India for Indians: Enlarged EditionDas, Chitta Ranjan
History
India for Indians: Enlarged Edition
Das, Chitta Ranjan
India -- Politics and government -- 1919-1947
furnish? I take upon myself to give up my profession for six months
(loud cheers) and go over the whole of this country asking the people
to join the army in their thousands (cheers). I ask the Government to
make it possible for us to raise this army. Gentlemen, when I think of
our present position, while the danger is before us, and the attitude
and the relation, if I may call it, between the Government, I mean
the Bureaucracy, on the one hand, and the people on the other, I must
confess, I look upon this as a tragedy. The Bureaucracy suspects the
people.--Often and often have we told them, we have cried ourselves
hoarse--and I repeat this again--I know these people--I have defended
their cases--there is not one among the revolutionaries who wants to
bring a foreign power in this country--be that foreign power Germany
or Japan. I am prepared to prove it, if there is an enquiry--a proper
enquiry by impartial men. But all those requests have fallen on deaf
ears. Why? Because the Government distrusts the people. The result is
they misunderstand us and misinterpret our statements and utterances.
In the same way, we, the people mistrust them because they mistrust us.
(hear, hear). I am free to confess that we very often misunderstand
their declarations and mistrust them unjustly but the fact that we
misunderstand each other is there, and I say it is a tragedy. I can
assure the Government that I can prove it to demonstration, to whatever
political party an individual in this country may belong, there is not
one man in Bengal, who really desires that the English people should
lose all connection with India and that some other foreign power should
be brought here (loud cheers and hear, hear.) You do not believe that.
We want to justify ourselves and want to become ourselves. We want
to feel that this country really belongs to us--we want to feel that
we are a nation--that we have got our specialities. We want to give
expression to our ideals and we want to stand side by side with the
different nations of the world and we do believe that with the English
connection, it would be easier for us to do so than if we tried to
make the English connection cease. That is the real attitude of the
people. But the pity is, they will not believe us, with the result
that whatever they say on many occasions, we do not believe. That is
why I think it is a tragedy. I appeal to the Government again to come
forward. The Prime Minister has sounded the call to arms. It is not
only a call to arms but it is a call to duty (hear, hear). We are
here prepared to discharge our duty. Do you do your duty, in the same
spirit--come forward and forget your racial prejudices, forget your
sense of prestige.--Stand side by side with us.--Hold us by your hands
and you will find between the two of us we will raise such an army
in Bengal which will beat back all foreign aggression (loud cheers.)
If the thing were possible, I say to the Government again, if you
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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