suffered immensely, a victim of the ICS despot Ashe. His drastic and Draconian measures and over-aggressive methods to put down VOC kindled bitterness, rage and hostility against him in the hearts of these spirited men. This spark soon grew into a blaze of anger. Nilakanta and his band had ideas and ambitions of murdering all Britishers in India on a particular day and Ashe, like a different kind of Abu Ben Adam topped the list.

The Crown let in heavy doses of evidence, oral and documentary to prove Nilakanta, Vanchi and others were conspirators whose sole aim was to kill Ashe who by now had become the boss at the district, as the Collector. As the actual killer Vanchi had shot himself to avoid capture and being forced to let out secrets, the Crown had to work hard to make the charges stick on Nilakanta and his band. Much of its evidence came from the approvers who were in other words accomplices.

According to the Indian Evidence Act, the position of the reliability of approver's evidence is not clear-cut and precise. Section 133 of the Indian Evidence Act states that, 'a conviction is not illegal merely because it proceeds upon the uncorroborated testimony of an accomplice'. Whereas Section 114 states by a way of an illustration that 'the court may presume that an accomplice is unworthy of credit unless he is corroborated in material particulars'. And this has exceptions too! There is a mass of case law on this point in India and indeed it figures in almost every other case of murder and other crimes.

J. C. Adam, T. Prakasam and the other defence lawyers raised this point and argued it hotly and also subjected the approvers to severe cross-examinations lasting several days. Many witnesses were also attacked on the ground that they were testifying against the accused because of the pressure of the British Indian police who created the evidence for this case. On behalf of Nilakanta a plea of 'alibi' was set up and witnesses were summoned to state on oath that he was not present at places like Shencottah where he met Vanchi and others as charged by the Prosecution.

The Defence lawyers fought with all their ability for their clients. Prakasam rose to rare heights of forensic eloquence, displaying his abundant talents and skills. With this trial

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his name became synonymous with the Ashe Murder Case. His reputation as criminal lawyer rose further to place him among the front rankers of the Madras High Court Bar.

Interestingly the decision of the Full Bench was not unanimous. Sir Arnold White and Ayling delivered a joint judgement while Sankaran Nair delivered his own. He wrote a brilliant judgement, which serves as an excellent resource material for the history of the Indian Freedom Movement of the period. Justice Nair even translated into excellent English the famous patriotic song written by Subramaniam Bharati, 'Endru thaniyum intha suthanthira dhaagam. ' ('when will this thirst for liberty and freedom be quenched...'). So wrote the Judge whom in later years he would fight for the country's freedom. The song was banned by the British but musicians and such continued to sing it in public with the fear of arrest lurking in their bosoms.

Justice Nair came to the conclusion that the charge of murder had not been legally proved against the accused while he held the charges of waging war against the King proved against Nilakanta and another but not the rest.

Finally the Court by a majority decision awarded Nilakanta seven years rigorous imprisonment and Sankarakrishnan was given four years. The remaining accused were sentenced to varying terms of lesser imprisonment.

Appeals were filed against the judgement and a Bench of five judges comprising Sir Ralph Benson, John Wallace, Miller, Abdul Rahim and P. R. Sundara Iyer heard them. C. J. Napier, now as the Advocate-General appeared for the Crown assisted by T. Richmond while the accused were defended by T. Prakasam and others.

The appeals were argued on legal grounds, which were the only issues allowed to be raised in such an appeal. They focused on the value and reliability of the approver's evidence and legal admissibility of some of the Prosecution witnesses.

Three judges, Benson, Wallis and Miller held that the appeals could not be sustained while Rahim differed and opined that the appellants should be acquitted in toto. Sundara Iyer expressed doubts about the conviction and left it at that. The Full Bench finally dismissed the appeals and confirmed the sentences. The final decision of the Ashe Murder Case was as expected because of its political nature of the murder of a British civilian officer and Nilakanta and the rest spent their terms in prison under painful and pitiful conditions.

Vanchi came to be hailed as a martyr and found a place in the Roll Call of Honor of the Indian Freedom Movement. Many years after India became free an agitation was put up successfully by locals to name the Maniyachi railway junction after Vanchi as homage and tribute to his revered memory.

Sadly, Nilakanta Brahmachari is barely remembered today except by some enthusiastic historians of the Indian Freedom Movement. The average literary Indian of today has hardly heard his name. In his later years this great soul gave up politics, perhaps disillusioned and took to spiritualism. He called himself Omkarnath Swami and sought solace in the world of religion and philosophy.

One cannot but wonder how Nilakanta would have thought and reacted had he been alive in the India of today.

From RAndour Guy's blog

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The Pondicherry Chapter

On the 4th of April 1910, Sri Aurobindo landed in Pondicherry. He came here as the result of an 'Adesh' to pursue his spiritual tapasya. As he said later: 'I need some place of refuge in which I can complete my Yoga unassailed and build up other souls around me. It seems to me that Pondicherry is the place appointed by those who are Beyond.' But this did not mean, as it was then supposed, that he had retired into some height of spiritual experience devoid of any further interest in the world or in the fate of India. It could not mean that, for the very principle of his Yoga was not only to realise the Divine and attain to a complete spiritual consciousness, but also to take all life and all world activity into the scope of this spiritual consciousness and action and to base life on the Spirit and give it a spiritual meaning. Consequently, even in his retirement, Sri Aurobindo kept a close watch on all that was happening in the world and in India and actively intervened whenever necessary, but solely with a spiritual force and silent spiritual action.

His public interventions were few and far between; but he constantly followed the political situation not only in India and intervened with his spiritual force. The change is Sri Aurobindo's working is shown in the following letter to a friend written on 13 July 1911. He wrote:

Be very careful to follow my instructions in avoiding the old kind of politics. Spirituality is India's only politics, the fulfilment of the Sanatana Dharma its only Swaraj. I have no doubt we shall have to go through our Parliamentary period in order to get rid of the notion of Western democracy by seeing in practice how helpless it is to make nations blessed. India is passing really through the first stages of a sort of national Yoga. It was mastered in the inception by the inrush of divine force which came in 1905 and aroused it from its state of complete tamasic ajñanam [ignorance]. But, as happens also with individuals, all that was evil, all the wrong samskaras[imprints] and wrong emotions and mental and moral habits rose with it and misused the divine force. Hence all that orgy of political oratory, democratic fervour, meetings, processions, passive resistance, all ending in bombs, revolvers and Coercion laws.... God has struck it all down,— Moderatism, the bastard child of English Liberalism; Nationalism, the mixed progeny of Europe and Asia; Terrorism, the abortive offspring of Bakunin and Mazzini.... It is only when this foolishness is done with that truth will have a chance, the sattwic mind in India emerge and a really strong spiritual movement begin as a prelude to India's regeneration. No doubt, there will be plenty of trouble and error still to face, but we shall have a chance of putting our feet on the right path. In all I believe God to be guiding us, giving the necessary experiences, preparing the necessary conditions.1

On his arrival in Pondicherry, he was received among others by Subramaniam Bharati and Omkar Swami. He immediately went to the house of Srinivas Chettiar and remained in seclusion pursuing intensely his sadhana.

Of course, the British Government did not believe this and continued trying to harass him and others who came as refugees to Pondicherry to evade arrest. For Pondicherry had become a safe haven for many freedom fighters. The British government did everything possible to arrest them and get them deported to British India.

We reproduce here some extracts from reminiscences of those closely associated with Sri Aurobindo and from confidential notes made by the representatives of the British Government. These reminiscences will give some idea of the general mistrust that the British had about Sri Aurobindo and the continuous harassment that the political refugees had to undergo.

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From Government of India. Foreign & Political Dept., General, Conf.

B. 1914. No. 2, 1-3, 12-13. SECRET. CRIMINAL INTELLIGENCE

OFFICE. NOTE ON PONDICHERRY.

Mr. Ashe, Collector of Tinnevelly District, was shot at Maniyachi, a railway junction in the district, about midday on June 17th, 1911, and died within half an hour. His assassin Vanchi alias Sankara Aiyar of Shencotta in Travancore State committed suicide a few minutes after; he was accompanied by a youth named Sankara Krishna Aiyar who ran away, but was afterwards caught and convicted.

An important member of the conspiracy named Nilakanta Aiyar alias Omkar Swami, who absconded to Benares but eventually gave himself up in Calcutta, threw a great deal of light on what had happened. His first statement was made to the Deputy Commissioner of Police in Calcutta, who had no previous knowledge of any of the facts, and it was afterwards repeated in Madras. In his statement he admitted that he used to travel about in the company of Sankara Krishna Aiyar, the youth who was with Vanchi Aiyar at the time of the murder, and that he had met Vanchi Aiyar himself frequently. The most important part of his statement was that relating to Pondicherry. He said he was there for fifteen days at the end of November, 1910, and the beginning of December, and that V.V.S. Aiyar came there at that time, but he did not see him. He again passed through Pondicherry in January, 1911, and after going home returned there in February and stayed four or five days. "At this time," he says, "Vanchi Aiyar came to see me at Pondicherry in connection with the publication of my books. He stayed there three or four days; every day he used to go and see V.V.S. Aiyar. I also met V.V.S. Aiyar at this time. I did not go with Vanchi Aiyar. V.V.S. Aiyar advocated violence and assassination to free the country. I asked him what his aim was; he said violence is the best method in the present state of the country, young men should be induced to violence. No one else was present when I saw V.V.S. Aiyar. V.V.S. Aiyar's idea was that Europeans in India should be assassinated, that the country had been quiet too long. He said many nationalists were working for India in America, England, France and Switzerland." At another place he explains that he was asked to go and see V.V.S. Aiyar by two young men of Pondicherry named Nagaswami Aiyar and Balu alias Balkrishna Aiyar; the former was already known as one of Aiyar's associates, and was seen going to Maniyachi junction the day after the murder.

Nilakanta added that he quarrelled with Vanchi Aiyar in February 1911, and that the latter accused him of being a spy and threatened to shoot him. Thereupon he left Pondicherry and after wandering about in various places reached Benares at the end of April. Having heard of the murder he came down to Calcutta on the 28th June, and after a few days' consideration wrote a letter to the Commissioner of Police. Nilakanta was convicted of complicity in the crime and sentenced to seven years' rigorous imprisonment.

At the end of May, 1911, and again a few days before the murder, two revolutionary leaflets appeared in Tinnevelly, Madura and other places, the first entitled "A Friendly Word to the Aryans" and the second "Oath of Admission into the Abhinav Bharat Society". They both purported to be printed by the "Feringhi Destroyer Press", both referred to a prophecy of Vyasa that "the white empire will be destroyed between the

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years Nandana and Andana", and they contained many other points of resemblance. Internal evidence therefore suggested that they came from the same source. Again the second leaflet was all about the Abhinav Bharat (New India) Society. This was the name given by V.D. Savarkar to the secret revolutionary society started by him in Nasik and continued in London and Paris. When it is remembered that Aiyar was V.D. Savakar's right hand man in London and Paris the inference is that the leaflet about the society was issued by him. Any doubt that both the leaflets emanated from Aiyar's gang in Pondicherry was removed by the fact that when the one entitled "A Friendly Word to the Aryans" was shown to Nilakanta Aiyar he pointed out, without the slightest hesitation, that it was printed in two different types which were, except for the headings, the only two types possessed by the Dharma office in Pondicherry; further that the composition was irregular and evidently not the work of a professional printer, and that the invocation at the end had been used by V.V.S. Aiyar on former occasions.

It appears, therefore, that V.V.S. Aiyar brought to Pondicherry the name, and with it the principles, of the Abhinav Bharat Society, and that the Pondicherry gang issued the revolutionary leaflets which appeared before the murder of Mr. Ashe, and were largely, if not entirely, responsible for the murder. It will be remembered that the murder of Mr. Jackson, Collector of Nasik, on December 1st, 1909, a crime precisely similar in character and execution was carried out by the Nasik branch of Savarkar's Abhinav Bharat Society. The evidence of the connection of the Pondicherry gang with the Ashe murder was so strong that warrants for complicity in it were issued against V.V.S. Aiyar.

Aurabindo Ghose, who came to Pondicherry early in 1910, is not known to have associated much with V.V.S. Aiyar at first. In February 1911 he wrote to the Hindu of Madras a letter published in the issue of that paper dated February 24th in which he complained of the attentions of people he believed to be detectives, and said, "I am living in entire retirement and see none but a few local friends and the few gentlemen of position who care to see me when they come to Pondicherry."

In April, 1912, his associates were a certain Surendra [Saurindra] Nath Bose, who acted as his secretary, and two other Bengali suspects named Bejoy Kumar Nag of Khulna, and Nalini Kanta Sirkar alias Gupta. They were said to be practising yog under Arabindo Ghose and worshipping the Goddess Kali,

On 15th August, 1912, a meeting was held at the house of Arabindo Ghose, in celebration, it is believed, of his 40th birthday. The meeting was attended by V. V. S. Aiyar, C. Subramania Bharati, a well-known writer of sedition, against whom a warrant is out for complicity in the murder of Mr. Ashe, and a few other revolutionaries. During the proceedings five pictures were garlanded with flowers, namely those of (1) the goddessKali, the patron saint of the Bengal revolutionary movement, (2) Bharat Mata, the personification of Mother India, (3) B.G. Tilak and (4) and (5) Khudiram Bose and Profulla Chaki, the two young Bengalis who threw the bomb which killed Mrs. and Miss Kennedy at Muzaffarpur in April, 1908. It was remarked that Arabindo Ghose was now in closer touch with V. V. S. Aiyar and his dangerous gang.

Enquiries made in 1913 showed that there had been no recent unusual activity amongst the suspects here. Their European correspondence is conducted through the French post-office. Madame Cama and V. V. S. Aiyar correspond regularly, and she would have no difficulty in sending him the automatic pistols which she is rumoured to have done on two occasions in the last two years. He is known to have asked her to send him a number of books on military subjects, including Clausewitz's

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standard book on war. The absurdity of Aiyar's studying strategy and tactics at the present stage of the movement he aspires to lead is apparent, but the fact indicates his state of mind and that he dreams of an armed revolution. Copies of the Bande Mataram are regularly sent out by Madame Cama. According to a report received from Paris as recently as August 1913 she sends 50 copies to Pondicherry.

V.V.S. Aiyar has naturally taken care to maintain good relations with the French authorities. On the evening of July 5th, 1913, a meeting was held by V.V.S. Aiyar near the house of the suspect Srinivasa Achari. About 150 people were present, including some 14 refugees from British India. Aiyar said that wherever the British went they oppressed the people, and recently the high officials, by misleading members of Parliament, had succeeded in passing new laws which were against the interests of India. The police had also harrassed the people; 30 or 40 people had been unnecessarily arrested and were now being prosecuted in Barisal. It was for this reason that he and Arabindo Ghose and the others had had to leave British India and settle in French territory. They were tired of British law. They had received better treatment in French territory, and the French officers were very kind and courteous. He had received a letter from his friend Shyamaji Krishnavarma in Paris to say that the new Governor of Pondicherry would leave Paris in October next, and he appealed to Arabindo Ghose to prepare an address of welcome. It is stated that Arabindo agreed to do this, and the report indicates that Arabindo Ghose and V.V.S. Aiyar continue to be on good terms.

The interest known to be taken by the British Government in Pondicherry affairs has encouraged some local men to come forward with exaggerated and false reports. The most notorious false informer is named Mayoresin, but there are others, and information received from Indian informers in Pondicherry has to be received with more than the usual caution.

C.R. ClevelandDDirector of Criminal Intelligence.

List of the Anarchists, Political Suspects of Pondicherry, and Their Associates CONFIDENTIAL No. 160/8.8.12

Notes on Pondicherry

1. Personal

I attach "A", a copy of the latest revised list of extremists in Pondicherry with my instructions as to their surveillance. The only addition to the inner ring which consists of Arabindo Ghose and his five (four) satellites, V.V.S. Aiyar, Srinivasa Chari, Bharathi, Nagaswami and Ramaswami, is T.S. Srinivasamurthi, whose history is given in para 86 of our current Secret Abstract.

2. Habits

The party is still comparatively quiet, but there are signs of renewed activity which broke forth especially at the time of T.S. Srinivasamurthi's arrival in Pondicherry. V.V.S. Aiyar has been, and is, busy composing a History of India, and has finished an epitome of the Ramayana, and Bharathi has been with Nagaswami as his amanuensis, composing further patriotic poems. We have copies of some of these recent compositions but they have steered clear of anything seditious. They have been more ready to go out to Dramas and entertainments and are, as a rule, received with a good deal of honour and given prominent seats at these places. When suitable lines occur in plays, I understand that they are very obviously spoken at the

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extremists, who quite acknowledge them. They are still in correspondence with Madame Cama, D.S. Madava Rao, M.P. Tirumala Chari and still receive, to the address of others, The Indian Sociologist and Bande Mataram and a recent post brought them a copy of the July Liberator.

3. Circumstances

Without being absolutely on their last legs they are distinctly in straitened circumstances. V.V.S. Aiyar and Arabindo Ghose are both changing their houses from motives of economy. Bharathi has the greatest difficulty in getting his poems printed at all and a Pondicherry press does not charge prohibitive rates. T.S. Srinivasamurthi has practically nothing and if A.G. does lend the others money (he has lent Srinivasa Chari money), he takes extra-ordinarily good care that he gets it back sharp, even if his young men have to wait all day for it. Local support is forthcoming; I know of one Chetty who gives Rs. 3/- a month but it is not lavishly paid, and the older folk have set their faces very strongly against their sons associating with the extremists. V.V.S. Aiyar has been importing sham jewels which D.S. Madava Rao sends him, and is trying to export skins and poppadams and so make a bit of money by trade. Arabindo Ghose of course has money which he gets through the banks, and his Bengalis spend their time in a reading room and are apparently shining lights at the local games clubs, football and hockey especially, as far as I hear, being their favourites.

4. Noteworthy Events

The arrival of T.S. Srinivasamurthi created a prompt impression. As his history is given in the Abstract I need not go into details regarding him. The effect of his arrival on the others was, however, an outburst of social activity; my impression of him is that he is a blustering youth but very shallow. He was the first new man for months that had openly gone about with the extremists and after his arrival, there was a constant succession of picnics and dinner parties, meetings at Bhamalaya (a press where the extremists meet), visits to A.G. and so forth. I was rather afraid, and, if I may guess, I think that they thought that they had got another like Nilakanta Aiyar, who carried the message of sedition to Tinnevelly, or like Vanchi the assassin. And we were very watchful. But he has toned down wonderfully; my information is that the others are down on him as his continually dodging of our party in Pondicherry has made them more active than ever and the others have suggested that he should leave but he replies "I dare not, I have given the police so much trouble that they will break my bones". And I hear that he has never been allowed to see Arabindo Ghose at all, a privilege which is carefully preserved for the worthy. He knew Bharathi and others in Madras, and he had spent most of his money in his native village; a warrant was out against him for evading the plague regulations and in consequence of this he bolted to Pondicherry. The warrant is now in the hands of the special party Inspector and he will be arrested the moment he steps across the Frontier, unless he gets away unbeknownst to us; he will get a good fright when he is arrested and he may give us certain information. I may be mistaken but I don't think he is really dangerous.

A possible future event is the arrival of M.P. Tirumala Chari, lately in Constantinople. I have already reported this to the Director of Criminal Intelligence in my D.O. letter No. 706 dated 20th July 1912. I have informed Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, Rangoon and Colombo and all these ports have his photograph and description. The

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Commissioner of Police has a case against him absolutely ready if he does fall into our hands.

5. Summary

As far as I can see, the extremists are marking time. We have discovered no lectures and nothing like drills or revolver practice going on and no emissaries are being sent out. V. V. S. Aiyar, Arabindo Ghose and Bharathi are busy with literary work. Srinivasa Chari seldom goes out and the younger ones amuse themselves in their own way. But it is no time to give up any of our vigilance. I regard V.V.S. Aiyar as very determined character and a capable originator; Arabindo Ghose is important as he commands general respect and Srinivasa Chari is fairly steadfast; Bharathi is a much more disreputable character but has gone too far to retreat and must go on with it. A curious air of expectancy seems to pervade the party. Arabindo Ghose says in reply to a friend that he will not go back to Bengal as there will be trouble there shortly and the police will be sure to attribute it to him if he is back; Bharathi writing to a friend in Natal says that all their bad times and troubles are past; for some reason I have not yet fathomed, they think 1915 to be the year of trouble. I can see no connection between them and any centre in Madras City. But I do not know how far the wires are pulled from Bengal through Arabindo Ghose and his party. But they will certainly require a longer subsidy if they are to be really active.

Longden

5/8/12 D.I.G. Police, Railway & C.I.D., Madras

From Reminiscences of Srinivas Achari. National Archives of India. Private Papers Collection. History of the Freedom Movement B 34/2.

The next attempt was to tease us through the Pondicherry Government itself either by influencing the local authorities or by bringing pressure upon them from France. One fine morning the Pondicherry Government issued an order that all foreigners in the French Establishments should register themselves in the police; and the newcomers should do so within 24 hours of their arrival, stating the purpose of their visit and the time they intend to stay. The British police had a strong suspicion that one Madasami, a staunch Nationalist in Tirunelveli Dist. and who had disappeared after the murder of Ash[e], was hiding in Pondicherry. By finding him out they thought they could easily implicate us in the murder. They tried their best to find him, and this police registration may[have] be[en] an attempt to know whether any of his relatives are coming and going. Whether they succeeded or not we had to get ourselves registered according to the rules. We knew that these pinpricks were all due to the stay of the British Indian secret police in Pondicherry.

From Nolini Kanta Gupta, Reminiscences (Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram, 1959) 55.

Now let me say a few nice things, about some good people, for such people too had their abode here in Pondicherry. At the very outset I should speak of the Five Good Men. It is quite possible that there was a law in French India that applied to foreigners. But now the law was made stringently applicable to refugees from our own country. It was laid down that all foreigners, that is, anyone who was not a French citizen, wanting to come and stay here for some time must be in possession of a certificate from a high Government official of the place from where he came, such as

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a Magistrate in British India, to the effect that he was a well-known person and that there was nothing against him; in other words, he must be in possession of a "good-conduct" certificate. Or else he must produce a letter to the same effect signed by five gentlemen of standing belonging to Pondicherry. I need hardly say that the first alternative was for us quite impossible and wholly out of the question. We chose the second line, and the five noble men who affixed their signatures were these: (1) Rassendren (the father of our Jules Rassendren), (2) De Zir Naidu, (3) Le Beau,

(4) Shanker Chettiar (in whose house Sri Aurobindo had put up on arrival),(5) Murugesh Chettiar. The names of these five should be engraved in letters of gold. They had shown on that occasion truly remarkable courage and magnanimity. It was on the strength of their signatures that we could continue to stay here without too much trouble.

THE HOUSE SEARCH INCIDENT OF APRIL 1912

From Nolini Kanta Gupta, Reminiscences (Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram, 1969) 44-45.

At one time, they [the British authorities] made up their minds that Sri Aurobindo should be kidnapped in a car with the help of one of the chiefs of the local "bandes". We had to patrol all night the house in which Sri Aurobindo lived, lest there should be a sudden attack. I gather the ringleader behind this move showed repentance later and said that to act against a holy man and yogi was a great sin and that a curse might fall on the evildoer himself.

Nevertheless, force having failed they now tried fraud. An attempt was made to frame a trumped-up charge at law. Some of the local "ghouls" were made to help forge the documents — some photographs and maps and charts along with a few letters — which were to prove that we had been engaged in a conspiracy for dacoity and murder. The papers were left in a well in the compound of one of our men, then they were "discovered" after a search by the police. The French police had even entered Sri Aurobindo's residence for a search. But when their Chief found there were Latin and Greek books lying about on his desk, he was so taken aback that he could only blurt out, "Il sait du latin, il sait du grec!" — "He knows Latin, he knows Greek!" — and then he left with all his men. How could a man who knew Latin and Greek ever commit any mischief?

In fact, the French Government had not been against us, indeed they helped us as far as they could. We were looked upon as their guests and as political refugees, it was a matter of honour for them to give us their protection. And where it is a question of honour, the French as a race are willing to risk anything: they still fight duels in France on a point of honour. But at the same time, they had their friendship, the entente cordiale, with Britain to maintain, and it is this that got them into a dilemma.

From A.B. Purani, Life of Sri Aurobindo (Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, 1978) 149-50.

In July 1912 some secret service men threw a tin containing seditious literature into the well of V.V.S. Aiyar's house. As the British agents could not openly act in French territory, they employed Mayuresan, a French Indian, to complain against Bharati and other patriots, alleging that they were engaged in dangerous activities and that, if a search of their house was made, proof of the complaint would be found. He had not mentioned Sri Aurobindo by name but as Bharati, V.V.S. Aiyar and Srinivasachari

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were friends of Sri Aurobindo, the French government included his name on a list of those whose houses were to be searched.

But the scheme of the secret agents fell through, because the tin came up from the well when V.V.S. Aiyar's maid-servant drew water. Bharati went to Sri Aurobindo immediately and asked his advice. Sri Aurobindo told him to inform the French police and to ask them to come and see the tin to find what it contained. The French government took charge of the tin and found that it contained seditious pamphlets and journals. On some there was the image of Kali and some writing in Bengali. The suspicion was supposed to be created that all these refugees were carrying on correspondence with Shyamji Krishna Varma, Madame Cama and other leaders of the revolutionary movement in Europe and were trying to hatch an Indian conspiracy with their help.

The investigating magistrate who came to search Sri Aurobindo's house was one M. Nandot, who arrived with the chief of police and the public prosecutor. He found practically no furniture in the house, only a few trunks, a table and a chair. On opening the drawers of the table he found only books and papers. On some of the papers Greek was written. He was very much surprised and asked if Sri Aurobindo knew Greek. When he came to know that he knew Latin, Greek and other European languages, his suspicion waned, yielding place to a great respect for Sri Aurobindo. He invited Sri Aurobindo to meet him in his chambers later and Sri Aurobindo complied with his request.

Mayuresan, threatened with a charge of making a false complaint, disappeared from Pondicherry and took refuge in British India.

Extract from letter by Sri Aurobindo to Motilal Roy 3 July 1912 (Sri Aurobindo, Supplement (1973), 427).

Other difficulties are disappearing. The case brought against the Swadeshis (no one in this household was included in it although we had a very charmingly polite visit from the Parquet and Juge d'Instruction) has collapsed into the nether regions and the complainant and his son have fled from Pondicherry and become, like ourselves "political refugees" in Cuddalore. I hear he has been sentenced by default to five years imprisonment on false accusation, but I don't know yet whether the report is true. The police were to have left at the end of Pondicherry but a young lunatic (one of Bharati's old disciples in patriotism and atheism) got involved in a sedition-search (for the Indian Sociologist of all rubbish in the world!) and came running here in the nick of time for the police to claim another two months' holiday in Pondicherry. However, I think their fangs have been drawn.

THE INCIDENT OF BIREN ROY

Extract from Nolini Kanta Gupta, Reminiscences (Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram, 1969), 52-53.

The British Indian police set up a regular station here, with a rented house and several permanent men. They were of course plainclothes men, for they had no right to wear uniform within French territory. They kept watch, as I have said, both on our visitors and guests as well as ourselves. Soon they got into a habit of sitting on the pavement round the corner next to our house in groups of three or four. They chatted away the whole day and only now and again took down something in their notebooks. What kind of notes they took we found out later on, when, after India had

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become independent and the French had left, some of these notes could be secured from the Police files and the confidential records of Government. Strange records, these: the police gave reports all based on pure fancy, they made up all sorts of stories at their sweet will. As they found it difficult to gather correct and precise information, they would just fabricate the news.

Nevertheless, something rather awesome did happen once. We had by then shifted to the present Guest House. There were two new arrivals. One was a relative of Bejoy's, Nagen Nag, who had managed to get away from his family and had come to stay here on the pretext of a change of air for his illness. The other was a friend and acquaintance of his who had come with him as a companion and help; his name was Birendra Roy.

One day, this Birendra suddenly shaved his head. Moni said he too would have his head shaved, just because Birendra had done it. That very day, or it was perhaps the day after, there occurred a regular scene. We had as usual taken our seats around Sri Aurobindo in the afternoon. Suddenly, Biren stood up and shouted, "Do you know who I am? You may not believe it, but I am a spy, a spy of the British police. I can't keep it to myself any longer. I must speak out, I must make the confession before you." With this he fell at Sri Aurobindo's feet. We were stunned, almost dumbfounded. As we kept wondering if this could be true, or was all false, perhaps a hallucination or some other illusion — māyā nu matibhramo nu — Biren started, again, "Oh, you do not believe me? Then let me show you." He entered the next room, opened his trunk, drew out a hundred rupee note and showed it to us. "See, here is the proof. Where could I have got all this money? This is the reward of my evil deed. Never, I shall never do this work again. I give my word to you, I ask your forgiveness...." No words came to our lips, all of us kept silent and still.

This is how it came about. Biren had shaved his head in order that the police spies might spot him out as their man from the rest of us by the sign of the shaven head. But they were nonplussed when they found Moni too with a shaven head. And Biren began to suspect that Moni, or perhaps the whole lot of us, had found out his secret and that Moni had shaved on purpose. So, partly out of fear and partly from true repentance, for the most part no doubt by the pressure of some other Force, he was compelled to make his confession.

After this incident, the whole atmosphere of the house got a little disturbed. We were serious and worried. How was it possible for such a thing to happen? An enemy could find his entry into our apartments, an enemy who was one of ourselves? What should be done? Bejoy was furious, and it was a job to keep him from doing something drastic. However, within a few days, Biren left of his own accord and we were left in peace. I hear he afterwards joined the Great War and was sent to Mesopotamia with the Indian army.

From Nolini Kanta Gupta, Reminiscences (Pondicherry. Sri Aurobindo Ashram, 1969), 45-46.

In addition to force and fraud, the British Government did not hesitate to make use of temptation as well. They sent word to Sri Aurobindo which they followed up by a messenger, to say that if he were to return to British India, they would not mind. They would indeed be happy to provide him with a nice bungalow in the quiet surroundings of a hill station, Darjeeling, where he could live in complete freedom and devote himself to his spiritual practices without let or hindrance. Needless to add, this was an ointment spread out to catch a fly and Sri Aurobindo refused the invitation with a "No, thank you."

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THREATENED DEPORTATION TO ALGERIA

Afterwards came a more serious attack, perhaps the one most fraught with danger. The First World War was on. India had been seething with discontent and things were not going too well abroad on the European front. The British Government now brought pressure on the French: they must do something drastic about their political refugees. Either they should hand them over to the British, or else let them be deported out of India. The French Government accordingly proposed that they would find room for us in Algeria. There we could live in peace; they would see to our passage so that we need have no worry on that score. If on the other hand we were to refuse this offer, there might be danger: the British authorities might be allowed to seize us forcibly.

I can recall very well that scene. Sri Aurobindo was seated in his room in what was later called "Guest House", Rue François Martin. We too had come. Two or three of the Tamil nationalist leaders who had sought refuge in Pondicherry came in and told Sri Aurobindo about the Algeria offer and also gave a hint that they were agreeable. Sri Aurobindo paused a little and then he said, in a quiet clear tone, "I do not budge from here." To them this came as a bolt from the blue; they had never expected anything like this. In Algeria there would be freedom and peace, whereas here we lived in constant danger and uncertainty. But now they were helpless. Sri Aurobindo had spoken and they could hardly act otherwise. They had no alternative but to accept the decision, though with a heavy heart.

From Reminiscences of Srinivas Achari. National Archives of India. Private Papers Collection. History of the Freedom Movement B 34/2.

When the Pondicherry Government and especially the ruling class were in this perturbed state of mind [due to the war and in particular to the presence of the German battleship Emden off Pondicherry] it was but natural for them to ask us, perhaps at the instigation of the [British] Indian Government, to be ready to go to their North African colonies if required. Each one of us gave his own answer with a general request to kindly put it as a last resort if our other terms are not acceptable. So far as I remember this was our last correspondence with the Pondicherry Government. We lived there afterwards for five or six years without any trouble like the other citizens of the town. The British secret police stayed there a year or so without giving us any trouble except that of following us at some distance. We began to lead a peaceful quiet life, each one of us attending to our own work.

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HOME

The Cultural Influence on the Freedom Movement

As mentioned earlier in the chapter on the partition in Bengal, Ramsay Macdonald had exclaimed: 'Bengal is creating India by song and worship; it is clothing her in queenly garments.' In South India too, culture had a very powerful impact. We shall illustrate this phenomenon through two very powerful personalities, Subramaniam Bharati and Kamala Devi Chattopadhay.

Bharati's Literature

On 4 April 1910, a significant event occurred: Sri Aurobindo, poet, patriot and Yogi, arrived in Pondicherry from Bengal. Towards the end of 1910, V. V. S. Aiyar - Barrister Savarkar's comrade-in-arms - also arrived, escaping from the prison that was British India. Pondicherry was fast becoming the refuge of Indian patriots, and also the radiating centre of a new renaissance, offering a new hope for India and the world. Sri Aurobindo and Subramaniam Bharati engaged in Vedic studies, and Bharati too learned to see India - as Sri Aurobindo had seen Her - verily as the Mother, and to sing Her praises.

The murder of Collector Ashe at Maniyachi in 1911 turned the suspicion of the Indian Government to the refugee patriots in Pondicherry. They were harassed in various ways, and every attempt was made to abduct and bring them to India, though, in vain. Meantime Bharati the poet was not idle: actually he worked at white heat during the whole of 1912 and composed in the course of the year some of his greatest poems, viz. the group of poems centred around the personality of Krishna, the remarkable fable known as Kuyil Pattu, and the justly celebrated Panchali's Vow. In 1914 the Great War came, and Bharati's difficulties only increased. He continued to write however, and friends like Parali S. Nellayappar and S. Srinivasachari managed to arrange for the publication of several of his poems in Madras. Of his life at Pondicherry much has been written: among others, his own daughter, Thangammal, and his friend S. Srinivasachari's daughter, Yadugiri Ammal, have published their memories of the poet, touched with tenderness and warm-hearted affection. Bharati was not like other men: he was wayward, impractical and unique. But he had one marvelous human gift: he could inspire affection - even love leading to idolatry - in his close friends and near relations. And he was a superlatively gifted poet, and knew he was one!

The 10 years at Pondicherry, a period no doubt of seeming frustration and inactivity, were really the true flowering time of Bharati the poet. V. V. S. Aiyar was to him a pillar of support, a stimulant, a guardian angel, while Sri Aurobindo was even more - a *spell-binder, an inspiration, a veritable Krishna to this neophyte Arjuna. All three, besides being patriots of the first order, were also lovers of poetry and of Indian culture and philosophy. Their discussions must have been at once vastly interesting and wondrously fruitful, and Bharati's poetry now acquired a depth, an intensity and a range it had not known before. Sri Aurobindo turned Bharati's mind to the Vedas and to Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, and initiated him into the truth of things, the secret of world-existence as the play of Shakti. Under Sri Aurobindo's influence, Bharati translated the Gita and a chapter from Patanjali into Tamil, and hymned the glory and greatness of Mahashakti in poem after poem. Chafing that he had been rusting too long in exile, not shining in patriotic armour on the regular battlefield, Bharati crossed the border on 20 November 1918, and was promptly arrested near Cuddalore. Less than a month later, however, he was released, and he proceeded to his wife's place, Kadayam, in Tinnevelly District. Here he remained for the following 2 years except for brief visits to Ettayapuram, Karaikudi and other places; in March 1919, during a visit to Madras, he met Gandhiji at the residence of Chakravarti Rajagopalachari - a memorable meeting indeed! December 1920 found Bharati in Madras again, this time

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installed as assistant editor of Swadesamitran, a post he had held 15 years earlier. Numerous were his contributions to the press, and there was no flagging of his intellectual energy. It was the commencement of the Gandhi Age - or the Heroic Age, as C. R. Reddy once called it - of modern India. Bharati was in the swim, he was filled with expectancy; he was wonderfully alive. Admirers gathered round him in the evenings, he broke unpredictably into song, he addressed numerous public meetings. And his writings made literary history in Tamil Nadu.

The story draws to a close. In July 1921, Bharati was involved in a cruel and tragic accident: the Triplicane temple elephant seized him with its trunk and cast him on the ground rendering him unconscious, and although he was promptly rescued, the shock impaired his health seriously. He seemed to be recovering, but other ailments intervened, and on 11 September his condition took a turn for the worse, and he died past midnight in the early hours of 12 September 1921. The brave heroic soul that was Subramaniam Bharati had passed away.

Bharati's Poetical Works

The circumstances of Bharati's life were such that he could not - as a Wordsworth or a Tennyson did - pursue the profession of poetry either with security or with steady success. Few lives could have been more chequered, and he had constantly to struggle against poverty at home and Government hostility outside. A lesser man than Bharati would have completely broken under the double strain, but being a Titan, he stood his ground bravely, and he could have said with the poet William Ernest Henley:

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

When his untimely end came in 1921, not all his poems had seen regular or definitive publication. No doubt his name and his songs were on almost every Tamilian's lips; few public meetings began in the twenties and thirties without one or more of his patriotic songs being sung lustily to put the audience in a right receptive frame of mind; and during the last 10 or 15 years, his songs have been rendered on the air by accomplished exponents of Carnatic music such as N. C. Vasanthakokilam, M. S. Subbulakshmi and D. K. Pattammal. Bharati festivals have been organised, books and appreciative articles have been published, and Bharati's position as the pre-eminent poet of the modern Tamil renaissance is now, and has been for over 3 decades, a part of our public opinion, not open to question. However, it was not easy to get Bharati's works - especially the Poems - in handy form. Copyright difficulties stood long in the way of a popular issue of the Poems. This problem was solved by the Madras Government when they secured the copyright of Bharati's writings from their former owner, and published a collected edition of the Poems printed at the Government Press. Government went further and announced that it was open to any private publisher to issue Bharati's writings without paying a copyright fee. In the meantime the phenomenal success of the cheap edition of Rajaji's Mahabharata in Tamil (otherwise known as Vyasar Virundhu) emboldened Mr. V. Govindan of Sakti Karyalayam to issue in April 1957 the Complete Poetical Works of Bharati in a single handy volume of over 600 pages, but priced only Rs. 1.50. Thus at long last it became possible to have all of Bharati's poetry in an inexpensive volume. There could now be no justification whatsoever for ignorance of the full amplitude and

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the high altitudes of Bharati's poetic achievement. In the collected edition referred to above, Bharati's poems are arranged under the following heads and subheads:

Part I - Patriotic Songs

1. Songs on Bharat Land

2. Songs on Tamil Nadu

3. Freedom

4. Songs on the Freedom Movement

5. National Leaders

6. Songs inspired by Freedom Movements in other countries

PART II - Devotional Songs

1. Prayer songs

2. Songs of knowledge (jnana)

PART III - Miscellaneous Songs

1. Ethics

2. Society

3. Unclassified songs

4. Tributes

5. Autobiographical

6. Free verse

There are over 300 individual poems or songs in the collection (53 in Part I, 102 in Part II, and so on) and even the longer poems apparently inspired by a single theme (like the autobiography, Kannan Pattu, and Panchali's Vow) are divided into numerous almost self-sufficient smaller pieces, or jets of song, though the general unity of design too is quite obvious. One thing therefore is clear: Bharati's poetic genius was essentially lyrical, he excelled in short sudden spurts of song, and he was averse to long sustained narratives. Kuyil's Song (Kuyil Pattu) shows that Bharati's powers of mere narration too were of a high order, but he seemed generally to prefer to immortalise moods, emotions, waves of passion and gleams of memory to chronicling laboriously events or linked actions. He was a lord of language too; he both liberated Tamil from the shackles that Punditry had forced upon it and rode the emancipated language as a master horseman, bringing the best out of it. What the living tradition had to give he received as a gift of grace; but his eyes spanned the future no less. English poetry - the great Romantics especially - inspired him to attempt new forms of poetic expression and a variety of metres. From Walt Whitman, to whom probably Sri Aurobindo introduced Bharati, he learnt on the other hand a boldness, freedom and forthrightness of utterance. If Whitman was the prophet of American democracy, Bharati would be the prophet of the new Indian Republic to be, and he would sing its praises unreservedly.

Poet of Freedom and Patriotism

The poet of freedom and patriotism is the Bharati that most people know, and have known for the last few decades. Many of these songs were so immediately effective in the context of the freedom struggle, they were so brilliantly tuned to the temper of the moment, that it is difficult even today, so many years after independence to judge them as mere poetry. To call these songs political or propagandist poetry is surely off the mark: freedom in Bharati's songs is an elemental thirst, a basic aspiration and need of the human soul. Besides, these songs of freedom are often linked up with the concept of India, Bharat, as the Mother. No mere metaphor, this, but - at any rate for Bharati as it was for Sri Aurobindo - a reality, an

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article of religious faith! It is not patriotism but the religion of patriotism that Bharati preached; it is not the geographical entity that he sang about, but India the mother of us all, the sustainer, the saviour. Vande Mataram was the 'mantra' that Rishi Bankim Chandra had given to a weak enslaved people to enable them to wake up and achieve their salvation. Bharati took up the mantric cry and made it resound everywhere in Tamil Nadu. Weaklings became patriots, and cowardice turned into valour. Bharati with his magic verse had waved the wand, and the age of sloth and slavery was ended for ever. As Sarojini Naidu said in her finely worded message sent at the time of the opening of the Bharati Memorial Building at Ettayapuram on 13 October 1947:

'Poet Bharati has fulfilled the true mission of a poet. He has created Beauty, not only through the medium of glowing and lovely words, but has kindled the souls of men and women by the million to a more passionate love of Freedom and a richer dedication to the service of the country.' Bharati saw India as his motherland - Bharat the Divine Mother - in diverse attitudes and situations: he saw her fettered, struggling valiantly to free herself, hoping and despairing alternately; he saw her as a veritable Kamadhenu, unfailing giver of unending bounty; he glimpsed too the resurgent Bharat of the not distant future, active, puissant, prosperous, gay and wise. The fever of freedom raged in Bharati like a fever of the blood, and he transmitted it as a sort of Asian 'Flu' to everybody; but it was a fever that raged only to purify the system in the end - When will this thirst for freedom slake? When will our love of slavery die?

The nectar of freedom was what Bharati wanted most, and nothing else was of any account to him. Would they that have aspired for freedom be satisfied with anything less? Would they that have tasted divine nectar be content with sipping wine? Freedom was the golden bough, it had to be grown by sacrificing - if need be - everything else. Yet the Lord too should view human effort with kindness; without His grace all mere human exertion could not lead us anywhere.

If eternal be your Rule

And the reign of Dharma,

Ere it be too late indeed,

Vouchsafe to us this gift of freedom!

Yet Bharati thought that the attainment of freedom was a foreordained thing, especially after the arrival of Gandhiji upon the political scene, and so he gave this word of cheer:

'Freed thou shalt become soon,

And embrace victory.'

Thus in his dear motherland

Gandhi fosters Revolution.

'Nor heat nor cold affects the soul,

Nor weakness nor rebuff the fighter:

Always wage the dharmic fight!'

Thus exhorts Mahatma Gandhi.

Bharati was confident of the Indians - comprising as they did the freedom-loving Rajputs, Mahrattas, Bengalis, Andhras, Tamils, Kannadigas and the rest - rising successfully to expel the foreigner even at the cost of their lives. In a song which Mr. H. R. Krishnan has described as the 'March Lorraine of India', Bharati sees Indians gathering below

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[t]he flag of Bharat fluttering in the breeze -

See, see thy Mother's darling flag!

Come and bow and sing its praises!

High on a mast

Flutters the silken flag

Rocked by a gentle breeze:

Read 'Vande Mataram' there!

Bharati was not, of course, unaware of the conditions that had to be established if freedom was to come and remain. He was outspoken in his condemnation of the caste system, and he felt bitter that it had brought about the fragmentation of Indian humanity. He therefore affirmed - Religion and caste shan't divide us. We conclude with tributes paid by Shri C Rajagopalchari and Shrimati Sarojini Naidu.

'Just as in ancient days, Vyasa and Valmiki served human progress, Poet Subramania Bharati has served the Tamils in recent times by his writings. There can be no limit to reading Bharati's poems. The more they are read, the more do they bestow sweetness and benefit.'

Bharat Ratna C. Rajagopalachari

'Poet Bharati has fulfilled the true mission of a poet. He has created Beauty not only through the medium of glowing and lovely words, but has kindled the souls of men and women by the million to a more passionate love of Freedom, and a richer dedication to the service of the country. Poets like Bharati cannot be counted as the treasure of any province. He is entitled, by his genius and his work, to rank among those who have transcended all limitation of race, language and continent, and have become the universal possession of mankind.'

Shrimati Sarojini Naidu

Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay

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Government responsive to the people's basic needs. It involved violating the law against making salt from seawater and touched the heart of millions of Indians.

A succession of tragedies befell Kamaladevi early in life. First, her elder sister, Saguna, whom she adored as a role model, died in her teens soon after an early marriage. Not long after, her father passed away. To compound the tragedy, he did not will his property between his wife and surviving daughter on the one hand and a son by his first marriage on the other. So, according to the prevailing law, the male heir inherited the property leaving Kamaladevi and her mother in the lurch. Even now, nearly seventy years after independence, there is no uniform law in India giving daughters an equal or even a smaller share in ancestral property. In the wake of the tragedy

Kamaladevi was married off at the age of fourteen in 1917 when she was still in high school. Her mother was diffident, bringing up a fatherless teenager single-handedly; especially when she herself was not too well. Kamaladevi's husband died within a year of the marriage. So 15-year-old Kamaladevi became a widow. Her father-in-law was unusually liberal-minded. He enabled Kamaladevi to pursue her studies and also advised her to remarry.

Having finished high school in Mangalore, Kamaladevi joined Queen Mary's College in Madras, where she developed a friendship with Suhasini Chattopadhyay, Sarojini Naidu's younger sister who was also studying there. The Chattopadhyays, a celebrated family of Calcutta, set up an establishment in Madras for Suhasini's education. More members of the family, including Suhasini's elder brother, Harindranath (Harin), gravitated there. Harin, poet, playwright and actor, was handsome and vivacious and it was a matter of time before Kamaladevi and Harin fell in love.

By the time Kamaladevi was twenty, she had married Harin. They had shared interests in the arts, especially theatre and music, and the two also collaborated to produce plays and skits. Their only son, Ramu, was born in the following year. Whether due to the envy of the gods or cupidity of human nature the Harin- Kamaladevi marriage did not endure. After independence while some nationalist leaders assumed the responsibility of running the administration; others, notably the Socialists, opted for an Opposition role to strive for a two-party system and to bring their socialist preference to bear on policy-making. Kamaladevi represented a third category of leaders who took up nongovernmental constructive work. She set out to establish co-operatives. As running cooperatives came naturally to women, she involved herself in the activities of the All-India Women's Conference (AIWC), not however as a fiery feminist. Among specific campaign issues taken up by Kamaladevi and her colleagues was plugging the loopholes in the Sarada Act, as the Prevention of Child Marriage Act was known. Kamaladevi's approach was twofold: to expose and fight against gender injustice of all kinds and simultaneously to strive for the uplift of women. In that context, she planted the seed for what later became the Lady Irwin College in New Delhi by campaigning for improving the quality and practical value of women's education.

Meanwhile, the post-partition situation offered a readymade problem for Kamaladevi to take up. Tens of thousands of refugees from mainly west Punjab were in Delhi looking for shelter and work. Many of them had lost vast property when they fled their hearths and homes in the wake of mass killings. As many as 10,000 refugees were huddled in tents and makeshift shelters in and around Delhi. Pucca buildings like bungalows and homes vacated by Muslims who had migrated to Pakistan were evacuee property to be allotted by the government to the dispossessed from Pakistan. But it was a time-consuming process, whereas the approaching Delhi winter would make miserable the lives of the men, women and children in makeshift habitats. Kamaladevi decided that co-operative house building was the solution. It was a long-term problem, in fact a problem for life as far as the refugees were concerned.

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There was no possibility of their going back to the property that they were forced to abandon in Pakistan. Secondly, it would be callous and inhuman to expect them to live in the makeshift structures until the government was able to rehabilitate them. Running free kitchens and providing doles to them would be an insult to the pride of the Punjabis for whom living on alms was anathema. The result was the Indian Co-operative Union, which established co-operative farms-cum-houses at Chattarpur and Jaitpur in the Mehrauli area off the Qutab Minar. The idea was that the refugees would resume their traditional occupation of farming by growing vegetables and some grain also on land to be given to them on a co-operative basis.

Simultaneously, when the Chattarpur farm was on its feet, Kamaladevi embarked on an industrial township at Faridabad (now in Haryana) where 30,000 refugees were settled. Dr. Rajendra Prasad, future President of India, had agreed to be the Chairman of the Faridabad Development Board set up under the umbrella of the Indian Co-operative Union. This was followed by the Central Cottage Industries Emporium, a government establishment. It included pottery, woodwork, carvings, metal artefacts, jewellery, furniture and accessories, and decorative items besides designer clothes. Through training courses for talent scouted from different parts of the country with the accent on ethnic traditions, the Emporium has grown into a workshop for imparting new skills to artisans, weavers and craftspersons, besides marketing their handiwork.

Concurrently, Kamaladevi launched the Indian National Theatre (INT) as a means for the national movement to find expression through the arts, including theatre, with her natural flair for the theatre as an instrument of educating the people and spreading awareness of values in them while reviving the nation's cultural heritage. The entertainment dimension was an added boon. The INT, which had been confining itself to largely Gujarati plays, made a debut in Delhi with a ballet in English based on Nehru's book, The Discovery of India, highlighting the pan-Asian aspect of Indian Nationalism. It was staged at the 1946 Asian Relations Conference at Purana Qila in Delhi. Overwhelmed, Nehru said the ballet was 'much better than my book'.

Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya was the early founder of the AIWC. She was one of the greatest protagonists of art in the country. She was an eloquent speaker and an orator that could make audiences spellbound. She was much interested in popularising traditional Indian handicrafts. According to her, Beauty was not the prerogative of the rich or beyond the reach of the ordinary man; in today's mechanised society, it lay unnoticed and disregarded in the cottages of rural India. She has been called the 'Hastkala Ma' or Mother of Handicrafts. A fearless fighter for social equality, she was the first Indian woman to stand for open political election in the mid-twenties. She was the 'supreme romantic heroine' of the Satyagraha Movement, and was the first woman in Bombay Presidency to be arrested for breaking the salt laws. She was the recipient of many national and international awards, including the prestigious Magsaysay Award, and Vishwa Bharati and Deshikotamma, conferred on her by Indira Gandhi in 1970, and the Padma Vibhushan award.

Kamaladevi wanted to revive the age-old crafts from extinction. She found beauty in everything and had an awareness of art and beauty even in the most dubious of places. She was a nature lover like Wordsworth. She had a special love for the rural and rustic life. The Indian embroidery she liked were the trappings for animals, horses, elephants and bullocks. The minute details on the mud walls of cottages attracted her and she would stride through puddles and dung-heaps to take a look. The weavers, potters, metal workers, wood carvers, jewellers, etc. called her the Mother of Handicrafts. She was highly esteemed in the crafts world. She fought for equal rights for women. She wanted women to be free and independent. At the age of 23, she secured for women the right to vote. Her campaign manager was the Irish suffragist rebel, Margaret Cousins.

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Kamaladevi was the founder-member, and later, President and Patron, in shaping AIWC's basic structure and policies. At Gandhiji's call, their focus thereafter was on national service. The turning point in her life was when she met N. S. Hardiker, and later joined the Seva Dal, an organisation that trained volunteers in crowd control, self-protection, first aid and camp life during the freedom struggle.

She became the commander of the Women Volunteers Corps during the Civil Disobedience Movement. She was sentenced four times and she spent a total of five years in jail. After Independence, she refused the political rewards she received. She was the Chairman of the All-India Handicrafts Board for 17 years and Vice-President for some years of the World Crafts Council with its office in New York. The Central Cottage Industries Emporium in Delhi was her idea. She was the moving spirit behind the Bharatiya Natya Sangh, the Sangeet Natak Akademi and the Theatre Crafts Museum in New Delhi. She alone had the insight and the will to champion a neglected cause. Entire communities of artisans gained recognition and livelihood as a result of her vision and drive. This great saga of patriotism and mother of handicrafts breathed her last in1990.1.

Most of the material on Subramaniam Bharati are taken from a book titled "Bharati" by Prema.

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HOME

The Home Rule Movement

In 1910 Sri Aurobindo retired from active politics and came to Pondicherry. Earlier, both Tilak and Lala Lajpat Rai were interned in jail. Bipin Chandra Pal had gone to England. Thus the Nationalist Congress was bereft of its leading personalities. There was a lull in the political activity. No doubt the Congress party led by the Moderates was still active but no real and intense political breakthrough seemed possible.

In 1914 the First World War broke out. The British were deeply involved in this war, fighting a life and death battle against the Germans. Just after the war began there was a renewal of intense political activity. This was due to the efforts of two leaders, Annie Besant and Bal Gangadhar Tilak.

In 1914, after six years detention in the Mandalay jail, Tilak was released. His solitary detention in Mandalay had left a deep imprint on Tilak's personality. Tilak who was always a practical politician emerged a more cautious man. As seen earlier, the Congress had split in 1907 at the Surat session. But Tilak was not happy about the split. As remarked by Sri Aurobindo: '[T]o no one was the catastrophe so great a blow as to Mr. Tilak. He did not like the do-nothingness of the Congress but he valued it both as a national fact and for its unrealized possibilities.' He had realized the futility of revolutionary violence in the then prevailing conditions in India; he was therefore prepared to accept self-government within the British Empire as the country's immediate political goal. Yet despite his changed political outlook the Moderates continued to distrust him. Realising his ineffectiveness outside the Congress mainstream, he set about building a strong political base. His programme consisted of four planks: National Education, Swadeshi, Boycott and Swaraj. Tilak was warmly acclaimed by the Bombay Provincial Conference in 1915 and electrified politics by his proposal of Home Rule. He set up a Home Rule League for the purpose of propagating the idea.

At the same time Annie Besant also proposed the Home Rule and created her own Home Rule League. Thus there were two Home Rule Leagues existing at the same time. These were set up in April and September 1916 respectively. Her slogan, 'England's difficulty is India's opportunity', became a catchphrase in the national armoury. The educated middle class all over the country was touched by her powerful oratory and bold demand of Dominion Status on the basis of equality and rallied to the League. Besant started the Home Rule League as an independent organisation. The first meeting of the League was held on 3 September 1916. Besant was made its president; G. S. Arundale, its organising secretary; C. P. Ramaswamy Iyer one of the General Secretaries; and B. P. Wadia, the Treasurer. The rules prescribed in its constitution for organising branches of the League were not stringent. Hence branches were quickly found at Adyar, Kumbakonam, Madanapalli, Madurai, Calicut, Ahmedabad, Allahabad, Benares, Bombay and Kanpur. Soon, there were as many as 200 branches, all enjoying virtual autonomy. Communications with the headquarters were carried on either through individuals who were active or through New India wherein a page was devoted to Home Rule news and advice. The League preached everywhere swadeshi, boycott of foreign goods, temperance, national education, labour welfare and responsible government.

The movement brought Besant immense popularity and fame and elevated her to the position of an important national leader in the country. Even her worst detractors marvelled at her steadfast devotion and struggle to achieve freedom for India. Besides writing strident articles in her papers, Besant also published books and pamphlets passionately advocating self-rule for India and denouncing the policy of the Imperial Government, inciting thereby the latter's wrath. The Manifesto of the Home Rule League stated its object to be a 'strong, steady and sustained agitation'. The British Government wanted to start a dialogue with the organisers of Home Rule and Besant. Pentland, who

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was the Governor of Madras, would have no such dialogue with Home Rulers. Dreading the result of surrendering to the cry of Home Rule for India he strongly deprecated any political discussion at a time when the whole strength of India ought to have been focused upon the War and upon helping the British Empire. It was simply impossible for him to tolerate the public excitement which the Home Rule Movement was fomenting against the British Government by its inflammatory language in discussing political questions in the midst of a global war. He knew that under the Press Act of 1910 his government could proceed against Besant for damaging the British image in India by her scurrilous writings. But the government could not control her activity on the platform from which she exercised an influence not confined to Madras alone. Pentland also knew only too well that although Besant was not without opponents, her followers in the political, religious and educational fields were prominent men and that even those who differed from her views, recognised her stupendous labours and her love for India. Her role, for instance, in the founding of the Hindu University at Benaras was such that a special provision was made in the Bill by the Governor-General-in-Council to secure for her a place in the controlling body of that institution. Keeping these in mind, the Madras Government sent a letter couched in a mild language hoping that a friendly remonstrance would secure the discontinuance of objectionable writings. The Government also wanted to avoid the excitement, ill-feeling and agitation which an action under the Press Act would cause. Besant replied courteously to this letter promising to try to avoid contentious topics.

The resolution of the Lucknow Congress of December 1916 gave a further impetus to Besant's movement. Though the word 'Home Rule' was not used, the Congress 'unanimously put its seal upon the Home Rule Movement'. It further recognised the Home Rule League as part of itself when it called upon the Home Rulers along with the Congress committees to carry on the 'educative and propaganda work of the Congress'. Besant, therefore, showed no sign of softening her vitriolic pen or tongue. Her astounding speech delivered the previous year at the Madras Provincial Conference held at Nellore was considered by all members of the Executive Council hostile and calculated to spread disaffection against the government. The Madras Government opined that the best way to check her 'reckless' activities both in the press and on the platform would be to forbid her under the Defence of India Rules to remain in British India. Since the Government of India alone had the power to do this Pentland urged the Viceroy that Besant should be deported till the end of the War. He wrote that if the Home Rule Movement were allowed to go on, 'we here in Madras, powerless to stop it may be forced into one repressive measure after another'.

At the same time it must be noted that there was a certain amount of rivalry between the two Home Rule Leagues, which made each plough its lonely furrow. But before long they joined together in a gesture of reciprocity. Many others joined including Jawaharlal Nehru. Tilak's area of operation was mainly in Maharashtra and Karnataka, while Besant's was generally over the South and in some pockets of Bihar, Bengal, Gujarat and Sind. The objective of the movement was to attain a system of self-government within the British Empire. The agitation made rapid strides during 1916-17 and while broadly active in many parts of the country, registered noticeable progress in the South. Both Tilak and Besant engaged in extensive tours and took up educational and social work with the intention to inform and agitate the masses and involve them in the freedom struggle. Their attempt was to capture the Congress. The Home Rulers argued that India's contribution to the World War should be rewarded with some political progress. At the same time the Russian Revolution and President Wilson's suggestion for the formation of the League of Nations gave added momentum to the demand for Home Rule. The British Government reacted in typical fashion - stern handling and

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suppression of the movement terming it as sedition. A case was instituted against Tilak; he was served a notice to pay a sum of Rs. 40,000. However, on appeal the decision was rescinded by the High Court. In May 1916, Annie Besant forfeited her security on her paper New India. Meanwhile all attempts to persuade her to abandon the Home Rule campaign and return to England failed. As a result, she and her assistants were interned without trial. She thus emerged as the country's foremost freedom fighter and was released in September 1917. Later in the year her contribution was recognised by conferring on her the presidentship of the Congress.

The British seeing that the Home Rule Movement was gaining tremendous popularity put forward a proposal to placate the Moderates within the Congress. They proposed to grant responsible government and put forward a concrete scheme for Reform in the August 1917 Declaration. In the light of this gesture, the Home Rule League decided to suspend the agitation and sent instead an all-India deputation to meet the Viceroy.

The release from jail of Annie Besant was a landmark in her career.

Instead of capitalising on the release, there was a startling metamorphosis in Besant; within a year of her release, she succeeded in completely isolating herself from the various groups in the Congress and thus forfeited all claims to leadership of the Nationalist Movement and the Congress. Two reasons may be adduced for this. One was that the United Front she had cobbled of the Moderates and the Extremists was basically unstable and, secondly, she opposed Passive Resistance, which then had become the chief plank of the Congress. Her inconstancy and the lack of a definite programme finally made the Congress reject her leadership. Tilak too had by this time virtually relinquished his authority; thus the Congress was almost leaderless and the Home Rule Movement had weakened beyond any hope of revival. This vacuum was filled up by Gandhi and with his advent started the next phase of the Freedom Movement.

The Home Rule Movement was not a great success. However, it contributed in some ways to the Nationalist Movement. Firstly, it was due to its agitation that the British promised to advance towards self-rule. Secondly, it was for the first time that there was an all-India movement with the exception of Punjab and Bengal. In Punjab, the Arya Samaj rejected the theosophical movement of Besant and in Bengal the leadership of C. R. Das was too powerful to make a dent. Probably what led to the failure of the movement was the ambivalence in its accepting passive resistance, which then was the only available plan of action. Its failure prepared the ground for the taking over of the Congress by Gandhi. 1

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A Short Note on Annie Besant

Annie Besant who was of predominantly Irish lineage was a renowned theosophist. In 1889, she enrolled as a member of the Theosophical Society. Devoted and diligent, she was chosen president of the Society after the death of Col. Olcott. Her interest in theosophy and Hinduism brought her to India in 1893. She lectured on Hinduism and glorified it as the fount of all religions and the cradle of civilisation.

Soon after becoming a member of the Theosophical Society she visited India for the first time in 1893. The Society was then led by Henry Steel Olcott and Besant and is today based in Chennai, and is known as the Theosophical Society, Adyar. Thereafter, she devoted much of her energy not only to the Society, but also to India's freedom and progress. Besant Nagar, a neighbourhood near the Theosophical Society in Chennai, is named in her honor.

Annie Besant entered the political scene in 1913 when she publicly recommended that the House of Commons set up a Standing Committee for Indian affairs. She pleaded that India be recognised as a nation and be given self-government. She started two papers:

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the weekly Commonwealth and the daily New India. In 1915, at Bombay she enunciated her plan to organise a Home Rule League. This was established in September 1916 after she failed to persuade Tilak to allow her to combine the League he had already established. Tilak who wanted to join the Congress found it difficult because of the distrust of the Congress leaders. It was Annie Besant who finally persuaded them to to a reconciliation with him; the death of Gokhale and Pherozeshah Mehta made things easier. Along with Tilak she played no small role in bringing about some kind of Hindu-Muslim unity in the Lucknow Congress in 1916.

The Lucknow Pact made in December 1916 was an agreement made by the Indian National Congress and the All-India Muslim League and adopted by the Congress at its Lucknow session on December 29 and by the League on 31 December 1916. The meeting at Lucknow marked the reunion of the moderate and radical wings of the Congress and was dominated by Tilak. The pact dealt both with the structure of the government of India and with the relation of the Hindu and Muslim communities. Four-fifths of the provincial and central legislatures were to be elected on a broad franchise, and half the executive council members, including those of the central executive council, were to be Indians elected by the councils themselves. Except for the provision for the central executive, these proposals were largely embodied in the Government of India Act of 1919. The Congress also agreed to separate electorates for Muslims in provincial council elections. Apparently, this pact paved the way for Hindu-Muslim cooperation and unity. However, there are many who feel that this was a wrong step and was in fact the first step in creating a permanent division between the Hindus and Muslims. The later history of India amply proves this. Sri Aurobindo had been repeatedly warning of the dangers of communal representation. He wrote in 1909: 'The question of separate representation for the Mohammedan community is one of those momentous issues raised in haste by a statesman unable to appreciate the forces with which he is dealing, which bear fruit no man expected and least of all the ill-advised Frankenstein who was responsible for its creation.... We will not for a moment accept separate electorates or separate representation, not because we are opposed to a large Mohammedan influence in popular assemblies when they come but because we will be no party to a distinction which recognizes Hindu and Mohammedan as permanently separate political units and thus precludes the growth of single and indivisible Indian nation. We oppose any such attempt at division whether it comes from an embarrassed Government seeking for political support or from an embittered Hindu community allowing the passions of the moment to obscure their vision of the future.'2

Much later Sri Aurobindo wrote: 'What has created the Hindu-Muslim split was not Swadeshi, but the acceptance of the communal principle by the Congress, (here Tilak made his great blunder), and the further attempt by the Khilafat movement to conciliate them and bring them in on wrong lines. The recognition of that communal principle at Lucknow made them permanently a separate political entity in India which ought never to have happened.'3

At about the same time, most ironically, Mohammed Ali Jinnah too opposed the idea of a separate electorate for the Muslims. In the words of Krishna Iyer: 'He opposed the Muslim League's stand of favouring separate electorate for the Muslims and described it as a poisonous dose to divide the nation against itself. He collaborated with the Congress and actively worked against the Muslim communalists, calling them enemies of the nation. He had been much influenced by the speeches of Naoroji, Mehta and Gokhale whom he adored. Naoroji as Congress President had emphasised the need for a thorough union of all the people and pleaded with Hindus and Muslims to 'sink or swim together'. 'Without this union, all efforts will be in vain', he added. Jinnah was in full

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Annie Besant with Henry Olcott (left) and Charles Leadbeater (right) in Adyar in December 1905

Annie set up a new school for boys at Varanasi: the Central Hindu College. Its aim was to build a new leadership for India. The boys lived like monks. They spent 90 minutes a day in prayer and studied the Hindu scriptures, but they also studied modern science. It took 3 years to raise the money for the CHC. Most of the money came from Indian princes. In April 1911, Annie and Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya met and decided to unite their forces and work for a common Hindu University at Varanasi. Annie and fellow trustees of the Central Hindu College also agreed to Government of India's precondition that the college should become a part of the new University. The Banaras Hindu University started functioning from 1 October 1917 with the Central Hindu College as its first constituent college.

Besant received many tributes during her lifetime. Perhaps the most beautiful one came from Sarojini Naidu: 'Mrs. Annie Besant was a great woman, a warrior, a patriot and a priestess. Many creeds were reconciled in her. Her essential qualities were her unquenchable thirst for freedom.'

She inspired the people through her patriotic ideas. She delivered many of her speeches at Marina and Luz in Chennai. Her writings and speeches helped freedom fighters achieve their goals. S. Subramaniya Iyer, Thiru V. Kalyana Sundaranar and Dr. Varadarajulu Naidu and E. V.Ramasamy Naicker helped her to promote the Home Rule ideas.

C. Vijayaraghavachariyar, Thiru V. Kalyana Sundaranar, Varadharajulu Naidu, E. V. Ramasamy Naickear, S. Srinivasa Iyangar, Sathyamurthy and K. Kamaraj were the agreement with this view. He deprecated the contrary separatist policy advocated by the League. leaders of the Moderates. They played a vital role in the Freedom Movement in South India. 4

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A Brief Review of the Freedom Movement

The Freedom Movement can be described as having gone through three phases. The first phase started almost immediately after the conquest of India by the British. It manifested itself in the form of revolts and rebellions by princes and powerful landlords who felt their power threatened. This feeling was exacerbated by the economic exploitation by the British (see Chapter 3); in addition there was the conversion work of Christian missionaries which evoked strong reactions even from the common people. We have cited a few examples in this book. Two prominent ones are: the heroic resistance of Veerapandya Kattabomman and that of Kittur Chinnamma. Both of them fought heroically and sacrificed their lives for the cause.

However, the motive behind these revolts was not based on a clear national political consciousness. For the concept of a united India with a distinct political consciousness had not yet taken shape. Undoubtedly, there was a sense of a united India, but it was more a cultural and spiritual sense of unity. However, it cannot be denied that the determined and valiant resistance to the British by these heroes created subtly - almost unknown and unnoticed - the beginnings of a national consciousness on political lines. It will be useful in this context to dwell a little upon the aid lent by foreign rule - in this case, the British rule - to the process of nation-making. History abounds with illustrations. When one looks at the history of the modern nations in Europe, one finds that there is none which has not had to pass through a phase more or less prolonged, more or less complete, of foreign domination in order to realise its nationality. The essential work that this foreign domination did was to create a shock or a pressure; this shock awakened on one side a loose psychological unity which impelled it to the necessity of organising itself from within; and secondly the need to crush out, dispirit or deprive of power, vitality the obstinate elements and factors of disunion.

This is exactly what these early freedom fighters unconsciously did for India. By their strong reaction to the British rule and exploitation, they awakened in the people of India, the sense of a loose psychological unity which inevitably strove to grow into a full political unity.

In this context it is important to mention the Sepoy Mutiny. Whether it was a national Freedom Movement or a mutiny of sepoys is not the question here. What is important is that it gave a tremendous impetus towards creating a national political consciousness and a national awakening. The Sepoy Mutiny may be therefore described as a further step in awakening the national consciousness on political lines.

The Second phase starts with the formation of the Indian National Congress in 1885. This was a conscious and deliberate step in the formation of the national consciousness and from this time onwards there was no stopping of the movement. It was inevitable that this step would be taken for all the forces were working in this direction. No doubt the Congress in its early days was timid and moderate in its approach for the demand of freedom but it was evident that sooner or later this movement would take a more strident and aggressive approach. This happened with the Partition of Bengal in 1905. A section of the Congress named the Nationalist group demanded total freedom as a national birthright. The leaders of this movement were Sri Aurobindo, Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal, among many others. As seen in the earlier chapters, this section of the Congress triggered a militant national awakening all over the country. The split in the Congress at Surat did not weaken the freedom movement; on the contrary it only strengthened it and its repercussions were felt all over India, particularly in Maharashtra, Punjab and South India. The political national consciousness was by this time fully dynamically awake.

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During this period, there were many national leaders all over India; but it must be noted that there was no one leader who dominated or controlled the movement. A force and aspiration for freedom was released and leaders cropped up all over the nation. Thus in Bengal we had Sri Aurobindo, Bipin Chandra Pal and Surendranath Banerjee; in the West we had Tilak, Gokhale and Pherozeshah Mehta; and in the South there were Subramaniam Bharati and Annie Besant. This was a period where there was a mix of moderate and militant movements. The Home Rule Movement started by Annie Besant and Tilak were important phases in this movement.

This phase lasted till 1920. The third phase starts with the advent of Gandhi, and this period ushered in a totally different approach. Two important characteristics mark this phase. Firstly, it was based entirely on the concept of non-violence and peaceful resistance; secondly, it was centred exclusively around the personality of Gandhi. No doubt there were many other powerful leaders, but all of them unquestionably accepted the lead and the decision of Gandhi. It is also true that they often disagreed with him but ultimately, they all suspended their judgement and acted according to his will. The phase may thus be characterised as the Gandhian phase.

Inevitably, in all the different phases of this period, it was Gandhi who called the shots and the other leaders only implemented the directions given by the Congress headquarters. This was evident first in the Khilafat Movement; many leaders had reservations about the direction of the movement, yet they followed his directions.

Similarly, in the Non-Co-operation Movement, there was a great deal of heart burning when it was suddenly called off after the Chauri Chaura episode. Despite expressing their opinion in private, no one opposed the decision to call off the movement.

This pattern was evident right through till the late thirties. It was only around 1939-40 that some leaders stood up and questioned the decisions of Gandhi. Since this book deals with the role of South India in the Freedom Movement, we shall omit any detailed description of the events during this period; they have been already narrated and analysed in detail in the vast literature available on this topic. We shall however point out some of the lesser known features and different viewpoints that pertain to this period. We consider this as very important for it gives an alternate view of the history of this period and also its impact on the later developments in the political history of India.

In this context, we shall highlight in the following chapters some of the leaders of the South who asserted their viewpoint or expressed their opinion with conviction and viewed the events from a different perspective. One such leader was C Rajagopalchari.

In the last phase of the Indian Independence Movement, from 1945 to 1947, the relevance of Gandhi was reduced considerably. It was during this period that two leaders played a sterling role in the movement; they were Sardar Vallabhai Patel and V. P. Menon.

Finally, we shall point out the silent role that Sri Aurobindo played during this period. It is true that he had retired from active politics; but he did intervene through letters and public statements on numerous occasions. These interventions are of great importance in understanding the finer nuances of the Freedom Movement and its importance for the future development of India.

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Rajgopalchari 1878-1972

This chapter presents the life of one freedom fighter who had the courage and honesty to chart his own path according to his deepest convictions. His name is Rajagopalchari or as he was affectionately called Rajaji. Although in the first part of his political life he was almost totally influenced and under the spell of Gandhi, in the later part of his career he had the inner strength and courage to differ from him and even to stand up, sometimes as a lonely crusader. Today, when one looks in hindsight, one feels that had the Congress party listened to Rajaji, the course of Indian history might have been different. In this contest, we shall also point out the role of Sri Aurobindo in this turbulent period of Indian history. Unfortunately, the national leaders did not heed his advice and we are now paying the price for this short-sightedness. Rajaji thus stands out as an exceptional leader of his time for his deeper political vision.

Chakravarti Rajagopalachari was born in a village in Madras Presidency in December 1878 and graduated from the Central Hindu College of Bangalore. He then took a law degree from the Madras Law College.

He joined the Congress party soon after that and in 1921 was chosen general secretary of the Indian National Congress under Gandhi's leadership. In subsequent years he was intermittently a member of the all-powerful Congress Working Committee, the top executive arm of the National Congress, and worked very closely with Gandhi. At one time considered Mahatma Gandhi's heir, this brilliant lawyer from Salem in Tamil Nadu was regarded in pre-Independence years as one of the top five leaders of the Congress along with Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. So close was he to Gandhi that later his daughter married into Gandhi's family. Rajagopalchari was thus related to Mahatma Gandhi - Rajmohan Gandhi is the grandson of both. Of the five leaders, Rajaji, Nehru and Patel were christened the 'head, heart and hands' of Gandhi, in whose shadows they remained till his death. Despite this closeness and quite ironically, all three of them were to have a tempestuous relationship, bound together only by their common goal and Gandhi's charm. However, they respected each other immensely. Nehru wrote about Rajaji in his autobiography: '[Rajaji's] brilliant intellect, selfless character, and penetrating powers of analysis have been a tremendous asset to our cause.'

In 1937, when the Congress won the provincial elections in several Indian provinces, Rajagopalachari became chief minister of Madras. He was considered one of the best chief ministers and he introduced many revolutionary and radically progressive steps. Some examples may be cited. He ordered the release of political prisoners and introduced prohibition in the State. He threw open temples to the untouchables, for the plight of the downtrodden was very close to his heart. One Bill however which raised a great deal of controversy was making the study of Hindi compulsory. However, he held the position of Chief Minister only until the outbreak of the Second World War.

In September 1939, immediately after the Second World War broke out, Lord Linlithgow, the then viceroy of India, declared that India was at war with Germany. The Congress party, which by that time had formed governments in many provinces of British India resigned in protest stating that the viceroy's decision had pushed India into a war which was neither of India's making nor was it with consultation of its people or representatives.

It is felt by many political analysts that this act of resignation was a wrong step and helped Jinnah in the creation of Pakistan.

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As V. P. Menon pointed out: Had it (the Congress party) not resigned from its position of vantage in the Provinces the course of Indian history might have been very different.....

By resigning the Congress Party showed a lamentable lack of political wisdom. There was little chance of being put out of office: the British Government would surely have hesitated to incur the odium of dismissing ministries, which had the overwhelming support of the people. Nor could it have resisted a unanimous demand for a change at the centre, a demand which would have been all the more irresistible after the entry of Japan into the war. It is clear that but for the resignation of the Congress Ministries, Jinnah and the Muslim League would have never attained the position they did.1

 Another serious long-term consequence of the Congress decision to quit was losing control over the strategic North West Frontier Province. Had this Muslim majority province remained under Congress Party rule between 1940 and 1946, the plan for the partition of India could not have been put forward.

Sri Aurobindo also remarked on the resignation of the Congress Ministries: And it is not true that they [the British] have given nothing.... They gave provincial autonomy and didn't exercise any veto power. It is the Congress that spoiled everything by resigning. If without resigning they had put pressure at the Centre they would have got by now what they want. It is for two reasons I support the British in this war: first in India's own interest and secondly for humanity's sake, and the reasons I have given are external reasons, there are spiritual reasons too. 2

However that be, Rajaji along with the other chief ministers of the Congress-ruled Presidencies tendered their resignation.

It will be pertinent to note Gandhi's reaction at the beginning of the Second World War. A short passage is reproduced from a book written by Narendra Sarila: 'Gandhi, during a meeting with Lord Linlithgow stunned him by saying that the British should have the courage to let Germany occupy Britain': "Let them take possession of your beautiful island, if Hitler chooses to occupy your homes, vacate them, if he does not give you free passage out, allow yourself, man, woman and child to be slaughtered." 3.... Faced with such an impracticable - even unethical - attitude of the leader of the Indian National Congress Party, no wonder, ... Lord Linlithgow could not afford to seek the cooperation and support of the Muslim League to ensure the successful mobilization of Indian resources for the Second World War.'

It is a wonder that no Congress leader except Rajagopalchari protested against this attitude. This was also the beginning of taking the Muslim League into confidence by the British and this naturally led to the formation of Pakistan.

The Differences with Gandhi

The first serious difference between Rajaji and the Congress party led by Gandhi broke out a few months after the Second World War erupted.

It was in early 1940 just a few months after the Second World War broke out that Rajaji expressed his differences with Gandhi; although he had resigned from the post of Chief Minister, he now suggested that India should support the British in the war and join in the war effort.

The Congress Resolution

In March 1940, the fifty-third session of the Congress met at Ramgarh in Bihar under the presidency of Mulana Azad. It passed a resolution on 20 March declaring that since Great Britain

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was waging the war essentially for imperialist ends and for the preservation and strengthening of her own empire, India could not in any way, directly or indirectly become party to the War. Stating that 'India's constitution must be based on independence, democracy and national unity', the resolution repudiated attempts to divide India or to split up her nationhood. It reiterated that nothing short of complete independence would be acceptable to the people of India.

Rajaji's strategy

About three months after the Ramgarh Congress, the Tinevelli District Political Conference was held at Ambasamudram. Presiding over its session, Rajaji said if India enthusiastically extended her co-operation in the war effort, there was every possibility of Britain giving her in return a substantial share in the administration of India. He persuaded the Congress to accept a resolution to the effect that if there was a declaration that India would be free at the end of the War and if an all-party national government was formed right away, the Congress would prosecute the War as an ally of Britain. This offer of Indian participation in war efforts ran counter to the Gandhian principle of non-violence. For the first time in twenty years Rajaji disobeyed Gandhiji.

The Congress Working Committee which met at Wardha in June 1940, reiterated after five days of hectic debate (17-21 June) the country's strict adherence to the principle of non-violence in its struggle for independence but declared its inability 'to go the full length with Gandhiji'. It, however, recognised that Gandhiji 'should be free to pursue his great ideal in his own way'. It was at this session that Gandhiji expressed a desire to be absolved from the activities of the Congress. And he was relieved. The Working Committee opined that India had not 'the strength to exercise ahimsa against the invasion of a foreign foe'. The opposition was led by Rajaji at the next meeting held on 3 July at Delhi. When Gandhiji said that India would defend itself non-violently so far as the Congress was concerned, Rajaji retorted: 'I cannot go with Gandhiji in his conception of the State. Ours is a political organization not working for non-violence but for a political ideal. We are working in competition with other political parties.' He highlighted the limits of non-violence in conducting the affairs of men. This had made such a profound impression even on Jawaharlal Nehru who endorsed Rajaji'' stand stating, 'I agree with Rajaji in his understanding of violence and non-violence; else, we cannot function on the political plane'. Rajaji was able to win over the majority of the Working Committee to his side including President Maulana Azad and Vallabhbhai Patel. Thus a serious difference arose between Gandhiji and the Working Committee on the question of applying the principle of non-violence. Whereas Gandhiji wanted it to be applied in all spheres of life not excluding the defence of India, the Working Committee was firm that it should be restricted to the struggle for freedom. Four days later, on 7 July, the Working Committee passed a resolution calling upon Britain to acknowledge the complete independence of India and to give immediate effect to it by the constitution of a Provisional National Government at the centre.

The Working Committee declared that the adoption of these measures would enable the Congress to organise effectively for the defence of the country. This resolution which was passed after deliberations lasting over five solid days (3 to 7 July) was a departure from the spirit of the earlier Ramgarh resolution. Gandhiji described the resolution as 'fateful'. In a persuasive speech delivered three weeks after the Delhi meet, Rajaji said that the Delhi resolution had only restated the Congress position. He averred that it was similar in content to the one passed at Ramgarh but different in approach owing to changes in the political conditions since then. Rajaji then recalled how Gandhiji himself who adumbrated his policy of non-violence in Hind-Swaraj in 1913, went round the country in 1917, actively recruiting men for the army during the First World War. He cited this precedent to show there was nothing dishonorable in making an offer of co-operation to the British in their war effort if India were to be given independence. Gandhiji was relieved of the leadership of the Congress on the issue of renouncing violence even for the defence of India.

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The tense atmosphere was, however, eased considerably when Gandhiji himself said, 'If my position was not acceptable, then Rajaji's was the only real alternative'. However, Gandhiji prognosticated the breach in the Congress to be a passing phase. He had the least doubt that Rajaji and Patel would be back with him. However, the happenings did pain him. He confessed that he had no difficulty in the past in 'carrying Rajaji with me, his intelligence as well as his heart but since this question cropped up, I saw that our thoughts were running in different directions. I see that 1 cannot carry him now along with me.' When Rajaji was interviewed by the Associated Press correspondent on 11 July, regarding the Delhi resolution he repeated that, since the war had lost its aggressive nature 'the defence of India is now an integral part of the defence of Britain. This is the key to understand the resolution of the Congress Working Committee.'

A week later, on 18 July, while explaining the differences of opinion on the matter of extension of non-violence to the field of national self-defence, Rajaji said in Madras that there was no rupture between Gandhiji and the Congress High Command. The AICC which met at Poona from 25 to 28 July ratified the Delhi resolution of the Working Committee. Intelligent public opinion throughout India welcomed this development. Rajaji had, of course, his own doubts about the acceptance of the Congress proposal by the British Government because he knew that the views of the senior Civil Servants who advised the Viceroy and the Secretary of State were 'reactionary and out of date'.

In this context, we present the position taken by Sri Aurobindo. We present here a long letter approved and partly written by Sri Aurobindo in 1940.

The textual basis of this statement was an essay written by Anilbaran Roy and submitted to Sri Aurobindo for approval. Sri Aurobindo thoroughly revised and enlarged the first four paragraphs and added seven new ones, transforming Anilbaran's essay into an entirely new piece that may be considered his own writing. In revising, he retained Anilbaran's third-person 'Sri Aurobindo'.

'Sri Aurobindo's decision to give his moral support to the struggle against Hitler, which was made at the very beginning of the war, was based like all his actions on his inner view of things and on intimations from within. It was founded on his consciousness of the forces at work, of their significance in the Divine's leading of the world, of the necessary outer conditions for the spiritual development in which he sees the real hope of humanity. It would not serve any purpose to speak here of this view of things: but some outer considerations of a most material kind easily understandable by everyone can be put forward which might help to explain his action to the general mind, although they do not give the whole meaning of it; it is only these that are developed here. The struggle that is going on is not fundamentally a conflict between two imperialisms—German and English,—one attacking, the other defending itself. That is only an outward aspect, and not the whole even of the outward aspect. For the Germans and Italians believe that they are establishing a new civilization and a new world-order. The English believe that they are defending not only their empire but their very existence as a free nation and the freedom also of other nations conquered by Germany or threatened by the push to empire of the Axis powers; they have made it a condition for making peace that the nations conquered shall be liberated and the others guaranteed against farther aggression. They believe also that they are standing up for the principles of civilization which a Nazi victory would destroy. These beliefs have to be taken into consideration in assessing the significance of the struggle. It is in fact a clash between two world-forces which are contending for the control of the whole future of humanity. One force seeks to destroy the past civilization and substitute a new one; but this new civilization is in substance a reversion to the old principles of dominant Force and a rigid external order and denies the established values, social, political, ethical, spiritual, altogether. Among these values are those which were hitherto held to be the most precious, the liberty of the individual, the right to national liberty, freedom of thought; even religious liberty is to be crushed and replaced by the subjection of religion to State control. The new ethics contemn and reject all the principles that can be summed up in the word "humanitarianism "; all that is to it a falsehood and a weakness. The only ethical values admitted are those of dominant Force on the one side

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and, on the other, of blind obedience and submission, self-effacement and labor in the service of the State. Wherever this new idea conquers or can make its power felt, it is this order of things that it seeks to establish; it is not satisfied with setting itself up in one country or another, it is pushing for world conquest, for the enforcement of the new order everywhere, securing it,—this at least Germany, its principal agent, conceives to be the right method and carries it out with a scientific thoroughness by a ruthless repression of all opposition and a single iron rule. The other Force is that of the evolutionary tendencies which have been directing the course of humanity for some time past and, till recently, seemed destined to shape its future. Its workings had their good and bad sides, but among the greater values it had developed stood the very things against which the new Force is most aggressive, the liberty of the individual, national liberty, freedom of thought, political and social freedom with an increasing bent towards equality, complete religious liberty, the humanitarian principle with all its consequences and, latterly, a seeking after a more complete social order, which will organize the life of the community, but will respect the liberty of the individual while perfecting his means of life and helping in every way possible his development. This evolutionary world-force has not been perfect in its action, its working is still partial and incomplete: it contains many strong survivals from the past which have to disappear; it has, on the other hand, lost or diminished some spiritual elements of a past human culture which ought to recover or survive. There are still many denials of national freedom and of the other principles which are yet admitted as the ideal to be put in practice. In the working of that force as represented by Britain and other democracies there may not be anywhere full individual freedom or full national liberty. But the movement has been more and more towards a greater development of these things and, if this evolutionary force still remains dominant, their complete development is inevitable.

Neither of these forces are altogether what we need for the future. There are ideas and elements in the first which may have their separate value in a total human movement; but on the whole, in system and in practice, its gospel is a worship of Force and its effect is the rule of a brutal and pitiless violence, the repression of the individual, not only a fierce repression but a savage extinction of all that opposes or differs from it, the suppression of all freedom of thought, an interference with religious belief and freedom of spiritual life and, in an extreme tendency, the deliberate will to "liquidate" all forms of religion and spirituality. On the side of the other more progressive force there are, often, a limited view, grievous defects of practice, an undue clinging to the past, a frequent violation of the ideal; but at the same time the necessary elements and many of the necessary conditions of progress are there, a tendency towards an enlargement of the human mind and spirit, towards an increasing idealism in the relation of men with men and of nation with nation and a tolerant and humane mentality. Both are, at present, or have been largely materialistic in their thought, but the difference is between a materialism that suppresses the spirit and a materialism that tolerates it and leaves room for its growth if it can affirm its strength to survive and conquer.

At present the balance in the development of human thought and action has been turning for some time against the larger evolutionary force and in favour of a revolutionary reaction against it. This reaction is now represented by totalitarian governments and societies, the other tendency by the democracies; but democracy is on the wane everywhere in Europe, the totalitarian idea was gaining ground on all sides even before the war. Now with Hitler as its chief representative, this Force has thrown itself out for world-domination. Everywhere the results are the same, the disappearance of individual and national liberty, a rigid "New Order", the total suppression of free thought and speech, a systematic cruelty and intolerance, the persecution of all opposition, and, wherever the Nazi idea spreads, a violent racialism denying the human idea; outside Europe what is promised is the degradation of the coloured peoples to helotry as an inferior, even a subhuman race. Hitler, carrying with him everywhere the new idea and the new order, is now master of almost all Europe minus Great Britain and Russia. There would be then nothing that could stand in his way except Russia; but Russia has helped his projects by her attitude and

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seems in no mood to oppose him. The independence of the peoples of the Middle East and Central Asia would disappear as the independence of so many European nations has disappeared and a deadly and imminent peril would stand at the gates of India. These are patent facts of the situation, its dangerous possibilities and menacing consequences. What is there that can prevent them from coming into realization? The only material force that now stands between is the obstinate and heroic resistance of Great Britain and her fixed determination to fight the battle to the end. It is the British Navy alone that keeps the war from our gates and confines it to European lands and seas and a strip of North Africa. If there were defeat and the strength of Britain and her colonies were to go down before the totalitarian nations, all Europe, Africa and Asia would be doomed to domination by three or four Powers all anti-democratic and all pushing for expansion, powers with regimes and theories of life which take no account of liberty of any kind; the surviving democracies would perish, nor would any free government with free institutions be any longer possible anywhere. It is not likely that India poor and ill-armed would be able to resist forces which had brought down the great nations of Europe; her chance of gaining the liberty which is now so close to her would disappear for a long time to come. On the contrary, if the victory goes to Britain, the situation will be reversed, the progressive evolutionary forces will triumph and the field will lie open for the fulfillment of the tendencies which were making India's full control of her own life a certainty of the near future. It is hardly possible that after the war the old order of things can survive unchanged; if that happened, there would again be a repetition of unrest, chaos, economic disorder and armed strife till the necessary change is made. The reason is that the life of mankind has become in fact a large though loosely complex unit and a world-order recognizing this fact is inevitable. It is ceasing to be possible for national egoisms to entrench themselves in their isolated independence and be sufficient for themselves, for all are now dependent on the whole. The professed separate self-sufficiency of Germany ended in a push for life-room which threatens all other peoples; nations which tried to isolate themselves in a self-regarding neutrality have paid the penalty of their blindness and the others who still maintain that attitude are likely sooner or later to share the same fate; either they must become the slaves or subservient vassals of three or four greater Powers, or a world-order must be found in which all can be safe in their freedom and yet united for the common good. It will be well for India, if in spite of the absorption of her pressing need, she recognizes that national egoism is no longer sufficient. She must claim freedom and equality for herself in whatever new order is to come or any post-war arrangement, but recognize also that the international idea and its realization are something that is becoming equally insistent, necessary and inevitable. If the totalitarian Powers win, there will indeed be a new world-order,—it may be in the end, a unification; but it will be a new order of naked brute Force, repression and exploitation, and for the people of Asia and Africa a subjection worse than anything they had experienced before. This has been recognised even by the Arabs who were fighting England in Palestine before the war; they have turned to her side. Not only Europe, Asia and Africa, but distant America with all her power and resources is no longer safe, and she has shown that she knows it; she has felt the peril and is arming herself in haste to meet it. In the other contingency, there will be not only the necessity for a freer new order, but every possibility of its formation; for the idea is growing; it is already recognised as an actual programme by advanced progressive forces in England and elsewhere. It may not be likely that it will materialise at once or that it will be perfect when it comes, but it is bound to take some kind of initial shape as an eventual result in the not distant future. These are some of the more obvious external considerations which have taken form in Sri Aurobindo's contribution to the War Fund accompanied by his letter. It is a simple recognition of the fact that the victory of Great Britain in this war is not only to the interest of the whole of humanity including India, but necessary for the safeguarding of its future. If that is so, the obligation of at least a complete moral support follows as a necessary consequence. It is objected that Britain has refused freedom to India and that therefore no Indian should support her in the War. The answer arises inevitably from the considerations stated above. The dominant need for

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India and the World is to survive the tremendous attack of Asuric Force which is now sweeping over the earth. The freedom of India, in whatever form, will be a consequence of that victory. The working towards freedom was clear already in the world and in the British Empire itself before the War; Eire, Egypt had gained their independence, Iraq had been granted hers; many free nationalities had arisen in Europe and Asia; India herself was drawing nearer to her goal and the attainment of it was coming to be recognised as inevitable. If the totalitarian new order extends over Asia, all that will disappear; the whole work done will be undone. If there is the opposite result, nothing can prevent India attaining to the object of her aspirations; even if restrictions are put upon the national self-government that is bound to come, they cannot last for long. In any case, there is no moral incompatibility between India's claim to freedom and support to Britain in the struggle against Hitler, since it would be a support given for the preservation of her own chance of complete liberty and the preservation also of three continents or even of the whole earth from a heavy yoke of servitude. There remains the objection that all War is evil and no war can be supported; soul-force or some kind of spiritual or ethical force is the only force that should be used; the only resistance permissible is passive resistance, non-cooperation or Satyagraha. But this kind of resistance though it has been used in the past with some effect by individuals or on a limited scale, cannot stop the invasion of a foreign army, least of all, a Nazi army, or expel it, once it is inside and in possession; it can at most be used as a means of opposition to an already established oppressive rule. The question then arises whether a nation can be asked to undergo voluntarily the menace of a foreign invasion or the scourge of a foreign occupation without using whatever material means of resistance are available. It is also a question whether any nation in the world is capable of this kind of resistance long enduring and wholesale or is sufficiently developed ethically and spiritually to satisfy the conditions which would make it successful, especially against an organized and ruthless military oppression such as the Nazi rule; at any rate it is permissible not to wish to risk the adventure so long as there is another choice. War is physically an evil, a calamity; morally it has been like most human institutions a mixture, in most but not all cases a mixture of some good and much evil: but it is sometimes necessary to face it rather than invite or undergo a worse evil, a greater calamity. One can hold that, so long as life and mankind are what they are, there can be such a thing as a righteous war,—dharmya yuddha. No doubt, in a spiritualised life of humanity or in a perfect civilisation there would be no room for war or violence, —it is clear that this is the highest ideal state. But mankind is psychologically and materially still far from this ideal state. To bring it to that state needs either an immediate spiritual change of which there is no present evidence or a change of mentality and habits which the victory of the totalitarian idea and its system would render impossible; for it would impose quite the opposite mentality, the mentality and habits on one side of a dominant brute force and violence and on the other a servile and prostrate non-resistance. ' 4

It is evident that the judgement of the Congress party was mistaken and has resulted in serious consequences for the nation. If only they had listened to Sri Aurobindo - or even what Rajaji proposed, many of the problems facing the nation could have been avoided.

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HOME

Rajaji and the Cripps Proposal

The war, which had started in 1939, was now continuing in full rage. By the summer of 1940, Germany had conquered all those who were against them in the European continent except England. England now stood alone. The Congress Working Committee held a meeting in July 1940 and demanded 'an immediate and unequivocal declaration of the full independence of India, which will enable it to throw its full weight into the efforts for the effective organisation of the defence of the country'. In response to this, the Viceroy made an offer known as the August Offer. While reiterating the offer of Dominion Status, he agreed that the writing of an Indian constitution was the primary responsibility of Indians themselves. He, therefore, offered to set up a constitution-making body after the War. As for the present, he suggested that there would be an increase of Indians in the Governor-General's Council; also a war-advisory council would be established. The Congress rejected the offer, saying that it was too little and too late. After the rejection, the Congress resorted to a Civil Disobedience Movement on a small scale; it was restricted to an individual and not to a mass Satyagraha. In 1941, the campaign picked up some momentum but met with very little success. The British Government arrested and convicted over 20,000 persons.

By the end of 1941, the War took a very serious turn. The Japanese, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, joined the Axis powers against Britain. Very soon they overran Singapore, which had been considered impregnable; next came the turn of Malaysia and soon after they entered Burma, thus coming to the doorstep of India. The impending threat of a Japanese invasion of India loomed large. The Viceroy made a public appeal for a united national front, but it fell on deaf ears. At the same time, there was a section of English opinion led by Mr. Amery, the Secretary of State that was openly with the Muslim League. But the enlargement of the Governor-General's Executive Council without the approval of the Muslim League stiffened its attitude. It passed a resolution stating that any fresh declaration, which affected the demand for Pakistan or proceeded on the basis of a Central Government with India as one single unit and 'Mussulmans' as an all-India minority would be strongly resented by the Muslims. The Muslim Press rang with cries such as: 'Pakistan is our demand and by God we shall have it.' The Hindu Mahasabha challenged the threat and like the Congress demanded full independence, but unlike the Congress it was ready to co-operate with the British in the war effort. The British government, partly realising the inevitability of India's future independence and partly under American pressure to secure her support during the war, sent Sir Stafford Cripps to India in March 1942, with a proposal for Dominion Status after the war, as a first step towards full independence.

The Cripps Mission

The proposals that Sir Stafford Cripps brought with him may be summarised as follows:

In order to achieve the earliest possible realisation of self-government, a new Indian Union would be created with the full status of a Dominion. This would mean that India would be 'associated with the United Kingdom and the other Dominions by a common allegiance to the Crown, but equal to them in every respect in no way subordinate to them'.

Immediately after the war, India would be free to frame its own constitution. Until then, a new Executive Council would govern the country; the British would retain control of the defence of India as part of their World War effort, but the task

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of organising the military, moral and material resources would be the responsibility of the Government of India in co-operation with the peoples of India.

Here is an extract from the speech given by Sir Stafford Cripps on Mar. 30, 1942:

First of all you will want to know what object we had in view. Well, we wanted to make it quite clear and beyond any possibility of doubt or question that the British Government and the British people desire the Indian peoples to have full self-government, with a Constitution as free in every respect as our own in Great Britain or as of any of the great Dominion members of the British Commonwealth of Nations. In the words of the Draft Declaration, India would be associated with the United Kingdom and other Dominions by a common allegiance to the Crown but equal to them in every respect, in no way subordinate in any aspect of its domestic or external affairs.

The principle on which these proposals are based is that the new Constitution should be framed by the elected representatives of the Indian people themselves. So we propose that immediately after hostilities are ended, a constitution-making body should be set up consisting of elected representatives from British India and if the Indian States wish, as we hope they will to become part of the new Indian Union, they too will be invited to send their representatives to this constitution-making body, though, if they do, that will not, of itself, bind them to become members of the Union. That is the broad outline of the future.

There are those who claim that India should form a single united country: there are others who say it should be divided up into two, three or more separate countries. There are those who claim that provincial autonomy should be very wide with but few centrally controlled federal services; others stress the need for centralisation in view of the growing complexity of economic development.

These and many other and various ideas are worthy to be explored and debated, but it is for the Indian peoples, and not for any outside authority, to decide under which of these forms India will in future govern herself.

So we provide the means and the lead by which you can attain that form of the absolute and united self-government that you desire at the earliest possible moment. In the past we have waited for the different lndian communities to come to a common decision as to how a new Constitution for a self-governing India should be framed and, because there has been no agreement amongst the Indian leaders, the British Government has been accused by some of using this fact to delay the granting of freedom to India. We are now giving the lead that has been asked for and it is in the hands of Indians and Indians only, whether they will accept that lead and so attain their own freedom. If they fail to accept this opportunity the responsibility for the failure must rest with them.

This was followed by protracted negotiations with the parties. The Congress rejected the offer because it doubted Britain's declared intention to share executive power. Another reason for the rejection was the clause that permitted the provinces to secede from the proposed union. In addition there was Gandhi's pacifism, which proved to be a stumbling block. Gandhi called the proposals 'a post-dated cheque on a crashing bank'. On the other hand, the Muslim League too was not satisfied because it was not agreeable to the creation of one Indian Union; it wanted the possibility of the creation of more than one Union. The Cripps Mission thus ended in failure.

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Rajaji and the Cripps Proposal

In 1942, at the time of the Cripps mission from the British Parliament to India, Rajagopalachari was among the minority of top Congress leaders who favoured acceptance of the offer made by Cripps in an effort to end the political deadlock. Efforts were being made by some leaders while Cripps was still in India to reach a compromise formula. Rajaji took the lead in this drive. Rajaji, Cripps and Col. Johnson, Roosevelt's personal envoy, worked out a formula which was agreed to by the Congress Working Committee. It consisted of a demarcation of the functions and authority of the Defence Member and of the Commander-in chief respectively. On 10 April it looked as if a compromise formula acceptable to all would be reached. However, for some reason, the compromise formula collapsed and on 11 April Cripps announced the failure of his mission. Cripps left India stating that the British proposals were withdrawn. Cripps was sincere but helpless.

Rajaji Under an Eclipse and the Madras Resolution

At this time events were moving fast. The city of Madras was being threatened by the Japanese. It was therefore decided by the Governor of Madras that the non-essential population of the city was to be ordered to evacuate. But the public of Madras strongly felt that the political situation should not be allowed to drift on account of the Japanese menace. The Congress leaders of the Presidency pointed out the need for the party to make common cause with the Muslim League and other minority organisations. A National Government had to be created for the duration of the War 'without prejudice to the solution of long-range issues after the war by friendly negotiations and agreement'. Rajaji who was thinking along these lines told the new Governor, Arthur Hope that if he (Rajaji) returned as the head of a coalition Government, it would be a war Government and therefore no controversial legislation would be introduced. He also said that such a coalition Ministry would include the Justice Party, the Muslim League, if Jinnah permitted it, Christians, Scheduled castes and one European. When the Governor asked whether the Congress would permit it, Rajaji replied: 'I will be prepared to break away (from the Congress) and run an independent show down here' - a statement which sparked off a good deal of controversy in the Congress circles.

On 24 April the Madras Legislature Congress Party under Rajaji's inspiration voiced the general feeling in the Presidency by passing what became known as the 'Madras Resolution'. It comprised two parts:

The first one was a recommendation to the AICC to acknowledge the claim of the Muslim League for separation of 'certain areas from a United India' and remove thereby a major obstacle to the 'installation of a national Government to meet the present national emergency'.

The other one called for a national front government at the centre and a coalition government in Madras which was being threatened with Japanese invasion and sought the permission of the AICC to invite the Muslim League to participate in it so as to facilitate united and effective action. The crux of the whole issue was that Rajaji wanted the Congress to concede Pakistan if that was the price demanded for the formation of a national Government.

The Madras resolution stirred up a fierce controversy leading ultimately to a split in the Congress organisation in Madras and to a temporary political eclipse of Rajaji. Majority of the Congress leaders differed sharply from Rajaji on the question of Japanophobia. According to Rajaji and his associates Japan should be given no quarters. She had not once come to the rescue of India during her national struggle. She had not even extended moral support or propaganda to India such as the people of other countries sometimes gave. Srinivasa Sastri observed: 'The circumstances of her (Japan's) present

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approach leave no doubt in my mind as to her intentions and no intelligent person can be deceived by her protestations. We must keep her away.' The Congress, on the other hand, viewed Britain and not Japan as India's immediate aggressor. The argument was that if the British left India there would be no danger to her from Japan, because it was Britain who fought Japan and crossed her path.

The Madras resolution of Rajaji had generated a feeling of resentment throughout the Congress circle. It shocked the Members of the Congress High Command. Even Maulana Azad was pained to see that a veteran Congressman like Rajaji had taken such a stand. Since Rajaji's action amounted to a repudiation of the Congress discipline, he wired him: 'Relations cannot hinder from duty. Please wire explanation. Putting your case before next meeting.' Rajaji's action embittered Gandhiji, Nehru and Patel, and many other leaders.

At the AICC session, he faced a storm of opposition from many quarters. When Azad pointed out that Rajaji ought to have consulted his national colleagues before sponsoring the resolution at a Provincial meeting, he expressed regret. He then resigned his membership of the Working Committee in order to move the resolution relating to Pakistan passed by the Madras Legislature party. The other resolution was withdrawn. In his speech supporting the resolution Rajaji said: 'Let us give the Muslims what they have been asking. It is mere shadow. They themselves will say they do not want it, if you do not keep it in your pocket but throw it on the table.' 'Do all Musalmans want it or is it only the Muslim League?' asked someone. To which, Rajaji pointed out the difficulty in dislodging the League from its position, power and control over the vast masses of Muslims. When Nehru refuted his statement Rajaji challenged him to produce results. If Nehru could bring about a communal settlement, Rajaji said, he would go down on his knees before him. He said: 'The ghost of Pakistan is not going to kill you. I want to hold it by the beard and face it.' Rajaji's resolution was defeated by an overwhelming majority of 120 votes to 15. But he was the least disheartened by this defeat. Nor did he nurse any ill-will.

C. Rajagopalachari's Resolution in the Madras Legislature and His Consequent Resignation

The resolution passed in the Madras Legislature:

The Madras Legislature Congress Party notes with deep regret that the attempts to establish a National Government for India to enable her to face the problems arising out of the present grave situation have failed and that, as a result of this, Nationalist India has been placed in a dilemma. It is impossible for the people to think in terms of neutrality of passivity during an invasion by an enemy power. Neither is it practicable to organise any effective defence independently and un-co-ordinated with the defence measures of the Government. It is absolutely and urgently necessary in the best interests of the country at this hour of peril to do all that the Congress can possibly do to remove every obstacle in the way of the establishment of a national administration to face the present situation, and, therefore, as much as the Muslim League has insisted on the recognition of the right of separation of certain areas from United India upon the ascertainment of the wishes of the people of such areas as a condition precedent for a united national action at this moment of grave national danger, this party is of opinion and recommends to the All-India Congress Committee that to sacrifice the chances of the formation of a national Government at this grave crisis for the doubtful advantage of maintaining a controversy over the unity of India is a most unwise policy and that it has become necessary to choose the lesser evil and acknowledge the Muslim League's

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claim for separation; should the same be persisted in when the time comes for framing a constitution for India and thereby remove all doubts and fears in this regard and to invite the Muslim League for a consultation for the purpose of arriving at an agreement and securing the installation of a National Government to meet the present emergency. The Congress party did not take this favourably, and Rajagopalachari had no option but to obey his conscience and resign.

The following is a letter from Rajaji dated 30 April 1942, to the Congress President Maulana Azad:

Dear Maulana Saheb,

With reference to your observation on the resolutions passed on my motion by the Madras Congress Legislative party, I admit that I should have talked the matter over with you and other colleagues of the Working Committee before moving the resolutions, knowing as I did their disagreement on the subject. I write this to express my regret. I have explained to you already how strongly I feel. I believe that I should be failing in my duty if I do not endeavour to get people to think and act in the direction which my conviction leads to. I feel that in the public interests I should move the resolutions already notified by Mr. Santanam, I desire, therefore, to request you to permit me to resign my place in the Working Committee.

Let me tender my grateful thanks for the unqualified trust and affection bestowed on me by you and the other colleagues during all these many years that I have served in the committee.

Sri Aurobindo and the Cripps Proposal

Let us now take a look at the position taken by Sri Aurobindo.

Sri Aurobindo took a totally different position from the Congress. As seen earlier, he supported the Allies in the War, and when the Cripps offer was made, he sent Cripps the following message:

'As one who has been a nationalist leader and worker for India's independence, though now my activity is no longer in the political but in the spiritual field, I wish to express my appreciation of all you have done to bring about this offer. I welcome it as an opportunity given to India to determine for herself, and organise in all liberty of choice, her freedom and unity, and take an effective place among the world's free nations. I hope that it will be accepted, and right use made of it, putting aside all discords and divisions. . . . I offer my public adhesion, in case it can be of any help in your work.'1

The following day, on April 1, Cripps replied with the following telegram: 'I am most touched and gratified by your kind message allowing me to inform India that you who occupy a unique position in imagination of Indian youth, are convinced that declaration of His Majesty's Government substantially confers that freedom for which Indian Nationalism has so long struggled. '2

Sri Aurobindo, in addition, sent a personal messenger to the Congress to urge them to accept Cripps' proposal; Sri Aurobindo gave this note to his disciple Duraiswami Iyer,

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an advocate of Madras, whom he sent to Delhi to speak with members of the Congress Working Committee about the Cripps Proposal.

'In view of the urgency of the situation I am sending Mr Duraiswami Iyer to convey my views on the present negotiations and my reasons for pressing on Indian leaders the need of a settlement. He is accredited to speak for me. '3

Sri Aurobindo

Sri Aurobindo also sent a telegram to C. Rajagopalachari, in which he said:

IS NOT COMPROMISE DEFENCE QUESTION BETTER THAN RUPTURE. SOME IMMEDIATE SETTLEMENT URGENT FACE GRAVE PERIL. HAVE SENT DURAISWAMI INSIST URGENCY. APPEAL TO YOU TO SAVE INDIA FORMIDABLE DANGER NEW FOREIGN DOMINATION WHEN OLD ON WAY TO SELF-ELIMINATION.

SRI AUROBINDO4

Sri Aurobindo's advice was ignored: 'He has retired from political life, why does he interfere?' said Gandhi to Duraiswamy Iyer. Although Nehru and Rajagopalachari favoured acceptance of Cripps' offer, Gandhi found it unacceptable because of his opposition to war. Had Cripps' proposal been accepted, the Partition and the blood bath that followed might have been averted.

Sri Aurobindo gave reasons for accepting the proposals.

First, Hitler represented an Asuric force and his victory would be good neither for India nor for the world.

Second, this offer was made chiefly to the Congress party and it was an opportunity for it to handle the communal problem.

Third, while the British were in India, Indians would be administering the country with their support from behind the scenes. That would have meant that a very large number of Indians would have been trained in administration.

Fourth, he said that by participating in the war effort, almost a million soldiers would be trained in the very thick of war and fighting in the thick of war was the best experience; and if the British decided to back out of the agreement after that, there would be a very large number of Indians who could take up arms against the British.

Fifth, he said that when one has to choose between a known enemy and an unknown enemy, it was better to choose the known enemy. Because if the Germans or Japanese won the war, there was no guarantee that India would get freedom. The Indians would only change their masters and knowing the British, knowing the background of their history with all their shortcomings, they had generally a democratic approach to life and second, the Indians knew them well having fought them for almost 200 years.

Sri Aurobindo also sent a telegram to Dr. B. S. Moonje.

DR MOONJE HINDU MAHASABHA NEW DELHI

SETTLEMENT INDIA BRITAIN URGENT, FACE APPROACH GRAVE

PERIL MENACING FUTURE INDIA. IS THERE NO WAY WHILE RESERVING

RIGHT REPUDIATE RESIST PARTITION MOTHERLAND TO ACCEPT

COOPERATION PURPOSE WAR INDIA UNION. CANNOT COMBINATION

MAHASABHA CONGRESS NATIONALIST AND ANTI-JINNAH

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MUSLIMS DEFEAT LEAGUE IN ELECTIONS BENGAL PUNJAB SIND.

HAVE SENT ADVOCATE DURAISWAMI IYER TO MEET YOU.

SRI AUROBINDO

2 April 1942

5

It will be interesting to note the situation in India just before the Quit Movement started when a draft resolution was circulated in the Congress Working Committee. Quoted below is an extract from Narendra Sarila's book: The Shadow of the Great Game.

'Gandhi's points in the draft resolution may be summarized as follows:

(1) The British be asked to clear out forthwith;

(2) if the British could not be persuaded to go, they would have to be thrown out;

(3) once the British were removed India would avoid being invaded because Japan's quarrel was with Britain and not with India;

(4) if Japan invaded India, it would meet with non-violent resistance; and

(5) the stationing of foreign soldiers, including American, on Indian soil was a grave menace to Indian freedom.

Nehru, according to the minutes of the meeting of the Congress Working Committee, opposed these views: If we said to Japan that her fight was with British Imperialism and not us she would say: "We are glad the British Army is withdrawn; we recognize your independence, but we want certain facilities now, we shall defend you against aggression, we want aerodromes, freedom to pass our troops through your country, this is necessary in self-defence." If Bapu's* [Gandhiji's] approach is accepted we become passive partners of the Axis powers.

J. B. Kriplani, a senior Congress leader, objected: "Why should it mean passage of armies through India? Just as we call upon the British and the Americans to withdraw their armies so also we ask

others to keep out of our frontiers." To this objection, Nehru retorted: "You can't stop Japan by non-violent non-cooperation. The Japanese armies will make India a battleground and go to Iraq, Persia and throttle China and make the Russian situation more difficult. The British will refuse our demand [to quit] for military reasons apart from others. They cannot allow India to be used by Japan against them. They will treat India as an enemy country and reduce it to dust and ashes, they will do here what they did in Rangoon."

Dr. Rajendra Prasad (who later became the president of independent India) was adamant but ambiguous in his stand: "We cannot produce the proper atmosphere [in the country] unless we adopt Baim's draft." A report by Denys Pilditch, director of the British Intelligence Service, revealed Dr. Rajendra Prasad's real thoughts. In a smaller enclave he had expressed the following view: "It would be easier to oust the Japanese from India after ridding themselves of the British, whose imperialism was too deep-rooted." Another freedom fighter, Achyut Patwardhan, also supported Gandhiji but for reasons not entirely Gandhian: "I would reconsider the position if the Allies could defeat the Axis." Acharya Narendra Deo, a senior leader, then chipped in with bravado: "We have to make it clear that [the] Japanese threat has not unnerved us. We can tell the British to go leaving us to our fate." Vishvanath Das declared: "The protest against the introduction of American soldiers in the country is also proper.".

C. Rajagopalachari opposed Gandhiji's views: "Do not run into the arms of Japan, which is what the resolution comes to." Vallabhbhai Patel, who emerged as the most successful and practical statesman in the last two years before independence, was, in

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1942, completely subservient to Gandhiji: "I place myself in the hands of Gandhiji. I feel he is instinctively right in the lead he gives in all critical situations." Others, including the president of the Congress Party, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, differed in varying degrees with Gandhiji's view, but none had the guts to speak forcefully against it and, in their interventions, often slipped into irrelevancies or began contradicting themselves. For example, Azad said: "Gandhiji's prescription is the only alternative, though I doubt its effectiveness." He suggested no alternative. It was at this meeting that Nehru stated: "It is Gandhiji's feeling that Japan and Germany will win. This feeling unconsciously governs his thinking." This statement was picked up by London from the British Intelligence report and quoted to Roosevelt to denounce Gandhiji as "a fifth columnist" or a "quisling".

The minutes of the meeting show that the hotly contested draft containing Gandhiji's advice was adopted by a majority vote by the Congress Working Committee in the forenoon session. However, the same afternoon, the CWC was reconvened by the president, Maulana Azad, and the draft changed, with the same gentlemen abruptly reversing their stand without discussion. This reversal came about after Nehru threatened that as he was committed to oppose the Axis powers he would have to openly disassociate himself from the resolution if it was not amended. As a result, the following sentences were expunged from the resolution: "Japan's quarrel is not with India" and the Committee desires to assure the Japanese Government and people that India bears no enmity with Japan. The following text was added in support of Britain's effort to defend India against a Japanese invasion, but in a compromise formula rather escapist and shifty:

In places where the British and the invading forces are fighting our non-cooperation will be fruitless and unnecessary. Not to put any obstacles in the way of the British forces will often be the only way to demonstrate our non-cooperation with the invader. The above record allows us a peep into how those leading the fight for India's independence were going about their business.'6

We thus see that Rajaji was perhaps the earliest Congress leader in the 1940s to admit to the likelihood of the Partition. He even prophesied then that Pakistan might break up in twenty-five years. Rajaji was known to be a fierce defender of his political ideals, and did not hesitate to contradict his closest aides and friends in public, whenever he sensed a threat to them. After serving time in British prisons for his work in the Independence Movement, he became a member of the Governor's Council in 1946. In 1948, after Indian independence was attained, he replaced Mountbatten to become the only Indian Governor-General of India, in which post he continued till the Republic was declared on January 26, 1950. The office was replaced by that of President, first held by Rajendra Prasad. Rajaji became a member of Jawaharlal Nehru's cabinet, first without portfolio, then, after Patel's death, as Home Minister. He was Chief Minister of Madras from 1952 to 1954. On leaving government, he was among the first recipients of the Bharat Ratna, the Indian government's highest civilian award.

Cripps failure to an agreement propelled Congress with Gandhi's leadership to a civil disobedience movement called Quit India Movement. In response to the movement, Gandhi and all senior leaders of the Congress Party except Rajagopalchari were arrested in August 1942.

Other Aspects of Rajaji

As a writer, Rajagopalachari was one of the finest that India had to offer. Most erudite people have command of one language, but Rajaji was an expert in at least 3

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languages. His works in his native Tamil are recognised as modern classics and have been published and reprinted several times. After his break with politics, he started on the massive task of translating the Hindu Scriptures, Ramayana and Mahabharata from Sanskrit to Tamil and later into English. He received rave reviews from scholars and religious seers alike. He translated Upanishads and Bhaja Govindam into English. His novels and short stories, themselves would have won him public adulation. He also translated 'The Tirukkural', an ancient piece of the Tamil literature, often referred to as 'the flower of Tamilnad', from Tamil to English. His ability as a writer is in a sense, unparalleled, not just in India alone. Some of his poetry was set to music and sung by Carnatic music's dominant personality M. S. Subbulakshmi at several occasions of importance, and once at the United Nations. Kurai Onrum Illai (No regrets have I my lord, none) is a very famous song in the semi-Carnatic music genre written by Rajaji and the most popular version (widely acknowledged as soul-stirring) has been rendered by M. S. Subbulakshmi. Rajaji also composed a hymn, 'Here under this Uniting Roof' which was sung in 1966 at the United Nations, again by M. S. Subbulakshmi. He was invited to the White House by President Kennedy; perhaps the only civilian, not in power, ever to be accorded formal state reception. The two discussed various matters and it is said that the great Indian statesman tried to impress the young President on the folly of an arms race - even one which the USA could win. Today, such warnings haunt us. Rajaji's statesmanship and vision for all mankind is recognised to this day. Rajaji died in December, 1972 after a brief illness.7

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V. P. Menon

In this chapter we present the contribution of V. P. Menon to the Freedom Movement. To describe V. P. Menon as a freedom fighter would be somewhat far-fetched, for he was a civil servant serving the British government in India. Yet as a civil servant he played a key role firstly in the integration of the princely states into India, thus saving India from balkanisation and, secondly, he helped tide over the difficulties of Partition once the leaders of the Congress had agreed to the creation of Pakistan.

Who Was V.P. Menon?

Vappala Pangunni Menon, known as V. P. Menon, was an Indian Civil Servant who played a vital role during the partition of India and the integration of the princely states into Independent India, during the period 1945-1950.

V. P. Menon who hailed from the erstwhile princely state of Cochin, now in Kerala, was the son of a school headmaster in Kerala. Menon began as a clerk in the Indian Civil Service, but was never a member of the Indian Civil Service. Working assiduously hard, Menon rose through the ranks to become the highest serving Indian officer in British India. In 1946, he was appointed Political Reforms Commissioner to the British viceroy. Menon was the political adviser of the last viceroy of India, Lord Louis Mountbatten.

It was in mid-August 1942 that Menon was made adviser to the viceroy, Lord Linlithgow. Harry Hodson who was till then the adviser to the viceroy writes in his autobiography: 'When, in mid-August 1942, I asked to be permitted to resign, Lord Linlithgow was wholly understanding. The announcement of my resignation was delayed, by mutual agreement, to a moment when it would not be interpreted as marking a rift between the Viceroy and his constitutional adviser on policy, especially towards the Congress, after the Cripps Mission and the Quit India campaign. In the interval I was able to put in a strong word on behalf of VP Menon, whom Lord Linlithgow was already thinking of appointing as my successor.'

He continued assisting Lord Wavell who became Viceroy after Lord Linlithgow. Menon's resourcefulness during this period caught the eye of Sardar Vallabhai Patel, who later became the Deputy Prime Minister of India in 1947.

Background to the Formation of Pakistan

When the Second World War broke out in 1939, it became clear to political observers that Britain would be forced to take steps towards granting India its independence, sooner or later. Consequently, the Cripps proposal was mooted in 1942. We have already seen that it was rejected by the leaders of the Congress Party. In 1942, Lord Linlithgow was the viceroy in India. He was replaced by Lord Wavell. After the end of the War, the Congress leaders were released from jail and in 1946 a Cabinet Mission was sent to India to work out the modalities of granting independence to India. During that time a plan known as the Wavell Plan was prepared and given to the leaders of the Congress and the Muslim League for discussion. This time too, the plan was not acceptable to the different parties. It became evident by the end of 1946 and early 1947 that the Partition of India was inevitable.

Lord Wavell was replaced by Lord Mountbatten as Viceroy in March 1947.

On Mountbatten's appointment in March 1947, he decided to take on some of the senior members of Wavell's staff. Quite expectedly V. P. Menon continued as the Reforms

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Commissioner. By then, Menon had become close to Sardar Patel and it did not take long for him to get close to Mountbatten too.

When the interim Government, run by the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League, collapsed due to their mutual rivalry, it was Menon who put forward the formula used as the basis for India's constitutional independence. He proposed this formula to Mountbatten, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel. It was the plan to partition India into two independent nations - India and Pakistan.

Mountbatten trusted V. P; they worked closely. Soon after his arrival V. P. writes of Mountbatten on 28 March, 1947: 'Even that early, only four days after his arrival, I got the feeling that he had decided which way he was going, what solution he had in mind. I told him on this occasion that in my view, Jinnah and the Muslim League would be willing to accept even a truncated Pakistan rather than go into a central Government. He seized upon the point right away. I left him feeling that he had come to India armed with plenipotentiary powers and if the parties were not able to come together, the decision would ultimately have to be given by His Excellency. The decision, I think, will not be palatable to either party.'

By 11 April 1947, Mountbatten had a plan ready. Lord Ismay, who was assisting Lord Mountbatten, wrote to V. P. Menon:

'My dear Menon,

I send you herewith the bare bones of a possible plan for the transfer of power. The Viceroy would be glad if you would a. amend the draft in any way you think right and put some flesh on it; consider what the procedure would be immediately after HMG had made their announcement. For example, would a general election in India be necessary? How would we set about the partition of the Punjab, Bengal and Assam? Presumably, the decision will be left to HE and will not be open to argument. What will be the machinery...

Yours very sincerely,

Ismay.'

Later on the Viceroy revised his tentative plan 'in the light of his discussions with the Governors and party leaders and sent this revised plan to London with Lord Ismay and George Abell on 2 May 1947. In all his discussions with party leaders and others, he was faced with the extremely divergent views of the parties; he was forced to adjust and reconcile these different views and this was reflected in the plan presented to London. However, on 10 May 1947 at Simla, Nehru rejected the plans proposed by Mountbatten and approved by the British Government for the transfer of power; it was then that V. P. Menon got into the act.

It took Menon less than six hours to pen a new plan for partition, which ultimately became the basis of the creation of the two Dominions of India and Pakistan. Nehru accepted it within twenty-four hours.

It is evident that a great deal of liberty was given to Menon and he was left free to change and chop the plan as he thought fit. Menon's draft was circulated a few days later to the Governors of India's eleven provinces who had been summoned to Delhi for a conference with the viceroy. The moment they read it, they realised that their days were numbered. 'The blighter's pulled it off', one of them said. 'What is he - a swami or something?'

On 3rd June 1947 Lord Mountbatten, having decided that the partition of India was inevitable, sought to effect the transfer of power without any delay. He accepted the plan of V.P. Menon, which involved the partition of India into two states, dividing Punjab and Bengal between India and Pakistan, with the predominantly non-Muslim areas in the Punjab and Bengal being excluded from Pakistan. On 3rd June 1947, Mountbatten announced the British plan to the nation.

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It will be relevant to see the Mother's reaction to this announcement.

Mother wrote this note on 3 June after hearing on the radio the declaration of the viceroy to Indian leaders, announcing Britain's final transfer of power to a partitioned India:

A proposal has been made for the solution of our difficulties in organising Indian independence and it is being accepted with whatever bitterness or regret and searchings of the heart by the Indian leaders.

But do you know why this proposal has been made to us? It is to prove to us the absurdity of our quarrels.

And do you know why we have to accept these proposals? It is to prove to ourselves the absurdity of these proposals.

Clearly, this is not a solution; it is a test, an ordeal which, if we live it out in all sincerity, will prove to us that it is not by cutting a country into small bits that we shall bring about its unity and greatness; it is not by opposing interests against each other that we can win for it prosperity; it is not by setting one dogma against another that we can serve the spirit of Truth. In spite of all, India has a single soul and while we have to wait till we can speak of an India one and indivisible, our cry must be:

LET THE SOUL OF INDIA LIVE FOR EVER ¹

Integration of the Princely States

During the early part of the nineteenth century, the policy of the British tended towards annexation, but the Indian Rebellion of 1857 forced a change in this approach, by demonstrating both the difficulty of absorbing and subduing annexed states, and the usefulness of princely states as a source of support. In 1858, the policy of annexation was formally renounced, and British relations with the princely states thereafter were based on indirect rule, whereby the British exercised paramountcy over all princely states with the British crown as ultimate suzerain, but at the same time respected and protected them as allies. The exact relations between the British and each princely state were regulated by individual treaties, and varied widely, with some states having significant autonomy, some being subject to significant control in internal affairs, and some being in effect the owners of a few acres of land with little autonomy.

During the twentieth century, the British made several attempts to integrate the princely states more closely with British India, creating the Chamber of Princes in 1921 as a consultative and advisory body, transferring the responsibility for supervision of smaller states from the provinces to the centre in 1936, and creating direct relations between the Government of India and the larger princely states superseding political agents. The most ambitious was a scheme of federation in the Government of India Act 1935, which envisaged the princely states and British India being united under a federal government. This scheme came close to success, but was abandoned in 1939 as a result of the outbreak of the Second World War. As a result, in the 1940s, the relationship between the princely states and the crown remained regulated by the principle of paramountcy and the various treaties between the British crown and the states.

Neither paramountcy nor these arrangements could continue after Indian independence. The British took the view that because they had been established directly between the British crown and the princely states, they could not be transferred to independent India. At the same time, they imposed obligations on Britain that it was not prepared to continue to carry out, such as the obligation to maintain troops in India for the defence of the princely states. The British government therefore decided that paramountcy, together

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with all treaties between them and the princely states, would come to an end upon the transfer of power.

The termination of paramountcy would have in principle meant that all rights that flowed from the states' relationship with the British crown would return to them, leaving them free to negotiate relationships with the new states of India and Pakistan 'on a basis of complete freedom'. Early British plans for the transfer of power, such as the offer produced by the Cripps Mission, recognised the possibility that some princely states might choose to stand out of Independent India. This was unacceptable to the Congress, which regarded the independence of princely states as a denial of the course of Indian history, and consequently regarded this scheme as a 'Balkanisation' of India. The Congress had traditionally been less active in the princely states because of their limited resources which restricted their ability to organise there and their focus on the goal of independence from the British, and because Congress leaders, in particular Gandhi, were sympathetic to the more progressive princes as examples of the capacity of Indians to rule themselves. This changed in the 1930s as a result of the federation scheme contained in the Government of India Act 1935 and the rise of socialist Congress leaders such as Jayaprakash Narayan, and the Congress began to actively engage with popular political and labour activity in the princely states. By 1939, the Congress' official stance was that the states must enter Independent India, on the same terms and with the same autonomy as the provinces of British India, and with their people granted responsible government. As a result, it insisted on the incorporation of the princely states into India in its negotiations with Mountbatten.

A few British leaders, particularly Lord Mountbatten, the last British viceroy in India, were also uncomfortable with breaking links between Independent India and the princely states. The development of trade, commerce and communications during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries had bound the princely states to British India through a complex network of interests. Agreements relating to railways, customs, irrigation, the use of ports, and other similar agreements would disappear, posing a serious threat to the economic life of the subcontinent. Mountbatten was also persuaded by the argument of Indian leaders such as V. P. Menon that the integration of the princely states into Independent India would to some extent assuage the wounds of partition. The result was that Mountbatten personally favoured and worked towards the accession of princely states to India following the transfer of power, as proposed by the Congress.

Faced with this situation, Lord Mountbatten created a department called Department of States.

On 27 June 1947 he announced that Sardar Patel would head the new department called Department of States and V. P. Menon was appointed its secretary. The importance of the creation of this department was great, as in July 1947 Jinnah stated that the Muslim League recognised 'the right of each state to choose its destiny'. His position was that the princely states were fully entitled to say that they would not accede to either dominion and remain independent. Had this been successful, India would have been totally balkanised.

On 25th July 1947, in the last address that he delivered to the Princes in Delhi, Mountbatten spelt out certain broad guidelines for them to follow in the determination of the future disposition of their States. He advised the Princes to accede to either of the two Dominions on the basis of the geographical contiguity of their States and the composition of their population. In this endeavour, he utilised V. P. Menon, who became Mountbatten's closest adviser and believed that all territorial issues and boundaries should be resolved before Independence to avoid instability and chaos after the handover. V. P. Menon raised this issue with Nehru in May 1947 and Nehru agreed. It is evident that Menon played a key role in the total absorption of the princely states into

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India. Lord Mountbatten who was ably assisted by V. P. Menon could persuade all the princes except three to sign the Instrument of Accession, allowing the Government of India to handle Defence, Foreign Affairs and Communications. This he achieved by 14 August 1947.

The three States that did not sign the Instrument of Accession were Junagadh, Hyderabad and Jammu and Kashmir.

The first two were absorbed in India within a year; the Jammu and Kashmir problem is still festering.

It is evident that Sardar Patel and V. P. Menon achieved one of the greatest successes of Independent India. The partnership between Patel and Menon was of a rare kind. Almost every Indian politician was allergic to civil servants, owing to their participation in the British Raj. Many Congressmen had demanded stripping the service of its privileges or disbanding it altogether, owing to the role of British-era officers in imprisoning Congress leaders. Nehru himself was reluctant to listen to the civil servants who worked under him.

Few know that just before 15 August 1947, India was not one monolithic entity, but one that comprised provinces of British India and over 554 Princely States. Forming a United Republic including all has to be one of the greatest - and unsung - successes of the twentieth century.

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The Lessons of the Freedom Movement

This book has presented some of the salient and important contributions of South India to the Freedom Movement. It does not claim to be a comprehensive and detailed narration of the events and personalities involved in the Freedom Movement; yet it gives an overall picture of the role of the South. However, it must always be remembered that this kind of regional approach - though very useful in its own way - must always be seen within the larger national framework, for no event or personal contribution can be seen in isolation. They all form part of the larger panorama. And that is because man is not an isolated being separate from each other and shut in tight compartments. There has been and will always be a constant exchange and interchange of ideas and forces and this is true right from the beginning of human history. This is beautifully illustrated in the following extract from Sri Aurobindo:

'Mankind as a whole has at present no consciously organised common life; it has only an inchoate organization determined much more by circumstances than by human intelligence and will. And yet the idea and the fact of our common human existence, nature, destiny has always exercised its strong influence on human thought and action. One of the chief preoccupations of ethics and religion has been the obligations of man to mankind. The pressure of the large movements and fluctuations of the race has always affected the destinies of its separate communities, and there has been a constant return-pressure of separate communities social, cultural, political, religious to expand and include, if it might be, the totality of the race.' 1

Thus there has been a constant flow of ideas and influences between North and South India and naturally the events and personalities have reflected this interchange.

It is from this point of view that we have to understand this presentation. Consequently, in the national context, the Freedom Movement has to be seen always from the national perspective overcoming all narrow and limited interpretations and viewpoints.

The Aim of the Freedom Movement

The chief aim of the Freedom Movement - first semi-consciously, then consciously - was to create first an awareness of the deeper cultural and spiritual psyche that held India together and then to convert this psychological unity into a political movement aimed at creating a unified nation state. For at the beginning of the nineteenth century, India seemed to be at the point of disintegration. Many historians and observers believed that India was then at the point of dissolution. The society was steeped in superstition, manacled by primitive customs, and it seemed that the sense of community had all but vanished. The country was facing a crisis of immense proportions. It was necessary for the very survival of India to bring back the sense of identity and sense of oneness. The question was: Where was this sense of identity? This identity lay in its cultural and spiritual culture.

For, it was this cultural and spiritual sense, present from the very earliest times of Indian history that made India a distinct and unique nation. In the words of Sri Aurobindo:

'For in India, the spiritual and cultural unity was made complete at a very early time and it became the very basis of life of all this great surge of humanity between the Himalayas and the two seas. The peoples of ancient India were not so much distinct nations sharply divided from each other by a separate political and economic life; rather, they were sub-peoples of a great spiritual and cultural nation itself firmly separated physically, from other countries by the seas and the mountains and from other nations by its strong sense of difference, its peculiar common religion and culture.

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The whole basis of the Indian mind is its spiritual and inward turn; its propensity has always been to seek the things of the spirit and the inner being first and foremost and to look at all else as secondary, dependent, to be handled and determined in the light of the higher knowledge; the outer world was seen as an expression, a preliminary field or aid to the deeper spiritual aim. In other words, this approach led to a tendency to create whatever it had to create first on the inner plane and afterwards in its other and outer aspects.'2

The first task was therefore to rediscover this spiritual identity.

The second task was to convert this fundamental spiritual and cultural unity into a political unity. For without a strong political unity, neither would it be possible to defend ourselves from aggression nor to organise effectively our external political and economic life. But the task was beset with problems; the problems were enormous and seemed to defy solution despite many heroic attempts in the past. Thus once more in the words of Sri Aurobindo:

'The whole past of India for the last two thousand years and more has been the attempt, unavailing in spite of many approximations to success, to overcome the centrifugal tendency of an extraordinary number and variety of disparate elements, the family, the commune, the clan, the caste, the small regional state or people, the large linguistic unit, the religious community, the nation within the nation. We may perhaps say that here Nature tried an experiment of unparalleled complexity and potential richness, accumulating all possible difficulties in order to arrive at the most opulent result. But in the end the problem proved insoluble or, at least, was not solved and Nature had to resort to her usual deus ex machina denouement, the instrumentality of a foreign rule.'3

The foreign rule that proved to be the instrument triggering the final attempt at political unity was the British rule in India. As already explained in the book, the British exploitation first provoked minor revolts all over the country, then the Sepoy Mutiny and finally the formation of the Indian National Congress. The Congress Party took this to the logical conclusion by getting independence and forming the Indian State in 1947. Unfortunately, in this process, the country got its freedom but not unity. Undoubtedly, a sufficient fighting unity was brought about to win freedom, but the freedom obtained did not carry with it a complete union of the country. On the contrary, India was deliberately split on the basis of the two-nation theory into Pakistan and Hindustan with the deadly consequences which we are now facing.

We have seen in this book that this partition could probably have been avoided had we accepted the Cripps Proposal.

In this context, quoting an extract from a message given by Sri Aurobindo on the very day that India got her independence:

India is free but she has not achieved unity, only a fissured and broken freedom. At one time it almost seemed as if she might relapse into the chaos of separate States which preceded the British conquest. Fortunately there has now developed a strong possibility that this disastrous relapse will be avoided. The wisely drastic policy of the Constituent Assembly makes it possible that the problem of the depressed classes will be solved without schism or fissure. But the old communal division into Hindu and Muslim seems to have hardened into the figure of a permanent political division of the country. It is to be hoped that the Congress and the nation will not accept the settled fact as for ever settled or as anything more than a temporary expedient. For if it lasts, India may be seriously weakened, even crippled: civil strife may remain always possible, possible even a new invasion and foreign conquest. The partition of the country must go,—it is to be hoped by a slackening of tension, by a progressive understanding of the need of peace and concord, by the constant necessity of common and concerted action, even of an instrument of union for that purpose. In this way unity may come about under whatever form—the exact form may have a pragmatic but not a fundamental importance. But by

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whatever means, the division must and will go. For without it the destiny of India might be seriously impaired and even frustrated. But that must not be.4

The task is now to create the conditions for this union. It has to be proved by all the means at our disposal that it is not by cutting a country into small bits that we can bring about its unity and greatness; it is not by opposing interests against each other that we can win for it prosperity; it is not by setting one dogma against another that we can serve the spirit of Truth. In spite of all, India has a single soul and while we have to wait till we can speak of an India one and indivisible, our cry must be:

LET THE SOUL OF INDIA LIVE FOR EVER!

Summary of the Freedom Movement

We shall take up now a brief resume of the political movements in India in the last century and a half.

The first phase of the Indian political revival started with the formation of the Indian National Congress. This phase was dominated by the Moderate philosophy of the Congress. The essentials of the movement may be summed up thus:

• An implicit faith in the British sense of justice and fairplay

The determination to work within the framework of the constitution as laid down by the British

No clear-cut goal for political freedom; only some reforms and a greater participation in the government

The method adopted to fulfil these demands were: pray, petition and protest; even for its shamefully modest demands, flattery to gain the goodwill of the British

In the second phase, led by Sri Aurobindo, Tilak, Lala Lajpat Rai and Bipin Chandra Pal, the Movement took a new orientation. The Swadeshi Movement as it was called attempted to base its political creation on the Indian spirit and not upon imitative European lines. This movement pursued a new conception of the nation not merely as a country, but a soul, a psychological, almost a spiritual being and, even when acting from economical and political motives, it sought to dynamise them by this subjective conception and to make them instruments of self-expression rather than objects in themselves. This was echoed in South India by Subramaniam Bharati and other leaders of the time.

No doubt it failed, due to the strength of a hostile pressure and the weakness still left by a past decadence. Although its incipient creations were broken or left languishing and deprived of their original significance, yet they remained as a finger post on the roads. But at the same time, it must be noted that this movement stands out as one of the most important events in Indian political history. For the growth and development of Nationalism, during that brief period of three years through the instrumentality of Sri Aurobindo's Bandemataram and Subramaniam Bharati, is a political phenomenon unparalleled by any similar movement in the world.

Let us now see what the contributions of this movement were.

Firstly, it was fundamentally a Nationalist Movement which succeeded in creating a powerful sentiment among the masses; it awoke the sense and spirit of Indian-ness that was at once a reawakening of the ancient Shakti of India and a new pulsation to recover the Spirit and give to it new and creative instruments of thought and energy.

Secondly, the subsequent movement of the Congress from 1920 onwards was guided and inspired by the principal ideas and programmes of the Nationalist Movement; unfortunately, the movement deviated in its spirit and force from the sublime and daring vision of the early Nationalists like Tilak, Sri Aurobindo and others.

The third phase began with the advent of Gandhi. It seemed at one point of time that there would be a continuation and development of the movement started in the second phase. Gandhi with his

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enormous popularity and hold on the Indian masses seemed poised to continue the spiritual turn given in the previous stage. But that was not to be. There was a distinct shift from the Indian spiritual turn to a moral and in some ways a foreign turn; however well-garbed it was in the Indian attire. Gandhi gave a completely different interpretation of the Indian spirit and it is this vision that stills holds sway among a very large section of the Indian intelligentsia and political elite. This deviation was the cause of much of the confusion and tardiness of the movement of non-cooperation, Satyagraha and non-violent struggle. It was this approach - an excessive stress on the moral aspect of non-violence - that ultimately led to the rejection of the Cripps Proposal. It is in this context that we have to give due recognition to the praiseworthy role of Rajagopalchari for his courageous stand against the Congress Party and Gandhi.

Ultimately, India muddled through an uncertain terrain of thought and action as also much suffering and violence and attained freedom that left India divided amid communal tensions which are crippling India even today after fifty years of Independence. The solution to this state of affairs is to bring back the spirit of the Swadeshi Movement. The attempt to revive the deeper and genuine Indian spirit is bound to be renewed as soon as a wider gate is opened under more favourable conditions. Untill that attempt comes a serious danger besets the soul of India.

What are the steps to be taken to fulfil this task? The first step is to recreate the spirit of the Freedom Movement leading to the rebirth of the soul of India. But if there is to be a rebirth of the soul of India, it must insist much more finally and integrally than it has as yet done on its spiritual turn, on the greater and greater action of the spiritual motive in every sphere of our living.

India has the key to the knowledge and conscious application of the ideal; what was dark to her before in its application, she can now, with a new light, illumine; what was wrong and wry in her old methods she can now rectify; the fences which she created to protect the outer growth of the spiritual ideal and which afterwards became barriers to its expansion and farther application, she can now break down and give her spirit a freer field and an ampler flight: she can, if she will, give a new and decisive turn to the problems over which all mankind is labouring and stumbling, for the clue to their solutions is there in her ancient knowledge. Whether she will rise or not to the height of her opportunity in the renaissance which is coming upon her, is the question of her destiny.

In other words, the government must openly declare that the spiritual motive is to be the leading power behind all our actions.

The Future

Let us now look at the future and see how India can fulfil her true destiny.

For India to be secure and progress according to her natural Swadharma three steps have to be taken.

• The recovery of the old spiritual knowledge and experience in all its splendour, depth and fullness is its first, most essential work

The flowing of this spirituality into new forms of philosophy, literature, art, science and critical knowledge

An original dealing with modern problems in the light of the Indian spirit and the endeavour to formulate a greater synthesis of a spiritualised society

Her success on these three lines will be the measure of her help to the future of humanity.

In order to recover the old Indian spiritual knowledge India has to insist much more finally and integrally than she has as yet done on her spiritual turn, on the increasingly greater action of the spiritual motive in every sphere of our living.

A passage from Sri Aurobindo sums up the whole position:

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'India can best develop herself and serve humanity by being herself and following the law of her nature. This does not mean, as some narrowly and blindly suppose, the rejection of every thing new that comes to us in the stream of time or happens to have been first developed or powerfully expressed by the West. Such an attitude would be intellectually absurd, physically impossible and above all unspiritual; true spirituality rejects no new light or added means or materials of our human self-development. It means simply to keep our centre, our essential way of being, our inborn nature and assimilate to it all we receive and evolve out of it all we do and create. Religion has been a central preoccupation of the Indian mind; some have told us that too much religion ruined India, precisely because we made the whole of life religion or religion the whole of life, we have failed in life and gone under. I will not answer, adopting the language used by the poet in a slightly different connection that our fall does not matter and that the dust in which India lies is sacred. The fall, the failure does matter, and to lie in the dust is no sound position for man or nation. But the reason assigned is not the true one. If the majority of Indians had indeed made the whole of their lives religion in the true sense of the word, we would not be where we are now; it was because their public life became most irreligious, egoistic, self-seeking, materialistic that they fell. It is possible that on one side we deviated too much into an excessive religiosity, that is to say, an excessive externalism of ceremony, rule, routine, mechanical worship, and on the other into a too world-shunning asceticism which drew away the best minds who were thus lost to society instead of standing like the ancient Rishis as its spiritual support and its illuminating life-givers. But the root of the matter was the dwindling of the spiritual impulse in its generality and broadness, the decline of intellectual activity and freedom, the waning of great ideals, the loss of the gust of life.'

'Nor does spirituality mean the moulding of the whole type of the national being to suit the limited dogmas, forms, tenets of a particular religion, as was often enough attempted by the old societies, an idea which still persists in many minds by the power of old mental habits and associations; clearly such an attempt would be impossible, even if it were desirable in a country full of the most diverse religious opinions and harbouring too three distinct general forms as Hinduism, Islam and Christianity, to say nothing of the numerous special forms to which each has given birth. Spirituality is much wider than any particular religion and in the larger ideas that are now coming on us, even the greatest religion becomes no more than a broad sect or brand of the one universal religion; by which we shall understand in the future man's seeking for the eternal, the divine, the greatest self, the source of unity and his attempt to arrive at some equation, some increasing approximation of the values of human life with the eternal and the divine values.'5

One of the most serious problems facing India today is the Hindu-Muslimissue. There are two conceivable solutions; the rise of a greater spiritual principle and formulation, which would reconcile the two and a political patriotism surmounting the religious struggle and uniting the two communities. During the freedom struggle an attempt was made to create this political patriotism and it was partially successful but in the end religious intolerance and mistrust took over and the result was the partition of the country.

It is now time to attempt the solution of the problem on both these lines. The institution of SAARC is itself a first step and opportunity in this direction and this forum can be used to create patriotism on both political and economic lines.

In order to establish spirituality as the chief motive force, we have to go beyond religion. The solution lies in the following words of The Mother:

'The conflict of religions arises because each one claims the exclusive truth and demands a complete adherence to it by the method of dogma, ritual, ceremony and prescribed acts. The solution would be, first to recognize that the real truth of religion is in the spiritual experiences of which it is an outer formulation. To transcend therefore the outer form, and insist on the spiritual experience and in addition to recognize that there can be infinite and valid varieties of spiritual

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experiences is the important step in the solution. It is not by insisting on religion that India and the world can be reconstructed. The new world will transcend religions and will insist on the purity of spiritual experience.

Instead of taking religions in their outward forms, which are precisely dogmas and intellectual conceptions, if we take them in their spirit, in the principle they represent there is no difficulty in unifying them. They are simply different aspects of human progress, which complete each other perfectly well and should be united with many others yet to form a more total and more complete progress, a more integral approach to the Divine.

India's attempt in her religion was to some extent directed to this inner perception; it is at present lost but we must now place forward this perception clearly and radically, not revive religion or religious spirit, but present the ideal of spiritual perfection which consists of an integral realization of the spirit and its full manifestation in physical life.' 6

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HOME

Appendix

Two letters from Sri Aurobindo on the Second World War

1. You have said that you have begun to doubt whether it was the Mother's war and ask me to make you feel again that it is. I affirm again to you most strongly that this is the Mother's war. You should not think of it as a fight for certain nations against others or even for India; it is a struggle for an ideal that has to establish itself on earth in the life of humanity, for a Truth that has yet to realise itself fully and against a darkness and falsehood that are trying to overwhelm the earth and mankind in the immediate future. It is the forces behind the battle that have to be seen and not this or that superficial circumstance. It is no use concentrating on the defects or mistakes of nations; all have defects and commit serious mistakes; but what matters is on what side they have ranged themselves in the struggle. It is a struggle for the liberty of mankind to develop, for conditions in which men have freedom and room to think and act according to the light in them and grow in the Truth, grow in the Spirit. There cannot be the slightest doubt that if one side wins, there will be an end of all such freedom and hope of light and truth and the work that has to be done will be subjected to conditions which would make it humanly impossible; there will be a reign of falsehood and darkness, a cruel oppression and degradation for most of the human race such as people in this country do not dream of and cannot yet at all realise. If the other side that has declared itself for the free future of humanity triumphs, this terrible danger will have been averted and conditions will have been created in which there will be a chance for the Ideal to grow, for the Divine Work to be done, for the spiritual Truth for which we stand to establish itself on the earth. Those who fight for this cause are fighting for the Divine and against the threatened reign of the Asura.

July 29th, 1942.

Sri Aurobindo

2. What we say is not that the Allies have not done wrong things, but that they stand on the side of the evolutionary forces.5 I have not said that at random, but on what to me are clear grounds of fact. What you speak of is the dark side. All nations and governments have been that in their dealings with each other,— at least all who had the strength and got the chance. I hope you

are not expecting me to believe that there are or have been virtuous governments and unselfish and sinless peoples? But there

is the other side also. You are condemning the Allies on grounds that people in the past would have stared at, on the basis of modern ideals of international conduct; looked at like that all have black records. But who created these ideals or did most to create them (liberty, democracy, equality, international justice and the rest)? Well, America, France, England—the present Allied nations. They have all been imperialistic and still bear the burden of their past, but they have also deliberately spread these ideals and spread too the institutions which try to embody them. Whatever the relative worth of these things— they have been a stage, even if a still imperfect stage of the forward evolution.

(What about the others? Hitler, for example, says it is a crime to educate the coloured peoples, they must be kept as serfs and labourers.) England has helped certain nations to be free without seeking any personal gain; she has also conceded independence to Egypt and Eire after a struggle, to Iraq without a struggle. She has been moving away

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steadily, if slowly, from imperialism towards co-operation; the British Commonwealth of England and the Dominions is something unique and unprecedented, a beginning of new things in that direction: she is moving in idea towards a world-union of some kind in which aggression is to be made impossible; her new generation has no longer the old firm belief in mission and empire; she has offered India Dominion independence—or even sheer isolated independence, if she wants that,—after the war, with an agreed free constitution to be chosen by Indians themselves. . . . All that is what I call evolution in the right direction—however slow and imperfect and hesitating it may still be. As for America she has forsworn her past imperialistic policies in regard to Central and South America, she has conceded independence to Cuba and the Philippines. . . . Is there a similar trend on the side of the Axis? One has to look at things on all sides, to see them steadily and whole. Once again, it is the forces working behind that I have to look at, I don't want to go blind among surface details. The future has to be safeguarded; only then can present troubles and contradictions have a chance to be solved and eliminated. . . .

For us the question does not arise. We made it plain in a letter which has been made public that we did not consider the war as a fight between nations and governments (still less between good people and bad people) but between two forces, the Divine and the Asuric. What we have to see is on which side men and nations put themselves; if they put themselves on the right side, they at once make themselves instruments of the Divine purpose in spite of all defects, errors, wrong movements and actions which are common to human nature and all human collectivities. The victory of one side (the Allies) would keep the path open for the evolutionary forces: the victory of the other side would drag back humanity, degrade it horribly and might lead even, at the worst, to its eventual failure as a race, as others in the past evolution failed and perished. That is the whole question and all other considerations are either irrelevant or of a minor importance. The Allies at least have stood for human values, though they may often act against their own best ideals (human beings always do that); Hitler stands for diabolical values or for human values exaggerated in the wrong way until they become diabolical (e.g. the virtues of the Herrenvolk, the master race). That does not make the English or Americans nations of spotless angels nor the Germans a wicked and sinful race, but as an indicator it has a primary importance. . . .

The Kurukshetra example is not to be taken as an exact parallel but rather as a traditional instance of the war between two world-forces in which the side favoured by the Divine triumphed, because the leaders made themselves His instruments. It is not to be envisaged as a battle between virtue and wickedness, the good and the evil men. After all, were even the Pandavas virtuous without defect, quite unselfish and without passions? . . . Were not the Pandavas fighting to establish their own claims and interests—just and right, no doubt, but still personal claims and self-interest? Theirs was a righteous battle, dharmyayuddha, but it was for right and justice in their own case. And if imperialism, empire-building by armed force, is under all

circumstances a wickedness, then the Pandavas are tainted with that brush, for they used their victory to establish their empire,

continued after them by Parikshit and Janamejaya. Could not modern humanism and pacifism make it a reproach against the Pandavas that these virtuous men (including Krishna) brought about a huge slaughter that they might become supreme rulers over all the numerous free and independent peoples of India? That would be the result of weighing old happenings in the scales of modern ideals. As a matter of fact such an empire was a step in the right direction then, just as a world-union of free peoples would be a step in the right direction now,—in both cases the right consequences of a terrific slaughter. . . . We should remember that conquest and rule over subject peoples were not regarded as wrong either in ancient or mediaeval or quite recent times, but as

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something great and glorious; men did not see any special wickedness in conquerors or conquering nations. Just government of subject peoples was envisaged but nothing more—exploitation was not excluded. The modern ideas on the subject, the right of all to liberty, both individuals and nations, the immorality of conquest and empire, or such compromises as the British idea of training subject races for democratic freedom, are new values, an evolutionary movement; this is a new Dharma which has only begun slowly and initially to influence practice,—an infant Dharma which would have been throttled for good if Hitler succeeded in his "Avataric" mission and established his new "religion" over all the earth. Subject nations naturally accept the new Dharma and severely criticise the old imperialisms; it is to be hoped that they will practise what they now preach when they themselves become strong and rich and powerful. But the best will be if a new world-order evolves, even if at first stumblingly or incompletely, which will make the old things impossible—a difficult task, but not absolutely impossible.

The Divine takes men as they are and uses men as His instruments even if they are not flawless in virtue, angelic, holy and pure. If they are of good will, if, to use the Biblical phrase, they are on the Lord's side, that is enough for the work to be done. Even if I knew that the Allies would misuse their victory or bungle the peace or partially at least spoil the opportunities opened to the human world by that victory, I would still put my force behind them. At any rate things could not be one hundredth part as bad as they would be under Hitler. The ways of the Lord would still be open—to keep them open is what matters. Let us stick to the real, the central fact, the need to remove the peril of black servitude and revived barbarism threatening India and the world, and leave for a later time all side-issues and minor issues or hypothetical problems that would cloud the one all-important tragic issue before us.

Sri Aurobindo

3. 9. 1943

THE CRIPPS STORY

The Mother's remarks on the Cripps Proposal

"What is it all about?" P said that one person argued that Cripps' offer would not be accepted by the Indian leaders. The Mother felt amused and inquired, "Why?" By then She had sat on the chair that was in front of Her. It was a very unusual and mteresting scene; the Mother, stiII in Her beautiful Japanese kimono just out of the bath, didn't seem to care to change Her dress, and was more interested in the arguments against the acceptance. Then She began to talk with a very calm and distinct voice. One could see that She who had entered a few minutes ago had been transported somewhere else and the voice was coming from that plane. . . .

She said something to this effect: "One should leave the matter of the Cripps' Offer entirely in the hands of the Divine, with full confidence that the Divine will work everything out. Certainly there were flaws in the offer. Nothing on earth created by man is flawless, because the human mind has a limited capacity . Yet behind this offer there is the Divine Grace directly present. The Grace is now at the door of India, ready to give its help. In the history of a nation such opportunities do not come often. The Grace presents itself at rare moments, after centuries of preparation of that nation. If it is accepted, the nation wiII survive and get a new birth in the Divine's consciousness. But if it is rejected the Grace wiII withdraw and then the nation wiII suffer terribly, calamity wiII overtake it. "Only some months ago, the same Grace presented itself at the door of France, immediately after the fall of Dunkirk, in the form of ChurchiII's offer to her to have joint Nationality with England and fight the enemy. Sri Aurobindo said that it was the right idea and it would also have helped His work immensely. But France could not raise

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herself above the ordinary mind, and rejected it. So the Grace withdrew and the Soul of France has gone down. One doesn't know when the real France wiII be up again.

"But India with her background of intense spiritual development through the ages, must realise the Grace that is behind this offer. It is not simply a human offering. Of course its form has been given by the human mind, and it has elements of imperfection in it. But that does not matter at all. Have faith in the Grace and leave everything to the Divine who will surely work it out. "My ardent request to India is that she should not reject it. She must not make the same mistake that France has done recently and that has plunged her into the abyss. "

As soon as She had finished speaking She hurried back to Her dressing room, without a word or a look at anybody. Later, on the same day, the first of April, 1942, when She returned from the Prosperity after the distribution, She disclosed that Sri Aurobindo had already sent a telegram to Sir Stafford, and the latter had reciprocated very heartily, and both the telegrams were being put on the notice board by Nolini. We then read the messages and were very much encouraged. But the next day or the day after it, the Congress announced that it had rejected the offer. The Mother was quite unperturbed; She only said, "Now calamity will befall India.

RESOLUTION OF THE CONGRESS WORKING COMMITTEE

The Working Committee have given full and earnest consideration to the proposals made by the British War Cabinet with regard to India and the elucidation of them by Sir Stafford Cripps.

These proposals, which have been made at the very last hour because of the compulsion of events, have to be considered not only in relation to India's demand for independence but more especially, in the present grave war crisis, with a view to meeting effectively the perils and dangers that confront India and envelop the world.

Congress has repeatedly stated, ever since the commencement of the war in September 1939, that the people of India would line themselves with the progressive forces of the world and assume full responsibility to face the new problems and shoulder the new burdens that had arisen, and it asked for the necessary conditions to enable them to do so to be created. The essential condition was the freedom of India, for only the realisation of present freedom could light the flame which would illuminate millions of hearts and move them to action.

At the last meeting of the All-India Congress Committee, after the commencement of the war in the Pacific, it was stated that: "Only a free and independent India can be in a position to undertake the defence of the country on a national basis and be able to help in the furtherance of the larger causes that are emerging from the form of war."

The British War Cabinet's new proposals relate principally to the future, upon the cessation of hostilities. The Committee, while recognising that self-determination for the people of India is accepted in principle in that uncertain future, regret that this is

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fettered and circumscribed and that certain provisions have been introduced which gravely imperil the development of a free and united national government and the establishment of a democratic state. Even the constitution-making body is so constituted that the people's right of self-determination is vitiated by the introduction of non-representative elements.

The people of India have, as a whole, clearly demanded full independence, and Congress has repeatedly declared that no other status except that of independence for the whole of India could be agreed to or could meet the essential requirements of the present situation.

The Committee recognise that future independence may be implicit in the proposals, but the accompanying provisions and restrictions are such that real freedom may well become an illusion.

The complete ignoring of ninety millions of people in the Indian States, and their treatment as commodities at the disposal of their Rulers, is a negation both of democracy and self-determination. While the representation of an Indian State in the constitution-making body is fixed on a population basis, the people of the State have no voice in choosing those representatives, nor are they to be consulted at any stage while decisions vitally affecting them are being taken. Such States may in many ways become barriers to the growth of Indian freedom, enclaves where foreign authority still prevails, and where the possibility of maintaining foreign-armed forces has been stated to be a likely contingency and a perpetual menace to the freedom of the people of the States as well as of the rest of India.

The acceptance beforehand of the novel principle of non-accession for a Province is also a severe blow to the conception of Indian unity and an apple of discord likely to generate growing trouble in the Provinces, and which may well lead to further difficulties in the way of the Indian States merging themselves into an Indian Union. Congress has been wedded to Indian freedom and unity and any break of that unity especially in the modern world when peoples' minds inevitably think in terms of ever larger federations would be injurious to all concerned and exceedingly painful to contemplate. Nevertheless the Committee cannot think in terms of compelling the people of any territorial unit to remain in an Indian Union against their declared and established will. While recognising this principle, the Committee feel that every effort should be made to create conditions which would help the different units in developing a common and co-operative national life. Acceptance of this principle inevitably involves that no changes should be made which would result in fresh problems being created and compulsion being exercised on other substantial groups within that area. Each territorial unit should have the fullest possible autonomy within the Union consistently with a strong National State.

The proposal now made on the part of the British War Cabinet encourages and will lead to attempts at separation at the very inception of the Union and thus create great friction just when the utmost co-operation and goodwill are most needed. This proposal has been presumably made to meet the communal demand, but it will have

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other consequences also and lead politically reactionary and obscurantist groups among the different communities to create trouble and divert public attention from the vital issues before the country.

Any proposal concerning the future of India must demand attention and scrutiny, but in to-day's grave crisis it is the present that counts and even the proposals for the future in so far as they affect the present. The Committee necessarily attached the greatest importance to this aspect of the question and on this ultimately depends what advice they should give to those who look to them for guidance. For this the present British War Cabinet's proposals are vague and altogether incomplete, and there would appear to be no vital changes in the present structure contemplated. It has been made clear that the defence of India will in any event remain under British control. At any time Defence is a vital subject; during war-time it is all-important and covers almost every sphere of life and administration. To take away Defence from the sphere of responsibility at this stage is to reduce that responsibility to a farce and nullity, and to make it perfectly clear that India is not going to be free in any way and her Government is not going to function as a free and independent Government during the pendency of the war.

The Committee would repeat that the essential fundamental prerequisite for the assumption of responsibility by the Indian people in the present is their realisation as a fact that they are free and are in charge of maintaining and defending their freedom. What is most wanted is the enthusiastic response of the people, which cannot be evoked without the fullest trust in them and the devolution of responsibility on them in the matter of Defence. It is only thus that even in this grave eleventh hour it may be possible to galvanise the people of India to rise to the height of the occasion. It is manifest that the present Government of India, as well as its Provincial agencies, are lacking in competence and are incapable of shouldering the burden of India's defence. It is only the people of India, through their popular representatives, who may shoulder this burden worthily. But that can only be done by present freedom and full responsibility being cast upon them. The Committee are, therefore, unable to accept the proposals put forward on behalf of the British War Cabinet.

(Transfer of Power 1942-7, Vol.1, Cripps Mission, January - April 1942, edited by Nicholas Mansergh and published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1970, reprinted in India by Vikas Publications, Delhi, pp745 - 48)

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Message of 15^th August

August 15th is the birthday of free India. It marks for her the end of an old era, the beginning of a new age. But it has a significance not only for us, but for Asia and the whole world; for it signifies the entry into the comity of nations of a new power with untold potentialities which has a great part to play in determining the political, social, cultural and spiritual future of humanity. To me personally it must naturally be gratifying that this date which was notable only for me because it was my own birthday celebrated annually by those who have accepted my gospel of life, should have acquired this vast significance. As a mystic, I take this identification, not as a coincidence or fortuitous accident, but as a sanction and seal of the Divine Power which guides my steps on the work with which I began life. Indeed almost all the world movements which I hoped to see fulfilled in my lifetime, though at that time they looked like impossible dreams, I can observe on this day either approaching fruition or initiated and on the way to their achievement. I have been asked for a message on this great occasion, but I am perhaps hardly in a position to give one. All I can do is to make a personal declaration of the aims and ideals conceived in my childhood and youth and now watched in their beginning of fulfilment, because they are relevant to the freedom of India, since they are a part of what I believe to be India's future work, something in which she cannot but take a leading position. For I have always held and said that India was arising, not to serve her own material interests only, to achieve expansion, greatness, power and prosperity,— though these too she must not neglect, —and certainly not like others to acquire domination of other peoples, but to live also for God and the world as a helper and leader of the whole human race. Those aims and ideals were in their natural order these: a revolution which would achieve India's freedom and her unity; the resurgence and liberation of Asia and her return to the great role which she had played in the progress of human civilisation; the rise of a new, a greater, brighter and nobler life for mankind which for its entire realization would rest outwardly on an international unification of the separate existence of the peoples, preserving and securing their national life but drawing them together into an overriding and consummating oneness; the gift by India of her spiritual knowledge and her means for the spiritualisation of life to the whole race; finally, a new step in the evolution which, by uplifting the consciousness to a higher level, would begin the solution of the many problems of existence which have perplexed and vexed humanity, since men began to think and to dream of individual perfection and a perfect society.

India is free but she has not achieved unity, only a fissured and broken freedom. At one time it almost seemed as if she might relapse into the chaos of separate States which preceded the British conquest. Fortunately there has now developed a strong possibility that this disastrous relapse will be avoided. The wisely drastic policy of the Constituent Assembly makes it possible that the problem of the depressed classes will be solved without schism or fissure. But the old communal division into Hindu and Muslim seems to have hardened into the figure of a permanent political division of the country. It is to be hoped that the Congress and the nation will not accept the settled fact as for ever settled or as anything more than a temporary expedient. For if it lasts, India may be seriously weakened, even crippled: civil strife may remain always possible, possible even a new invasion and foreign conquest. The partition of the country must go,—it is to be hoped by a slackening of tension, by a progressive understanding of the need of peace and concord, by the constant necessity of common and concerted action, even of an instrument of union for that purpose. In this way unity may come about under whatever form—the exact form may have a pragmatic but not a fundamental importance. But by whatever means, the division must and will go. For without it the destiny of India might be seriously impaired and even frustrated. But that must not be.

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Asia has arisen and large parts of it have been liberated or are at this moment being liberated; its other still subject parts are moving through whatever struggles towards freedom. Only a little has to be done and that will be done today or tomorrow. There India has her part to play and has begun to play it with an energy and ability which already indicate the measure of her possibilities and the place she can take in the council of the nations.

The unification of mankind is under way, though only in an imperfect initiative, organised but struggling against tremendous difficulties. But the momentum is there and, if the experience of history can be taken as a guide, it must inevitably increase until it conquers. Here too India has begun to play a prominent part and, if she can develop that larger statesmanship which is not limited by the present facts and immediate possibilities but looks into the future and brings it nearer, her presence may make all the difference between a slow and timid and a bold and swift development. A catastrophe may intervene and interrupt or destroy what is being done, but even then the final result is sure. For in any case the unification is a necessity in the course of Nature, an inevitable movement and its achievement can be safely foretold. Its necessity for the nations also is clear, for without it the freedom of the small peoples can never be safe hereafter and even large and powerful nations cannot really be secure. India, if she remains divided, will not herself be sure of her safety. It is therefore to the interest of all that union should take place. Only human imbecility and stupid selfishness could prevent it. Against that, it has been said, even the gods strive in vain; but it cannot stand for ever against the necessity of Nature and the Divine Will. Nationalism will then have fulfilled itself; an international spirit and outlook must grow up and international forms and institutions; even itmay be such developments as dual

or multilateral citizenship and a voluntary fusion of cultures may appear in the process of the change and the spirit of nationalism losing its militancy may find these things perfectly compatible with the integrity of its own outlook. A new spirit of oneness will take hold of the human race.

The spiritual gift of India to the world has already begun. India's spirituality is entering Europe and America in an ever increasing measure. That movement will grow; amid the disasters of the time more and more eyes are turning towards her with hope and there is even an increasing resort not only to her teachings, but to her psychic and spiritual practice. The rest is still a personal hope and an idea and ideal which has begun to take hold both in India and in the West on forward looking minds. The difficulties in the way are more formidable than in any other field of endeavour, but difficulties were made to be overcome and if the Supreme Will is there, they will be overcome. Here too, if this evolution is to take place, since it must come through a growth of the spirit and the inner consciousness, the initiative can come from India and although the scope must be universal, the central movement may be hers.

Such is the content which I put into this date of India's liberation; whether or how far or how soon this connection will be fulfilled, depends upon this new and free India.

VO Chidambaram Pillai serialised Tilak's biography in the 1930s in a Colombo Tamil magazine. Here is a look at the relationship between the two men in the light of the new sources and correspondence between them. The article carries the facsimile of a letter VOC wrote to Tilak in 1914, being published for the first time. VOC's close relationship with Tilak awaits detailed documentation and an interpretative narrative.

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Forgotten narrative

VOC's Tilak biography, titled Bharata Jothi Sri Tilaka Maharishiyin Jeeviya Varalaru, was serialised in the Sunday supplement. Nineteen instalments, published between May 1933 and October 1934, could be recovered. It's not clear why it was published intermittently and is incomplete. The narrative stops with Tilak's return to India in late 1919 after his abortive attempt to sue Sir Valentine Chirol for defamation. Tilak died some months later on 1 August 1920. Tilak's biography by his illustrious disciple—for, VOC refers to Tilak always as Guru—is an interesting document. Its recovery provides the context for reconstructing the relationship between teacher and disciple.

In a memoir on Tilak written in English in 1927, VOC recollects that he had begun to follow Tilak's writings from as early as 1893. There's evidence to show that he had been elected a delegate to the Congress session of Madras (1898) and Tilak too had attended it. But their meeting apparently did not take place. The tryst was delayed by a decade.

Curzon's infamous partition of Bengal set afire the Swadeshi movement with its programme of native industry, boycott of foreign goods and national education. While Swadeshi enterprise across India was limited to such tokenisms as making candles and bangles, in Tuticorin it took the spectacular form of running nothing less than a steam shipping company—an enterprise that propelled VOC, until then a modest pleader in the local court, to national attention. VOC had galvanised the local merchants to launch the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company in late 1906 and gave the British shipping company a run for its money. The Swadeshi Company ran steamers between Tuticorin and Colombo and VOC spent considerable time in Colombo raising share capital and organising the company. Probably it was this connection that led to his later association with Virakesari.

By then he was closely aligned to the Extremist faction of the Congress led by Tilak. VOC's efforts to buy two steamships took him frequently to Bombay. Yet, somewhat surprisingly, a visit to Pune, Tilak's hometown, never materialised.

The Moderates' attempt to sideline the Extremist was increasingly getting desperate. And the stage was set in Surat, the venue of the Congress in December 1907, for a showdown. VOC wired to Tilak and Aurobindo proposing Lala Lajpat Rai for the presidentship of the Congress. In the event, Rash Behari Ghosh, the Calcutta moderate was set to take the presidential chair. All the while Tilak had tried to avoid the inevitable split. But the Moderates' sly attempts to tamper with the letter and spirit of resolutions passed in the precedingCalcutta session of the Congress was the last straw. The Congress conference ended in pandemonium with blows exchanged and chairs and shoes thrown. Tilak proposed a committee of one member each from both factions from every province to effect a compromise. VOC was Tilak's handpicked choice from the Madras presidency, and he was also nominated Secretary of Tilak's new party. There was little doubt that VOC was the spearhead of the nationalist movement in the South.

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The months following VOC's return from Surat were full of intense nationalist activity. The Swadeshi shipping enterprise grew from strength to strength. VOC led a major strike in the European-owned cotton Coral Mills of Tuticorin. Swadeshi meetings with fiery nationalist speeches, probably for the first time in the Tamil language, led to widespread nationalist mobilisation. Colonial ire was turned on the nationalists. VOC and his colleagues were arrested on 12 March 1908, which in turn led to an insurgent uprising in Tuticorin and Tirunelveli.

Evidently the guru was following his disciple's exploits, for, Tilak's English weekly Mahratta regularly reported the events in far-off Tirunelveli. By the time a draconian double life sentence was imposed on VOC in July 1907, Tilak himself was jailed. While VOC languished in prison for the next four and a half years (on a reduced sentence on appeal) Tilak was transported to Mandalay (Burma).

Not surprisingly, the two lost touch during their imprisonment. Barely a few days after Tilak's release, VOC wrote from his Mylapore home on 19 June 1914. Addressing Tilak as 'Respected Brother' he congratulated him on his release. He offered condolences on his wife's death and expressed the desire to meet him in a month or two. After enquiring about his intellectual output during the prison years, he signed off 'obediently' with the words 'I prostrate before you and offer my namaskarams to your holy feet'. VOC's deep respect for Tilak is palpable.

VOC's promised visit did not materialise for many months. VOC arrived in Pune on the day of Gokhale's death (19 February 1915) and spent a week with Tilak as his house guest. The two deliberated on how to use the ongoing First World War to India's benefit, and in this connection Tilak even discussed a secret message from Indian revolutionaries abroad. Such was his trust in his disciple.

When Tilak launched his All India Home Rule League in 1916, VOC took an active part in it, organising and conducting meetings in Chennai. However Tilak's close association with Annie Besant caused some friction, with VOC neither being able to overrule Tilak's advice nor stopping his campaign against her. The struggle within the labour movement between VOC and the Besant-ites took on bitter propositions.

Tilak's critical attitude to the Montagu-Chelmsford reform proposals were faithfully echoed by VOC. When Tilak canvassed the senior leader C Vijayaraghavachari's support for the Bombay special Congress session (August 1919), he specifically stated: "I have fully explained my position to Mr Rajagopalachary and Mr Chidambaram Pillai and they will be able to give you further explanations..."

Tilak invited some Congress luminaries after the Bombay special session to Pune and VOC was among the invitees to discuss the future course of action. When VOC rose to spoke he was "loudly cheered". Motilal Ghose, the venerated editor of Amrita Bazar Patrika, who was present on the occasion, expressed his desire to see the hero of Swadeshi days and warmly hugged VOC.

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Momentous times

Tilak's case against Chirol and his campaign for Home Rule in England consumed the next fourteen months, months that were momentous. The passing of the Rowlett bills and the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, and Gandhi's conversion of the nationalist movement into a mass movement signalled the end of the Tilak era. The Calcutta special Congress's endorsement of Gandhi's non-cooperation programme was only a fait accompli. And in an event pregnant with symbolism, Tilak had breathed his last barely weeks before theCalcutta session. Tilak's followers were deeply demoralised. VOC resigned from the Congress on his return from Calcutta. While many of his Maharashtra disciples—GS Khaparde, BS Moonje and others—drifted into Hindu communalism, the germ of which was very much in Tilak's ideology, VOC's politics kept clear of it. He continued to play a part in the nationalist movement, labour movement, the non-Brahmin movement and the social reform movements.

When VOC died 18 November 1936 no obituary or tribute failed to mention his closeness to Tilak.

AR Venkatachalapathy is a historian and Tamil writer. chalapathy@mids.ac.in

This article is based on the introduction to his forthcoming edition of Tilaka Maharishi by VO Chidambaram Pillai (Kalachuvadu Publications, Nagercoil).

http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/01/17/stories/2010011750250400.htm

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Bibliography

Chapter 1

1.Complete works of Sri Aurobindo Vol 20 p64

2. From the writings of the Mother

3. Complete works of Sri Aurobindo Vol 25 p 307

4. Complete works of Sri Aurobindo Vol 36 p 499

Chapter 4

1. From Wikipedia on the internet

2. From Wikipedia on the internet

3. From Wikipedia on the internet

4. From Outlook magazine July 17 2006 and from Wikipedia

5. From Wikipedia on the internet

6. From Wikipedia on the internet

7. From Wikipedia on the internet

8. From Wikipedia on the internet

Chapter 5

The material in this chapter has been extracted from the following book: March to Freedom in Madras Presidency 1916-1947 by Saroja Sundararajan.

Chapter 6

1. The material in this chapter has been taken from Wikipedia and talks with individuals.

Chapter 7.

1. All material taken from Wikipedia on the Internet.

Chapter 9.

1. History of the Indian National Congress - PUBLISHED BY G. A. NATESAN & Co., ESPLANADE, Madras

Chapter 10.

1. REMINISCENCES OF SWAMI VIVEKANANDA by K. S. RAMASWAMI SASTRI

2. Complete-Works - Volume 3 - Lectures from Colombo to Almora

3. Complete works of Sri Aurobindo Vol 6-7 p 294

4. Complete works of Sri Aurobindo Vol 6-7 p296

5. Complete works of Sri Aurobindo Vol 6-7 p926

6. Complete works of Sri Aurobindo Vol 6-7 p977

7. All material From Wikipedia on the internet

Chapter 11

1.From Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta Vol 7

2. From Old Long Since by Amrita

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Chapter 12

All material taken from Randour Guy's blog

Chapter 13

1. Complete works of Sri Aurobindo Vol 36 p170-171

2. DOCUMENTS IN THE LIFE OF SRI AUROBINDO the political situation in pondicherry 1910-1915

from sri aurobindoashram.org

Chapter 14

1. All material on Kamaladevi Chattopadhay is taken from Wikipedia

2. The material on Subramaniam Bharati is taken from the book "Bharati by Prema".

Chapter 15

1. T The Shadow of the Great Game- The untold Story of Partition by Narendra Sarila p

2. Complete works of Sri Aurobindo Vol 8 p 289

3. From an unpublished letter of Sri Aurobindo dated 14-4-1936

4. All material in this part is taken from Wikipedia

Chapter 17

1.The Shadow of the Great Game- The untold Story of Partition by Narendra Sarila p 3738

2. Evening Talks by AB Purani -October 12 1940.

3. The Shadow of the Great Game- The untold Story of Partition by Narendra Sarila p 34

4. The material in this chapter has been extracted from the following book: March to Freedom in Madras Presidency 1916-1947 by Saroja Sundararajan.

Chapter 18

1. Complete works of Sri Aurobindo Vol 36 p469

2. Complete works of Sri Aurobindo Vol 36 p469

3. Complete works of Sri Aurobindo Vol 36 p470

4. Complete works of Sri Aurobindo Vol 36 p470

5. Complete works of Sri Aurobindo Vol 36 p470

6. The Shadow of the Great Game- The untold Story of Partition by Narendra Sarila p 125-127

7. Some of the material in this chapter has been extracted from the following book: March to Freedom in Madras Presidency 1916-1947 by Saroja Sundararajan and Wikepedia

Chapter 19

1. Mother's Complete works vol 13 p351

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Chapter 20

1. Complete works of Sri Aurobindo Vol 25 p434

2. Complete works of Sri Aurobindo Vol 20 428-429

3. Complete works of Sri Aurobindo Vol 25 p286

4. Complete works of Sri Aurobindo Vol 36 p475-476

5. Complete works of Sri Aurobindo Vol 20 p38-39

6. From the writings of the Mother

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