I thank you again, gentlemen, for listening to me patiently. I had many things more to say and if I find another opportunity I shall again address you (cheers).
At Chittagong on the 17th June 1918, under the auspices of the local Home Rule League, a meeting was held under the presidency of Babu Jatra Mohan Sen, when Mr. C. R. Das delivered the following speech:—
Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, I wish you had not insisted on my speaking to-night as I am anxious not to spoil the effect of the brilliant address (of the Hon. Mr. Fazlul Huq) to which you have just listened (go on, go on). If I rise to respond to the call from the Chairman, I confess it is not without some hesitation. Gentlemen, Mr. Huq has dealt with the question of Home Rule from many points of view, with considerable force and with great eloquence. I desire to say that I am in complete agreement with everything that has fallen from him. (Cheers).
You will, however, permit me to-night to tell you a story—the story of the great denial. The other day our distinguished Chairman said that we are in the midst of a great crisis. I also said that the present crisis of India is greater and more serious than any in her history. But to-day I will tell you the story of the great denial. As a preface to my story I shall ask you to recall to your mind the principal incidents of our national history under British Rule. More than a century and a half have passed by and at the end of it we find that the people of Bengal, the vast majority of them at any rate, are not educated and this want of education is put forward by the authorities as an argument against Home Rule. I have given this answer before and I repeat it again—if they are not educated, whose fault is it? What have the authorities been doing here for the last 150 years if they have not succeeded in educating the people of this country? What excuse is there for this failure? Is there a national government anywhere in the history of civilization, which after it took up the work of education, did not finish and complete it within, say, 30 years? (Hear, hear). Do you doubt for a moment that if we get self-government now, we will be able to educate the people of this country in another 20 years? But why has not this been done by the Government? Let the Bureaucracy answer—This is a chapter in the story of the great denial (Hear, hear).
OUR AGRICULTURE
Now, gentlemen, take the question of agriculture in this country. The Indian village-life was the envy of the world at one time. What are our villages now? How does our agriculture stand to-day? Has the Government done anything on that behalf during the last 150 years, which is at all worthy of a great nation and a great Government? (Cries of 'no,' 'no'). Yes, the answer must be 'no'. Why not? Because agriculture does not directly concern the bureaucracy of this country. It may be necessary to start a department and call it department of agriculture in the interest of the bureaucracy. That has been done—one or two colleges which are not suited to our requirements have been established. But has agriculture improved? I do not know whether in the interest of the Bureaucracy it is necessary that it should. But it is necessary for us. It is a matter of vital importance to the nation that the cultivators of Bengal should prosper and live better lives (hear, hear). It is a matter of supreme importance to those who want self-government or swaraj in this country (hear, hear). We must look forward to the whole Bengalee nation. We must work persistently, we must look forward to the day when the Bengalees as a nation, Hindus and Mahomedans, all together, will stand before the world in all the glory of nationality (cheers). I say therefore the question is of vital importance from the point of view of the nation. Who are the people of Bengal? Not we, who conduct cases in court, not those who sit as magistrates and judges. But who are they? It is those who cultivate the land—they are the real nation (cheers) and if ever this country rises—by God's grace, rise it must—and takes its place amongst the nations of the world (Loud cheers)—well, long before that, the agriculture of this country must be improved. That is one of the reasons why we want Home rule. This is another chapter in the story of the great denial (hear, hear).
OUR COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY