Sri Aurobindo

Bande Mataram

Early Political Writings. 1890 — May 1908

Bande Mataram. 11 September, 1906

A Criticism

Babu Naresh Chandra Sen Gupta, at a meeting of the Students' Union, made certain remarks upon the new party and the old. The spirit of the remarks was good, but the information on which they were based seems to be remarkably one-sided. He said, for instance: “The old leaders never forgot to take counsel with the new party; but the new party had spurned the old men.” When, may we ask, except at Barisal where the new school was in a majority, did the old leaders take counsel with the new? Since then it has been the deliberate policy of the old leaders to exclude the new party from their counsels, and some influential men among them have even declared that they will not work with the principal men of that party. We do not pretend to dictate to the old leaders or to the Congress, or to any other public body; we wish to have an opportunity of pressing our views on the Congress as the views of increasing numbers in the country. The future is ours and we are content to conquer it by degrees. But the determination of the old leaders is to give us no foothold on¹ the present. A great and growing school of politics cannot consent to be treated in such cavalier fashion.

Later edition of this work: The Complete Works of Sri Aurobindo.- Set in 37 volumes.- Volumes 6-7.- Bande Mataram: Political Writings and Speeches. 1890–1908 .- Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram, 2002.- 1182 p.

¹ 2002 ed. CWSA, vol.6-7: in

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