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Tamil Poem in Purananuru, circa 500 B.C 

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Home > Tamils - a Nation without a State  > Nations & Nationalism  > The Strength of an Idea > Subhas Chandra Bose > Presidential Speech by  Subhas Chandra Bose at the Third Indian Political Conference at Friar's Hall, London, on Saturday, June 10, 1933

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose 
& India's Independence

"...Subhash Chandra Bose's life was a beacon to me, lighting up the path I should follow. His disciplined life and his total commitment and dedication to the cause of his country's freedom deeply impressed me and served as my guiding light..." Velupillai Pirabakaran, 'How I Became a Freedom Fighter', April 1994

 Presidential Speech by  Subhas Bose
at the Third Indian Political Conference
at Friar's Hall, London, on Saturday, June 10, 1933

Subhas Chandra Bose addressing a Meeting in Berlin in August 1933
Subhas Chandra Bose addressing a Meeting in Berlin in August 1933

"Every great movement starts from small beginnings, and so it will be in India. Our first task will be to gather together a group of men and women who are prepared to undergo the maximum sacrifice and suffering which will be necessary if we are to attain success in our mission. They must be whole-time workers'freedom-intoxicated' missionaries�who will not be discouraged by failure or deterred by difficulty of any kind and who will vow to work and strive in the service of the great cause till the last day of their lives.

When these "morally prepared" men and women are available they must be given the requisite intellectual training, so that they may be able to realize the magnitude of their task. They will have to make a scientific and critical study of the freedom movement in other lands, so that they may understand how similar problems have been solved in other countries, in spite of similar difficulties. Side by side with this they must also make a scientific and critical study of the rise and fall of empires in other ages and climes.

Armed with this knowledge, they should proceed to make a scientific examination of the strong and weak points of the British Government in India in relation to the Indian people and a similar scientific examination of the strong and weak points of the Indian people in relation to the British Government.

.. When this study is completed�and not till then�shall we be able to form a conception of the magnitude of the task that awaits us... When this intellectual training is completed we shall have a clear notion of the plan of action that will be necessary for the conquest of power and also of the programme that should be put into operation when the new state is brought into existence after the seizure of power.  It is thus evident that we want a party of determined men and women who have consecrated their life to the great cause, who have had the necessary intellectual training and who have formed a clear conception of the work they will have to do before the conquest of power and thereafter. It will be the task of this party to deliver India from foreign yoke. It will be the task of this party to create a new, independent and sovereign state in India. "


From Chapter Five, Subhas Chandra Bose as I knew Him - Kitty Kurti....

....THE days pass quickly. Mr. Bose is coming this evening. Both of us are... looking forward to seeing this remarkable man whom the English call a terrorist but whom we regard as a most civilized, if not a saintly man.

The bell rings and Alex goes to open the door. I hear laughter, greetings, the exchange of friendly words. And now our friend enters the living room. Again I feel the aura spreading. A great and rare pleasure takes hold of me : I can't help admiring the tall upright figure, the reserved posture that suggests great spiritual discipline, and the extremely intelligent expression of the eyes that seem to absorb and understand so much more than is usually given to one.

We sit down at the table and enjoy the light meal, the easy talk, the relaxing half hour. Then our friend produces a small yellow pamphlet bearing the title: "The Presidential Speech of Sj. Subhas Bose at the Third Indian Political Conference at Friar's Hall, London, on Saturday, June 10, 1933."

Before he starts reading from it, he makes a few introductory remarks about the social and political map of India as well as the mechanics of British rule. Then he explains what India means economically and politically to Britain and, finally, proceeds to tell us briefly about the beginnings of Nationalism in India.

"The National Congress," he explains, "was founded in 1885 by Allan O. Hume, an Englishman, and others, to establish a sense of national political consciousness and a feeling of unity with Great Britain. Its original purpose was to gradually make India a British dominion by constitutional means.

"In 1917 Gandhiji called for Swaraj, i.e. complete independence, or self-rule. Satyagraha, non-violence and non-cooperation, became the chief weapon of the party. The first nonviolent disobedience campaign was used on a large scale in 1919... In 1925 Gandhi became the leader. The party took on the aspects of a mass organization that fought with foresight and decision for self-rule. Satyagraha proved a most effective weapon of fighting government in order to gain independence ; likewise home manufacture and the boycott of foreign goods."

Gandhi and Bose
Gandhi & Bose, 1938

"You read," he added with a serious smile, "of Gandhiji's imprisonment for violating the state monopoly by publicly extracting salt from sea water. Yes indeed, civil disobedience as a technique to achieve our national goals is working wonders."

He paused for a moment, then continued: "Strength and confidence are growing steadily within the masses, and there is no doubt in my mind that we shall be victorious. We must become firmer, however, must introduce more radical methods, must become more radical altogether. And I believe we are getting there!" he added with a quiet smile.  "And it must be clearly understood that, first, we have to use more radical weapons in order to fight government successfully; and second, that once we have gained self-government we must introduce drastic social reforms in order to speed up progress and recovery in all walks of life." He stopped, gave us a searching look, opened his pamphlet and started lecturing to us, partly following the text, partly speaking extemporaneously�warming up to his subject more and more as he went along.

" (1) With regard to our goal, is a compromise between England and India ultimately possible?

(2) With regard to our method, can India win political freedom by following the path of periodical compromise and without adopting an uncompromisingly militant plan of action ?

To the first question I say that such a compromise is not possible. A political compromise is possible only when there is some community of interest. But in the case of England and India there are no common interests which can make a compromise between the two nations possible and desirable, as we shall see from the following :

(1) There is no social kinship between the two countries.

(2) There is hardly anything in common between the cultures of India and of Britain.

(3) From the economic standpoint, India is to Britain a supplier of raw materials and a consumer of British manufactures. On the other hand, India aspires to be a manufacturing country, so that she could become self-contained in the matter of manufactured goods and could also export not only raw materials but manufactured goods as well.

(4) India is at present one of the biggest markets for Great Britain. The industrial progress of India therefore is against Britain's economic interests.

(5) India affords empolyment at present to young Britishers in the army and in the civil administration in India. But this is against India's interests and India wants her own children to occupy all these posts.

(6) India is sufficiently strong and has enough resources to be able to stand on her own legs without the help or patronage of Great Britain. In this respect the position of India is quite different from that of the dominions.

(7) India has so long been exploited and dominated by Britain that there is a genuine apprehension that in the event of a political compromise between the two countries, India will stand to lose and Britain will stand to gain. Moreover, India has developed an "inferiority complex" as a result of her long servitude, and this "inferiority complex" will remain as long as India is not completely independent of Britain.

(8) India wants the status of a free country, with her own flag, her own army, navy and defence force, and with her own ambassadors in the capitals of free countries. Without this invigorating and life-giving freedom, Indians will never be able to rise to the full stature of their manhood. Independence is to India a psychological, ethical, cultural, economic and political necessity. It is an essential condition of the new awakening in India. Independence, which India aspires after to-day, is not 'Dominion Home Rule,' as we find in Canada or Australia, but full national sovereignty as obtains in the United States of America or in France.

(9) As long as India remains within the British Empire she will not be able to safeguard the interest of other Indians who have settled in other parts of the Empire.

...The basis of a compromise between India and Great Britain does not exist. Consequently, if the leaders of the Indian people disregard this fundamental fact and effect a compromise with the British Government, the arrangement will not last. Like the "Gandhi-Irwin Pact" of March, 1931, it will be short-lived. The social, economic and political forces working within India are such that no peace is possible between India and Britain till her legitimate aspirations are fulfilled.

The only solution of the present deadlock that is possible is through the attainment of India's freedom. This implies the defeat of the British Government in India. How India can win freedom for herself, we shall now have to consider.

With regard to the second question�namely, the question of the method we should adopt�I may say that the country has already rejected the path of periodical compromise. The support which the country gave to the Indian National Congress was due to the fact that the Congress promised to win independence for India and promised to fight on and on till this was accomplished. Therefore, in determining our future policy and plan, we should rule out, once for all, the prospect of periodical compromise.

The Congress hoped to win political freedom for India by paralysing the Civil administration of the country through non-co-operation and Civil Disobedience. It is necessary now to analyse the causes of our failure in doing so in order that we may be more successful in future.

The position of the British Government in India to-day in relation to the Indian National Congress can be compared to a well-armed and well-equipped fortress standing in the midst of territory which has suddenly become hostile. Now, however well-equipped a fortress may be, it requires for its safe existence for all time a friendly civil population living around and near it. But even if the surrounding population become hostile, the fortress has nothing to fear in the immediate future, so long as the people round about it do not make an active attempt to seize the fortress. The objective of the Indian National Congress is to get possession of the fortress now occupied by the British Government. Towards this end the Congress has succeeded in winning over the sympathy and support of the population living round about and near the fortress. This is the first stage of the campaign from the Indian side. For the next stage of the campaign, either or both of the following steps can be taken :

(1) A complete economic blockade of the fortress, which will starve into submission the army occupying the fortress.

(2) An attempt to capture the fortress by force of arms.

In the history of war both these methods have been tried with success. In the last great war Germany was the victor from a military point of view, but she was starved into submission through the economic blockade of the Allies. This blockade was possible because the Allies had control over the seas and over the lines of communication leading into Germany.

In India no attempt has been made to storm the enemy's citadel by force of arms, as the Congress policy has been pledged to nonviolence. The economic blockade, though attempted in a general way by the Congress, has failed for three reasons:

(a) All the external communications leading to India are controlled by the Government.

(b) Owing to defective organization inside India the lines of communication from the seaports to the interior and from one part of the country to another are not controlled by the Congress, but by the Government.

(c) The machinery for collecting revenue�on which depends the existence of the British Government in India�has not been seriously impaired. There have been deficits in most provinces, no doubt, but the Government have been able to make up either by increased taxes or by borrowing.

It should always be remembered that a nationalist movement can succeed in paralysing a foreign Government only when either or all of the following steps are taken:

(1) Prevention of tax and revenue collection.

(2) Adoption of measures whereby help from other quarters�whether financial or military�may not reach the Government in times of distress.

(3) Winning over the sympathy and support of the present supporters of the British Government in India�that is, of the Army, the Police and the Civil Servants�so that orders given by the Government for crushing the movement will not be carried out.

(4) Actual attempt to seize power by force of arms.

The last step has to be ruled out, because the Congress is pledged to non-violence. But it is nevertheless possible to paralyse the present administration and compel it to submit to our demands if we can adopt the following measures :

(1) Prevent collection of tax and revenue.

(2) Through labour and peasant organization prevent all kinds of help from reaching the Government when they are in difficulty.

(3) Win the sympathy and support of the Government's own supporters by means of our superior propaganda.

If these three measures are adopted, the Governmental machinery can be thrown out of gear. In the first place, they will have no money to meet the cost of administration. In the second place, the orders they may issue will not be carried out by their own officers. And, lastly, help sent to the Government from other quarters will not reach them.

There is no royal road to success in winning political freedom. The above three measures have to be adopted in part or in whole if victory is to be achieved. The Congress has failed, simply because it has not succeeded in giving effect satisfactorily to any of the above three measures.

The peaceful meetings, processions and demonstrations that have been held during the last few years, in spite of the official ban, show a spirit of defiance no doubt and also cause some annoyance to the Government, but they do not yet menace the very existence of the Government.

In spite of all our demonstrations and in spite of seventy thousand persons having gone to prison since January, 1932, the Government can still claim:

(1) That their army is quite loyal;

(2) that their police forces are quite loyal;

(3) that the Civil administration (collection of revenue and taxes, administration of law courts and of prisons, etc.) is still unimpaired; and

(4) that the life and property of Government officials and of their supporters are still quite safe.

And the Government can still boast that they do not care if the general population in India today are passively hostile. As long as the people do not actively menace the Government and their supporters, either with arms or through an effective economic blockade, the present Government can continue to exist for an indefinite period, in spite of our non-cooperation and civil disobedience.

During the last decade there has been an unprecedented awakening all over India. The placid self-complacence of the people is gone. The whole country is throbbing with new life and is yearning for freedom. Fear of official frowns, of imprisonment, and of baton charges has disappeared. The prestige of the British has reached its lowest ebb. There is no question of goodwill on the Indian side towards the British Government. The moral basis of British rule has been demolished, and it rests today on the naked sword and on nothing else. And India has managed to capture the imagination of the world.

But the fact has to be faced that "free India" is still a thing of the future! The intentions of the British Government with regard to Indian aspirations as embodied in the recently published White Paper show clearly that they are not yet prepared to part with an iota of real power.

Apparently the British Government think that they are strong enough to resist successfully the demand of the Indian people. And if they are strong enough to resist us, it clearly shows that the most strenuous efforts of the Indian people since 1920 have failed to bring us appreciably nearer to our goal of "Swaraj".

India therefore must resolve to launch another fight on a bigger and more intensive scale.

The intellectual and practical preparation for this must be scientific and must rest on objective foundations. The intellectual preparation for this task will entail the following measures :

(i) A scientific examination of the strong and weak points of British Rule in India in relation to the Indian people.

(ii) A scientific examination of the strong and weak points of the Indian people in relation to British Rule in India.

(iii) A scientific examination of the rise and fall of empires in other parts of the world.

(iv) A scientific examination of the history of freedom movements in other lands and a study of the gradual evolution of freedom in all its aspects in this world.

When this study is completed�and not till then�shall we be able to form a conception of the magnitude of the task that awaits us.

Our next requirement will be a party of determined men and women who will take upon themselves the task of delivering India�no matter what the suffering and sacrifice involved may be. Whether India will be able to free herself and to live once again as a free nation will depend on whether she can produce the requisite leadership. Her ability to produce the requisite leadership will be the test of her vitality and of her fitness for "Swaraj".

(Thereafter) Our next requirement will be a scientific plan of action and a scientific programme for the future. The method of action beginning from to-day and right up to the conquest of power will have to be visualized and planned out in detail as far as humanly possible. The movement of the future must therefore be made to rest on an objective and scientific foundation in keeping with the facts of history and of human nature. Hitherto, too much appeal has been made to "inner light" and to subjective feeling in guiding a political campaign which is after all an objective movement.

Besides a plan of action which will lead up to the conquest of power, we shall require a programme for the new state when it comes into existence in India.

Nothing can be left to chance. The group of men and women who will assume the leadership of the fight with Great Britain will also have to take up the task of controlling, guiding and developing the new state and, through the state, the entire Indian people. If our leaders are not trained for post-war leadership also there is every possibility that after the conquest of power a period of chaos will set in and incidents similar to those of the French Revolution of the 18th century may be repeated in India. It should therefore be clear that the generals of the war-time period in India will have to carry through the whole programme of post-war reform in order to justify to their countrymen the hopes and aspirations that they will have to rouse during the fight. The task of these leaders will not be over till a new generation of men and women are educated and trained after the establishment of the new state and this new generation are able to take complete charge of their country's affairs.

The party of the future will have to part company with the erstwhile leaders of the Indian people, because there is no possibility that the latter will be able to adopt the principles, programme, policy and tactics that will be required for the next phase of the grim fight with Great Britain. Rarely in history�if ever at all�do we find the leaders of one epoch figuring as the leaders of the next. And it is no discredit to them if they fail. The times always produce the required men, and this will happen in India also.

The new party will have to play the role of the fighters and leaders in the "national" campaign against Great Britain and also the role of the architects of new India, who will be called upon to undertake the work of post-war social reconstruction. The Indian movement will have two phases. In the first phase the fight will be a "national" fight against Great Britain�though the leadership will be in the hands of the "party of the people" representing Indian labour and inter-class fight under the leadership of the same party, and during this phase of the campaign�all privileges, distinctions and vested interests will have to be abolished, so that a reign of perfect equality (social, economic and political) may be established in our country. India will be called upon to play an important role in world-history in the near future. We all know that in the seventeenth century England made a remarkable contribution to world-civilization through her ideas of constitutional and democratic Government. Similarly, in the eighteenth century, France made the most wonderful contribution to the culture of the world through her ideas of liberty, equality and fraternity. During the nineteenth century Germany made the most remarkable gift through her Marxian philosophy. During the twentieth century Russia has enriched the culture and civilization of the world through her achievement in proletarian revolution, proletarian government and proletarian culture. The next remarkable contribution to the culture and civilization of the world, India will be called upon to make.

It is sometimes urged by our British friends that the British public have an open mind on the Indian question and that we would gain much if we could win their sympathy by means of our propaganda. I do not, however, think that the British public have an open mind on the Indian question. It is not humanly possible.

In India, administration and exploitation go hand in hand, and it is not exploitation by a group of British capitalists and financiers, but the exploitation of India by Great Britain as a whole. The British capital that has been invested in India has not come from the upper classes alone, but also from the middle classes, and probably to some extent from the poorer classes as well. Further, even the working classes of Great Britain cannot afford to see the Indian textile industry thrive at the expense of Lancashire. That is why India has not been made a party question by the great political parties in Great Britain. That is why the policy of brutal repression and persecution was continued in India even when there was a Labour Government in power in London.

 I know that there are individual members in the Labour Party who rise above selfish consideration and who are sincere in their desire to do justice to India. But however much we may admire them and however cordial our personal relations with them may be, the fact remains that they are not in a position to influence party decisions. And, judging from our past experience, we may say that we cannot expect any improvement in the Indian situation through a change of Government in Downing Street.

Since politics and economics are inextricably bound up together in India�and since British Rule in India exists not only for political domination but also for economic exploitation�it follows that political freedom is primarily an economic necessity to us.

The problem of giving bread to our starving millions�the problem of clothing and educating them�the problem of improving the health and physique of the nation�all these problems cannot be solved so long as India remains in bondage. To think of economic improvement and industrial development before India is free politically, is to put the cart before the horse. We are frequently asked as to what will be the internal condition of India when British Rule disappears from our country.

Thanks to British propaganda, India has been portrayed before the world as a country full of internal conflicts in which peace has been preserved by the might of England. India certainly had her internal conflicts in the past, as every other country has. But these conflicts were solved by the people themselves. That is why Indian history from the most ancient times abounds in instances of mighty empires like that of Asoka the Great, under the aegis of which peace and prosperity reigned throughout the land. But the conflicts of to-day are permanent in character and they are artificially engineered by the agents of the third party in the country. And I have no doubt in my mind that real unity among the Indian people can never be achieved as long as British Rule exists in India.

Though we cannot expect anything from any political party in England, it is exceedingly important and necessary for our purpose that we should organize international propaganda on behalf of India.

This propaganda must be both positive and negative. On the negative side we must refute the lies that are told about India consciously or unconsciously by the agents of Great Britain throughout the world. On the positive side we must bring to the notice of the world the rich culture of India in all its aspects as well as India's manifold grievances. It goes without saying that London must be an important centre for this international propaganda. It is to be regretted that till quite recently the Indian National Congress did not realize the value and the necessity of international propaganda. But we now hope that our countrymen in the days to come will realize in an increasing degree the value of international propaganda.

There is probably nothing which I admire so much about the Britisher as his skill in propaganda. A Britisher is a born propagandist, and to him propaganda is more powerful than howitzers. There is one other country in Europe which has learnt this lesson from Britain, and that is Russia. And it is not surprising that Britain cordially dislikes Russia and is even afraid of her for having discovered the secret of her (Britain's) success.

There is so much of hostile propaganda carried on in this world against India by British agents that if only we could state the real condition of India and her grievances against Britain�we would at once get a large measure of international sympathy. I will now mention some of the points in connection with which active propaganda is necessary throughout the world:

(1) Ill-treatment of political prisoners in India and the transportation of long-term political prisoners to the unhealthy Andaman Islands, where recently two of them died as a result of hunger strike.

(2) Extreme vindictiveness displayed by the Government in the matter of issuing passports to Indians. (It is not known outside India that innumerable Indians have been refused passports for going out of India, while Indians living abroad have been refused passports for returning to India).

(3) The systematic practice of aerial bombing in India, particularly in the North-Western Frontier, for terrorizing helpless villagers.

(4) The strangling of India's indigenous industries�including the ship-building industry�by Great Britain during her rule in India.

(5) The popular and widespread oppcsition in India to any scheme of Imperial Preference, including the Ottawa Pact. (The world should be informed that India never accepted the Ottawa Pact, but that it was forced down our unwilling throats.)

(6) The popular opposition in India to any proposal for a tariff truce, since India urgently wants protection for her infant industries.

(7) The fixing of the exchange rate arbitrarily by England in a manner that is prejudicial to India's interests. The world should know how Great Britain has robbed India of crores of rupees merely through the manipulation of the exchange rate.

(8) Further, the world should be told that Great Britain has ,saddled India with a heavy public debt for which Indian nationalists refuse to accept any responsibility. As early as in 1922 the Indian National Congress at its Gaya session gave notice to the Government that it would refuse to accept any responsibility for this public debt. It is a matter of common knowledge that the debt was incurred not for India's benefit, but for the interests of British imperialists.

It is exceedingly important and necessary that some propaganda should be conducted on behalf of India at the World Economic Conference and the Disarmament Conference. A carefully prepared memorandum stating the economic grievances of India against Great Britain and giving expression to the real voice of India on economic questions should be placed before every member of the World Economic Conference.

With regard to the Disarmament question, India should tell the world that British sincerity should be put to the test by making India a test case. In a land where the people have been disarmed for nearly 80 years, where the entire population is altogether emasculated, what justification is there for spending more than 50 per cent of the central revenues over military expenditure ?

I feel sure that if all the facts in this connection are brought to the notice of the world, there will be an unanswerable case against England.

Whenever the question of India is brought up before a World Congress or a World Conference the usual plea raised by the protagonists of Great Britain is that India is a domestic question so far as the British Empire is concerned. This is a position which Indians should refuse to accept any longer. If India is a member of the League of Nations, surely she is a nation and has all the rights and privileges of a nation. I know that we shall have to fight hard and fight strenuously before we can alter the present status of India in international affairs. Nevertheless it is imperative that the attempt should begin without delay.

It is not necessary for me to go into a detailed consideration of the contents of the White Paper, as they do not deserve such an examination. I shall only say that the proposal of Federation with the Princes is an impossible and unacceptable proposition. We shall certainly work for the unification of the whole of India for a federation of the Indian people. But we cannot accept the present proposal of substituting the Princes for the present official bloc in the Legislatures, in order to satisfy the whims of Mr. Ramsay MacDonald or of Lord Sankey. And it is futile to talk of "freedom" and "safeguards" in the same breath. If we are to have freedom there can be no safeguards, for freedom itself is the only safeguard that we can have. To talk of "safeguards in the interest of India" is but a species of self-deception.

It is not possible to say to-day when we shall get a constitution which will give some substantial power to the people. But there can be no doubt that when we do get that power the people will insist on having the right to bear arms. They also will say to the world and particularly to the British Government: "Disarm, or we shall arm."  

While voluntary disarming is a great blessing to this sorrow-stricken world, the forcible disarming of a conquered people for nearly 80 years, as we see in India, is one of the greatest of curses. And the much-vaunted Pax Britannica which we see in India is not the peace of a healthy life, but peace of the graveyard.

I have already referred to the dual role which the new party will be called upon to play if it is to justify its existence. In order to be able to seize political power and thereafter use it for the creation of a new social order, it is necessary that our people should be trained for the task from today. I have no doubt in my own mind that in solving the problems of our national life, when India is free, original thought and fresh experiment will be necessary, if we are to achieve success. The experience of the older generation and of the teachers of the past will not be of much avail.

The socio-economic conditions of free India will be altogether different from what prevails now. In industry, agriculture, land-tenure, money, exchange, currency, education, prison administration, public health, etc., new theories and novel experiments will have to be devised. We know, for example, that in Soviet Russia a new scheme of national (or political) economy has been evolved in keeping with the facts and conditions of the land. The same thing will happen to India. In solving our economic problem, Pigou and Marshall will not be of much help.

Already in Europe and in England old theories in every department of life are being challenged and new theories are taking their places. As an instance, let me mention the new theory of Free Money, evolved by Silvio Gesell, which has been put into operation in a small community in Germany and proved thoroughly satisfactory. The same thing will happen in India. Free India will not be a land of capitalists, landlords and castes. Free India will be a social and a political democracy. The problems of free India will be quite different from those of present-day India, and it will therefore be necessary to train men from to-day who will be able to visualize the future, to think in terms of free India and solve those problems in anticipation. In short, it will be necessary to educate and train from to-day the future cabinet of free India.

Every great movement starts from small beginnings, and so it will be in India. Our first task will be to gather together a group of men and women who are prepared to undergo the maximum sacrifice and suffering which will be necessary if we are to attain success in our mission. They must be whole-time workers�"Freedom-intoxicated" missionaries�who will not be discouraged by failure or deterred by difficulty of any kind and who will vow to work and strive in the service of the great cause till the last day of their lives.

When these "morally prepared" men and women are available they must be given the requisite intellectual training, so that they may be able to realize the magnitude of their task. They will have to make a scientific and critical study of the freedom movement in other lands, so that they may understand how similar problems have been solved in other countries, in spite of similar difficulties. Side by side with this they must also make a scientific and critical study of the rise and fall of empires in other ages and climes. Armed with this knowledge, they should proceed to make a scientific examination of the strong and weak points of the British Government in India in relation to the Indian people and a similar scientific examination of the strong and weak points of the Indian people in relation to the British Government.

When this intellectual training is completed we shall have a clear notion of the plan of action that will be necessary for the conquest of power and also of the programme that should be put into operation when the new state is brought into existence after the seizure of power. It is thus evident that we want a party of determined men and women who have consecrated their life to the great cause, who have had the necessary intellectual training and who have formed a clear conception of the work they will have to do before the conquest of power and thereafter.

It will be the task of this party to deliver India from foreign yoke. It will be the task of this party to create a new, independent and sovereign state in India.

It will be the task of this party to execute the entire programme of post-war socio-economic reconstruction. It will be the task of this party to create a new generation of men and women in India fully trained and equipped for the battle of life. Last, but not least, it will be the task of this party to lead India on to her honoured place among the free nations of the world.

Let this party be called the SAMYAVADI-SANGHA. It will be a centralized and well-disciplined All-India Party�working amongst every section of the community. This party will have its representatives working in the Indian National Congress, in the All-India Trade Union Congress, in the Peasants' organization, in the women's organizations, in the youth organizations, in the student organizations, in the depressed classes' organizations, and, if necessary in the interests of the great cause, in the sectarian or communal organizations as well. The different branches of the party working in different spheres and in different places must be under the control and guidance of the central committee of the party.

This party will work in co-operation with any other party that may be working towards the same end, in whole or in part. It will not bear enmity towards any individual or party, but at the same time it will look upon itself as specially called upon to play the role in history that has been described above.

In addition to the activities of the SAMYAVADI-SANGHA that we have described above, branches of the SANGHA should be started all over the country for carrying on a general propaganda about the ideals, aims and objects of the new party. The SAMYAVADISANGHA will stand for all-round freedom for the Indian people�that is, for social, economic and political freedom. It will wage a relentless war against bondage of every kind till the people can become really free. It will stand for political independence for India, so that a new state can be created in free India on the basis of the eternal principles of justice, equality and freedom. It will stand for the ultimate fulfilment of India's mission, so that India may be able to deliver to the world the message that has been her heritage through the past ages."

After he had read his speech, he asked us whether we had understood the issues involved, and would we feel free to ask questions if there were any doubts in our minds.

Impressed, we thanked him for his instructive speech. It was clear to us now that the basic grievances towards the British were economic exploitation, and political bondage to an unbelievable degree, and that the time had come for a definite change.

We were also aware of the fact that progressive groups and parties in Great Britain shared our opinion, but could do little or nothing about the state of affairs. The world scene was dominated by reactionism in Britain, as in most countries of Europe, and only a war could change this situation, and free the subdued nations and colonies.

 

 

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