By Manas Das
Sri Aurobindo is known as throughout the world as a great yogi, a brilliant philosopher but before going to
Pondicherry to do his Sadhana he was one of the founders and conductors of the Nationalist movement which was started to gain Independence for India from British. In fact, very few people know that it was Sri Aurobindo who gave the term "Independence" to the freedom movement. During his political career he along with Bipin Chandra Pal and others started a daily called Bande Mataram. It was through this newspaper and others which he started subsequently that the journalistic quality in him came to the forefront.
Before starting “Bande Mataram” Sri Aurobindo’s writing skill sparkled briefly before the public when he contributed a series of political articles called “New Lamps For Old” in a Bombay (Mumbai) paper called “Indu Prakash”. These articles were Sri Aurobindo’s comment on the British rule in India, the lack of political leadership in the country and a general state of his countrymen. These comments ring a true note even today. Sri Aurobindo began the series with well known, yet nonetheless always starting question: “If the blind lead the blind, shall they not both fall into a ditch?”
Sri Aurobindo was born in Calcutta (Kolkata) on 15th August 1872. It is significant that his birthday coincides with that of free India. At the age of eight he was sent to England for his studies.
He returned to India in 1983 and took up service as an I.C.S. officer with the Maharaja of Baroda Siyaji Rao Gaikward. He was also appointed as lecturer and principal of Baroda College. But in 1905 he left the service and went to Calcutta to join the freedom struggle.
Sri Aurobindo, Lok Manya Tilak, Bipin Ch. Pal and some others believed in total Independence for India- “Swaraj”. In order to create awareness among the people about the India of Independence, Sri Aurobindo began holding public meetings in various parts of the country. He soon became one of the most popular leaders in the country and therefore one of the most wanted man by British.
Sri Aurobindo’s brother Barindra Ghose was one of the extremist leader at that time. At Barin’s suggestion Sri Aurobindo agreed to the starting a paper, Yugantar, which was to preach open revolt and absolute denial of the British rule and include such items as series of articles containing instruction for Guerrilla warfare. Sri Aurobindo himself wrote some of the opening articles in the early numbers. It was a weekly news paper in Bengali issued from Calcutta between March 1906 and May 1908.
In order to reach the message he and Bipin Ch Pal wanted to start a newspaper in Calcutta. On 6th August 1906 in joint Editorship ‘Bande Mataram’ English daily’s first issue published. Sri Aurobindo’s first preoccupation was to declare openly for complete and absolute Independence as the aim of political action in India and to insist on this persistently in the pages of the journal. He was the first politician in India who had the courage to do this in public and he was immediately successful.
The journal declared and developed a new political programmer for the country and as the programmer of the Nationalist party, Non- cooperation, and passive résistance. Swadeshi. Boycott national education, settlement of disputes in law by popular arbitration was other items of Sri Aurobindo’s plan. The “Bande Mataram” was almost unique in journalistic history in the influence it exercised in converting the mind of people and preparing it for revolution.
After Lajpat Rai’s deportation “Bande Mataram” gave an editorial:
Lala Lajpat Rai has been deported out of British India – The fact is it is own comment. The telegram goes on to say that indignation meeting have been forbidden for four days. Indignation Meeting is the hour for speech and fine writing past. The bureaucracy has thrown down the gaunt let. We take it up. Men of the Punjab! Race of the lion! Show these men who would stamp you into the dust that for one Lajpat they have taken away a hundred Lajpat will arise in his place. Let them hear a hundred time your war – cry Jai Hindustan.
Meanwhile the government was determined to get rid of sri Aurobindo as the only considerable obstacle left the success of their repressive policies.
As to what place the Bande Mataram occupied in the country and in the estimation of Englishmen, a letter written by Retcliff the then Editor The Statesman of Calcutta, to the “Manchester Guardian” will make it clear:
We know Aurobindo Ghose only as a revolutionary nationalist and Editor of a flaming Newspaper, which struck a ringing new note in Indian daily Journalism. The Editor of the Statesman seems to have bitterly complained that, although the editorial articles in the Bande Mataram were diabolically clever and crammed full of sedition between the lines, the paper was still legally unassailable because of the superlative skill of the writing. The government to must have said this view, for they did not venture to prosecute the paper for its editorial or other articles, which was from Sri Aurobindo’s pen.
About this period (April 1908) Sri Aurobindo had decided to take a charge of the Bengali daily “Navashakti” but unfortunately in may 1908 he was arrested in the Alipore conspiracy case as implicated in the doings of the revolutionary group led by his brother Barindra, but no evidence of any value could be established against him and after his release from prison Sri Aurobindo started a weekly in English called “Karmayugin”. While Bande Mataram was started on purely political lines the Karmayugin was devoted to mainly cultural and philosophical writings. Sri Aurobindo had educated himself in India and western philosophies and a number of Indian languages he had already studied, Greek, Latin, French and Italian in England. It is some measure of his versatility and genius that the same man who ignited the minds of his fellow country men with his political writings could now most successfully conduct a cultural and a philosophical review.
…….Spirituality, the force and energy of thought and action arising from communion with or self-surrender to that within us which roles the world…..
This force and energy can be directed to any purpose god desired for us: it’s sufficient to knowledge, love or service: It is good for the liberation of an individual soul building of a nation or the turning of a tool. It was from within, it works in the power of god, it works with super human energy. The reawakening of that force in 300 millions of men by the means which are past has placed in our hands, that in our object.
Two months after the “Karmayugin” had been launched the first issue of its Bengali counterpart The Dharma came out on 23 August 1909.
In Feb. 1910 Sri Aurobindo received information of the government’s intention to search the office and arrest him. While considering what should be his attitude, he received a sudden command from above to go to Chandernagar in French India. In a few hours he was at Chandernagar where he went to secret residence. But Karmayugin and Dharma were continued and ceased publication on March 26 and March 28, 1910 respectively.
Sri Aurobindo left British India and stayed at French occupied Pondicherry. A philosophical review was started by Sri Aurobindo on August 15, 1914 and continued without interruption until January 1921. That monthly English journal was “Arya”.
For Technical/Content Writing, Editing, Proof reading, Complete Communication related Services, contact us at manas.das@t5minfotech.com
Visit our website: http://www.t5minfotech.com/
