Page:A Nation in Making.djvu/239

public impression and intensified the public agitation.

It is no exaggeration to say that it was the Government that set in motion the impulse that placed Mrs. Besant in the presidential chair of the Congress. That has often been the way of bureaucracies, which, living in an atmosphere of their own and out of touch with the popular forces, have failed to gauge their strength and volume and have eventually been overwhelmed by them. Could the, bureau- cracy have anticipated the agitation that Mrs. Besant's internment gave rise to, it would probably have left her alone. The Madras Government had indeed an Indian inember on the Executive Council. But he had been through life a bureaucrat, and his appoint- ment as a member of the Government failed to satisfy the one condition that Lord Morley had in view in his scheme of reform, namely, to place the highest Councils of the Government in touch with popular opinion. However that may be, the mistake was com- mitted. It was indeed a blunder; it was persisted in for a time; but, with the appointment of Mr. Montagu as Secretary of State for India, a new atmosphere was created in the India Office, and Mrs. Besant was released, attesting once again the growing power of public opinion in India. This was further illustrated in a curious fashion in Bengal by a side issue of some moment.

Mrs. Besant's internment brought to the forefront the question of passive resistance. With whom it originated it is difficult to say. Possibly the idea was Mr. Gandhi's; at any rate Pundit Madan Mohan Malavya came down to Calcutta and discussed it at an informal meeting of friends. I was not present, as I was at Ranchi for a change and rest. I understood that the sense of my Bengal friends was opposed to passive resistance as a political weapon to be now employed. At a meeting of the All-India Congress Com- mittee held soon after in Bombay, the question was discussed. As senior ex-President, I presided. There was a fairly strong party in favour of passive resistance. Our Bengal friends, however—the majority of them, at any rate—were all opposed to it. It was a difficult situation to deal with and at a private meeting we arranged our plans. When confronted with a trying situation I have always found it useful to have recourse to Fabian tactics. I suggested the postponement of the question, referring the matter to the Provincial Congress Committees. Time would thus be gained; the prevailing excitement would pass away; and reason and common sense would assert themselves. This proved to be a wise course to have followed.

Mr. (now Sir) Provash Chunder Mitter was entrusted with the