"I don’t want to press that point," replied Govindan Kutti Menon, "but do you admit that my remarks about the government of the country are true?"
"Why don’t you say something, Madhavan," asked Govinda Panikkar.
"There does not seem to be anything for me to say," answered Madhavan. "I am only sorry that a man like Govindan Kutti, who has had a complete education and is a graduate of the University, should talk so incoherently."
"I didn’t do anything of the kind." exclaimed Govindan Kutti Menon. "What did I say incoherently?"
"Everything you said was incoherent," replied Madhavan. "In the first place it is not the object of the Congress to establish a Parliament in India, and in the next the leaders of the Congress do not pretend for a moment that India is on an equality with England.
"You are quite right in saying that in many respects India needs reform, but, with all due deference to you, it is absurd to say that because reform is necessary, therefore we must not meddle with the government of the country. You suggest that if we have really any patriotism or fine feeling of honour left, we should fight the English and regain the country, and this is the only way of proving our self-respect, but this too, is great nonsense. Surely, Govindan Kutti, this cannot be your opinion after all the histories you must have read of European countries. Just think for a moment of the earliest accounts of England, how the island of Britain was first conquered by the Romans and annexed to their possessions; how hey were succeeded by the Saxons; how the Danes next obtained supremacy, and how lastly the Normans came from France and made Britain their own. Is it not the fact that the British had to submit because the invading kings were superior in power?"
"No," answered Govindan Kutti Menon. "They never submitted. The foreigners united with them, and became one race with them. The Normans quitted France altogether, and why should we acquiesce in English government here until, in the same way, the Empress and all the rest come and settle among us and make one people with us?"
"I quite agree," said Madhavan. "The English should come and settle here, and we should go and settle in England mutually. The opinion of the leaders of the Congress is that, since the establishment of the English sovereignty in India, we have progressively enjoyed many advantages and benefits and blessings, and have steadily grown in prosperity, and hence their sole object is by degrees to amalgamate the Government of India with that of England and render both uniform. This is the end for which we labor, and, just as the Norman royal family became the British royal family, so the chief ambition of the Congress is to make the English royal family and the English government the royal family and the government of India. By force of circumstances, after the Normans had invaded England, and after they and the English had harried and destroyed each other till their losses were unbearable, peace was mutually made and they coalesced and became one nation. Now according to the exigencies of our time, we carry on a war of reason with the English. We are striving to instil into the English greater faith in us, greater affection and greater regard for us, and to persuade the English Government to make no difference between us and Englishmen. It is not by means of rifles and bullets that we seek to gain our object, but we hope by means of arguments to show that reason is on our side and to convince all sensible Englishmen. If I understand its purposes aright, then I say that no movement more worthy of support than the Congress has ever been set on foot in India, but I admit at the same time that there are certain points of which the Congress ought to undertake the improvement and reform. Some members of the Congress occasionally attack the Government without necessity or even just cause. This, I acknowledge, is a disgrace but none of the worthier members of the Congress has, in any speech delivered up to the present time, made wholesale accusations against Government. All they have done is to ask the ruling power to redress certain specific grievances. Then why, Govindan Kutti, should you talk so wildly on this point? The Congress has never held that reforms in India should not be carried out where they are required, but when a man is ill with a complication of diseases, it is impossible that he can be cured of all at once and by one medicine. Each disease has to be treated separately, or recovery is hopeless. If the invalid insists and having one nostrum for all his complaints, the only result is that he continues to suffer from all. The time has not yet come for convening an assembly to abolish caste distinctions. If, for the present, the administration and laws can be improved, the benefit will be great, and I will give you a reason for my opinion. The whole of what is called caste depends chiefly on adherence to various religious sects, and is the one thing which the English will never be able to abolish. Since caste depends on various forms of belief in, and worship of, God, I think it would be impossible even to moderate the severity of its distinctions, much more to abolish it altogether. It would be necessary, in order to abrogate the religion prevailing in India, to substitute another so transcendent as to supersede all the rites now held sacred by the Hindus and Mahomedans, but no such religion can be found. Hence it is more than doubtful if any direct attempt to change the rules of caste, founded on the various creeds prevailing in India, would be successful. But in process of time and with the spread of knowledge, rigour of caste will be relaxed till in the end it disappears altogether, and I consider that any attack on caste distinctions in the present condition of India would be a great mistake. The Government of the country, however, is a different matter. It is now a hundred years since the English acquired supremacy from the Himalayas to Cape Comorin, and we must reflect how the knowledge and appreciation of a just and equitable Government has spread among the people in that period. Talk to any labourer or fisherman you meet; and you will soon see the progress that has been made. I do not say that either of them knows the refinements of the civil or penal laws, but they are both perfectly aware of the fact that under the British rule they are at full liberty, except in the matter of crime, to use their physical and mental powers as they please. This was not the case formerly, and such knowledge in general is enough. In England and America, and other countries where there is universal liberty, the knowledge possessed by the masses of the people is no greater than it is in India. Is it not, then the height of absurdity to say that the people of a country which yearns for free government must all be trained in politics like a Gladstone? Is it not nonsensical to say that the women of India must all be taught English, and all kinds of industrial machinery must be manufactured here, before the English form of government can be adopted in India?
"Again, you say, Govindan Kutti, that all the races between the Himalayas and Cape Comorin live in submission to the English yoke simply through fear of being shot down, but this is totally wrong. The power of England undoubtedly lies in being a terror to evil-doers and a strength to them that do well, but the real reason for the tranquil submission of the people is the affection which they have good cause to bear towards the English Government. If the English Government had, like our old rulers, been guilty of injustice, irregularity and oppression, it would long ago have lost India.
"Another point you want to make, is that the speakers at the Congress speak in English simply because they covet fame as orators. I am not prepared to deny that the desire for this reputation is altogether absent, but it is false to say that this is the sole desire. Not only are the speeches which are made absolutely necessary, but there can be no doubt that they have done immense good to India in a very short time, as I will explain in detail. In the first place, the eyes of impartial and liberal-minded men in England have been opened to the fact that there are natives of India possessed of learning and ability, and this revelation is due solely to the speeches to which you refer. In the next place, and following on the discovery they have made, many Englishmen have conceived the desire of lending their support to the Congress, and lastly, owing to the excellence of these speeches, many of the worthiest men in India who formerly displayed dislike or indifference to the Congress, have changed their views and ended by becoming its warm adherents. From these facts
it is clear that the eloquence of our accomplished and talented orators has conferred manifold benefits on the country in an incredibly short period, and I feel certain that if the Congress continues to run a wise and reasonable course a little while longer, the benefits which England derives from its constitution will accrue to India also. Hence, Govindan Kutti, I think your general condemnation of the speeches made at the Congress meetings is most irrational, but I must admit that the indictments framed against the present administration of India in newspaper articles or pamphlets composed by members of the Congress or their friends are wholly unnecessary and unjustifiable. Such attacks are gross blunders, and if they continue, the only result will be the annihilation of the Congress. I have read an excellent letter addressed by Sir Auckland Colvin to Mr. A.O. Hume concerning the accusations occasionally made against Government by members of the Congress, and the arguments contained in it caused me great apprehension. When the Government is anxious and ready to give us every advantage we can enjoy under its present constitution, the reproaches of indifference and malevolence hurled at it by certain individuals are a gigantic mistake, and I think that if the English governors and officers of State were not very tolerant they would not bear with patience the calumnies by which they are assailed, much less extend to us their friendship. My opinion is that but for the folly of some of its members, the Congress would, long before this, have been even more influential than it is.
"When Lord Dufferin commenced his Viceroyalty of India, he was favourably disposed towards the Congress, but from incessantly hearing the Government abused without rhyme or reason by certain sections of that party, he ended by regarding it with aversion. My ardent wish, my earnest prayer to God is that the members of the Congress may refrain from reviling the English Government which has come upon India as a blessing, that they may strain every nerve for the good of their country, and that their efforts may be crowned by the establishment in India, as in England, of a free government.
"I can show many other ways in which this object can be attained than that of falsely denouncing the existing Government. It has never been the intention of the English Government to obstruct the progress of India, or to keep the natives of India in a position of servility. This is very obvious because, if such had been their intention, they would never have attempted in the past hundred years to impart to us their knowledge and education. Hence it must be apparent, even to a child, that their design throughout has been to make us as worthy a part of the Empire as they are themselves. But nevertheless, those among us who have obtained knowledge and education must not conclude, when they reflect on the manifest intention of Government that national progress will come of itself and that they may relapse into inactivity. On the contrary, their duty is continuously to make every legitimate effort to raise our position higher and higher, and this is the object with which the Congress was founded.
"An organisation of this nature is most essential to our interests, and this organisation has never declared that all the actions of Government are inimical to the welfare of India. If any of its members has made such a declaration, then he deserves to be branded as a fool. If, on the one hand, while we display our loyalty and give our support, Government allows us the fullest opportunities of discussing the merits and defects of its measures, then, on the other, it would be iniquitous on our part to challenge by a single word its good faith and honesty of purpose; hence I fully admit that any libellous invectives against the uprightness and integrity of the Government can result only in the ruin of the Congress. Sincerity must be the basis of our operations, or success is impossible.
"Moreover, Govindan Kutty, you described the natives of India as being devoid of wealth and unity and truth and energy, and your description is possibly correct in some respects.
But if they had no unity among themselves, the Congress could not exist and, in fact, the sympathy and concord which we now see prevailing throughout so vast a territory as India are really due to the English language. The wider this language spreads, the greater will be our union which arises from reciprocal interchange of opinions on various subjects, and the increase of knowledge renders uniformity of ideas on the principal matters of life possible.
"As for our being devoid of truth, this I maintain to be nothing but wanton defamation of the people of India. How many men do you not know in India, Govindan Kutty, who are the souls of truth? Think also of the characters in our Puranas- of Harischandran, of Ashvasthama, of Dasarathan -and you will find that India is a country rigidly and inexorably devoted to the principle of truth. When this is the case, it pained me much to hear you blurt out incontinently that we are all liars, and, moreover, it is false to say that we lack energy. There is not the slightest doubt in my mind that we are continually becoming more and more energetic in acquiring knowledge. Again as to the question whether we possess courage and physical strength or not, go and look at the native regiments and you will find the answer. Perhaps you are a coward yourself, Govindan Kutty, and cowards are always ready to accuse other men of cowardice. Then again, I fully believe that the Babus and Brahmins and Mudalis, whom you slander as swindlers, are ready to sacrifice their fortunes and their lives for the prosperity of India. When the matter is one to be decided by the power of brains, who will listen to you if you say that we must win our way by fire and sword ? Who will agree with the fool who says that, if they only had courage, we should see a handful of Babus and Brahmins engage the English Government in war. You seem mightily pleased, Govindan Kutti, with the abuse which Sir Lepel, Griffin and others pour out on India, and so am I. It is only the hostile criticism of clever men that can, by opening our eyes to the faults and advantages of our position, enable us to make the necessary reforms, and these men are in reality conferring an immense favour on India. The taunt that all the chattering Babus and Brahmins and Mudalis together cannot face one Mahomedan, that we are cowards and so forth, naturally excites our anger and serves as an incentive to valour. Hence I hope that the gentlemen referred to will continue to enlighten us with their eloquence.
"Now, father, having answered to the best of my ability Govindan Kutti’s assertions, I will explain to you as briefly as I can the intentions and objects of the Congress. The instant I see that the attitude assumed by the Congress is different from my conception of it, I will renounce the society altogether.
"The idea, which you seem to have formed, that the Congress was founded with a view to discuss and remedy evils which originated with the British occupation of India is, I assure you, entirely a mistake. The fact is that the establishment of the British Empire has been productive of indescribable benefits to this country, and the Congress is a society constituted solely for the purpose of bringing those benefits to maturity and perfection. In no other nation do we find intellectual capacity so fully developed as it is in the English, and the statesmanship they display is one proof of this fact. Another proof lies in their impartiality, a third in their benevolence, a fourth in their valour, a fifth in their energy, and a sixth in their endurance. It is through the preponderance of these six qualities that the English have succeeded in bringing so many countries of the world under their dominion and protection, and the subjection of India by a people endowed with such vast natural ability is the greatest good fortune that could have befallen us. With the beginning of their administration began not only the diffusion of knowledge and education among the natives of India, but also a desire to participate in the privileges to which knowledge affords us a title. In as much then as we have every reason to believe that the English Government will in justice grant us the fulfilment of this desire, if we ask for it, the Congress has been established in order to prefer our request by all lawful and reasonable means.
"The English have always adhered staunchly to the principle of universal liberty, and have on countless occasions upheld that principle greatly to the benefit of mankind. At the present time, no man in England is considered the slave of another, and, except in the commission of crime, eve
ry man has freedom of action to the full extent of his power and his wishes, without fear of another. This is the glory of the English constitution, moulded into its present form by illustrious men, and if it cannot be attained in its fullness all at once, still the ambition of the Congress is to attain it on behalf of India by degrees slow and sure, and what harm is there in this? Putting India out of the question, I think that, if it were possible, it would be right to introduce even among the Kaffir tribes of Africa a system of government modelled on these lines. Some misguided individuals say that because knowledge and education have not yet reached the masses of the Indian people, therefore the time for this form of Government has not yet arrived.
This, however, is a pernicious error, because no one maintains that government should be administered directly by ignorant men. But, men who are sunk in the depths of ignorance know when they are happy and, when they are unhappy, and it is preposterous to suppose that the people of India are incapable of this knowledge. Even those in the lowest ranks of life are fully aware how different their condition is now from what it was under the old type of government, and not only men, but even animals, distinguish between those who show them kindness and those who maltreat them. The aim of the Congress is to induce the English Government to associate with it, in the administration of affairs, natives whom education and knowledge have raised to the level of Englishmen, to take counsel with them and to give heed to their advice. In this there is surely no danger but, on the contrary, public safety. It is admitted there are many among the natives of India capable of understanding and working the machinery of government, and it is English influence that has produced them. Since this is the case, we are surely bound to ask the English administrators to take into partnership educated and competent members of our community according to their several qualifications, and it is to such points as these that the deliberations of the Congress are chiefly directed.
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