Chitta Ranjan Das

“ I am not slow in recognising my indebtedness to it but I cannot forget my own individuality. I cannot forget the spirit of Bengal which pervades every thought that I entertain, every hope that I cherish, every fear that I have, and so long as I live, I promise before you to-day that I will devote my life to work out the salvation of the ideal of Bengal. The soul of Bengal had been sleeping for years but directly Self-government is given to us, that soul, while living in an atmosphere of freedom, will make its enormous claim to give the fullest expression to its ideal. ”

“ Let not the enemy think that England is not united in its purpose and that India is not prepared to take its place in the fight. That is the very reason for which we suggested that all causes which led to resentment of the people of this country and drew them away from this united purpose should be removed—that the people of this country should be allowed to feel that India is their own country, that it is their birthright to defend their own country, that it is their right, not right alone but it is their proud privilege to fight the common enemy. ”

“ I do not believe that in the old times in the ancient history of our country, there ever was one united India—India was never one whole under the Hindus at any time. I hold in great reverence and veneration all the activities of ancient India. India was great, but the great Indian nationality was in the making. We have profited by what was done in the ancient days, we have inherited all their culture but it is for us to widen that culture for the evolution of the great Indian nation. That day, gentlemen, is fast approaching. ”

“ We ought to stand on our own individuality in all the glory which that individuality implies but at the same time we must emerge from that and with the fullest consciousness of ourselves we should reach out to the world. That is the true philosophy of our nationality, and if we are living in an empire to-day, we ought to see that we do not live self-centred, in the splendid isolation of our own individuality. ”

“ Can man create rights? They can only recognise the rights which I have within me, the rights which belong to me, the rights which are given to me by God and rights which no man can take away. Unless you can satisfy that, unless you can make good that position, neither the British Parliament, nor all the Parliaments of the world will be able to confer on you things which do not belong to you. Strive for the thing which belongs to you. Say to them manfully, "this is my right" and prove that assertion by the voice of the people, the united voice of the nation (cheers) . ”

“ So many bags of papers come out because you move the machinery. I told them that the huge Government is nothing but a machinery. Who drives that machinery? It is ourselves. It is the students who read in colleges, it is the pleaders who practice in courts, it is the police officers, it is the Deputy Magistrates who decide cases, it is the judges who administer laws. So in every way it is the Indian that drives this machinery. A history of last 160 years shows explicitly that your objects are not our objects. Our object is to foster our development, your object is to crush our manhood. ”

“ Therefore, gentlemen, what does it come to? We must consider that wicked capacity of the German people who are for ever on their watch to find out a flaw in the constitution of this country. You must also regard the temperament of the British nation, who will be angry if you want your rights at this juncture, but the only people whose interests and whose sentiments are to be set at naught are the Indian people (Shame) . We are not men! We are not a race! Our feeling need not be considered—our sentiments are nothing! Our feelings must be those of our masters. ”

“ If we find that we are not to get self-government, we have at least the right to get an honest answer. Let the British Democracy say if it likes, that this war is a war of liberation of humanity, but liberation of humanity does not include the liberation of India. If that is the view of the British Democracy let them tell us so. We won't be content with excuses and pretences. Gentlemen, when I consider the objections put forward to the grant of self-government, I can hardly keep my patience. ”

“ It is a matter of vital importance to the nation that the cultivators of Bengal should prosper and live better lives (hear, hear) . It is a matter of supreme importance to those who want self-government or swaraj in this country (hear, hear) . We must look forward to the whole Bengalee nation. We must work persistently, we must look forward to the day when the Bengalees as a nation, Hindus and Mahomedans, all together, will stand before the world in all the glory of nationality (cheers) . I say therefore the question is of vital importance from the point of view of the nation. ”

“ Do you expect, does any reasonable man who wants to put forward reasonable argument expect that a whole people who have suddenly been called upon to take arms and march against an enemy, that they will at once, as if by a magic, turn out a very large army? Whose is the fault? Is it the fault of Bengal that to-day you do not find thousands and thousands, lacs and lacs of Bengalees fighting for the empire? ”

“ I might not have always adopted the right course—I might have been wrong, every one of us is often wrong but I have always honestly tried to place the interest of the country above all considerations. With me work for my country is not imitation of European politics. It is part of my religion. It is part and parcel of all the idealism of my life. I find in the conception of my country the expression also of divinity. With me nationality is no mere political conception borrowed [Pg 17] from the philosophy of the west. With me a nation has to grow because a nation must grow. ”

“ No one has got that right. We stand or fall as we pursue or desist from the popular cause. I am nothing. No leader is anything. The strength belongs to the nation whose representative I am, whose representative every one of us may become. It is not my own strength. It is the peoples' strength. Take your stand on that and we will worship you as a leader, as a martyr, as anything which you can claim but fall short of that ideal once by a hair's breadth, your claim is no longer to be recognised. ”

“ It is admitted by His Excellency the Viceroy that, at this juncture we must do something by which we can present to the enemy a united India, an India which is solid as a rock. How does he propose to do that? How can India be solid as a rock unless she is strong in her rights, how can anybody expect India to stand solid as a rock unless she has got the elementary rights of citizenship, unless she can say 'I am one in this world'? ”

“ Man can do everything. Remember we are men determined to emancipate our Motherland from bondage. Should we not be able to deliver her from the shackles that bind her?
We shall rather go ignorant than be educated in those schools and colleges. We want to be educated according to our own standard of living, keeping harmony with our past culture and tradition. I do not know what Bolshevism is. We want to realise what is truth—what is eternal—what is in our blood—for the salvation of our country. I want that. I do not want Bolshevism—I do not want industrialism. ”

“ We have always been slow as a people, as in Great Britain and India to realise how closely the enemy keeps his eye upon us how quick he is to note our actions, indeed our very words, and what a difference it makes to his own morals whether he sees arrayed against him the serried ranks of a united people or whether he detects or thinks he detects in this part of the Empire or in that some note of dissension, some indication of lack of unity of purpose. ”

“ Well, gentlemen, I pause for one moment and I ask you to consider according to what right or what principle does the Government of this country or any government in the world, ask a man to give up his opinion and his religion? ”

“ I do not deny that there is a revolutionary party. I admit it and I say that no government which is not a national government will ever be able to put a stop to this revolutionary movement. What do these people want? They want freedom. They want to change the system of government. I told you just now that their object is the same as that of the Congress and the Moslem League. I go further and I say that their object—not their methods—is now recognised as legitimate by the British Cabinet. ”

“ If they say we have got no right to ask for it in their interest, my answer is we have a thousand times greater [Pg 15] right to ask for them than you who never know them or care for them. India has always been tolerant towards those people, whatever their religious creed or faith may be, who have made India their Home—every one of them is my brother and I embrace him with open arms. The history of India has made it abundantly clear. We have the Parsis in India. They adopted India as their home and to-day we embrace them as our brothers. ”

“ Gentlemen, the first step in the region of ideal is perfect provincial autonomy. Let us take Bengal. Any form of self-government that we can demand from this point of view must be a government which will secure the autonomy of the Bengalee nation. Then you must not forget that apart from the individuality of Bengal, India as a whole has got a special individuality of its own. ”

“ We ought not to forget that Bengal, Madras, Bombay and the Punjab are all dominated by one great central culture. The epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata are epics of not only the Punjab, of Bombay, of Madras but also of Bengal and the rest of India. The great religious institutions are common—I am speaking of the Hindus only—to all the provinces, Each province has got a speciality of its own, I admit, but over and above that all these different provinces are bound together in one common culture. ”

“ Let us fight for the whole of our ideal. Let us start with this that every cultivator here in this country has got the capacity to judge as to who his representative is going to be. Let us start with this that we can if we only try, if we will only shake off our apathy, do the work of local self-government without the intervention of Government officials. ”

“ Our whole attitude on the question of self-government is to hold to the banner of the moirs. Our attitude has been loyal throughout and as I read out to you the statements of the Secretary of State and the Viceroy you have found that our demands are based on the words and the spirit of those statements. We are for the empire, they are for selfish interests of their own. We are for a great ideal, they are for their money. That is the difference between the Anglo-Indian agitators and ourselves. Well, gentlemen, do not be troubled by these agitators. ”

“ His Excellency should know and the Council should know that by this act they are going against the Proclamation of 1858, according to which they would incur the displeasure of His Majesty the King. It is not we who are against the King, it is not we who are going against the principles upon which this Empire is based. It is those who Snatch away our liberty without just cause, without trial. Now, gentlemen, all these considerations might have been placed before the Government—I am sure the Government would have listened and done justice—but there is a difficulty in our way. ”

“ Again, my earnest appeal to the Government is: "Take care, do not disregard the people's sentiments. Do not wish to substitute obedience to the Bureaucracy in place of the people's loyalty to the Empire. The people of this country are impatient and they will not bear it." ”

“ My answer is that repressive legislation can never put an end to a revolutionary movement—it is only by satisfying their legitimate desire, it is only by satisfying their hunger, as I said the other day, for liberty that you can put an end to it. If you understand that problem you will find that the sooner self-government is introduced into this country it is better. ”

“ I want India to say in one voice that we will govern ourselves. That is the right we have. No Government can deprive us of that right. The moment you discover that, you will get Swaraj. Therefore, before you think what kind of self-government we should have I want to tell you that you should concentrate your mind, day in and day out over the attainment of Swaraj. My justification for that is nationalism. Do you understand what nationalism is? Many people, very genuine and intelligent people say that they would not have nationalism because it is antagonistic to humanity. ”

“ The rights of the British in India! The little-minded traders who at a time when the Government enjoins a calm atmosphere, hold a meeting and proceed straight away to denounce the whole country; and abuse the people and all the ideals for which they fight and in which they live and move and have their being—these men claim the right to represent the British. ”