Indian Unrest Part 15

NOTE 10

SACRIFICING "WHITE GOATS"

The term occurs, for instance, in one of the most violent fly-sheets issued only a few months ago from a clandestine press in India, under the heading _Yagantar_, killing no murder:--

Rise up, rise up, O sons of India, arm yourselves with bombs, despatch the white _Asuras_ to Yana's abode. Invoke the mother Kali; nerve your arm with valour. The Mother asks for sacrificial offerings. What does the Mother want? The cocoanut? No. A fowl or a sheep or a buffalo? No, She wants many white _Asuras_. The Mother is thirsting after the blood of the Feringhees who have bled her profusely. Satisfy her thirst.

Killing the Feringhee, we say, is no murder. Brother, chant this verse while slaying the Feringhee white goat, for killing him is no murder: With the close of a long era, the Feringhee Empire draws to an end for behold! Kali rises in the East.

NOTE 11

HINDUS AND MAHOMEDANS IN GOVERNMENT SERVICE.

Some statistics have been collected lately by the Moslem League with reference to the relative numbers of Hindus and Mahomedans employed in Government service in India. The figures are still subject to revision, and therefore can only be given as approximately correct. Moreover, the cla.s.sification adopted does not seem to have been precisely the same in the different provinces. But even if a considerable margin is allowed for discrepancies which may yet have to be rectified, the figures quoted below for several important branches of the service are instructive:--

EXECUTIVE OFFICERS OF THE RANK OF DEPUTY COLLECTORS, DEPUTY MAGISTRATES, a.s.sISTANT COMMISSIONERS, &c.

Hindus. Mahomedans.

----------------------------------+----------+-------------- Bombay .. .. .. ..| 53 | 9 Madras .. .. .. ..| 61 | 7 Bengal .. .. .. ..| 265 | 59 Eastern Bengal .. .. ..| 136 | 49 Central Provinces .. .. ..| 60 | 24 United Provinces .. .. ..| 125 | 98 Punjab .. .. .. ..| 74 | 68

SUB-DEPUTY COLLECTORS, SUB-DEPUTY MAGISTRATES, &c.

Hindus. Mahomedans.

----------------------------------+----------+-------------- Bombay .. .. .. ..| 186 | 3 Madras .. .. .. ..| 151 | 11 Bengal .. .. .. ..| 165 | 33 Eastern Bengal .. .. ..| 107 | 39 Central Provinces .. .. ..| 52 | 16 United Provinces .. .. ..| 122 | 106 Punjab .. .. .. ..| 142 | 90

SUB-DEPUTY JUDGES AND MUNSIFFS

Hindus. Mahomedans.

----------------------------------+----------+-------------- Bombay .. .. .. ..| 109 | 2 Madras .. .. .. ..| 132 | 1 Bengal .. .. .. ..| 195 | 17 Eastern Bengal .. .. ..| 21 | 1 Central Provinces .. .. ..| 117 | 6 United Provinces .. .. ..| 111 | 35 Punjab .. .. .. ..| 81 | 52

EDUCATIONAL DEPARTMENT.

Hindus. Mahomedans.

----------------------------------+----------+-------------- Bombay .. .. .. ..| 39 | 17 Madras .. .. .. ..| 127 | 10 Bengal .. .. .. ..| 110 | 16 Eastern Bengal .. .. ..| 56 | 15 Central Provinces .. .. ..| 23 | 2 United Provinces .. .. ..| 58 | 5 Punjab .. .. .. ..| 53 | 6

NOTE 12

INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS SUBSIDIES TO ITS SUPPORTERS IN ENGLAND.

The following resolutions pa.s.sed by the Indian National Congress show that considerable financial support has been regularly given by that body towards the expenses of its London organ, _India_, and of the British committee it co-operates with.

MADRAS, 1898.

"That a sum of Rs.60,000 be a.s.signed for the expenses of the British Committee and the cost of the Congress publication _India_, and also for the expenses of the Joint-General Secretary's Office, and that the several circles do contribute, as arranged, either now or hereafter in Committee for the year 1899."

AHMEDABAD, 1902.

"That with a view to meet the balance required to defray the expenses of _India_ and the British Committee a special delegation fee of Rs.10 be paid by each delegate in addition to the usual fee now paid by him with effect from 1902."

MADRAS, 1903.

"That a sum of Rs.10,500 be a.s.signed for the expenses of the British Committee and that the several Congress circles do contribute the amount allotted to each."

BOMBAY, 1904.

"That a sum of 700 be a.s.signed for the expenses of the British Committee and that the several Congress circles do contribute the amount allotted to each."

NOTE 13

AN ENGLISH SOCIALIST "MANIFESTO."

The support given to Indian Nationalists by a certain cla.s.s of politicians in England goes sometimes to such lengths that the tolerance extended to them is open to very serious question. For instance, in a London newspaper which calls itself "the Organ of Social Democracy,"

_Justice_ there appeared on August 27 a "Manifesto" headed "The Infamies of Liberal Rule in India," which contained, along with much indiscriminate denunciation of British tyranny, the outrageous statement that Savarkar, who is now undergoing trial in Bombay on grave charges, including the abetment of murder, had been arrested in England "for an alleged political offence, and in order that he might not have a fair trial defended by Council, and safeguarded by public opinion in this country, he was sent back to India, where, innocent or guilty, his condemnation could be officially ensured." In conclusion, it was stated:--"We, at any rate, shall take care that this little manifesto of ours shall be distributed in the native languages throughout Hindustan, in order that the population of that great Empire may know that there is an active and growing party in this island which has neither part nor lot in the outrages and crimes committed by our rulers, and that its members heartily sympathize with the legitimate efforts of Indians of all races, castes, and creeds to emanc.i.p.ate themselves finally from the monstrous domination under which they suffer to-day."

Many loyal Indians, and indeed the disloyal ones too, may very reasonably ask whether it is right and just to allow language of this kind to be used and circulated with impunity in this country when, if it were used and circulated in India, it would at once give rise to a criminal prosecution.

NOTE 14

INDIAN STUDENTS IN ENGLAND.

An Indian Correspondent of _The Times_ who has made a special study of the condition of his fellow-countrymen studying in England writes that it would be almost impossible for an Englishman who has never been in the East to realize the enormous difference between the life to which the student has been used and the life to which he has come. In many instances his home is in some far off lonely village. He may have been to some town to study in a Government or missionary school or college.

But that has not given him an insight into English life. In the Government inst.i.tution he sees little of his English teacher or professor outside lessons or lecture hours. He never has the chance of knowing an English lady. The student has little time for more than his studies, so numerous are the subjects and the prescribed text-books for Indian examinations. In the vacations the Professors go to the hills, or sail for England, and the student goes back to his village. He has acquired little or no knowledge of the English. He comes to England feeling there is a gulf between the East and the West, save in the case of a missionary interest in his soul. He is by nature extremely sensitive. On board s.h.i.+p he and his brother Indians keep together. The English pa.s.sengers, fatigued after a period of hard work in a hot climate, have no energy left for the effort of trying to draw out and know this batch of silent Orientals. So the gulf gapes wide. If they tarry in Ma.r.s.eilles or Paris there are those who are anxious and ready to widen this gulf between the Indians and English. Then the student arrives in London, where a man can be more lonely than anywhere in the world. Here he has to find a dwelling. The man from a dreamy, lonely, Eastern village, from the land of the sun has to select an abode in London. Hotels and boarding houses and lodgings there are in abundance; but the hotel or boarding house or lodging suitable to this man's need--fitted to introduce him to English life, may exist, but how is he to find it? He is not only bewildered, he is terribly home-sick. His wish to come to England has been, gratified, but oh! for a sight of his own people and, his simple home. He must drown this longing as best he may. There are many ways of drowning it in London. There are many who will a.s.sist him to forget what he had better never forget--his village home. But after all there are some English people who will know him. He has found lodgings, and the landlady and her family make themselves most agreeable. He knows no other English people. He wants friendliness so far away from home, so these and theirs become his friends.

In London the majority of Indian students gain admission to the Inns of Court. The new regulations, which come into force in January next, were intended to render admission more difficult to attain; but they will fail of their purpose, for success in the Oxford and Cambridge senior local examinations is a qualification for admission, and these examinations are held in various parts of India. Students will in future avoid entering the Indian Universities, but will get private coaching, and sit for these examinations in India, with a view to gaining admission to one or other of the Inns. It never seems to have occurred to the Honourable Societies of the Inns to take any steps to look after the well-being of these numberless students, who bring hundreds of pounds to their coffers every year. So different is their position from that of the English student that their case merits special attention. To look after them might be unusual, it would certainly be expedient. The eating of a few dinners and attendance at certain lectures are no tax on the student's time. He puts off real study to the last moment. It is so easy to learn all the subjects just before each examination. With a few exceptions the English and Indian students do not speak to each other.

So the Inns do not provide the Indian with society. A youth from the East, dwelling in a London lodging, finding himself for the first time in command of a banking account, with abundance of leisure, and no English friends of his own standing--can he become a loyal, useful citizen of our Empire?

Some of them go to Oxford and Cambridge. They have heard in India, from some Indians who were up at these Universities from ten to fifteen years ago, how delightful the life is--how sociable the undergraduates, how hospitable the dons. Surely then at these ancient seats of learning they will find friendliness, and will come to know the English. They go up only to find disappointment. The numbers have largely increased and all sorts and conditions of men come. Colleges are reluctant to admit them.

The English undergraduate accepts any man who is good at games and ready to enter into the University life, but leaves severely alone the man of any nationality who has had no opportunity of learning English games, and who is too shy and sensitive to show what he is worth. Those who are good at games get on, the others are far from being happy. A few gain admission to colleges, the rest are "unattached." Lodging-house existence at Oxford or Cambridge is preferable to that in London; but it does not a.s.sist to a knowledge of the English. Foreigners at the Universities take the trouble to try and know the Indian, and extend to him that friends.h.i.+p which the English undergraduate, through youthful lack of thought, withholds. The Imperial instinct is lacking in the youth of to-day; else would they realize that it is an important duty to try and know fellow-subjects from a distant part of the Empire. There is nothing that Orientals will not do to make the stranger to their country feel at home. They cannot understand the reserved Occidental who leaves the stranger to his Western country all alone. Some of the Indian students think that the only way to bid for the English undergraduate's acquaintance is by a lavish expenditure on wine parties; and so he spends largely, and acquires an acquaintance, but not with the typical Englishman. If Indian students at the old Universities are only to know each other or foreigners, how are they to be bound by a loyal attachment to England? At Edinburgh the gulf is wide indeed. A number of Colonial students help to make it wider. The two sides seldom or never meet.

They just tolerate each other's presence. So the Indian student is tempted to seek for company in circles which do not help his education or tend to elevate him. Should such a state of things continue?

Engineering and medical students are in better case than others. Their work is so hard and exacting, if they do it aright, they have no time to feel solitude. The one complaint of engineering students is that they find it enormously difficult to gain opportunities for learning the practical side of their work. Firms are most reluctant to admit them as apprentices. France and Germany welcome them, and Continental firms extend to them the aid the English firms deny. Is it always to be so?

Other nations gaining that esteem and grat.i.tude which England should so jealously acquire and guard. Americans, too, are winning the good will of the Indian student both in India and abroad. They have well-equipped schools and colleges all over India. They spare no efforts to make the Indian student feel they are there solely for him. They are with him in and out of school and college hours. They inspire him with their enthusiasm. Wherever they meet him they give him a grip of the hand which leaves him in no doubt as to their frank friendliness. Yet it is not to America nor to any other nation that India belongs, but to England. But there is no security in mere possession. The only safety lies in the constant effort to hold--to hold pleasantly, gaining the heart and head.

Surely the fact that many influences are at work systematically striving to estrange these students from England should rouse the English to effort. It may not be an easy task to gain these men. It will need patience and zeal. There must be no touch of patronage in the attempt.

Their deep-rooted belief that no real friends.h.i.+p can exist between the English and the Indian has to be overcome; the much misrepresentation which has made the Indian student misjudge the English character has to be counteracted and set right. It must be remembered that he is a being far away from home, excessively sensitive, situated in extremely unusual surroundings and in most cases having lost that religious belief without which no Oriental is really happy or able to live and be his best. He is, in truth, not himself. Such is the student who is to be won to attachment. The difficulty of the task should appeal to the English nature.

What is required is not a sudden and indiscriminate rush to seek out and know the Indian student. That would not last and would lead to much disappointment on both sides. The great need of the present is workers who know both sides and who will judiciously draw them together.

Connecting links to bring the right Indians into touch with the right English. They will need very special qualifications, these workers, if they are to succeed. There is enough to be done to employ the full time of exceptionally energetic men. Wonders could be worked if England only realized her duty to these men. The Indian student would return to his home at any rate with no feeling of bitterness. He would have his chance of seeing the real English, and of being influenced aright.

Misconceptions would be banished. He would live in an atmosphere better adapted to hard work. He would attain a higher standard in his studies and examinations. He would be better fitted to be a useful citizen.

Friendliness would, at any rate, have blunted antagonistic tendencies.

And what a difference it would make to his people! The father who has spent so much on him would no longer feel that his son has lost and not gained by crossing the seas. The mother who, though behind the purdah, has eagerly been watching his career, dwelling lovingly on the weekly news, counting the days to his return, would no longer need to weep that it is not well with her son, who has come back so different from all she had hoped. Whole families would bless the England which had made their member manly, upright, better for his sojourn there, fitted to earn a living honourably, and possessed of grit to strive to do his best. And he, the student, stirred, by memories of kindness in the West, would win those with whom he comes in contact to a friendlier feeling for the British race. The seditionist would find no soil here ready for his seed. Could anything be better worth accomplis.h.i.+ng?

NOTE 15

THE VICEROY'S EXECUTIVE COUNCIL.