"Mimic Anglicism has become an obsession with us: we find its black foot-print in every walk and endeavour of life. We substitute meeting houses for temples; we perform stage-plays and sell pleasures in order to help charities. We hold lotteries in aid of our orphanages; we give up the national and healthful games of our country and introduce all sorts of foreign importations. We have become hybrid in dress, in thought, in sentiment, and culture and are making frantic attempts even to be hybrids in blood. What wonder, then, that in this new pursuit of western ideals we should forget that money is only a means to an end and not an end in itself?"
What has made us shallow; why have we, the so-called educated, become strangers to our own countrymen? For like other ideals, our ideal of education also has become mean and impoverished; and so what was easy and natural—we have made it complex and difficult. We must even now beware and listen to the wise warning of Bankim—a warning all too unheeded when it was first uttered. But one thing is certain that unless we change the whole organism of our educational system and make it harmonise with our national ideals even our existence is threatened. For this education has created a wide gulf between the educated and the masses, which our national existence demands to bridge over. About our present system of education Chitta Ranjan has said:—
"It has imparted an element of unnecessary anglicism into our manners and modes of life—so that in outer seeming it might almost appear as if the educated Bengalee had little organic touch with the heart of his countrymen. Then, again this education has made us familiar not with things but with words; it has made us clever but not men.... We have acquired a despicable habit of looking down with contempt, upon those who have not received this English Education of ours; we call them "illiterate" and "uneducated" and sneer at their ignorance. But these uneducated countrymen have hearts and sympathies; they worship their gods, they are hospitable to guests, they feel for the suffering and distress of their neighbours.... To me it seems perfectly clear that if we want to lead our newly-awakened national consciousness in the paths of true knowledge, education should be diffused through the medium of our own vernacular and not through the unwholesome medium of English."
The reason for this ghastly failure in our national life is palpable from other points of view also. We the educated few, never co-operated with the masses of our countrymen. We are not only proud of our education, but also proud of our wealth and proud of our caste: and this three-fold pride has so deadened and blinded our senses that, in all our endeavours we leave quite out of account those who are the flesh, blood and back-bone of the land. The gentry of our country are mostly ill educated and therefore their pride springs from emptiness. To speak the truth, the so-called educated have no right to mix with their countrymen. They are narrow, callous and anglicised. They fail even now to understand that in this crucial moment of Indian History, the whole country should stand as one in working out her future destiny. Here the Hindus and the Mohammedans should co-operate, the Brahmins, the Vaidyas and the Kayasthas should come out hand in hand with the peasants and the chandals. Chitta Ranjan harped upon the same theme in his presidential address at the Provincial Conference:—
"Those who constitute 40 out of 46 millions of our countrymen,—those who produce our bread by their labour—those who in their grinding poverty have kept alive the torch of their ancient culture and ancient polity—those whom our English civilization and English culture and English law-courts have yet been powerless entirely to corrupt—those whom the oppression of Zemindars and Mahajans have failed to crush—are we,—a corrupt and effete handful—are we their betters and superiors? We boast of our Hinduism; but with our false pride of caste we are striking Hinduism at its very root. Even now while there is time, let us perceive our fearful and heedless blunder. In our oppressed and down-trodden fellow-brethren let us recognise the image of Narayana: before that sacred and awful image, let us abandon all false pride of birth and breed and let us bend our heads in reverence and true humility. These seething millions of your land—be they Christians or Mahomedans or Chandals—they are your brothers; embrace them as such, co-operate with them and only then will your labours be crowned with success."
In taking a survey of our present condition, we have to think of the poverty of the peasant-class, and closely connected with this question of poverty is the question of village depopulation. The village is the centre of our civilisation and culture; and hence the decay of village-life is bound to cripple and enfeeble our body-politic. Now the cause of this village depopulation is two-fold. In the first place, there is the ravage of malaria and in the second place, there is the temptation of city-life with its ease, luxury and commercial and money-making facilities. Thus modern cities like some huge reptiles are swallowing up the ancient village centres of our country; and one of our chief duties will be to re-establish the health, prosperity and welfare of the villages. In order to do this, we shall have to improve the water-supply of our villages, to remove jungles, to educate the common people in the laws of health and sanitation. Also in order that agriculture may flourish, we shall have to establish banking institutions upon a small scale. For this combined and harmonious work we must have a plan. Chitta Ranjan has suggested one in his presidential address at the Provincial Conference of 1917:—
Our first step will be to organise all the villages of each district into a number of village groups or unions. Where one village is sufficiently large and populous, that by itself will constitute one union or group. In the case of smaller villages, several of them will be combined to form one group or union. Then a census must be taken of the adult males of each village-union: These will form the primary village assemblies; and they will elect from among themselves a panchayet or executive body of five members. This panchayet or executive body will have the sole administration of the village-group in its hands. It will look to sanitation; it will arrange for water-supply; it will establish night-schools; it will arrange for industrial and agricultural education; in short the domestic economy of the village-group will be entirely in the hands of the Panchayet. Besides, in each village-group there will be a public granary; each agricultural proprietor will contribute to this granary according to his quantity of land; and in years of drought and scarcity, the resources of this public granary will be drawn upon to feed the people.
In case of petty disputes, civil or criminal the panchayet will be the sole deciding authority, but in the case of larger disputes, they will report to the district civil and criminal courts; and their reports will be treated as the sole plaints or complaints in such cases.
In the next place, the primary assembly of each group, will, according to its population, select from five to twenty five members to the district Assembly. These district assemblies will consist of members numbering from 200 to 500 and will exercise the following powers:—
(1) It will exercise general supervision over the working of the panchayets and the affairs of the village group.