Every time I express my honest opinion about the injustice and cruelty
of the English towards the natives, when conversation turns to their
mutual relationship, the former assure me that I am mistaken, since I know
nothing about their subtle politics, and the latter, in answer to my
pacificatory expressions and words of consolation, attempt to convince
me that there is no single Englishman in India who wishes them well. Soon
I came to the following conclusion: both sides exaggerate, the one its
great virtues and merit, and the other its seemingly undeserved fate. The
former, inspired, probably, by the wise proverb that "dogs go mad
from over-eating," [Russian proverb. - Translator.] seem to undergo
a complete change, as it were, on their arrival in India from England. The
latter, we will grant, have not individually deserved such a cruel fate,
but India, as a whole, is carrying the heavy burden of her age-old
sins: by her own past she has herself fashioned the misfortunes of the
present, and her present position was inevitable. More remarkable still is
the fact that absolutely nothing is known in England of the activities of
the English in India or the true state of the natives under the English yoke.
How true this is may be
inferred from the following: an educated Hindu goes to Europe,
after having partially renounced his superstitious prejudices concerning
both his country and his caste; he travels first class, no longer dressed
as a sans-culotte but almost in European style; he wipes his nose
with a handkerchief and not with the fork of Adam; his manners, like those
of all natives, are quiet, even refined; even his education is by no means
inferior and is sometimes considerably superior to that of most of his
English traveling companions. In spite of this, his journey is divided
into two phases: the first extends as far as Aden ,
and the second from Aden to London India to Aden Aden England to
Aden England
Who, then, is to blame for this? Is it England
with its laws and institutions which guarantee equality for all, or is it
the English, namely, the English in India
This
exclamation contains a whole tome of admission. It places a seal, as it
were, on the sentence pronounced on an entire nation and its present, if
not its future destiny.
Everyone knows that England is a great and powerful nation; everyone
knows also that England as a nation cannot help wishing India, as one of
its best colonies, at least material success, if not ethical growth, if
only to uphold the proverb that "No one sets fire to his own
harvest." And in this material respect England
does indeed all she can do to help India India
Without a doubt the English have conferred and continue to confer
inestimable benefits on India India England India , England is very distant, and the Anglo-Indian
government is always at India
However, although most of their complaints are justified, they are
themselves at fault in many things. Instead of gaining profit for the future
from the lessons of the past, they act like ostriches, hiding their heads
in the sand and giving way to bitterness in the present. If the
English were to treat the natives humanely, their power would appear
less despotic; the Indians would not tremble before them as they do, and
that power would become more firmly rooted than is evident at present on
Indian soil, through the love and gratitude of the people. Quiet and
gentle, the majority of the natives are ready to lick any caressing hand,
and to show gratitude for every bone thrown to them. If the English
were less ferociously contemptuous towards the Hindus, and more kindly to
the people, their prestige would possibly diminish, but their safety in
the conquered country would become more firmly established in the future.
But it is precisely this they do not wish or cannot understand. They seem
completely to forget what every child knows, that their prestige is a
sparkling soap-bubble, entirely dependent on external events beyond their
control. Their power in India is well established, even with the present
caste-system, merely because the natives have a superstitious idea about
their invincibility, and find in it no trace of an Achilles' heel; and
also because, according to the teachings of Krishna, they dare not
go against "the inevitable". Being fatalists, they believe that
they are living in the Kali-Yuga, "the black age," and
cannot expect anything favorable as long as this age lasts on earth. In
these two superstitions, as if in two impregnable fortresses, lie concealed the
power and safety of the English. But let the British army be badly beaten
somewhere, and the soap bubble will burst, and the superstition will
vanish from the minds of the Hindus, like the visions in a nightmare at
the moment of waking.
Part 2
Part 2
