Book Title: Karmayogi
Author(s): 
Publisher: ZZZ Unknown

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Page 517
________________ DARMAYOGIN. to look after his luggage,-ou Eaar pean came up to him, caught, his It is not the polity of the wrapper, twisted it tightly round Karmayoglund his neck and said in Hindustani, incidents whether of the present Who are you?" Getting no auswer administration of the country to his request for an explanation or of the relations between the except the repetition of the quesruling caste and the people. To tion, he replied that he was a criticise persistently the frequent passenger. Thereupon without farinstances of highhandedness and ther parley the Englishanan promaladministration inevitable under ceeded to drag the nnresistingly a regime like the present does not Pandit to another steamer lying lead to the redress of grievances alongside. On the way the latter all that it does is to create a pre- appealed to the sub-agent of the judice against the reigning bureau Steamer Company, a certain Sarat cracy. The basis of our clitim to Babu, but, after a word from the Swaraj is not that the English Saheb, was told that he must acbureaucracy is a bad or tyrannical company the aggressor to the ComGovernment; a bureaucracy is al pany's agent, with a name which ways included to be arrogant, self the Pandit caught as Joyce. It sufficient, self-righteons and un was not, however, to the Agent, sympathetic, to ignore the abuses but into a first-class cabin where with which it abounds, and a there were three other Europeans bureaucracy foreign and irrespon- and two English women, that the sible to the people is likely to ex Brahmin was dragged and the door hibit these characteristics in an closed behind him. No soener was exaggerated forin. But even if we he in the hands of this company were ruled by a bureaucracy of than he was charged with having angels, we should still lay claià abused the Englishman whom he had to Swaraj and move towards never seen before in his life, and a national self-sufficiency and inde-savage blow dealt him in the left pendence. On the same principle we do not notice or lay stress on the collisions between Englishmen and Indians which are an inevitable result of the anomalous and unnatural relations existing between the races. It is the relations themselves we seek to alter from the root instead of dealing with the symptoms. But the incident at Goalundo detailed in this week's Dharmi is one which the country has to take notice of, unless we are to suppose that the movement of 1905 was the last flaring up of national strength and spirit previous to extinction and that the extinetion has now come. We have received a letter from the sufferer translated into English, it is from his own account that we summarise the facte. eye which cut the skin and set blood flowing freely. Blows after blows were rained on head and body, the head being cruelly battered, the lips cut open and some of e teeth loosened. His appeals for mercy were answered by a shower of kicks with booted feet on his head and the English women joined in the pastime by beating him furiously on the thigh with a dog chain. The unfortunate Bengali was by this time sick, stunned and almost senseless with the beating. The pain of the blows falling on his already bruised and battered head was intense and the iron chain drew blood with each cut. Fortunately he happened to fall against the door and it flew open. With difficulty he managed to crawl to the staircase; but at this moment the Englishman drew a revolver and, pointing it at him, cried out Shala, I will shoot you." In terror of his life the Brahmin managed anyhow to plunge down the stairs and dropped almost senseless at the bottom. His eyes were clotted with blood, but he caught a glimpse of Sarat Babu coming near him with an European whom he conjectured to be the Agent Mr. Joyce. A few 3 words were spoken between the two. Afterwarde Saras Babu returned and told the Pandit that he could expect no redress from the Company. but he might bring a criminal suit if he cared to do so. The farther happenings of that night need not be entered into, except to note the extraordinary conduct of the Company's officers who almost immediate separated the two steamers and took the Kaligunge mail into mid stream where they kept it until the Europeans had escaped in their steamer to Naraingunge. It was only possible to discover from the luggage labels that they belonged to a jute factory in Nakail near Aralia. There were some Bengali passengers present, including a pleader from Jessore and an euployee of the Sealdah District Superintendent's Audit office but, though they sympathised with and cared for their compatriot after he had escaped with his life, there was none to assist him at the moment of the outrage, nor could even the piteous cries of the ladies awake a spark of resolution anywhere in those present. The sam ties of young men are disbanded. the cry of Bande Matarain has sank to rest, and royally-minded individuals like the perpetrarors of this murderous assault can finish their imperial pastime unhindered. We feel a great difficulty in dealing with this case. We are not in the habit of dealing in violent language, yet to write coolly of it is a little difficult. And if we des cribe the assault as an infamous atrocity or describe these English gentlemen and ladies as cowardly ruffians and fiendish assassins, we have to recollect that such phrases are properly applied to Indian Terrorists and we may be prosecuted under Sec. 153A if we apply the to Europeans who, after all, did nothing but anse themselves. Moreover, any indication of the proper deserts of these people, however carefully expressed, night expuse us to forfeiture of our Press and prosecution under the new laws. If we point out that such things seem to happen with impunity under the present conditions in India, Sec. 124A is lying in wait, ready to trip us up, and the Andamans or twenty years' hurd labour with handcuffs and fetters loom A Brahmin Pandit with the title of Kavyatirtha, ignorant of English. was proceeding with two Bengali ladies from Mymensing to Calcutta on Sunday the 2hd January by the Kaligunge mail steater, and reached Goalundo at 11 o-clock at night, too late to catch the Calcutta train. He and some other passengers decided to spond the night in the steamer. While he was going USE CHATTERN BRO'S RAZOR AND SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS THE BEST & RELIABLE IN THE MARKET, down

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