Book Title: Jain Gazette 1905 10
Author(s): Jain Student Institute Kolhapur
Publisher: Jain Student Institute Kolhapur

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Page 22
________________ 8 act the work of the new spirit that has stirred up the non--Brahmins. It is with reference to this struggle of the plebeians of Indian society against the domination of their patrician masters, that His Highness thc Maharaja saheb has been most useful as the “friend, philosopher and guide' of the untrained, unbacked few among the Marathas, Jains, Lingayets and Mohamedans who are trying to awaken in their followers the sense of dignity and self-respect that is the birth-right of every true citizen. Those whose interest it is to misrepresent this aspect of the career of His Highness and whose aim in life is to discredit that career as a whole so that the policy-religious and social as well as administrative-which it represents shall be also discredited, are now taking their stand by the side of European political shibboleths and from the vantage ground thus gained, they are trying to defeat the ends of the people who look to His Highness for inspiration and lead in their unequal contest with the social oligarchy. The same story is being repeated in all parts of India in some form or other and thus it is that the real unrest in India is not so much political as it is social. But the community which commands the press -- and the plat-form is trying to suppress and belittle this signifi cant unrest as the selfishness of office seekers and stigmatising the leaders of the backward masses as title-hunting abject flatterers.' The lead of His Highness. But the aspirations-silent, unassuming and deep-seated aspirations of the millions of men who are yearning to throw off the yoke of the dominant class will not be thus suppressed. The spirit of the men who are irritated every moment of their life by invidious social customs, cannot be thus checked. The British Government has prepared the way. Education has fitted the leaders of these communities to take up the task with firmness and courage. Princes like His Highness the Maharajasaheb and His Highness the Gaikwad, born leaders as they are, are taking part in the contest and giving

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