Sometime
back I wrote an article headed "A plea for Instruction through the
Vernaculars" (The Modern Review, May, 1912), in the columns of this
journal. I want in the course of this article to supplement some of the ideas
expressed in that article.
Funds for
the proposed Hindu University are being accumulated by and by, though as is the
case with every other movement, the agitation in connection with this
university has its reasons of slackness and comparative inertness. Whatever
forms the University may take, it will decidedly be an element of good, for it
is my firm conviction that activity, in whatever channel it is directed, is product
the of ultimate advantages. It may appear paradoxical, but even a base and
wicked form of activity eventually brings in its train more benefit than inert
laziness. We Indians are naturally a lot of "philosophical" people,
and far from having any danger of our activity being misdirected, we sadly lack
activity. Our sole aim should be the throwing off of our lethargy and setting
ourselves to work of any variety whatsoever.
For these
reasons I repeat that the Hindu University' will be an element of good, and its
promoters, notable among whom is Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya, are to be warmly
thanked and congratulated.
The
promoters of the scheme are bent upon securing for the University a charter
which will give it the hall-mark of other universities and make it a fit engine
for the turning out of graduates in arts and science. They may have as their
model the Muhammadan University. But if mere words and imitation have no charm,
the Hindu University can do more good than by aspiring to make it an exact
counterpart of the Muhammadan University. Men may be dazzled by the mention of
the words "University" and "National University” and crowds may
be attracted towards the electric luster shed forth by these terms. But the
fact remains that unless some clear turn is taken from the avowed aims and
objects of the existing universities, the Hindu University will merely add to
their number. What will the bare change embodied in having additional religious
education mean to the Hindu University for this easy though momentous object,
simple and cheap pro- visions may be made in every town of importance by having
Hindu Student's Associations. And if this is the worth of the whole change, in
what material rehash shall be given, and from him that hath not shall be taken
even the little that he hath-this is, in nutshell, the stern expression of the
law governing our anxiety at present and that law has governed society from the
very dawn of civilization. A vast amount of specialization is a necessary
condition of social growth: and that process confines some men to physical work
and some to brain work. The latter naturally get the lion's share is the
product of the toils of both, for the same reason that man, by his
intelligence, gets the most of Nature's bounties in spite of his inferiority in
physical strength to many other animals.
We esnestly
hope to nullify this unequal distribution without destroying the whole. In these days Brain power is to Body-power
what Credit is to Money: it immensely increases activity and velocity. Steam
engines and electrical machines are merely symbols of the enormous power of the
Brain.
An
Aristocracy of Brains, therefore, is and will continue to be, a necessity in
the complex structure of modern society. Democracy, in the fullest sense of the
term, is a mere dream. The middle class, roughly speaking, includes this
Aristocracy. However that fact, by itself is not a serious evil. Men, enter into this class, both from above
and from below. The middle class is so large in extent and has such a variety
of interests, that its aspirations practically coincide with those of the whole
nation, Those of its members who are actuated by a spirit of philanthropy and self-sacrifice,
benefit the whole nation by their efforts, even those in the direction of class
interests. A wave of new ideas first affects the middle class and then in
course of time is travels down to the masses. There is undoubtedly a certain
amount of conflict between the interests of various classes and perhaps as an
impetus it sets up useful purpose in the body politic, as friction does in the
physical world-but there is also a greater amount of harmony of interests. Thus
the various sectarian assemblies that have lately sprung up in India produce
within the spheres of their influence is spirit of caste consciousness but in doing
it they set up forces for education and thus serve a national purpose in making
men think for themselves.
The writer
after setting up the absurd theory that the 'rich, learned, idle men of the
parasitic class’ live on the earnings of the labourers and artisans, proceeds
to examine the Political, Educational and Socio-religious movements in India.
(1) As to
Political movements he maintains that the Congress, which is the typical one
has clamored chiefly for Government posts and Council seats, both of which
represent the aspirations of the middle class He ignores its other demands,
like the reduction of the salt-tax and the expansion of irrigation. The
Congress represents the whole nation and therefore it seeks to protect the
interests of all classes, from top bottom. It often confines itself to the
broader issues and the laying down of principles. But its feeders, the Provincials
Conferences, restrict them even to matters of local interest, most of which
pertain to agriculturists. Railway expansion, Irrigation, protection from the
oppression of the subordinate Revenue staff, Temperance, Free primary
education- these are the most important matters with which they deal, though
the members of these conferences belong mostly to the middle class. It is the
middle class men who attend to improvement in agriculture and help the holding
of agricultural demonstrations
(2) As for
Educational improvements the writer says the Dayanand College and the Fergusson
College exist for the middle class and enable the poor boys of that class to
find a means of living. He would have them impart primary education in villages
or more as preachers like the saints of old. Now every reasonable man will
admit that a highly trained body of men should impart the highest education
they are capable of, and to the greatest number of men in order to give the
most of the life in them; the modest work of village school instruction is for
humbler but equally noble men. The higher education imparted to the middle
class boys will, in time, produce village workers in the helm of education. The
Depressed Classes Mission, the Seva Sadan and the Social Service League are
examples of philanthropic work that is being done by the middle class for
giving light and relief to the literate and the afflicted, particularly among
the poor.
(3) As for
Socio-religious movements the writer says that the female education propaganda
and the various Samajis represent the intellectual needs of the middle class. Surely
to a great extent they do. But we should remember that every movement for
progress is a gain to the whole nation, however small is the sphere it finds
for work; it is sure to expand in scope in the fullness of time and to set up
sympathetic currents all around, often imperceptible though they are. Thus the
wave of female education has reached even the so-called 'backward' classes.
In
conclusion I would request the writer not to minimize the work of upheaval done
by sincere and earnest men is advocating a spirit of sympathy and brotherly
love towards the illiterate and the poor, to remember that sectarianism is the
first step towards national unity and is a useful factor of national activity
and to remember also that the Aristocracy of brains is an inevitable though
perhaps regrettable necessity in the organic structure of human society.
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