Young India: An interpretation and a history of the nationalist movement from withinLajpat Rai, Lala
History
Young India: An interpretation and a history of the nationalist movement from within
Lajpat Rai, Lala
India -- Politics and government -- 1765-1947
The desire for peace on any terms, has been the
curse of British rule. It has done them more harm than disorder or
anarchy ever did. Blessed was the disorder that preceded the rise of the
Mahratta power or the establishment of the Sikh commonwealth. Blessed
were the conditions of life that produced a Partap, a Sivaji, a Durga
Dass, and a Govind Singh.[88] Cursed are the conditions of peace that
can only produce Daffadars and Jamadars or at the most Risaldars[89] or
Kaiser-Hind-medallists.
This is Hardayalism. Most of the Nationalists of the two classes
described above belong to this school, but there are some among them who
do not wholly fall in with this view. They are prepared to agree that
the political question must always be in the forefront, and that nothing
should be done which may in any way overshadow this or relegate it to a
secondary position; but they do not believe that politics alone should
usurp the whole thought and life of the nation. It would not be right to
conclude from the above description that the Indian Nationalists have no
_constructive_ programme for the future, but it is obvious that in the
absence of freedom and opportunities to discuss it openly, opinions on
the subject can not be crystallised.
_Arabinda Ghosh--Vedantist and Swarajist._ It is difficult to say to
which of these classes, if to either at all, Arabinda Ghosh belonged or
still belongs. At one time it was believed that he belonged to the first
class, to which most of the other Bengalee extremists belonged, but
whether that belief was right and whether he still thinks on the same
lines, it is difficult to say. One thing is certain, that he was and is
quite unlike Har Dayal in his line of thought. In intellectual acumen
and in scholastic accomplishments he is perhaps superior to Har Dayal,
but above all he is deeply religious and spiritual. He is a worshipper
of Krishna and is a high-souled Vedantist. Even simpler and more ascetic
in his life and habits than Har Dayal, he is for an all-around
development of Indian Nationalism. His notions of life and morality are
pre-eminently Hindu and he believes in the spiritual mission of his
people. His views may better be gathered from an interview, which he
recently gave to a correspondent of _The Hindu_, of Madras. We quote the
interview almost bodily and in the words of the interviewer.
“But what do you think of the 1914 Congress and Conferences?” I
insisted.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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