Sri Aurobindo
Autobiographical Notes
and Other Writings of Historical Interest
Part Two. Letters of Historical Interest
1. Letters on Personal, Practical and Political Matters (1890–1926)
Letters and Telegrams to Political and Professional Associates 1906–1926
To Shyamsundar Chakravarty1
Pondicherry, March 12–1926
Dear Chakravarty,
I have been obliged to answer in the negative to your request by wire for contributions to the [“Bengalee”]2 on the occasion of your taking it over on behalf of the Nationalist party. I have been for a long time under a self-denying ordinance which precludes me from making any public utterance on politics and I have had to refuse similar requests from “Forward” and other papers. Even if it were not so, I confess that in the present confused state of politics I should be somewhat at a loss to make any useful pronouncement. No useful purpose could be served by any general statements on duties in the present situation. Everybody seems to be agreed on the general object and issue and the only question worth writing on is that of the best practical means for securing the agreed object and getting rid of the obstacles in the way. This is in any case a question for the practical leaders actually in the field and not for a retired spectator at a distance. It would be difficult for me even to pass an opinion on the rival policies in the field; for I have been unable to gather from what I have seen in the papers what is the practical turn they propose to give these policies or how they propose by them to secure Swaraj or bring it nearer. Please therefore excuse my refusal.
Yours sincerely,
Aurobindo Ghose.
1 12 March 1926. Shyamsundar Chakravarty (sometimes spelled Chakrabarti or Chakraborty) (1869–1932) was a nationalist writer and orator. When Sri Aurobindo was editor-in-chief of the nationalist newspaper Bande Mataram, Chakravarty was one of its main writers. Eighteen years later he became editor of the Bengalee, a moderate nationalist newspaper of Calcutta. At that time he wrote to Sri Aurobindo inviting him to send contributions. This letter is Sri Aurobindo’s reply. The original manuscript is not available. The text is reproduced from an old typed copy.
2 MS “Bengali”