Sri Aurobindo

Bande Mataram

Calcutta, July 1^st, 1907

Part Four. Bande Mataram under the Editorship of of Sri Aurobindo (28 May – 22 December 1907)

Stand Fast

A temporary lull in the policy of repression adopted by the bureaucracy in dealing with Bengal has ceased and the surging waves are once again threatening to engulf the province. At Bagerhat the Subdivisional Conference will not be allowed to meet. At Barisal the worst scenes enacted during the early days of Fullerism are being repeated. Honour is not safe in East Bengal, nor is the person. And a fresh outburst of repressive measures is likely to take place in West Bengal as the result of Sir Andrew Fraser’s visit to Simla. And Mr. Newman of the Englishman is persistently pressing the Government “to arrest and report (deport?) certain persons and shut up certain printing presses in Calcutta”. The reason is not far to seek. Now is the time to book orders for the Puja season. Swadeshi must be crushed now or the British capitalists’ opportunity to reap a golden harvest will be lost,– for full one year at least. Last year we said the same thing, and this year we can easily see through the trick. Let us then be prepared for a fresh outburst of Fullerism in United Bengal and organize our resources to withstand it. Let us stand fast as the rock which resists the billow and the sky, determined to do our duty according to the lights granted us,– to live for the regeneration of the country and die, if need be, for the cause. Repressive measures will only add to our endeavours to serve the cause unmindful of consequences – trials and tortures will only make us firm in our determination. It is always darkest before dawn. And if we only persist, and now is the time for us to do so, the darkness that envelops the country now will in no time disappear before the dawning day that will illumine not only India but the entire East.

This work was not included in SABCL, vol.1 and it was not compared with other editions.