The Principles of Nihilism in India
By J. C. Little
By J. C. Little, Editor of the "Oriental Watchman" HE world has been aware for some time that India had not been quietly resting under the excellent rule of the English government. For several years beneath the calm exterior has been a seething discontent which has from time to time shown itself in mutterings of unrest and dissatisfaction with the existing form of government. Until the last few months this has confined itself to occasional criticisms of those in authority, and harmless and sometimes helpful suggestions as to how vexed questions might better be solved than by the means used by the authorities; but recently a new aspect has come over the situation between rulers and ruled in the vast empire of India. From occasional mutterings of unrest it has seemed but a step to an actual and open attitude of sedition toward the English government. One after another the editors of various vernacular publications and newspapers printed in English under native management have been summoned before courts and made to answer to the grave charge of printing violent and inflammatory articles calculated to foster a spirit of rebellion and anarchy, and to fill the minds of their readers with hatred toward the official representatives of the British government. It is true there has been a part of the Indian National movement known as the Moderates in distinction to the Extremists, but recent events have shown that the wild and reckless propaganda of the latter has not been without its results. A harvest of murder and outrage has resulted from the seed-sowing of disrespect and antagonism to the existing government. The Moderate portion of India's agitators, not realizing the tendency and true drift of the Extremists, have sought at all hazards to promote unity; and in so doing have allowed a venomous nihilism to develop itself under the garb of respectability. The trials of the leaders in the Muzaffarpore tragedy, as yet but just begun, have developed the fact that more than crack-brained enthusiasts are having a part in the anarchist program; that the funds for the propaganda have been supplied by sympathizers who have belonged to the highly respectable portion of India's citizens. But once nihilism has fastened itself upon a people, it is equally as deadly in India as in Russia or any other part of the world. Violence and Bloodshed at Muzaffarpore.
On Thursday evening, April 30, as two ladies were driving home from the local club at Muzaffarpore, a violent bomb explosion wrecked the carriage in which they were riding, killing one of them almost instantly and so injuring the other that she lived but a few hours after it. This revolting and ghastly outrage was perpetrated by two young Bengalis from Calcutta. It took place opposite the house of Mr. Kingsford, the Sessions Judge, and he escaped only because the carriage occupied by the ladies was mistaken for his which was similar in appearance. Mr. Kingsford had but a short time before moved from Calcutta, where he had made himself odious to the Extreme Nationalists by vigorously suppressing seditious newspapers, and sentencing a number of the editors and publishers to terms of imprisonment. But he was not the first victim singled out to suffer the vengeance of the assassins, for attempted murders have been uncomfortably frequent during the past few weeks. The first was an attempt several months ago to wreck the train of Sir Andrew Fraser, the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal, and it only failed because for some unaccountable reason the bomb did not explode till after the train had passed. Shortly after this an attempt was made by means of the bomb to kill the mayor and mayoress of Chandernagore, a small French settlement near Calcutta. The latest is the above tragedy of Muzaffarpore. Aside from these leading anarchist plots, several attempts have been made with firearms upon the lives of various missionaries and officials. Heretofore no clue has been found to the perpetrators of these foul deeds. But the last outrage has been followed by a close investigation which has resulted in the discovery of a wide-spread criminal conspiracy. A secret society with headquarters at Calcutta and with a full outfit well-equipped for the manufacture of explosives, and fully supplied with arms and ammunition, possessing maps and outlines of future plans, are, in brief, what has been discovered by the detective force. Over thirty persons have been arrested as leaders or accomplices in the recent anarchist attempts. That these are not all is evident from the wide propaganda which has been inaugurated and the extensive plans of the society, which the members arrested were not themselves able financially to carry on. England has guarded carefully her authority in India, and laws of the most drastic kind prevent the acquirement and use of firearms and explosives by the native, whether high or low. The propaganda of this society carried on for the last few months in spite of the vigilance of the authorities reveals a situation which at best is not at all reassuring. On the witness-stand one of the leaders stated that he made the confessions not alone for the purpose of shielding some who were innocent who might otherwise suffer, but also "that those who carry out this work might carry on the work with greater caution." Another, being asked why he was engaged in such work, replied, "Partly because we believed the people wanted it, and partly because we believed that this will teach the people to dare and die." One, on being asked where he got such revolutionary ideas, replied that it was partly from a study of Russian revolutionary history. From these statements it is evident that these young agitators are making a study of the methods of the Terrorists in Europe, and that their efforts have been seconded by others who have not yet been discovered but who will rise when these actors are off the stage to carry forward the work now begun. It is quite evident that the movement is more wide-spread than was at first realized, and will not be put down by the severe punishment of the few who have been captured in this discovery. Undoubtedly the British government will deal firmly with these cases. For a time the torrent of violence and bloodshed will be stayed. The time has not yet come in India for the elements of strife to be turned loose. God has a great work yet to be accomplished in the warning of the millions who sit in darkness. But a preparation is now under way which will fit India to have a part with the rest of the world in the great final struggle which shall usher in the great day of the Lord of Hosts. This movement toward liberty and this agitation toward something higher and better than they possess will give a mighty impulse to the last warning message to the Indian peoples, but it will also pave the way for that time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation, in which India shall have a part with the rest of the world, at the coming of the Son of Man in the clouds of heaven.