The Bomb in Bengal: The Rise of Revolutionary Terrorism in India 1900-1910 0195633504, 9780195633504

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THE BOMB IN BENGAL The Rise of Revolutionary Terrorism in India 1900- 1910

PETER HEEHS

DELHI OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS OXFORD NEW YORK J993

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Punh.:J ~u ~1 AurohtnJ.• A\h1:.m "'"'· P•NMlktk·rr', H~lfl f'uN1,th:\I h\ Nl•tl () l\u,:n , was (SAAA) 27 Lord Minto as I lcrcules killing the hydra ol '1narch1Sm': cartoon lrom /1111d1 Punch (SAAA) 28 Gilbert Elliot. 4th Earl of Minto (SAAA) 29 F. L. ll alhday (SAAA) JO Policeman near a pit in the gi-ounds ol thc Mamktola Garden (SAAA) 31 Diagram of a simple bomb, with marking$ in Bengali (IOR) 32 Four bomb$hclls lound at 134 Harrison Road, Calcutta (photograph by author. SAAA)

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I .l\t t1/ lll1lftratiQt1S

33 The book-bomb >en110 IJutl·" Kingsford (pho1gnlph by nu1hor. SAAA) .l4 Khud1ram 6o>C afler ht> a ire" (SAAA) 3S llie Mon1k1ola garden hou-.c under guard (SAAA) 3 C. ~. Dr" (SAAA) 37 Enrdlcy Nor1on (SAA/\) 38 Courtroom in /\lipore where I he st'l.ptakmg m Bcadon Square. Calcuua (SAAA) 4') A block of Cellular J•ol m 1he Andaman' (photograph by Kiran Kalad. SAAA) 'Ill Lord I lardinge on lhc bock of an clcphanl a1 lhe ume of h1> ceremonial enirance IQ Delbo (IOR) SI •Arbond Mandir', a pc:>>lcr pr1n1cd on Kanpur during the 1930s ( IOR)

Preface

Thi• book i• a narrative history of the revolutionary movement in Bengal from its origins around 1900 10 the close of its fir-;t phahcd an impressive bod) of .-ork which bas placed the >tudy of the period on a more . charging them alf with Chfl\tn and championing the role of the nameless 'subaltern· classes. The ongoing hermeneutic debate hns great ly enriched our undcrst.onding of the economic and ~ocial background o f the period. Out it has been contincd for the most part to scholarly journals und conferences and so far ha~ had li11le influence on the general public. My approach in this bo nationalist in focus. mirram·e in

Preface

x

form und chronological in presentation . I offer no apologies for any of thc-e t"hoiccs Although introduced in reccnl )C3r\ In quotauons I have or eour'loC followed the document\ verbatim Thus in quoted nm1enal 'Aurobmdo' is spelled 'Arab1nda". 'Arabindo' and sc'eral other "''YS as well II 1s not poay nunc of the researchers named " in any way responsible for the use I have made of her or lus material. Among the many people who have helped me 10 ob1aln documents. Joya Miner and Lalilu Roy deserve special mcn11on. I am grateful 10 Bob Zwicker. Barbie Doily. Arup Milra and Ashok Acharya for reading all or parls or •he manu,cript. proofs or both; to Ulrich Mohrhoff for help with 1he 1ypesening; and 10 Jacques Pouchepadass for sharing wi1h me his knowledge of his1oriography.

PAR'rONE

Origins

•

1 A Golden Sunset Dbracli wanted u symbol for his new conccpl of imperialism . Victoria wanted a style befining her more·lhan·qucenly dignity. The Royal Ti1les Act of 1876 gratified them both . That year the royal Chnstma~ cards were signed 'V. R. & I': Victoria R~ginn" lm~rumx. The Queen of Great Britain and Ireland was now Empress of India as well. • The Cro"'n 's representative was not long on acquainting her Indian subjects with the news. Four months after 1hc paSS3ge of the Act , Lord Lytton convoked a durbar or royal levee in De lhi. On 23 December Lytton made his ceremonial entrance into the city. l'irst came columns of cavalry, then the viceroy and viccreone in a •ilvcr howdnh on the hack of n magnafkcnl e lephant. They were followed by their bodyguard. 'then the governors and swells on olhcr clcphan1s to the number of fifty ; then more cavalry and artillery. &c.' This wns enough to impress an artist who observed the spcctoclc from the city's principal mosque . But. he continued. ' nothing I ever saw or have dreamed of could equnl the ru;h of native chiefs· elephants that closed the procession.· On the animals" hack• -.ere ' magnificent and sometJmes magnificently grotesque ho,..dahs. and in the howdqlos a motley crew. men in armour. men with shields and large swords. men wuh trumpets 8 feet long. all 50rts of wild men shouting and i.cuffling and behind all the golden sunset.'' The climax of all thi< pomp. and the pomp of the days that follo"'cd. c;ome o n the first of January 1!177. In .1 pavilion that was ' hkc a gigantic circus'. the viceroy announred to the assembled 'governor~. heads of administration. notables . princes and chiefs' that henceforth 1hcir sovereign would be known :as l:.mprcss of

4

Tht Bomb in Btt1gul

India or Kaistr-i-Hind. The most prominent or her Indian 'allies' v.crc granted till~ wch as Fanand-1-Kluu-1-Daulat-1·/nglishia or 'O"n favoured son of the Bntosh Empire'. Some were given runher rccogni11on as ·concolliors or lhC Empress'.. It was all a fine example or the verbal legerdemain at which the British in lndrn excelled. f'ar from being an afhrmatoon or the 'rights. dignity and honour of Nauve Princes'. to wl11ch 1hc C"rown had been commi11cd on paper since 1858. the "~'ump1ion of the imperial 1i1lc was an announcement that lndiH WHS and would remain a aritish possession. II was a possession more than ten times 1hc size or the moiher couniry. with a population of 250 million one-fifth of the inhabitants or the globe. These people. !he hcri1ors or rich and ancicnl cultures, enjoyed 3 lirc-cxpcCll111C) lhat 31 the end or the century was calculated at 23. 7 years. This alarming siatis1ic was due '" part 10 1hc famines that since the m11ldlc or the ceniury bad made the popula1ion of the country actually decline. The wors1 was 1he famine of 1876-7. Whole the Durbar celebrations were being planned and carried out. some five molloon men. women and children perished. Entire villages "ere wiped out . 'I do not know wha1 we should have done wi1hou1 lhc dogs and vultures' . declared a Bri1ish witness. Lord Lyuon eventually appointed a famine commission. but his overworked officials could not do much. There was simply not enough money to recd nll 1he siarving people . '

2 Militancy in a Vanquished Land In 111113. '" yc1m afler the Durbar. John Seeley publi,hcd his memtlrcnly exprcs~cd their nim. As the image of the clephimt·headcd god was carried to the river 1hey sang: 'Alas. Like butchers the wicked in their mon\lrou\ atrocity kill calves and kine. Free her (the cow) fro111 her trouble. die (but) lill the English .. . . This is called HindustJn (land of 1hc Hindus). How " ot that the Enghsh rule here? It " a great ~hame.' Al the birth fes11val of MJharash1ra·s hero they rcpro..ichcd their coun· 111mcn· 'Merely reciting Sbivaji's \l()r) hkc a h;ird docs not 'leCllre mdependenee: it os necessary 10 he prompt in en~agmg on desperate enterprises.' To those "ho asked them what they were doong themselves. the brothers promi~d: 'l..1~1cn . We shi•ll risk our lives on the battle-field in a national war.'' ll1e Chapckars were hardly prepared to wage wur, but by 1897 they wen.: ready for desperate enterprises. That year bubonic plague broke out virulently in Bombay and Poona . The govern·

JO

The Bomb in Bengal

ment took swift and drastic steps to stop the progress or the disease. which not only endangered ' nau•e' h•e~ but hun trade and threatened to ~read abroad At fir.I local leaders. including the orthodox T1lak. 5upponed the go•ernmcnt'\ action~. But later Tilak's Kesarr and other Indian ncw,papcr> began featuring rcpons or atrocities committed by sold1eK conducting house-tohouse searches. The Chapekars became 111ccn~cd by what they read, heard. und observed. and they resolved to kill the chairman of Poona's plague commission. W. C. Rand. Arter invoking the blessings of Bhawani, the terrible form of the Mother goddess. they lay in wait for Rand on the evening or 22 June 1897 . As his carriage drove past. Damodnr ran up and shot him in the back, wounding him fatally. Noticing that the couple in the next carriage had witncMCd the deed. Balkrishna shot and killed the man, Lieutenant C. E. Ayerst. "' ln the confusion that followed the assassins made good their escape. The pohcc were without clues until Damodar sought publicity by wnting to a newspaper editor. An invesugauon was set on foot and soon the brothers were betrayed by one of their former comrades. Damodar was arrested and 'with a view to earn renown• conkssed to the murders. Later be admitted he had been aided by BaJkrishna. Damodar was tried. sentenced to death. and hanged on 18 April 1898. The next year Balkrishna along with another brother and one of their friends followed Damodar to the gallows. In many respects tbe campaigns of Phadkc and the Chapekars set the pattern for future terrorist outbreaks In India. Both conspirncies were hatched by men who had a gut hatred of the British people and who attributed all the country's ills to them. Both leaders laid stress on physical dcveloprncnl anc.l 1hc cuhiva· tion of manly qualities. Both established secret organizations sworn to the use of force against their foreign enemies. But unlike later terronsts neither Pbadke nor the Chapekars had a clear political aim. It took the personal tragedy or the death or hos mother and the larger uagedy of a wideo;pread famine to bring home to Phadkc the oppressiveness Qf the British Rai His anger might equally have been directed against an Indian regime. The British were seen as odious more on account of their religion than their administration. According to one of hi~ RamClves. In thce1h11on Aurobmdo agreed to ione do"n his language. but soon lo~t in1erc,1 and abandoned the ..en•"' 1r he could not speal his nund about pohl• a melodrama of battles and valorous deeds. separauons and tearful reunions. tragic deaths and miraculous restorations to life. l1ie book is filled with songs- enough to remind the modem reader of a musical cinema. but of ~uch quality that the comparison is mvahdated . The mos1 famous of them rs the santans· hymn to the Mother/Motherland: Bonde Mararam (literally, 'I bow to the Mother"). In this anthem Bankin1 lauds Mother Bengal as a 'richly-watered, richly fruited' land of beauty a nd strength and abundance. 'showering wealth from wcll·stored htmds'." Neither in N~w Lamps nor in the articles on Bankim did Aurobindo give evidence of religious reeling. llis father, a rationalist who had repudiated ftrsl Hinduism und then Brahmoism. had not allowed his sons to be brought up either as 1hndus or Christians When he took them 10 England he asked their guardian. a protestant clergyman. to let them choose their own rchg1on "hen they came of age. When Aurobmdo returned to Indra he con~1dercd himself an agnosuc . Ile '"IS introduced to the faith of hrs forefather.; by his study of Indian hteramre. The songs of Bengali bhaktas. the Ramayana and Mahabhara1a. the Upon· ishad! and the Bhagal'ad Gita convinced the young scholar that the Mmdu ''ew of hfe had more to offer than the dry secularism affected by English-educated Indians. He apparently included himself 1n the 'new generatlon' he wrote of in Bankim Chandra Ch111terjer: •n generation national to a fault. loving Bengal and her new gloric~. and if not Hindus themse lves, yet zealous for the

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Th poh11cal idea~ only in converl3tions with friends. in panicular three

' A Btngali in the Maratha Country

19

Marathis Keshav Ganesh Deshpande, Madhavrao Jadhav. and Khaserao Jadhav. A brilliant mathematician. Deshpande went on a scholar1h1p to Cambridge, where he met Aurobindo. After qualifying for the Bar be returned lo Bombay. where besides practising law he helped edit the paper that published Ntw lamps for Old. Al this time he became acquain1ed with the leaders of l>oth Congress factions in Mabarasb1ra, the const1tu1icmalis1 G. K. Gokhale und the ;idvanced nationalist Ti lak. I le avoided rnking sides in the conflict preceding the 1895 Congress; but he made it clear in a leuer 10 Gokhalc that he shared Aurobindo's distaste for Congrcs,·, do-nothing ways." In 1897 he was Mo;ocintcd with Tilak's ucfcncc on 1hc Ke.rari sedition trial. " The next year he left Bombay and joined the Gaekwar's service in Baroda. Sharing lodgings with Aurobindo. Deshpande bee.1me acquainted with the Jadhav brothers, his host's closest friends. Madhavrao, hke Aurobindo three years younger than Deshpande. was a junior officer in the Maharaja's army. Khaserao. oldest of the four. wai. a ranking ci-.1 servant "ho enjoyed the confidence of 1he Gaekwar. The 1hrec Maharashtrians and their quiet Bengali fnend found such means to amuse thcmsehes as the provmciality or Baroda offered."' But they also spent much time discucr the British would have tc> go. Al limes they •poke of 'armct.I rebellion'." Aurobindn. lhc1r hi~torian , took it i t'i true that the Bengali was still caught up in the round~ of quahhcauon and preferment; hut it seemed to Aurobindo 1hut 'the de;irc for a nobler and more inspiring patrio11sm was growing more intense' 111 his h11mc province." This trend proved insignificanl if not imaginary. Bengalis benefited more from the Raj than any other group in India. This made them more anxious than the rest to preserve the siatus quo. Bengal was the last place in lnd i:1 where one would expect the revolutio11ary impulse lo arise. It is thus ironic that 11 was the meeting or two Bengahs m Baroda that proHded the spark for India's fir;t tru~ revolu11onary movement. In 11!99 there appeared in Barodn a young man from the Burdwan district of Bengal named Jatindra Nath Banerji. • Tall. well-built. and ,.,tJi 'bright penetrating C)es'. the twenty·t"'o-year· old Ju tin was in appearance Md temperament the antithesis or the typical babu."' After receiving his early education in Burdwan, he went to Allahabad where he enrolled 1n the Kayasth Pathashala. Here he became ucquaintcd w1tb Ramananda C'hanerjec, later • In .i !tilo11c1nent of l'it~ (IOR UPJ/6/AA.1) Ja11n ..ald that he 11rn..,·cd in Oaruda in 1899 O.ncndra Kumar RO) . Aurobu'ldo"$ Bcnpll lulor. •role th.at Jahn 1rnvcd M>mc tune 1flcr the Rand-AytrSt 1rtaJT (1897- 8) and sbottly hcforc Otnc:ndra left B::lrod.i 1n l:Hc 1899 Ot curly 1900 (Aurubindo PrusllngiJ 63-4)

A Bengali in the Maratha Country

21

famou~ a~ 1hc editor of The Modem Review. Finding lhe youth m1dh!'cn1 hul bored by his studies, Ramananda encouraged him 10 pur;uc his m1cres1 in history. Jatin devoured books on the Ou1ch Rcvoh>. the Risorgimento, and the French and American rcvolulloM These fuelled his desire 10 becornc a revolutionary. Jaun·~ dcvclopmcn1 was similar in several respects 10 Phadkc's and 1hc (.'hapckars'. Al an early age he becarnc fascina1ed by the life of the i,old1e1. Pairiol ic pride, based partly on strong religious belief~. convinced hirn thal India oughl to be independent . Stung by the usscruon 1ha1 Bengalis were a 'non-martial' race. he vowed he would oh1.1in mililury 1raining. rhc rules prcvcnlcd him from entering the Indian itrmy; but m a friendly native srntc he might have a chance. Arriving m Baroda he gm h1m..ctr admmcd to the Gaekwar's army through 1he connjvancc of the J adhav bro1hers and Aurobindo. • Aucni in Hindi Ja11ndra Na1h Bandyopadbyay (1he proper form of Baner1i) succeeded in passing himself off as 1hc North Indian Ya1indcr Nath Upadhyay. I le cn1crcd 1hc 4th Baroda Infantry as a sepoy to learn discipline from the ground up. After a year he was transferred to the Gaekwar's Bodyguard, a c.1v.1lry rn~ whose adjutant was Madhavrao Jadhav. I lere Jatin rcrft·c1cd 111' riding skills while wearing the Bodyguard's splendid ~olll u111fo1 n1 "

l>urln~ '"' 1wo years in Baroda, J atin ~poke of1cn wi1h /\11ruh11nl11 anti '"' friends. L.mcr he da1111ed 1hu1 it was he who rnnv1111c$ing 10 vi~11 1hi~ pl;K':C, Vrh1ch 1s no1 con~1dcred especially "-•llf(\J

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Tht Bomb ;,, Btngal

point. It seems likely lhat each man arrived at his belie(s independently and found them confirmed in the other. Bui ii does appear that Jatin's arrival had a ca1aly1ic effect on Aurobindo. Temperamentally unsuiled 10 play a visible role, Aurobindo needed an cx1rovcr1 like Jo1in 10 do the active work of organiiation. Young, macho. energetic, Ja1in found his complement in Aurobindo, the studious intellectual with his deep knowledge of history and his under.11anding of the British character. Linle is knov.n of Aurobindo and Ja1in's activ11ies before 1902. In April 1901 Aurobindo was marncd in Calcuua. There "'ere a number of reasons why he took this step at this time. Among 1hcm, according 10 his friends, were a comparative lack of interest in politics, and personal depression." The lack of in1erest. if present, was sbon Jived. During his honeymoon Aurobindo wrole a postcard to a friend in which he said a certain Banerji was in Calcuua." If this was Ja1in, as seems likely, it would appear 1ha1 the newlywed was mixing revolutionary business wilh nuptial pleasure. J a1in appear.; to have left lhe Baroda army around this time, possibly because his irregular admission had been dlSCOvcred." Nothing is known about his activilles during the lancr hillf of 1901 except 1ha1 in October he was in Gwalior, a Maratha native stale in Central India. From here he wrote a letter 10 Bal Gangadhar Tilak asking the Poona leader 10 send him a book they had spoken of earlier ' in which a Russiun Counl has most vividly described the effects of 1hc mos1 modern weapons'. u It is not known how he and Tilak had become acquainted or how long the two had known one another. Bui their associution comes as no surprise; both believed that India should be free and both were interested in military training. Tilak had long advocated the repeal of the Arms Act and was in favour of opem!'8 a Military School for Indian cadets. '' Privately he went much funher. In the early part of 1902 he seni his friends Joshi and Khad1lkor 10 Nepal to open a clandestine munitions factory. Nothing came of this rash allcmpl." Jatin did not remain long in Gwalior. II had always been his and Aurobindo's intention 10 make Bengal their primary field of action . The first step of Aurobindo's 'programme of preparation and action' was 'to establish ~ecrc1ly or ... under various pretexts and covers, revolutionary propaganda and recruiting throughout Bengal' " He also envisaged open political ag11a1ion, bu1 consi-

' A Btngoli in the Mora1ho Country

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dcrcd thl\ uf -.econdary importance. The first thong to be done was to \l,1r1 " secret revolutionary propaganda and organization of "'"'h the central object was the preparation of an armed 111;urrec11o n'." At the beginning of the century this idea was not as qmxouc as 11 would have been twenty years later. Looking back in the 1940s on conditions in India before the first World War, Aurobindo wrote: ·At that time the military organiuuion of the great empires and their means of military action were not so overwhelming and apparently irresistible as they now are: the rifle was still the decisive weapon, air power had not yet been developed und the force of artillery was not so devr1srnting as it afterwards became.' With 'help from outMdc', prci.11mably from J.ipan. even the difficulty created by the Arms Act 'might be overcome and on so vast a country as lndi(I and with the smallness of the regular British armies. even a guerrilla warfare accompanied by general resistance and revolt migl11 be effective. There was also the possibility of a general revolt in the Indian army."' Aurob1ndo saw this programme as one that ' might occupy a penod of 30 years before fruition could become possible'. " It was set in mouon "hen Jatin arrived in Bengal probably towards the end of 1901. • Re-establishing himself in bis home province he found stirring.~ of life that had not been apparent when he left it several ycal'l> earlier.

• In h•i 1tt1tcmen1 10 the police.. Jatio SI)'$ that he lch 8arod1 'after two years· (IOR lJPJ/618113) Ker (p. 7). aoccpring 1899"' the Wiie of Jo11n'1 orrivat 1n chc cily. conducJcs 1hal he arnvcd in Cakuua in 1901. I M.)~n1e tluit J1111n's ~•ay in Gw:1hor 1n October 1001 came be1wcen his deparlurc from Baroda and h11 arrival in C"ulC'UllO lie ('trlainly W3$ ill Calcuna by the beginning or 1902.

4 Seed-Time in Benga l Ln May 1893, 1hree monlhs after Aurobindo reiurned from London 10 Bombay, a Bengali monas1ic lef1thal pon on his way 10 North America. Vivekananda. as lhe traveller was called. was bound for a 'Parliamem of Religions' to be held 1n eonnec1ion wi1h lhe Columbian Exposi1ion in Chicago. Visitors a1 1he parliament gaped al 1he young Indian in bis orange soil robes and ochre turban. bur 11 "a' hos commanding voice and presence 1hnt made horn the most popular speaker in Chicago. I h\ lectures revolutionized Americans' nouons abou1 India. No. the people did no1 feed their children lO crocodiles; yes. their ancient civilization was superior in many respects to lhe Western. Indeed 1he Vedanta philosophy thm lay at the root of the religion non- Indians called Hinduism was 1he highest expression or spiriiunl 1ru1h ever forn1ul:1tcd. After 1hc pnrliamem Vivekananda wen! on a three-year !Our of America and Europe. The 1urban and robes rcmuined drawing cards, bu11he philosophy at1rac1ed sincere followers. Returning to India in 1897 he was received by jubilant crowd'> of thousands. Many believed he hauch u r~h~1011?', he answered: 'They l111lc dreum 1ha11ha1 is the very .11w1111cn1 wi1h which we prove our religion. bccuu~c ii does 1101 make fo1 1his world ." For all his in1crest in secular mnners, thi> d"ciplc of 1he mysiic Ramakrishna Parnmahansa never ceased 10 regard his mission as spiritual.• Nevenhelcss 1he Swami's lcachings inspired thousands of young men who had no in1en1ion of u1k1ng up lhe spiritual life. What touched lhcm was the man's masculine qualiucs: fearlessness. rcc1i1udc. pride in 1hc grca1ness of India Years la1cr. when policc began raiding the hidcou1s of Bengali revoluuonanes, they found worn copies of Vivekananda'• • 111• puskblc. by taking passagCd' she hoped that India. 'the most c1v1hzed country in the world". might be able to enter the promised land without violence. One day. she prophesied, 'We shall ... peacefully wa11 upon the Viceroy and inform him, smiling. that his o;crviocs are no longer required " Before returning to India in 1902 Nivedita seems to have vi>ncd Kropotkin in England.•• Mcnnwhilc of the prcsenl AccorJ1n110 Olr.aLura·, Jara~ biographtr. be arnc to India 1n Janu.ary 190'2 and lch the coun1ry 1n Oc1obcr of the same year. no1 to return wn1111q12 (I lorioka I t%.Jl 9S. 97; I lofloka I 197SI 32-33) Th< mccung 1hcrdo~ mU>• ha-e 11 ~cn plMlC bct"ccn 1'iarch and Ociobcr 1902. In &he narraH\"C I ha\c placed 1hc meeting early In 1'1arCh, ,.Ill« 11 WOUid appear 10 have laken ~att before p \11lrJ;'S l~UmpliOR o( the kadcf'l'.h•r> oJ Anu.~hd;in, ...,.hich i.oemi. 10 havt happened nc•r 1hc end of 1hc n~nth .

• See At>pt:ndb. I, nocc I.

30

Th~

Bomb in Bengal

Government .· Like the more m1htant club$ established around the same time in Maharasbt:ra. several Calcutta groups including Shas1n·s recogni.ced the importance of eult1vat1ng the ' national physique• Around the tum of lhe ccnlury a number of akharas were set up in 1he cny and in d1s1ne1 1own~ hkc Hooghly and Mymensongh. Physical culture was also an 1mponan1 clemem of lhe Hindu Mela. one of the focal poinis of lntc-ninetccnth-cen1ury Bengal nn1ionnlism." The Mela was inaugurated by Nabagopal Mi1rn with financial assistunce from 1he Tagore family in 1867. Mitra had been inspired by the wriling,' of Rajnarain Bose , already mentioned as the grandfn1her of Aurobindo Ghose. Around 1his 1ime Rajnarain became 1he head of a 'secret society' founded by Jyotirindranath Tagore. elder brother of Rabindranatb. The poet IAler left an amusing descnpuon of the society's act1v111es. These included secret mce1ings (complete with passwords) and 'hun1ing expeditions· 1ha1 usually ended up as p1cn1cs. There is no need to qucsuon his assertion 1ha1 'there was no1hing 1n our ae1ivitics for 1he go,emmcn1 or the people to worry about.'• Indeed none of the Bengali ·secret societies' founded al this ume were revolutionary; rather 1hcy were pioneer expressions of organized cultural nationalism. None of the early societies survived 1ill the end of 1hc century. Bui shorily before 1900 there was a spun of in1erest in physical culture in Calcu1rn. The protagonist of this cflort wns Sar.ila Devi Ghosal. Grn11ddaugh1er of Brabmo pa1riarch Oebendranath Tagore. di1ughtcr of Swaroakumari Tagore, a novelist und edi1or. and Congress leader Janakina1h Ghosal. San1la was exposed from her childhood to the chief cultural and poli11cal movements of nineteenth-century Calcutta. In 1890. at the age of eighteen, she took her B A. with honours in English . In add11ion she was an accompliUied singer a~d teacher or music. Despite or perhaps bccauo;c of these anainmeots. this strikingly bcauuful woman remained unmarried until she was well past thmy. She lra•elled widely 01 a time "'hen even men rarely left their home pro\lnccs. Ounng a vasil 10 Solapur, in Maharashtra. ~he wa.\ much impressed by a physical-culmre demonstration that included ·play• with swords and /111/tir. The lathi or singles1ick was the basis of a 1rudi1ionnl Indian martial-ans system. Since the passage or the Arms Acl it had become the principal weapon of self·defcnce in

Sud· Time in Bengal

31

the country. In Bengal its use was confined mostly to Mushms and lower-class Hindu~. Wishing to popularize la1h1-play and other manly spons among high-class (bhadralok) Bcngalis, Sarala Devi opened an akhara in Calcuua sometime around 1897 She engaged a Muslim circus performer and fencing·milloter named Muna;ai to give instruction in 1he use of the lathi and sword. Before long boys from all over Calcutta were coming to practise on her lawn. As word •prcad other clubs were started in various pans of the city." One or 1hem was the Atmonnati Samiti or 'Self·Dovclopmcnt Society', with which Sarala Devi seems 10 have hnd some connec1ion. u The groups that sprang up al this 1ime hnd various object< and orientations. Some put more emphasis on physical training. 01hcrs on mental and moral development. None was overtly revolutionary bul au provided soil for the revolutionary seed The man "'ho did most or !he sol'ing was a Calcuna I ligh Coun barrister named Prama1hana1b Mitra. P. Mitra (as he invanably wa~ called) wa< born in Naihati, 24 Parganas d1stnct, in 1853. Al the age of fifteen he went to England, and m 1875 was called 10 1he Bar. While abroad be became fascinated by socieucs like the Carbonari and resolved to found a similar group m India. A strong hefty man wi1h a bulldog expression, he was an expert 1111he use of the lulhi nod club." Present at Okakura·~ talk nl the Indian A'socia1ion Hall, he was selected by those present 10 be commander-in-chief of the group 1ha1 was 10 be formed." A co1111111111tlcr-in-chief needs troops. however. and these were in shon supply in 1902. Mitra seems to have go1 iogc1her with Sarai a Devi around 1his time. " but Unle came of their efforts until Mitra came 111 1ouch with the leader or one of the new ~ie1ies. The name eventually adopted by this group. the Anuunb ~uch "' ttK>M: or J, I t11fdrir and N. Ray 10 a~urnc a date of 1899 or txrorc. A dale 1h1-. c.arly al~> w,luld not dovetuil with the tr1•1.h1tt1n1,1 dale of1hc fouodingof1hc 5an1\1I, 24 M11rch 1902 (see next fooulo1c). lfS:11i~h did ntct'I Nivctlila IJ.eforc opening hi ~tllclu1n1 ond II the tr:1J1tional date of 1bc fount.Jin& or Anu.shtton lS th:tt nt Ille :IOhtlg..im::H1C)n uf S.111sh'\ and Jatin 8ancrJi"$ grou~ Cli WUCSlt'd by N Ray. P- 23), It tolto~~ that $111~h's group trras aaivc fur hulc fn(\(C 1han a mocnh befocc bc1n1 amol1ama1cd 0

~1th Jahn·~

Sud- Tim~ in Bmgol

33

•various ostensible objects, cultural, intellectual or moral'. In addition the various groups 'already existing were to be won over for revolutionary use'. The young recruits 'were to be trained in activities which might be helpful for ultimate military action. such as riding, physical training, athletics of various kinds. drill and organised movement'. While this work was being done 'among the youth of the country', 'the older men who had advanced views or could be won over to them· were to be approached for 'sympathy and suppon and financial and other assistance'." Jaun had wasted no time getting started. Acquiring a house at 108 Upper Circular Road, he set up an akharn on the opposite lot and began a recruitment drive. His approach to the older leaders was focolitated by Aurobindo, who had given him a letter of introduction to Snrala Ghosal." II was 11pparently through her that Jatin came in conwct with P . Mitra. The barrister saw that the stalw;1r1 young man, with his imposing figure and military bearing. would make an invaluable addition to the samiti. He called Satish and told him thnt he wanted the club at Madan Mitra Lane to be amalgamated with Jatin's. Satisb had no ob1ccuons aod on the auspocoous day of Doi Purnima (24 March 1902)• the expanded Anushilan Samit1 was officiaUy opened.• From this moment the centre of the sarniti's activitoes shifted from Madan MJHer Lane to Upper Circular Road. The former place was kept as a oncctong-place for recruits. who were not immediately let on on the society's purpose. " Soon the Anu;hilan Samhi found itself at the centre of Calcutta's nascent cult of revolution. Under its ioOuencc 'already existing small grou~ and associations of young men who had not yet the clear idea or any seulcd programme or revolutoon began to tum in this direcuon' while groups that ' had alread) the revolutionary aom' began dc•cloping their acth111e. ·on organized lines'. " But c•cn at Upper Circular Road thon~ remained low key for a number of months. Among the group's actovities were lectures by P. Motra, Nivcdita, and others. Mitra spoke mostly on political and military history- the Sikh Khnlsa. the French Revolution and the lives or Mazzini and Garibaldi. Nivcdiw sought to rouse the young men's • I acttpt 1hc d::ue of the lo\1nd1n& o( Anu-.hilan gi,·cn .n two oftkial hh1onc:s (N RA)' 23; J 1 laldar 4)_"fllctc k no con1tmpor.tr) t'vKfcncc 1n ~upport of th1-. d;,nc. but 11 has 10 recommend it ~Jn 11\ trachtional .iuthority the- f1e1 th~u 11 ICCON\ ... ,11 ..1tb SatJSh Bose's · B1bnt1' And other rdi;\)bk ICCOUllb.

34

The Bomb in

B~ngal

patriotic reelings arid their sense or duty to the country." She presented the samiti ,.ith her collection of books on re"olutioaary history. One of the m5t popular volumes was the autobiography or Mazzoni. The chapter OD guerilla warfare W3.\ often copied out and circulated. P. Mitra cxerc1.ed overall control over the s.1miti and served as the mediator between the members and the older men on whom they depended for financial support. Jatin, the oldest and most Impressive looking or the members, was the chief fund raiser. Often he enhanced his soldierly appearance by making his rounds on horseback.~ Out most of his time was devoted to the less glamorous activity of breaking io recruits. He taught horse-riding 10 the hardier boys. bicycling 10 the less daring. There was also instruction in lathi, drill. boxing and other martial activities. All this training was presented in the guise or legitimate physical culture. So crrccttve was the artifice that when the samiti wanted to give swimming lessons it asked for and received the help of the pohce " Almost from the start there was fnction between Jatin and the rank and file. Both physically and ~ychologically the drillmaster was cast in a differen; mould from the recruits. Tough and sturdy, with two years of army experience, he was nn almost fanatical believer in the value of discipline. But the 'respectable' class that provided him with his material bad no military traditions and little inclination to follow orders. Not surprisingly most of the young men came to regard ' Military Jatin' as a martinet. An important element of Aurobindo and Jatin 's long-term plan wa, to e>tablish centres 'in every town and eventually in every village' in Bengal." Soon arter he bad established himself in CalcullJ. Jatin departed on a recruitment drive in the western distnctS. Two or his firsi destinations were M1dnapore and Arbelia (24 Parganas). Aurobindo's grandfather Rajnarain had spent most of his working life in Midnapore. instilling the spirit of nationalism into many or its inhabitants. Rajnarain's eldest i.on Jogindranat.'o had started a 'secret society' in Midnapore around 1900. • Jogin 's recruits included bis cousins Satyendra Nath and Jnanendra Nath Bose and Jlem Chandra Das. The young men began their revolu· tionary careers with target practice, trekking in the sun and rides • Sc.c Appcndht I. no1c 2.

Seed- Time in Bengal

35

on a broken-down pony. They were much e ncouraged when Jatin paid them a visit. He said he was connected with an enormous revolutionary network that had branches in every part of lndia except Bengal. He had been sent from Baroda by Aurobindo G hose. who soon would come 10 initiate the first Bengalis. "' Jalin repeated this story when he went lo Arbclia. It was time for Bengal to embrace the gospel of revolution. Jatin had come to prepare the way; Aurobindo would follow. •1

5 A Year in Gujarat On 28 April 1902 Aurobindo took leave from his work in Baroda and went to Bengnl. While in Calcutta he doubtless learned of recent event< there nnd may have met members of the Anushilan Samiti. • But by 30 May he was back in Baroda. ' One might ask why he continued to work a thousand miles from Bengal when the revolutionary seed he had laboured to plant was finally taking root His decision ma) have been due partly to pracltcal considerations: he had .1 good pos111on on Barod;i. none on Cilcuttu. A recently marned man could not look without m1s111vong~ on the prospect of hunting fur a job.' But be may also have felt he was serving the cause better m Gujarat than he could have done in Bengal. It was a time of expanding revolutionary opportunities in Baroda. one of which was provided by his growing intimacy with the ru ler of the state. Since 1895 Aurobindo had been working on and off as the Gaekwar's unoflic1al English secretary. In April 1901 the G;1ckwar transferred him from the college to the state scr'ICC m order to use bis liternry talents on a more rcgular basis Summoned to the palace by liveried messenger. Aurobindo ~pent the day writing le11ers a_nd drafting memoranda . Most of these documents had to do with routine administrative or bou"1tn1\CcJ \01ce in the councils of !he Empire . Thos privilege is the muural corollary of any general militar) fcderarion. and would alone 1u~11fy rhe creation of new burdens.' " This proposal was ignored by Curzon, bur it foreshadowed the creauon of the Chamber or Princes seventeen years later. One morning late in 1902, apparently a short time after Nivedita lcfr Barodu. • n rravel-weary youth knocked nt the door of Khu>crnn Jadhav'\ hou'>i: The servant who answered was not sure whether 1hc caller should be admiucll. Dressed in dorry clothes und curr~111g n torn canvas bag, he insisted he was rhe brother of Gh. 'had a Council of Five on Bombay wi1h several prominenl Maharaua politicians a> its members'." Aurobindo never mcn1ioncd the names of 1hesc counc1l members. bul it is prob;iblc 1hat Tilak and his lieu1enant G. S. Khapardc were among Ihem . • The council's purpose was to help Thakur Saheb 'orgamze Mahurashtra and the Mah ratta Stutes' such as Gwalior and Bnrodn. '\

Aurobindo came in contact with Thakur R111nsingh's secre1 society somc1imc in l902. Soon afterwards he 1ook its oath and was inmxluced 10 1he Council on Bombay.t lie was made pres1den1 of 1he society's Gujarat circle-an undemanding post, since the region was then 'vel) moderate' Aurobmdo did occa~1onall) mcc1 men. mos1ly Maharash1nans, v.ho were interested 1n the cause. He did not conceal his acuvmes from Dann and the )oung romantic soon convinced himself 1hat Thakur Saheb's secre1 society had hundreds of centres. and 1ha1 'thousands of rcvolu11onarics' 'were sharpening lhcir sword~' on an1icipatioo of the revolution that in two or three years would dnvc 1hc British • Au1obindo nowhere said who the 'Mahar.llta pohtiaan!I' w~re but Crom a 1c:rc1cncc 111 a ~uuc111~n1 by IJarind r~ Kumar G IK.J1>C t)11c

may n~umc 1h.1t G . K. Kh11parJc wa1 one ol them (1-fFMP JV & V 4112). 1'ilak may well have been

.i.nolhcr Aurobi1,do is recorded as saying once 1hat the t.cc:ret &Orin uys that be ,... pmcol """" AurQb1ndo ,... 1n1ll1tcd. adJu'I& 1ba1 Aurobindo had been m contad ..,,h the SOOCt) for some~ bcf()f'C th.al (A(1'1Jfl' 38) If Bann am"~ 1n 8arod:a 1n 190:' and Wllf. prcse:n1 at lhc 1n1t1auon. the earl.eil possible time for 11 woukt be the mlddlc of thlt )'Car. U {as Bann !l.lfS) the n1eeun1 ""'ilh Madga"k.ar 11 the Ta1 \1.thaJ ttotel in Dcccn1bcr 1902 followed Aurobindo'i inu.i11K>n, I.be lates1 date for lhc 1n11iahon would be Occcmf>(r 1902- Aurob1ndo ~-)'$1b.at the person whcun he met 11nd who 'n1rodoocd him to the Council was a ~rtain Mr Mandallel (Sn Aurob1ndo, talk 1c 4. f Sec Al)l)(ndl:it l, note ~

Apai'1y w1d /'Je.spnir

51

leUcr!> 1hnn a man or ac1ion. An oumanding sludcni al Calculla Unl\CNt) he had gone 10 England m 1890 10 lake !he ICS c•;immation. Tl!.o }Car la1er he met Aurobontlo, 1hen in the process of ge1ting reJCCtcd from 1he ~ervice. Un~uccessful in hi~ cffor1 10 emer 1hc ICS. Das joined 1hc Inner Temple and in 1893 was called 10 the Bar. He relurnecl home to fond the legal prorc ...~ion overcrowded and bis fomily·s finance$ on ruins. Unable to gel cases. he Mruggled for sc,·eral }ea~ to recoup hi~ ronunes. Bui by 1902 be ""as doong well enough 10 make generous dona1inn~ to the cause. A ntorc impor1un1 financial '"Jl)X\rter wa' Surendranath Tagore. 'Crfcctcd during his years in prison . makes the centre seem more ridtculc111\ chan it was. A good number of branches had been opened and -.1me significant additions made to the staff. One was Sakharam ( iuncsh Deuskar, the journali't from Deoghr who wa• intro· 1l11rcd to the group by his former student Bario.•• Dcu,kar became tl1< 'amiti's expert on economic history. In 1904 he set down his 1•1• ,,, _ cs>entially the ' drain theory' of Naoroj1 . Dun and I >igh) in a book called Dcshu Katha. This became cnurmou~ly

Tht Bomb in Btngol

54

popular and had the distinction of being the first book to be banned under the Press Act or 1910." Another 1mponan1 recruit or the 1903 penod was Bhupendntt1ath Dull. younger brother of Swami Vivekananda. Dun spent much of h1; ume touring t.h c distnCtS doing essenllal but unglamorou~ gr•l'-'roots work. n It was however 1rue that there were too many general~ and too few soldiers at Grey Street, where the Calcuua ccnlrc had shifted. Resides Aurobindo aod P. Mi1ra. 1here were llcld marshals Ja1in and Oarin , and a newly recruited brigadier named Debavrata Bose. No wonder communications at headquaners were often confused. No wonder. too. tha1 che officers fou nd it hard to get along with one another. The conflic1 1ha1 developed be1ween Jatin and Bnrin has become famous 1n 1he annals of the revolution . Much has been wrincn on the subject without the central issues being resolved or even idenufied The two major first-hand aooounts are confusing and contradictory; later observers are left to judge in acx:ordanoe with 1hcir predilections.• Historians agree in labelhng 1t a ·sordid' mailer." but 11 is possible to look on ti instead a; \lightly ludicrous. Yc1 1l cannot be denied 1ha1 the clai.h resul1ed in the division of the pany and the loss of much time and work. • l"hc muin

~urcc1

for the J4'1tin-B::trin feud arc I lcm Chandra Das. Kanungo's:

/Ja11glay #111/lih Prnchl'\'Jrta (p. 36 H) and Bann Gt.ot:c·s Ag11i111g (p 78 ff, 99 Cf). llhupcndn111ath Dull (Dw;llJ'U Swodhinatar S.Ungro'ti 128-9) suppor1~ I lcm while Abinia\h Oluu1aehnryfl (' Aurobindo' 832. 'liaiplabik Sam11i 192-3) M1ppon.1 Sarin. J.1dutlopal ~1ukhop3dhyay give~ an 1nrom1cd sccomJ-h:1nd Qcxou1U 1h1u is closet 10 Bunn'& .,.Cr\tOn thon Hem's (Biplab1 Jrbuncr S"inlt 16H). Bann·~ acooun1 was wnttcn 1n the 19-&0s to otinswcrcbarges h!vclcd by llcm l\\CIHY )CIH'\ carhearch of a permanent home Duroug th!' pcnod the work of the wi:1c1y was prne1ically al a \land"1ll When the confrontation between Sarin and Ja1in fin;L came 10 a head. S ,1uthor 'did more ch.ln an~Irr up poli1ical cnlhusiasm wns to give politics a religious bias' A number of Indian wniers, staning from a qu11c dirrerem set or assumpiions. reached much the same conclu;ion Aurobindn's old associate llcm Chandra Das blamed the ull11na1e fotlure of the movcmcm on Aurobindo's misguided attempts Lu infu,c it wilh Hindu ideas. Hem claimed that during ils firs! 1wo years the secret society had 110 conneclion with religion except for 1hc ceremony of taking oa1hs on 1hc G ita . Aurobindo himsclr showed no interest in religion u1 this time. h was only around 1904 tha1 he accepted 1hc idea. lir.i suggc~tcd by Dcbavrata Bose. thal the liberation of India could only be achieved tbrough supernatural or religious mean>. l'rom 1his point on he delibera1ely mixed religion with pollliCl> , with disastrous results. " This in1erprcta1ron has also developed O\Cr the decades and became con•cnllonal wisdom to a number or Indian imeUectuals. Onetime Cominiern leader M. N. Roy. "'ho stancd out as an Aoushilan re\olutionary. wrote 1ha1 Aurob1ndo, one of the creators of ·Rchg1ous Nauonalism' . 'adapted the teachings or Vivekananda to poht1cal purpose>'. A modern proponeni of this view rebukes Aurob1ndo for ·appealing to religious passions' while a major historian endorses Hem's asseriion that Aurobindo and his followers 1urned one means 10 achieve independence into an end in itselr. " It cannot be denied 1ha1 from the time or 8/rawani Mo11dir Aurobindo used religious terminology and imagery in his poli1ical writing~. His reasons for doing so arc less ccriarn. Wa~ he a secular polrtician opponunisttcally using religion to achie•e poliucal ends? Or wa~ he a man of religious conviction. sincere in his expressed belrcf that na1ionalism was ·not a mere pouucal programme' but ·a rclrg,ion 1ha1 ha• come from God'?• Much or the trouble that rum-of-the-century Oruons had "i1h Auroh1ndo's \pintuality s1emmed from 1hcrr knowled~e that he had had 1he benefit of the same education as they I low could a man who had won pri1es a1 St Paurs School and King's College, C'ambrrdge, give any credit to the cult of Shak1i. tO which ·are a!»Qeiatcd ... some of !he mos1 libidmou~ and cruel of liindu surcr.titions'? " In face when Aurobindo was in England he rejcc1ed all forms of religious belief, c>pousing 1he agnoslic1sm

The

T~mpl~ of the

Mother

71

lh cffon to recover hos cultural heritage. Much or his reading at thi' 11me was of text; belonging to the Indian spiritual tr a 'iluauon in which ·culture '' vornlly bound up with one's common idcn1i1y that there 1;, no need 10 argue for its relation lo poloucal siruggJe·." If Aurobindo's interest in religion did not go beyond an intellectual recognition of its ccn1rnl importance 10 Indian life, il 1111gh1 be argued that hb u~c of religious terminology was opporrunis1ic. Bui Aurobindo did not just accept 1he philosophical undcrpinnin~ of Hindui:.m; he prac1ised variou> method\ or 'piri1ual discipline. ancJ according 10 his own testimony he anJoncd

'°

72

The Bomb in Bengal

some signitican1 resullS. During his stay in Baroda he had a number of sponraneous 'spiritual experiences'. ' " Bur. striking a.~ these "'ere. 1he)' did not induce him to take up a life of spiritual practice Indeed he later wrore that 'he did not associate rhem at that time' with the yoga discipline he later adopted • lie was. he explained in the 194tcntly m Aurohindo's \H1l1n~' 1hrou~hout hi' later potitieal career and even afterward~. lltc ph1lflh1cal conceptions lhat underlie 81100.-tmt Ma111lir arpcar al"1. matured hut ba.~kall} unchanged. rn some of the main "orks of Sri Aurohindo the philosopher and )ogm. for c~ample noe Sp1tl1e10 of Yog/l ( 1914-1921) and Tire Motlra ( 192ll). Thc"1des he lacked occupation io Baroda. Sometime in the laner part of 1905 he weni off in search of a holy place ·among the hills'. •far from the contamination of modern c111.,._ and a~ )'Cl hnlc trodden hy man, in a high and pure air steeped 1n calm and energy'. where the temple was 10 be establi,hed. Deciding that the bc>l place would be the Amarkantak Holl where the sacred river Narmada takes its source, he went off to the highlands of central

74

The Bomb in

B~ngal

lnd1a. Aller a period of "andering he \\ as obliged 10 return to the contamonallon of modem ciries when be concracted a serious fc•cr." By October he "as back in Baroda, but as usual was unable to sil stoll 'His energy ne,·er Hags', "'role a seemingly exasperated Aurobindo 10 his "'re. 'A; ~n as he gets a litrle bcllcr. he goes out in the service of his country.'" II was probably at this lime that Aurobmdo. Sarin and Deshpande paid a visit to Cbaru Chandra Dull. an ICS officer serving in TI1ana, near Bombay. Acoording to Dull the reason for their coming was 10 enlist his help in establishing the Bhawani Mandir order. Darin was still anxious to build the temple ; but Aurobindo assured the unreligious civilian that the order's real purpose was revolutionary. 'Look upon the ochre garb !of the sannyasinsJ M a uniform,' be said. Dutt was attracted by the idea and promised 10 help, but nothing much happened for n year or more."' The Ohawan1 Mandir idea was kept abve in Gujarat by K. G. Deshpande, Aurobindo's Baroda Criend. Deshpande had been present at the seance where the idea originated. and later decided 10 g"c 11 his own form. In May 1907' he and wme others established a school near Chandod.. a templc·town twcniy·five miles from Baroda. Keshavananda Swami, the mahant of the Ganganath temple, was put in charge or the school, which became known ns the Ganganatb Bharatiya Vidyalaya. Moneyed men of the region con1rib111ed 10 its upkeep. The Gaekwar himself was sa id 10 be a patron . ., The Ganganath Vidyalaya was one of the first schools in India to offer what became known as 'national education'. This meant among other thongs instruction in the vernacular, hls1ory taught from the Indian viewpoint, and instruction in 'self-defence'. As previously in Maharashtra and Bengal. traditional games were made the basis of a quasi-military training. Some time later, when Dutt was asked 10 'inspect' the school, he 111itncsscd a rough game of 'king of the castle' that left two of the boys injured. ' But the great point was that neither of the two whined,· the inspector •Two poha: sources (GOM CID repon 7 (1909). 80-l. GOI l!PO Occobncr's Office 4 July 1908, 'McrtlO CH'I 01.1ng.1na1h ln51i1u1ion').

Tlit Ttmplt of lht Mothtr

75

rcpor1cd. " No1 long aflerwards lhe school allrac1cd 1he unfriendly ancnllon of 1hc police and i1 was forced 10 move 10 Baroda There 11 surv,.cd uni ii 1911, when i1 was suppressed under pressure from the govcrnmcn1. "

8 Revolutionary Beginnings Bann never mnna!(ed to set up hi< Temple to Uhuwani or to C.'>tahll\h hi\ order of revolutionar) sannyasin>. Out he could nor get the 1dea OUt Of his head and at intervah over the llCAt t\\O >Ca~ he tried to find the right spot for the temple and the right guru for the order During the last pan or 1905 ho\\evcr he '>pent mO\t or h" time in Baroda and Dcoghar recuperating from h1~ fc"~' B' being alhcnt from Calcutta at thi.' time he mMcd out on ..ornc extr.,ordin.iry event' When he returned to Bengal he found the once ;tpathe11c province in the grip of an unprccctlcntcd cnthu-

'

t\iasnL During the first six months of 1905 the government c•I'"~' or takmg par1 in demon'1ral11>n< Boys cnJan~crc1l thcir pn"pcc1' by Jef~mg them Many were expelled and ..omc "lmols -.ere disaffiliated. In response to th" the Anh· Circular Society"';" founded and leading men of the province met 10 ron,1dcr the establishment of an alternative srtem llf educauon. At one Novemhcr meeting Subodh Chandrn Mulhck. heir 10 a Calcutta towards the cs1ablishmen1 of a national college For his munihccncc he was hniled as ·Raja· ' Ma>S p;irucipation in the movement reached a peak on 16 October 1905. when the partition went in10 effect. People all uvcr Bengal observed the day as one of mourniog. No fires were lit. Men :ind women wa lked barefoot to the Gange; for ccrcnwnial bathing The custom of tying rakhi threads around 1hc wrhis of male rclauvcs w:1s 1ransformed 1010 a ritual of national brotherhood. The swndeshi-l>oycott movement haJ b) th" 1i111c 'prcad 10 C\Cry di~trict of the province and to c111e> a' IM "way,,. I ahorc. At a mcc11n11 1n Baroda on 2.t September. Aurobmdo mo,cJ a resolutllitics as a 'silent listener' at a meeting preceding the Bcnarcs session of 1he Indian Nation;tl Congress. '. At lhe sesoion even 1he presence of arch-Moderate G . K. Gokhalc in rhe Chair could 1101 prcven1 1hc pas~agc or u resolution giving conditional su1>porf 10 boycou. Af1er the Congrc:.s Aurobindo rel urned to Baroda and applied for leave. Red-iape kepi liim -in Guiara1 for anorher two months; bu1 on 2 March he boarded the trJin for Calcu11a. By the 71h he was bu~y with mcerings of lhe Executl\c Commi11ee of tbe National Council of Education . U1s younger brother arrived in Bengal around the sumc time. Bann brough1 w11h him a copy of 8hat1.·a11i Ma11dir and had ii printed a~c. II w;" 111nc lO 'cul 1hc golucn di.ion· Th" was che road 10 'al•al1un (muktir put/i); all othc" led onl) 10 lhralllom. In '>Ub>equen1 t'\Sues Jugantar s1rcs.t-d. more boldly and aruculatcly than any Indian paper before 11. lhe fundamen1al need of independence (swadllinata). To those who said 1ha1 hberty \\OUld come m lhC wake of all-round progre.,., J111:a111ar replied 1ha1 11 was 'lunacy to look for all-round progrc--. on our prcscn1 stale or servitude'. Once independence ""' achie•ed . progress would follow. To 1hose who harped o n social reform. ~ayonf!, 1ha1 1hc mullicud innus problems of Indian sociely hud 10 be solved before freedom was possible. Jugnrrtar declared 1ha1 110 wcial progrcos wns IXl"-\iblc wi1hou1 libcriy. Differences or cascc and creed would not in lhemsclves prcvenl lhc attainmcnl of independence. If men of cliffcrenl easies and creeds fough1 mgc1hcr for liberty. 1his would produce the needed unity. The removal of povcrly could only follow lhe acquisition of poli1 ical independence. Without independence even lhc 1radi11onal palh' of sponlual advancc111cnc could not be follo.. ed ' In this age 1he field for the prauice of religion is not 1hc fore>l or chamber. bul 1hc blood.iaincd field of banle." One of J11.~11111ar's aims was 10 ·preach open rcvoh' It did 1his with ;uch fr;inkness thal in relrospect it 1s hard to hclie\c 1ha1 1he Bnli>h allowed 11 to go on for as long a> 1hey did Al fiN 1he appcu l W3' couched in rhe1orical 1er111s similar 10 1hosc used in lm com· piled a quancr-lrccls 10 hawk copies. ~ This was not the son of work Sarin had rn mind when he came to Bengal and in May he got a chance to do something more subs1an1ial. • Nirode Mullick. Subodh's cousin. offered him r• thousand rupees l CAcfR I (December 1977) lilies were, first. 1ha1 successful a11emp1s would ca1ch 1he anenuon of 1hc public and faohtalc lhc spread of 1he re"oluhonary 11lea; and second, lha1 1he perform· ancc of danng deeds would help 1hc young men of Bengal lhrow off 1heir perennial fainl·hcuncdness and develop manly qunli11es. There were also financial consider:olions. Robberies would fill 1he society's coffers direc1ly . assassinu1ions indirectly; for there were plcnly or nationalist sympalhizcrs ready 10 pay for lhe dea1h of someone like Bampfylde fuller." I lem says tbal lhe idea of raising funds by means of daco11ies was 1aken rigb1 from 1he pages of A114nda Math. It was also supposed 10 be practiced by Russian revolu1ionaries, !hough no one knew quire exactly bov. ." In fact 'cxpropri~tion' (as the Russians euphemis1ically termed 11) has been prac1iccd by mos1 revolu1ionary 1errorisrs. By undcnakmg polillcal assassinarions and robberies lhe revolutionaries of Bengal were simply adop1ing the universal 1ac1ics of 1errorism." By his own (retrospcclivc) :1ccount. Aurobindo was opposed 10 1erroris1 mc1hods, preferring ra1her a steady preparalion for a general uprising. 'My idea', he said in 1938, 'was for an open armed revolution in the whole of India .' Assassina1ion and dacoi1ies 'were nor a1 all my idea or in1cn1ion'. Nevertheless he did 1101hing 10 s1op the society's tum 10 terrorism. Asked "'hy years la1er he replied: 'It is no1 wise 10 check things' hke this. panicularly when lhey have taken a ·s1rong shape'. 'for somclhing good may come out of them'." The exac1 na1ure of Aurobindo's connection wilh Bario and his tcrrorisls remains a controversial question. • II is complica1ed by the foci 1ha1 later in life Aurobindo became a revered spiri1ual leader whose disciples find ii difflcull 10 picture llim as an advocate • I hl\'C d1scuued 1bi! question II arcater ltnglh in "Auroblndo RcYOlu11oaary' (So..t.lt At"' 15 (19921>

Ghole

u

8S

The Bomb in Be11gal

of robbel") and murder. Some statement~ or Aurobindo's lend . 'The "hole mo•ement "as on I Bartn'sl hand~.' he said in 19311. 'I had no time for it.·... If I had been the head. I \\Ould ha'e been much more cau11ou;:- But Bann htm-.clf declared lha1 while Aurobando 'had never taken pan in an) O\Crl '"' of rcvolu11onary or terrorist nature'. he yet was 'the very soul or lite Irevolutionary) movement'. Barin also claimed that Aurobondo wn' he hind ccnain spccillc uc1ions including the a1temp1 t0 kill l'ullcr." There can be no doubt in any case that Aurohindo was cogni£an1 of Bari n's uctivities. Among those who affirmed this was C. C . Oun who, writing in lhe context or the 11llemp1 on Fuller. $;lid 1h.1t Aurobindo 'knew everything' about the revolutionary "ork. c11her before the attempt was made or Jhcr. • Whether Aurobondo nc1ually initiated or helped plan any s~..:ific action is more difficult lo determine. Hem Das and Narendra Nath G°'"ami both claimed that Aurobmdo 1n1toa1ed the Ran~ur attcmpl But Aurohtndo said th:ll Bann and ho~ a. One is reminded of 1hc member of the l31nek I lund who said of hi' youchful cfforl' to free th~ south Slav;. from Au~trian domi· nae ion: ' In cho\C days all of u~ were mad.' • Wordity of revolution'; musical performances similar to the charano songs beloved of the Chapekars; hrgh literature such as Banl;im's novels; popular entenainments like 101ra panics; and secret mecungs and associations. The writer reminded his readers of the nocturnal gatherrngs at which the santans of Ananda Moth collected arms to use in their righteous battle. This thought was taken up in the next instalment, which spoke of the three main methods for obtaining weapons: secret manufacture , importation from abroad, and raids on annouries. The third instalment discussed the collection of funds. In the beginning volunteer donations would be enough to defray the society's expenses. But at a later stage increaJing expenses would make it necessary to rcson to theh and dacouy. Since the government was ll!>elf nothing but a thief, it was perfectly legitimate to loot government propcny. ~ lo another anicle pubh;hed the same day. the paper took up the question 'of how. being weak, we can enter on a trial of strength with the powerful. English'. ' Be not afraid,' the writer began. The number or Englishmen 1n the cn1irc country is not more than a ln~h nml a hair. And wh•t is 1he number or English officials in each d1s1nct? With• firm resolve you can bnng l:ngh>h rule to an end on a single day The tome has come to make lhc fnghshmen undcrsland tha1 enJOymen1 or the s"'ects of donun1on 1n tile country or another, after wrongfully taking possession or it. will 001 be pcrm111ed to contonue ror ever. Lei him now fully reahze that the lilt of a·1h1cf who c"ginning of 1907 Barin had been spending part of his time on a piece of land in the Cakulla suburb of Maniktola that belonged to him and bis brothers. On this l"o-acre plot stood an abandoned ·garden house· of the kind that the "cll·to-do of the city u..ed 10 retire 10 for brief holidays. The suburb. one~ verdant. h;id 11,.,1 much of its charm "hen factories began to appear. No one in the famil) Vl\l!Cd the place any more and II had gradually gone to rmn Bui 1n remembrance of bener du~ they >1111 referred 10 it as the l>ap,011 or 'Garden'. To !(Cl 10 1he Garden from North Calcutta you had 10 cross the Circulru C'11nal, nlnke a sharp turn 10 the cast and almost immediately another 1urn onto Muraripuku r Roud. Af1cr following this winding lune for about half a mi le you had 10 look out for a narrow unm arked drive. Taking this to its e nd you reached a pair of musonry pillars marking the cnirJnce to the Ghose's property: 32 Mumripukur Road. Unenclosed by walls it wa~ bounded on three side\ l>y tllhcr 'gardens' and on the fourth by an open licld. A path ran through ii 1ha1 people of the neighbourhood sometimes u.cd . Bui 1he ~pm was still quite secluded. There were a number or fruil-lrees in the gJOunds-mango. jackfrull. coconut and be1clnu1-and 1hese togc1her with 1be barn~ and underbrush made 11 hard for passc~·by to see 1hc hou,c. S11ua1ed in 1he cenlre of lhC plol, lhe dilapida1ed onC-51oried bu1ldmj: cons1slcd Of a single large room wilh 1wo veranda< und an .111.1chcd shed. Another limy water. ' II was jus1the >0r1 or place 1ha1 a bunch llf young men could feel at home in. Hubitu~s of 1hc /11gm1111ror11cc began visi1ing the Garden from the early pnrt of the

Th• Garde11

>"•". llut 11 wa\ not

105

until after the pany split up in August that Dann rcall) decided 10 put the property to use. Bann had not forgouen his dream of csiabhshing an A11a11da ,\f(Jl/1-\lyle temple as the headquaners of a band of sannya,in· revoluuonaries. The idea also appealed to Upen. himsclr a lapsed sannya\in. When the two left J11go111ar they resolved 10 make the Garden their centre of operations. To be sure 1tn industrial suburb was le" dcmable a location for an ashrum than the source of the holy Nunnada. On the other hand it was more accc;.>itilc. Among the first to join them here were Prafulla Chaki. u ve1eran of the a1tcmp1 to kill Fuller. and Bibhuti Bhusan Surknr. u >ludcm of the Nauonul College who was cager 10 mke pan in •omc1hing similar. Abnmsh Dhauacharyu was obliged lO spend mhl /\uthuntb, looted Hindu Swadc,hi \hops, broke image 11f u._.11111 l>ur~.1 " Th~re ;,, no actual evidence of such encour,1gemc11t or '°'11i:a11on , though 11 is probable that the British draued their heel~ when called on 10 protect '>ed111ous' I lindus. • The government viewed 1he riois as by·products of a widespread movement or pro1cst that was entering its third year. They did not yet consider the Bengalis as serious adversaries. and so were not unduly concerned about the situation. They had reacted quite differently when disturbances rocked Puniab. a; Sikhs from that province formed the core of Lhe Indian army. Changes in Punjab'< agnculturul policies had caused widespread d"affecuon . Speakers like Ajit Singh (Jatin Bancrji 's disciple) a nd Congress leader Lala Lu1pa1 Rai took advantage of the situation to spread nauonalist idcu, . On 21 April, urtcr a particularly inOamrnutory speech by Ajit . riot~ broke how of force•. They found 10 their surprise Lhat people bad 'grown bold enough to defy power and ridicule a show or ir. " On 27 August. during the 1rial of Bipin Pal by magistrate Kingsford. n crowd gathered outside the building where lbe trial was being heh!. One or them was Sushil Kumur Sen, a fourteen-year-old student of the Bengal National School, who happened to be passing by. As he mingled wilh lhc crowd the police began driving it away. A European subin•pector gave Sushil a blow, who immediately returned it. Overpowered by several policemen. he was pl;oced under arrest and the next day produced before Kingsford. The magistrate , not wishing 10 .end the boy to jail. ' let him off wilh 15 stripes'. This was a harsh bul comtilOn punishment for JUVenile OffCnde~ - strokes of a rattan cane delivered lo the bare bullocks. In Augus t 1907. however. the ' monstrous sentence' was ready-made for nationali>t propagandists. The magistrate's 'bn11al11y', hypcrboh:icd Bande Mataram. had ·unnerved the "hole city of Calcuua.' The day after bis ordeal Sushil was brought in procession to College Square, where thousands were gathered 'to do honour ICl 1hc brave boy• . He was garlanded , ' given a unique ovation' . and proclaimed a manyr by nationalist om1ors. A short

The Garden

109

while later he d1'1.1ppeared from vie"' and after a few months turned up al 1hc Garden ." Re,oluuonary recrui1men1 was now on full swing on Calcuna. It was at thos moment tha1 Jugantar announced that 11 was ume ·to ~how by our actions' that ·1he English are not ~uperior 10 us in slrength'. Enough would-be revolutionaries go1 1he message 1ha1 Sarin began thinking abou1 expanding 1he operations of his suburbun i\11a11do Matlo. Bui firs! he had 10 find hi• Satyananda: a guru who could ins1ruct his revolutionary sannyasins in 1he subtleties tlf Vedanta philosophy while lhcy learned 1hc use of fircaron,. I le und Upen were convinced 1ha1 wi1hout n solid ground in~ in spon1unli1y 1heir efforts al revolution would come 10 nothong." llurm had received promising report~ from the Ganganalh VoLlyalilya. K G. Deshpancle's national school near Baroda. Pcrlrn~. he 1hought, the maha111 on charge of the school would be the guru they were looking for. Caught up on one of his enthus1,1~ms he made a trip across the country. accompanied by a rather reluctant Upen. In Gujarat they found the Shawani Mandir idea stoll 'on the air' but nothing being done about it . '11lc mahant. Swamo Keshavananda, was in Sarin's opinion 'a dry as dust pedant .. . knowing no higher yoga at all'. Upen , equally disappointed, returned to Bengal. Sarin stayed in Gujarat and won met a onorc i111cres1ing prospect. Sakharia Baba, besides being renowned u~ a holy omon. was said to bave fought on 1hc rebel side in 1857. I le !lave Onrin a mantra of initial ion, which 1hc young man promptly forgot. /I rcw days later Barin came across yet another yogi. a man of undoubted spiritual realization nomed Vbhnu Bhaskar t.elc. After ;,iuing with Lele in meditation Darin had his fir.I 'f"ychic experience'. Soon afterwards he returned to Calcuna. I le had nol succeeded in bagging a guru; but he was confident that he and Upen would now be able to gi'c their group the needed spiritual orientation . 1•

11 ".is now Oc1ober 1907. A new. nameless samoti began takmg shape at the Garden. Charter members Prafulla and Bibhuti Bhusan were soon joined by a self-taught chemist named Ullaskar Dull. of whom more in the next chapter. In the monihs that follo"cd ano1her dozen came to stay: Prafulla Chakmbarti, Nolini Kanta Gupta, Parcsh Mallick, Sisir Kumar Gh~. lndu Ohusan Roy. BiJOY Kumar Nag. Sachin Sen. Narcndrn Nmh B11kshi, Puma Chandra Sen, Birendranntb Ghosc, Nirapada Roy and

110

The Bomb in Be11g11/

Sushil Kumar Sen. A number or others Sudhor Sllrkar. Bhababhusan Mura and Sushil's brothers Boren and I fem- used to come and go. Nohni Kanta Gupta "as in many respect;, a t}pical recruit. A bright ;tudcnt from politically ach•c Ran~pur, he had taken part in the s"'ade•hi and national educauon mo•cmcnt• from the age or •ixtccn . While a studcm or literature and plnltN>phy tll Presidency College he wa> introduced to Bario by l11s fcllnw·1 sympathc11c and made arrangements for Nohn1 10 "-Ork in the laboratOr) of the prominent chemist Prafulla Chandra Roy But before 1he cager \tudcn1 had a chance to Start his c~pcnmenls he 11:01 caught up in the life or the Garden. Lari) on he lrarned that there were 1"'0 "des to the work · 'ci•il' and 'm1ht;.1ry'. The cl\11 ..cctoon was concerned with recruitment and pubhcny: J11gan1ar and so forth. Nolini opted rather for the milnnry hoc. proving his mcnlc by successfully delivering an unlicen!.ed revolver. But he never lost his 1hirs1 for knowledge. re:~ding instead or /'C1radise Lost and Tlot Prelude works like Clausewiu.'s 011 War, Frost's Secret Sorietirr of the Europea11 Revolution, and Gibl>on's Decli11e tmd Fall of tilt Roman Empire. He found Gibbon's book fuscinuting but regrened 1ha1 it gave few hints on how 10 undermine empires." Like all Other members of the secret society , Nohni was a Bengali I hndu. Almost all of them belonged to the three cas1es- Brahm1n , Kayatba and Baidya- lhal ma~e up Bengal's bbadralok, 1hc rcNere met mostly by donattons from rich men like Nirodc Chandra Mullick and ManoranJan Guha Thakurta. C. C. Dun contributed thirty rupees a month ." Attempts to supplement this meagre income with the eornings of a vegetable garden and a chicken flock did not come to much. The boys were obliged to lead ascetic lives as much rrom necessity as conviction The vegetarian diet they were sworn to as monks was as economical as it was purifying. Lacking servants these sons or respectable hou ol dynami1e, picric acid and 01her explosives. Commercially made dynamue was more rchable 1ha11 home-made s1urr bu1 i1 wa~ very d1flicul110 obtam. S1ill. Bario managed 10 get 1hrec-quaners of a bucke1ful. Some of 1t11s was purchased from a 1rading company in Oauha1i, the res1 supplied by nationalis1 leader Manoranjun Guha Tha· kurt:i. who ciwned a mine in Giridih. • The revolutionaries a lso smckcd up on sulphuric acid and other chemicals used in making explo. and a dozen revolvers. Many or these came from the French enclave or Chandcrnagore. where 1he Arms Act was 1101 in lorce. Olllers were obtained through the in1ermed1al)- of Indra Nandi. whO'IC fa1her. Lieu1enant-Colonel Nand1. IMS. was exempted from the A~ • A week or 1wo after his Sibpur demon>1ra1ion. Ullaskar announced that he was ready to put together a n11ne 10 blow up Andrew f'rn~r·~ 1ra1n. Bario learned from 1hc ncwo;papcr lhal 1-ra,cr would lea'c Darjeeling o n I No\'crnhcr and. af1cr o;pcnding 1tw "'eI Nouth of Chandcrnagore. Bario mudc n number of journeys 10 1he French enclave 10 work things out with 1hc local rc"olu1ionaric>. Their leader. Cbaru Chandni Roy. did 1101 want an a11cmp1 in his own backyard: but Burin had made up hi' mind (llld could not be talked out of it. A son of Manoranjan Guha Thakurta brought wmc dynamite from G1rid1h. "h1ch Ullaskar charged in a hefty iron C}linder. On the 5th he. Barin. Upen, Narcndra Nath Goswami and Hnshikc~h Kan11lal \\COi 10 Howrah and caught the train 10 Cbandemagore. lrom !here Ullaskar walked back towards Mankundu. kecp111g his eye ou1 for a place to lay the mine. Oi.iurbcd by passers-by. he selected his spot JUSI minu1cs before the irain approached. Unuble to set the mine. he tossed a couple of s1icks of dynamite on the trac~s. The detonators exploded harmlessly as the train passed over."

120

Th~

Bomb in Bengal

Undaunted, Bario decided to try again "hen Frawr returned from Bihar ten da)• Inter. Taking a mine made b) Ulla,kar. he, Bibhuti Bhusan and Prafull,1 Chaki went 10 Mankundu Cho 10 mk losing touch altogether with the mminals by 100 great haste an ancmpting to capture them'. After high-level consultation>. the chief secretary or the government urged Calcuna'> comml'SlOncr or pohce. F. L. Halliday. 'to take no action in Calcutta as 11 wa~ feared that the conspirn1ors might take alarm and re-form M another centre which would not be known , und would tberefore presumably be 1he more

Mother Kali's Bomb

123

J.onj!crn1t\ llalhday consented 'in the public 1ntercsl' and '""l!ncd de1cc11ve policemen to watch a number of places frcl>Cnded. Thnt afternoon Surendranu1h inviled the Bengal Ex1rcm1\I~ to his quaners and pleaded ror uni1y. Producing u compromise ugrccment. be asked for signatures. The paper was pnssed from one man 10 anolhcr. no one signing. Finally Sa1yen Bow said. 'Wail, sir, give i1 to me." Slill incensed over Surcndranatb"s Midnnpore betrayal. Satycn 1orc 1he J13per to pieces Th1' was more 1hpired. suspcc1cd 1ha1 one of 1h~ men invited. a certain Punjabi Muslim. wn~ nn informer. In 1he end the only persons IO a11end were some Punjnbis, including Sufi Amha Pra~:od, Aj11 Singh and the dubious Mu1hm: a few lesser· known Maharash1rians. including Dr. V. M. Bhat; and Barin and ho> a'S1ng The Punjabi Muslim was en1busias1ic. saying 1ha1 \\hen 1he rounll) \\3S in turmoil 1he Amir of Afgham~lan \\Ould 1hunder down to 1he plains. Thi~ idea me1 "'ilh a cold reception and 1he mceung ended inconclusively. Barin was acu1ely disappointed by the lack of Mahara~hlTian pJrlicipalJCJn. Since the time of his ini1ia1ion lnlO Thakur Saheb's scx;octy, he had been sure 1hal 1he race of Shivaji would be lndia·s salvu1ion. More recen1ly a prominen1 Marmhi lcuder. upparemly Klwpordc. had informed Barin lhal when he gave 1hc order his men would hlow up bridges, capture distric1s, ond so forth.• Seeking out Khapardc and Moonje after lhc meeting. Barin learned thnl Thakur Saheb's secret wc1e1y no longer cx.istcd. Despondent. he asked Tilak for an interview. Tilak ~cnl word 1ha1 he was sympatheuc. bul that his own path was chalked ou1 before hom and he was too ol(,l IO change. " The failure of the conference had n decis1vc cffcc1 on Bnrin. All along he had been hearing tha1 every province excepl Bengal was ready for rc,olulion. Now he dosoo,-ercd 1ha1 Bengal was in the • U:trin did nut mention the' ~13h1rashtnan\ n;unc 1n Atrtt.td(uh1n1 hu1 spoL.c of 1 -..:ti-known ~4rulnh1 leader lnvo1'1ed both 1n Extrcl'fh;;t poh1te$ and rcwlucion In 11 ktlcr of 19SS (flf't.il' IV & V 41/2) he wro1c of Kh.tJ'l•Htk o~ hic1n.tt c,.-pcciaUy k1lolw.lcd11:cahlc otl1out Thuku1 S.ah1b's. ~>etet)'- tl1$ ft1hc in At,,ttJk"lun' Lh.at 1he ·~11.1riuhi lc.1dc1 fttd aero~~ the kaS ..... he11 1h1n~" bt.'"mt d1flkult 1nay he: a 1 ufcr~nc..·e to Khuparford. \\ho as chief presidency magJ~lratc hod el off the

Bombs and Monkeys

135

charge when the parcel was opened. Hem was by now an excellent bomb-maker and his infernal machine was weU made. Wrapping 11 up in brown paper he entrusted ll lo Pare.~h Mallick . one of the oew recruits. Dressed up as a posrnl peon. Paresh delivered the bomb 10 Kingsford's servant, who took it 10 his master. Kingsford looked a1 the package. decided it was a book being returned by a friend. and put it on a ~belf. The rcvolutionarics ... ailed in vain for oews of the eic:plos1on. When none came some su,pected that Parcsh had got cold feel and thrown the bomb inn rubbish pile.• Around this time Barin and Ullnskar decided to shift the socie1y·s bomb-making activities to Dcoghar. Ullaskar, Upcndranalh and some of the others had ;pent some time in this hill resort, Barin\ childhood home. during their recent wanderings. In January l'larin , Ul1;1skar, Bibhuti, Nolini and Prnfullu Chakrnbarci wen t 10 swy in Raidi, 11 village close 10 Deoghar, on a place called Sil's Lodge.' Green liclds stretched from the door 10 the distant hills "here Santai tribals lived. Roi.mg before dawn the sadhurC\'Olu11onanes chanted verses from the Upani;hads m the silence of that lonely country. After breakfo~I 1hcygo1down10 business. Por S. succc;,s!' But as he drew near he .:ow Prafulla han~ing in UUaskar·~ arms, hos head mu1ila1ed and bloody. Instead or exploding on impact the bomb had gone off in the air Prafulla had not bad hme 10 duck and a splinter had pierced hi; ~kull. kilhng horn instantly. UUaskur also had been hit, but ho. wounds were relatively minor. Tuking MOck of the situation. Barin decided the lirst priority was getting Ullaskar to a doctor. The only person the) could trust was in Qilcuna They had 10 depart at once. Lc:av1ng Prafulla'\ motionless body "here 11 lay, the men climbed s1lcn1ly down the hill. At one point Nolin I blurted out, ·we were five when we went

136

TM Bomb in Bengal

up. bul no" we're only four.' 'No sen1imen1ali1y. please; Bario ans"cred. • The leader took Ullaskar 10 Calculla and wa.' relieved 10 learn that hos wound~ werr not dangerous lie then pocked up Upcndrnnath and returned 10 Deoghnr. "'here the 01hers were waiting. After a day or 1wo they decided to Mnle camp and go back 10 the Garden. Needless to say the death of one of their number. a you1h considered by some 10 be 'lhc be~• of the whole lot' . wus a terrible blow to 1he group. But at the same time it 'tilled them with the resolve to finish what U1ey had shorted'. Back in Calcuua Upen noticed 1ha1 Sarin seemed to be 'looking anxiously into his heart in search of something he coulu rely on'. Not long ahcrwnrds Barin wrote to Lele, the yogi who had Initiated him and Aurobindo. n~king him to come to Bengal. • Lele came and passed some 1ime with the young men, both at the Garden and at Deoglt.ir Bario had 6nally succeeded in obta1ning a Satyananda for his Ananda Math; but Lele declined to play the role. When he found out what the revolutionaries were up to be 1old them that they were bound to fail. 'A work hke this.' he \aod. 'demand~ dean hearts; otherwise it will end in useless blood~hcd .' What was needed was a group of men who knew 'God's mandate'. Only such could be trusted to lead the country. Lele assured 1hem: 'India will have her freedom; but not by these means l have found this out through twenty long years of meditation. Believe me, a time will come when 1111 power will simply pass into your hands. You will only have to work out the administration.· I le nskcd them to come with him to practise yoga. If they obtained no results they were free to go back Upen and some of the others ~ccmcd interested, but most thought Lele was telling a fairy story. 'This is nonsense,' cried Barin, convinced that India could never achieve freedom without violence. Besides, he had his backers to con~ider. They had govcn him 1hous.ands and were clamouring for results. Lele warned him that if he persis1cd he would rcgrel ll ' If )OU mean they'll make me dance at lhe end of a rope. I'm not worried!' Bann declared. The yogi told him that "hat would happen would be more terrible than death. Bario stuck to his gun~. however, and by the time of Lclc's departure Upcn too had made up his mind to stay. But Prarulla Chaki, to whom Lele bad wken 11 liking, decided to follow 1hc guru. h was only Upen's last·monute pleading that convinced thQ boy to siay.,.

Bombs and Mo11ktys

137

I ~k .1h.o 'f>C"l '>me time with Aurobmdo al hi> new Calcuna Inc yogi asked him bow his )ogic prac1ice "'as going. i\uioh1ndo replied that he had stopped regular mcd1ta1ion, not .u.ldrng 1ha1 he found himself in a state or cons1ant inner conccn1ra1ion. Lele told him be had taken a wrong 1urn. i\urobindo was no• concerned. II was around this 11me that he wrote 10 h1\ wife: ·AU I do depends not on my will but is done at the command of God.' There can be no doubt that he felt himself in conrnct wnh a supernatural power that was guiding his foot.icps. I le was apparently convinced that this power would protect him and those who accepted his lcadcr~hip. Despite appearances to the ~-ontrary. he was not unaware of the danger that he. Sarin and their followers were gelting into. On 11 March he wld Sudhir Sarkar to write to Sirs Lo 10 return co Calcuua. In a postscript Sudhir added· 'The cond1hon of the garden is bad. Monke)·s arc entering' " By •monkc)>' Sudhir meant the police. The fncndly vi>it> from the local sub-inspector (who in fact knew nothing) were mak.ing the boY' ncrvou•. Besides they sometimes seemed to be followed-as in fact they were. On 8 February, after the fiN repons from M1dnaporc arrhed. the CID put a dozen men on the ca>C. For '>(>me umc they were without specific informa11on . Then Abdur Rahm.in 1nt1de hi' visit to C.alculta. Ironically h1< 'ueccss in f'l'lltll.it1ng the 'nc1e1y came ju't at the tune thut Borio and Upen """ 11y111i: tn pronwtc greater security. But once the centre and II• 111 l>.1hlt.111ts hntl been identified, the •hift to new location• in the dty )u't meant that there were more place; for the C ID to watch. In the midt its mounting deficit. He sometimes >pent the morning trying to sell some company shares so that the paper could sun.i•e another day." At the same time he was. unul Pal's return in March , the most prominent Extrem1st in Bengal. In February he led the pany at the Provincial Conference at Pabna, East Bengal. In the weeks that followed he attended do:iens of pul>lic and pr1va1e mcc1ings. often acting as the principal >pcaker. Ir he had 1my rrcc lime he dcvo1cd 11 to his yogic prnctice . When there was a lull u1 work he olten passed into mcditution . If someone came 10 "'c lum he .it once lwgan to speak or write a needed anicle; but as 'K"4tn u' lht v1,11or dcpar1ed he wcnl back to hi\. mcd1totion. ••

Alter 111< 5 April meeting with Aurobindo, Darin told the rc>nlu11on.1r1c' that bura karta had con•cntcd to 111' plan.•• A week wa.' spent preparing for the attempt. Around this time P M. Ba pat. llcm ·~ chem1stry classmate from Paris, came to Calcutta with a mcs.\3ge from the Indian revolutiooancs in London. They advised the Bcngalis to go slow. It was umc for quiet prcparauon, not anen11on-ge11ing action. Hem and Bario heard Bapat out and went back to their preparations. They both h:td had their till of Marathi circumspection." On 10 April Sarin , Narendra Nath and lndu Shu•an Roy met at the Garden. Naren had taken part in some of the group's earliest act ion•, inclul.ling the Rangpur dacoity . Eighteen-year-old lndu had joined them only in February but was eager to prove himself. From the Garden the three went to I lern's house on Raja Naba Krishna S1ree1. They were followed by two CID detectives and on arrival noticed by the private agent assigned to watch the house. lie 1mmed1ntcly informed Inspector Purna Chandra Biswas, who was siauoncd nearby. While the four detccuvcs talked the situation over, the four revolutionaries d110J u pan1cularl) rop1ou\ and daring wurcc: he 'sometim~ papoused the orc:ier of Rrahmacharya [i. e. become a rehg1ou> student) and was making fair progrcs~ in religion. and in the s111dy or 01hcr subjects'." One of these wa~ the chemistry of

•

•

To Kill Kingsford

145

cxplosi•es. After four failed attempts 10 put bombs or bullet§ 10 use. Prafulla was more eager than ever to kill a British official. If Aurobindo's automatic writing was right in saying 'Prafulla bas lost confidence in himselr. he had not lost his remarkable sangfroid. More than once at the Garden be rook an unloaded pistol and announced: 'If they ever get hold of me I for one won't stay alive. The police won't get a chance 10 torture me or 10 tempt me into c9nfcssion. Look, this is the way I'll finish myself off.' Shoving the barrel into his mouth he pulled the trigger. 'This is the only ~ure way.· he explained. 'Any other w11y und most of the time you just wound yoursclf. .,, Sushil und Prnfulla leh Calcutta for Bihar around 4 April.• In Muzaffnrpur they took a room in a dlwmrosala run by a Bengali named Kishon Mohan Banerjee. Oo the way Sushil. now known as Durgn Das Sen. lost most of the money they had been given. This obliged Prafulla. renamed Dinesh Chandra Roy. to write to the Garden for more. After explaining the situation and appealing (hke other adolescents) 'please send money soon'. he added: ' I ha•c seen many places here. Nice. not bad. We have not seen the bridegroom even now: They had however seen the bridegroom's house . which was also ·not bad·. Prafulla closed his note: 'In sending the money, please do not pul any address or our place there. l>ut o wrong 11ddress.' This was a good piece or advice from one tcrromt to ano1hcr. An even better one would have been to tell his friends to destroy his lehcr with its Mutaffnrpur poSI·

mark. " The young assassins' financial difficullics were solved on 9 April when they received a money order for 1wcnty rupees sent by Bibhuti Bhusan. They remained in Muzaffarpur o day or two longrr 10 obser-e the lie or 1he land and to "'atch the bridegroom's movement> Then they wen1 10 Calcutlll to ialk 1hin~ over wirh the others. Arter another reoonnaissance m1~1on 10 Muzaffarpur • I wumc th•• Pra.fuHa •rote his kt1ct to the Garden lhc: d.\y ht arr1,~. that 1he k:ttcr ltfl\·cJ 1n C.1cutta one or 1wo days t.atcr. •nJ 1h.t1 the mtmcy orckr ...8$ !!Cftl lhc da)' lhr IC11Ct "'aS recch·cd Ot the day lfkf l'ht n~:•AC)' order ¥.'a~ In fad !Cnl from taU1r,11n w«.. I)' 3t May

1~ 15)

He

!lte on Raja Naba K11shna's Street. where they mcl Hem .111ford .uwched no nnporlanc:c to the rcpon Nc,·enhele'iS Arm~lrong ""'t:ncd 1wo conMublc' to v.1ucb his hou\C nnd two to follow him when he went w 1hc club, the only 01111ng he was permitted.'' Back in Calcuttu Aurobindo wus prepa ring to take llOnJ. Ou1 the two-assassin theory was not occcpced b)' the lhgh Q)urt (I liJ.h Court juJg.nlcnl. reponcd in Band~ ,\fo1ara111 weekly 19 July J908: l6)•

Ille._.

..

150

The Bomb in Bengal

When the horse stopped a man named Wilson ran up and extinguished the fire that was burning the upholstery and the ladies' clothing. Theo he had some men drag the carriage 10 Kingsford's bunga low where he and 1hc judge, who had reached home without realizing what had happened. carried the ladies into the house. Grace Kennedy died withm the hur. her mother days later." Kingsford reported the n11ack to the magistrate, who came and took staremcnl• from the coachman and the syce, despite lhe face that the latter was in 'pretty bad shape' Kingsford then spol.c to Superintendent Armslcong. after which he remembered he had important bu•incss in Motihari and left town precipitously. Armstrong sent sub-inspectors down both rail lines leading south with orders to drop off plainclothesmen at every srntion. They "ere 10 look for two Bengal,., young. barefooted and bareheaded. A reward of fi•e thousand rupees was offered for informatjon. The moment the bomil exploded Khudiram and l'rnfulla s tarted to run . The constables standing near the Club gave chase but soon Im.I the fuglll•C~ in the darkn=. Another constable passed them on the road and called out but they ran on When they reached the dlrormasalo they decided to split up. Khudiram covered twenty· four miles during the night , reachi ng the small town of Waini , eight miles from Samastipur Junction. the next morning. Entering a grocer's shop near the station he asked for parched rice and water. While he was eating two men approached him and started asking questions. Flustered. he mixed up his story. Noticing that one of die men was wearing boots. he gu~d the worst and fled . One of the constables tackled him from behind. In the tussle that followed a revolver fell from the bundle under Khudiram's arm. I le drew another but before he could fire he was overpowered. That afternoon he was taken 10 Muzaffurpur where he made a statement mentioning 'E>incsh' but taking full rep0nsibili1y for the auack. He had done u himself. be !>aid, beQusc he had 'the greater zeal (btshi iccho) for the work '. I le regretted that he had killed two mem~1hiils instead of Klngsford out otherwise showed

'"0

no repentance. 111

Prafulla also managed 10 get out of Muzaffarpur. On the afternoon of the first he appeaTed at Samasupur Junc:tion station dressed in a clean white dhoti and new pair of shoes. After purchasing a ticket for Mokameh. where the line to Calcuua

To Kill [(jngsford

151

hrJnches south. he waited on the platform for the e'emng tram. It pulled m around six o'clock. Ounng the half-hour hall he got to t.i.lkmg with a Bengali passenger who bad stepped down to take a ,troll. When they found they both were gomg to Mokameh, they decoded to travel together. ,.. Prafulla had chosen a bad companion . The man was Nandalal Banerjee. an off-duty sub-inspector who had just pa~scd his leave in Muz:ifforpur. Before leaving the Lown he had heard nbout the bombing and nboUl 1he five-thousand·rupec rewarcJ . llis suspi· dons about Prnfulla grew stronger when he recognized his accent ai. 1hat or East Bengal. Excusing himself Nandulnl went ti) the station and scn1 a telegram to his grandfo1hcr, a government pleader in Muzaffarpur. He mid him to go to the police superintendent or magistrAtc LO ask ' whether I ~hall arrest [on] s uspicion'. The reply should be sent to Mokrunch . When NandalaJ rc101ned Profulla 1bcy again got into the same compartment. On their way south they talked of many things: Swadesh1 {which Prafulla supponed): the Muzaffarpur outrJgc {which interested him greatly); and ammunition {he preferred the German kmd). Nandalal alUftl~ 1h11 mcnuoo 1f\1s 1nddcn1 all d1)31rce wnh onugh1 li\e nftes and n~e bniJ.' of c.anriflg.Ci 10 Orey S1rcc1 and kepi chc1n 1n" rhells and a forge for c:as110g 1hem. Oocu· men ts discovered included a copy of the Pari~ e•plosivcs manual , several 1cx1books on the ;,amc wh1cc1. books on mihwry 1ra1ning nnd 'numerou.~ papers 11nd correspondence indica1ing 1hc exis1cncc of a secret socfoty'. I hcsc included organw11ional plans (wi1h 1he members' 11111iah) and 1hc lc1tcr ;,cn1 by l'rofulla from Muzaffarpur in which he ;,poke of Kingsford as 'the bridegroom'. A coai. claimed by lndu, had a notebook in lhe pocket "'ilh an entry gi\ing the date and umc of 1he auempt to kiU the mayor of Chandernagore. There "as alw a record of revolver repairs "ith the name · Indra'. The collcc1inn and burning of the prcVlous night had not been very thorough." TI1e same time the police were carrying out their uncxpcc1edly successful searches at the Oarden. another posse was busy ni 134 f-larrison Road, 1he site of the chemist's shop owned by Ulla;,kar's friends Nagendra Nath amt Oharnni Nath Oupta. Arrcsring these 1wo and their companion,, Bijoy Raina Sen Oupca. Ashok Nandi and Mmilal Bose. 1he police began 10 search tbe prcmhes. In 1he ~hop·~ outer room they found only a few boule\ of innocuous 111ed1cme>. But in a storeroom they came across the three loc~ed trunks and locked bJ>kCI that Ullaskar had dropped off the prcviou~ week. The pohcc asked Nagendra what the trunks conrnined. ' Books and clothing', he replied. He and his friends 1hcn wa1ched silen1ly as 1he police opened the trunks. The firs1 two contained chemicals. bu1 nol the sort usually sold in pharmacies. All 1old there were 1wenty·lWO cartridges of gelignite ;Ind a pound of picrnte of potash (all highly unstable and soon aflerwnrd.'> de~troycd}. five additional boxe~ of gelignite. u bucketful of dynamite and 'mixed expl0\1•cs' amounting 10 around thirty pounds There were al>o large quanuties of strong acids and other chemicals used 10 make explO\l'es. and a collectJOn of glass 1u~. retorts. e1c. J1 was late~ catcula1ed tha1 1he materials found in 1he trunk> were enough to make two hundred small bomb-.. The baskc1 contained six live hombs ready for use. One. described by 1hc government's explosives examiner as a 'peculiarly handy little bomb' was 'made of the hrnss knob of a bedstead filled whh picric acid'. 01hcrs consislell of bull cocks from cisterns tilled with lyddite (fused picric acid). Such bombs had been used sull\'C the innocent'. The second pan of this e~planattn is unobjectionable and -..on Barin plaudits from friend and foe alike. But the first pan amounts lo linle more than 'after us the Flood'. At the time of hi~ arrest Barin announced, 'My mission is over.'"This i> not the statement of a disciplined revolutionury. S1ill. Borin's confession was not ignoble. As a judge Inter remarked, if his object ' was to save the innocent' he deserves 'full credi1 ror it'. The fact re'liains however that the cn'c against him 'was so s trong' thnt he "had little hope or escape. confcs."011 or no confc.\sion'. The judge went on to comment 1ha1 Barin did not disclose the name of anyone not alread) incnminatcd, ·not that this concealment indicates depravity. rather the contrary'. Moreover "the ordinary motive for a confession. to ~vc one·, skin at the c~pcn!'C of other$· was 'Cnhrcl> absent'. A police official thought that Darin's purpose was ' to lead the pohcc into believing that the revolutionary plot did not extend ouL1a11ccs in which he has been arrested'. Narcn Bukshi, Purna Sen, Bijoy Nag and the other reenagcrs told similar stories. The police were unimpressed. " On the morning of S May. Aurobindo and the others arreslcd in Calcuua were produced before the commissioner of police. The five who bad been apprehended at 134 Harrison Road were remanded 10 await trial before 1he chief presidency magima1c for v1ola1ions of the A.nm Act. The mher seven were senl to the magis1rate wi1h a requesl thol 1hcy be transferred lo the courr of 1hc dis1ric1 magis1ra1e, Aliporc. 10 be 1ried with the Garden prisoners. Requests for ball were not beard. The charge~ did nor permit ii." On 1he af1crnoon of 1he Slh the seven were iukcn in police vans to ALipore. At the dis1ric1 magislrate's court nn officer obiained an order by which the prhoncrs were remanded 10 cu>iody. A sbon while later the Black Marias were driven 1hrough the 11a1es of Alipore jail.

16 The Trial Begins The moment 1hat Leonard Birley, offich11ing dis1ric1 magimate or 1hc 24 Purgunas. learned of the aerarious deeds being done in his distric1, he decided he was lhe man 10 sci 1hing< righ1. His cagcrnc-,s 10 have 1he case leads one 10 suspeet rhar he coun a1 Ahporc .' There five of them ga'e Slatcmcnts to llirlc) 'Sining high tn his chair', '"lh a face 'that wa~ hke a poh~hed slab of m.irhlc". he o;ccmcd 10 the prisoners 10 be ·an c1pbod1mcm or the mat"luncry of go,ernmcnc nsclr. At one point he looked down at 1hcm contemptuously and asked. ·You think •ou can govern lmhu?" One of them answered. ·Sir. were you !.!O'cnung India a century und a hair ago?' Birley left thi~ commcn1 011 1 of 1hc record.

.

The Trial

B~ms

167

When the se•en Calcutta prisoners were 1ransferrcd 10 Ahpore the ne~• day, Birley did not even bo1her to see them. but ~imply signed the order remanding them to custody. In the days 1hal followed, as the police investignicd clues found in the documents und confessions, they made a number of searches aod arrests in the districts of both Bengals. All of the persons arrested were brought to Alipore and placed before Birley. The first to arrive was Narcndra Nath Goswami. The police had no uoublc finding this landowner's son, "'hom both Barin and Jndu bad menuoncd in their confessions and who on any case was known to 1hc C ID. Arrested and brought to Aliporeon the 5th, Narcn g"'e a Matcment admitting his role in the attempt ro kill tbe mayor of C'handernagore. On the 10th ltrishikesh Kanjilal was arrested in Scram pore and Sudhir Sarkar ia Kbulnn. The following day both made sta tements before Birley. Between then and tJ\c 16th five more persons were taken into custody: Birendra Nath Ghose in Jcssorc, Kristo Jiban Sanyal in Maida. Sushil Sen and his two brothc" in Sylhct Documentary and material evidence was found on .111 these place> In Sylhet police seolcd M>mc makeshift "capons and a hag of black powder that Biren Sen candidly cxplafoed wai. 'not )Ct an c•plo;l'c'.' Additional searchci. were carried out at the Garden. at Sol'> l.oJge on Deoghar. and at Subodh Mullick 's house in Bena res.• I he Mu111ffarpur Kilting> •nd >Ub"!quem events 'M:nt a thnll of horror 1hrnughout the lc11g1h and breadth of the land'. C'alcuua in 1>m ticul11r w'" 'stirred to 11~ dcp1hs" by the arrests and discoveries. People found it hard to hclicvc thnt Bcngalis had performed such dreadful exploits. 'Could anyone ever think it probable that the Bcnaali, who had been ever maligned as cowardly. would. regardless of all care for life. 1ry to kill an official?' wrote one paper. The lndia11 IVorld no1cd that the character of the accused ·re' cal~ no1 only a striking runounl of boldness and dc1erm1na11on, bu1 al'° a cenain degree of heroism which constitute; the real eeured. " On the 17th. the day the bomb was removed from the church on Upper Circular Road . CIO inspector Puroa Chandra B1swas submitted a first informa1fon rcpon mentioning five distinct crime•· the rwo auempts to blow up the lieu1cnan1-govcrnor's train near Chandemaporc. the auempt to do the \ame at Narayungarh. the aucmpt m Chandcruagore against M;iyor Tardivcl. and the Muwrrurpur murders. The rcpon charged the thirty-one revolutionaries so far arrested under e1gh1 sections of

The Tr1al Begins

171

the lndiun Penal Code, including Sections 121. 121-A. 122 and 123. The most important of these, Section 121 . reads as follows. ' Whoever wag~ "'ar against the King. or attempts to wage such war. or abetS the waging of such war shall be punished with death , or transportation for life. and shall forfeit all his property.'" 'Waging war against the King' was the Indian equivalent of high treason traditionally considered by Britons to be the most beinOu> of crimes. An offence under this S«tion was ' the most serious in the (Indian( Penal Code except that of murder by a life convict'." Sections 121A was an 'umplification' of Section 121 . punishing conspiracy to wage war against the King with tr.lnspor· tation for life or another term. Sections l22 und 123 covered preparauoos to wage war and concealment of a design to wage war, both being punishable by long periods of imprisonment.• Since ull of these offences were crimes against the state, the sanction of the Government was necessary before proceedings could be instituted . Both the 'local government' (i.e. the Government of Bengal) and the imperial government (the Government of India) were interested in the charges, though only the local government actually could frame them. Between the 8th und the 10th the viceroy and other members or 1he impcriul government considered the possibih1y of charging Oarin. Ullasknr and llem "'ilh abetmcnt of the murders a1 Muuffarpur. 1hose connected w11h the Narayangarh Cparately for such offences·: bul it was ·e~sent1al lba1 lhey should lirs1 be lried joinlly wilh the rest, so Ihat their stalemenls may be used . .. 10 prove lhe conspiracy under section 121·A of the Penal Code". • Thus all the accused, whether arrested in lhc Garden or Calcuua. whether oonnec1ed with specific incidents or suspected only of conspiracy. would be tncd in a single trial by the sessions judge or Aliporc. The report or lhe Government of Bengal was sent to the Go,·crnment or India on 17 May. The same day Bengal sanctioned lhc prosecution or thiny-thrce or the lhirty·five persons already in custody: the fourteen arrested at the Garden. the lwelve arrested in Calcuua. si~ of those arrcs1ecJ in the mofussil. and Khudiram Bose. who w~ awaiting trial in Muzaffarpur. All were accu.like of :irbilrary government. Suspension of due process of law. resori to Imus de cachet and ukases. were JUSt wha1 libcny-loving Britons professed 10 despise in tyrannical regimes on the conci· nent. Out Brito11s in India were likely 10 forget such feelings when they confron ted the reality of imposing governmen t by force on scvemy million people. Mowcver Cl)nvenieni il may have been to nervous adminism•· tori.. deportation was rarely effe'ho are ready 10 support u\'. Stuart concluded. 'In mailers ~uch 3\ 1h1\ >'C mus• rely on lhc police ... and I belie'-e that in lhis particular case. when once the ea~y solution by deportation is banished. 1hc police may be nble 10 secure a conviction under the ordinary law.' Afler reading the file Monro declared him!«llf less uvcri.c from deportation 1hnn Stuart and Adamson, but he agreed that ii wou ld be

The Trial 8egirn

175

' inhmtdy prefrrablc that prisoners should be convicted by the ordinary law'. " Frn~cr learnc11ur ... to the complete presenta1ion of the evidence against (the prisoners) before the rcgul:ir couns'. " Afler rccci,~ng Swan's reply. Gait wrote to L. Morshead. the inspector-general of Police, to follow up ·every clue tending to connect' Aurobindo 'with the con•prraC)" and to make 'every cfforl .•. to procure a conviction in coun·. " ' l11e governmcnl's erfor1s to do so had begun the previOu\ week . Before the ca•c could go Lo the sc"'ions judge. the accu-.cd had 10 be committed by the mag1;trate. The hearing before Birlc) began on Monday. 18 May. From earl) in the morning the prcmi feeling became particularly ·prominent among the )Ounger member.. of the educated claSSC'I'. In K1~horcgan1 little children adulated Bario and the rest and played ·oomb-mabng' instead of their usual games. " In order to assure usclf the best chances of success the government engaged the services of Eardley Norton. one of the "'"'t •ucccs>ful trial lawyers in India. Norton hod won his

or

The Trial Begi11s

177

reputauon in the Madras High Court: a Bengali colleague called him the 'Demosthenes from the benighted province'. ,. Ironically this man "ho became the bugbear of Indian nat1onahsm was, like the bereaved 1•nnglc-Kcnnedy of Muzaffarpur, an early supporter of the Indian National Congress. Norton not only attended the 1888 session o~ a delegate, but was also appointed a member of a high·lcvel committee (the other members were Allan O . Hume, W. C. Bonncrjec, Surenclranatb Banerjea and R. N . Mudholkar) 1ha1 wa& sen1 to represenl the views of Congress in England. Scvcn1ccn years l:ncr he could slill find time to wriic on lndisn politics ond 10 review lndian poetry in The /11dia11 Revi~w. "' Hearing 1hat this man had accepted 10 lead the prosecu1ion, Sisler Niveditn called him ' a renegade patriol' and binerly criticized the fees the govcrnmcn1 paid him- rumoured 10 be as high as a thoUSllnd rupees a day. " Norton was aided by u colleague named Barton. by lhc pubhc prosecutor Ashutosb B1swas. and by all 1he men and resources 1he govemmenl and the pohce could place at his dis~I . The acc:uscd on the other hand were represented by a team of rather undis1inguisbed pleaders. One of them , however, was sharp enough to teach a lesson in law to Nor1011 and to Birley as well . Af1er the first day's evidence was recorded. Babu Sarat Chandra Sen objected 1ha1 the magis1ra1e could not 1ake cogni· wncc of 1he cnse before the police hud mude a formal complaint. The ohjctiion wi1s well rnken and the ncxl day CID inspcc1or 13bwus wns c11llcd in 10 make n complaint and 10 resubmit the government'> sanciion. Then the over-cager magi.Irate had 10 re· record the evidence of 1he day before." The hearing wcn1 forward withou1 incidenl unlil 22 May, when it was adjourned for rwo weeks. During this period 1hc Harrison Road Arms Act Case, in which six of the Ahporc prisoners were involved. was taken up b) 1he chief presidency mag1'>lrate. At the same urne police .. ere combing through rhc mountain• of ma1enal seized on 2 May. lookin11 for anything that could help them .,;n !heir case.

17 In Jail and

111

Court

In the Alipore Central Jail the thiny-four men accused in the Bomb Case joined .omc 1wo tbousnnd other pnwners, the u~unl assor11ncn1 of murderers, rapists, and thieves 1hai llll any big ci1y prison. /\s undercriul prisoners they ought to have been treated better th3n tile convicts. bur becau..c of the gra\'1ly or their charg~ they \\ere treated "'orsc. All or them were pul on an old ward where they could be 'completely 'iCgregaccd and cul off from l-Ommunication with ocher prisoners'. 1 In the ward were lwO blocks of cells resembling kennels. These were known, after the number or cells in each, as '1he 44 degre~· and 'lhe six degrees'. Most ol the Bomb Case prisoners v.erc lodged on l!roupsoflhrec on the 44 degrees. The men 1he government feared most. Hem Das and Aurobindo, were placed in solilnry coofincmcnl, Hem in 1hc 44 dettrccs nnd Aurobindo apan from everyone e lse in the six degrees. The cells or both block> were approxima1ely nine fcet long and six feet wide This made for crowded cond111ons when the pri)Qncrs "ere kept on groups. bu1 none of them envied the prisoners kept separnlcly. The cells hnd no wmdows, only burred iron doors in front The o nly furnishings were wr-covered ba~ke1s that did duty for IJtrines. These were emptied on •=•sion by convict-sweepers; other convicts brough1 food-\\atery tastclc< MadrUt Elcl...,,,ISI who (II IB"'l"rod 11 lbe AbpolC lnll) h&d been in corr~-spondcncc with Aurob1ndo. ' lctween Norton and the c-0un concerning the discharge of the approver, for he could not be an accused and a witness at the sume time . When this talk was over Narcn was produced . ' All the prisoners stood up and heard him in breathless silence.' His sell·Out had been expected but the naked fact of his betrayal was still a shock. The court asked the approver: ' Arc you w1llmg to dasclose truly everything about the conspiracy against the State and about every peNn whether as a principal or an al'temlr?' Naren answered, 'Yes sir, I shall disclose all 1ha1 I know:• There followed more di'ICUssion between Nonoo and Birley nn the technicalities of Naren ·s pardon. During this tnlct\al the approver ' kepi looking downwards' as the prisoners glared mcnacmgly al him. Never daring 10 look ·any of his comrade. on the face', Narcn ·wen I on Mroking his moustaches'. u At length che Cour1 an· nounccd that he was discharged. Sworn in as a witne's he began Im tlcp0Mt1on. Closwrnni miked all morning and all aflernuon . I le related how be had met friend' or Jatindra Nath Banerji in 1905, how they had told hinl of a secrei society whose leader was Aurobindo G hose, how he came in contact with Aurobindo's bro1her Barin and Bhupcndra Naih Dutt around the time Juga111ar wos launched in 1906. Along the way Naren identified Au.robindo. Burin and Hem Das, whose mission 10 France he revealed. He spoke of 1he early days of Juga111ar. of Aurobindo's arrival in Calcuna, and or his meetings wnh him. Subodb Mullick and Charu Chandra Dun. He gave detailed accounts of the-failed dacoi1y to Rangpur m 1906 and of a planned dacoi1y in Bankura a )Car later. While he spoke the pnsoncrs Stood silently, unable 10 express their feelings except by •Thi: 1crn1 •appro\.-C'1' wa1 w.cd mnslantly in roun llnd In the new)l>:tpeni l rt't11in ii in 1ny narrative even thou.gh ii doe,;. 001 uc..'U.lr. 01 the ~nsc or King's E\ridcnce. In .any n1udcm dictionary. ~o os~jn ' IS a vurianl or '(i()t,,W"mt".

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182

Th~

Bomb in Bengal

spitung on the Door. During the lunch break howe•cr !hey ·chaued merrily with the police -;crgeants as if nothing had taken place'." For five days Narcn told 1hc magistrate everything he knew abou1 the society"s organizmi.in nnd activities. llis revcla1ions caused a stir in CalcuUu. Never a1 n loss for a dich~. llemendra f>rnsad Ghose observed 1ha1 "truth is slnonge-•lrangcr than flc1ion' and wrote !hat the approver's confession "reads like a romance'. M Many thought it to be no1hing more than that: but 1hcre can be liulc doubl that 11 represented the truth u Naren knew it. Mindful of the mag1~tratc's warning that his pardon would be withdrawn if he said anything false. he does not appear to ha•e told a deliberate lie. To be sure some of his inforinn11on was incorrect. He repeated the folsc or panly ra1,c names of the leaders in other parts t1f India a> though they were gospel 1ru1h. But most of his tcs1imony was accurate. His accounts of the five •overt acts' with which 1he society was charged were richly deiailcd-no surprise since he was involved in three him~elf. A\ promi'lCd he incriminated not only 1hose on trial but !>Cores of others, some of whom "ere promptly arrested. lnJra Nand1 and N1khilcswar Roy Mauhck "ere hauled in the da) Noren began deposing. At lhe time of his arrest Indra was asked what had happened to his hand. Mc c~plaincd that it had been ampuiatcd after a cast iron safe had fallen on it. The police. who had learned of the College Street explosion. were not deceived, In the weeks 1hat followed Jat!ndra Nnth Banerji. Bijoy Bhallacharya, Provas Deb. Haridas Das and Balkrishna Hari Kane were rounded up. These seven. together with Dcbavrata Bose and Charu Chandra RO)'. who had been arrested a little earlier. and Satyen Bose. who had been convicted under the Arms Act in Midnapore. were formed into a second batch of accused. Their hearing was put off until the first batch was dispcd 1hc columnis1 mnintnrneu 1ha1 1hey 100 were ·en1i1led 10 JU\licc This prolonga· tiI) prejudices 1hem financially The ca•e is bound 10 be comm1ncd 10 the Sessions. Why 1hcn 1h1< delay?"• The Go\emments of Ocngal and of India feh 1he -amc "'ay. When Lord Min10 heard 1ha1 '1he preliminary rnqurry l"a•) nor 10 be comple1ed unlil Augus1' he ·1wicc 1m· pre~'ed upon 1he home depar1men1 1hc rmpcral"c necessi1y of a"o1d111g unnece"5ary delay .•,, The home depanmcn1 doub1less found ways 10 pul pressure on Brrley. hul lhlng their request. He had already ' mac.le up h1~ mmd to commit the accused·. and be ·did not want 1110 la>i fore\er". The pleaders tlul not press the maucr. They would be able to crosscxaminc in the '\Css1ons coon. Tue same da) the prosecution mformctl the magistrate that ii had more e\ldenee 10 produce. l.ltrlcy replied lhill ·sufficient evidence has .1lready been given l>dorc me m Ju