Statement of Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee before the Bengal Legislative Assembly February 12th, 1943

Mr. Deputy Speer, Sir, may I with your permission make a statement on the opening day of the Legislative Assembly dealing with the circumstances which led to my resignation as a minister. It is all the more necessary that I should do so, since my resignation has not been due to any want of confidence in me either by the House or the party to which I have the honour to belong. In fact, it has not been due also to any difference of opinion either with the Chief Minister or any of my colleagues on any question of public importance. As members of the House are aware, I felt compelled to resign, first, because I found that the continued policy of the British Government and the Government in this country was to ignore the claims of Indians to fuller political power, to hamper good government consistent with the true interests of the people and to weaken the forces of people's defence against enemy aggression. It is not my intention to reiterate the points which I had mentioned in my letter of resignation to the Governor dealing with the all-lndia political situation. That letter, along with several other documents, true to the Hitlerian traditions of the government of this province, today form part of proscribed literature. A minister' s accusation of autocratic misrule need not be replied to with facts and figures, but must be suppressed under arbitrary rule - what grander conception could the British authorities hold before us of responsible government in this country?

Suffice it to say that I definitely regard the authorities as responsible for the present deadlock in India. The Indian public on the whole can possibly have no sympathy with any foreign aggressor. The reason is simple and straightforward. We do not want a change of masters. We would like to see our country attain as speedily as possible that political status which is its birthright. There in no sense in our asking to be rid of British control if we simultaneously wish to place ourselves under a fresh foreign yoke. The deadlock however suits the reactionary elements that dominate over the Indian administration and it is manifest that the British Government has no desire to part with power in India. Excuse after excuse is trotted out for holding India under its heels against the will of her people. Whatever British protagonists may say, Government stands unmasked as regards its attitude towards India, in this respect, we see no difference between its greed and the greed of the Axis Powers to control and dominate over weaker territories for their own selfish ends. The reign of repression that we have witnessed in India since August last has been directed not only against every form of nationalist activities calculated to mobilize the will-power of Indians to throw off a foreign rule that they intensely dislike. As our British friends from a high moral attitude sometimes rebuke Hitler, so let us remind our masters that the history of all oppressed countries has for ever shown that the greater the repression by the oppressor, the more intense is the urge of the oppressed to unite and struggle for their rights. Sufferings of unarmed people at the hands of armed oppressors only elevate the former and bring the latter into contempt before the bar of world opinion. The may for a time overawe the sufferers. But hatred and bitterness deepen, and reaction comes sooner than the upholders of the rule of 'might is right' very often imagine, which completely uproots the loose and shaky foundation on which their government rests.

It was not however merely on this all-India policy and its repercussions in Bengal that I felt compelled to resign, but there were other circumstances which rendered it impossible for me to continue in office, consistent with my self-respect. For the first time in the history of this province, representatives of large sections of Hindus, Muslims and other communities combined to work the provincial constitution. I do not ignore that the opposition today represents a considerable section of Muslim opinion in Bengal, and to me personally nothing would be of greater satisfaction than to see a combination of all the India elements in the legislature, on the basis of a common programme, to fight for the rights of the people in this critical period of the history of Bengal. In any case, even the combination that we had formed under the leadership of Mr. A.K. Fazlul Haq proved something too bitter to be swallowed by a section of permanent officials in this province and by no less a person than the head of the provincial administration himself. British rule thrives in the eyes of the outer world on constant strifes between Hindus and Muslims, and even a partial unity on the part of members belonging to these two great communities served as a nightmare to those bureaucrats who held in their hands the real powers of administration.

Let me at this stage briefly refer to the fundamental features of the constitution that governs the administration of the province. Indian ministers are trotted out as Mr. Amery's showboys when foreign public opinion is to be soothed as regards the grand appearance of provincial autonomy in India. The world is reminded that the destinies of millions of Indians are in the hands of Indian ministers responsible to the legislature. The true fact however is that while ministers have large responsibilities and have to justify the conduct and administrative acts of themselves and of irresponsible bureaucrats before the legislature and the public, they have very little of real power, which lies vested in the autocratic hands of the Governor of the province concerned. And the Governor has at his beck and call the services of a small coterie of unsympathetic and unimaginative civil servants, utterly oblivious of the real interests of the people of the province. Apart from important sections of the Government of India Act which entitle the Governor to act in his discretion or in the exercise of his individual judgement, Section 52 clothes him with special responsibilities which can the utilised by a reactionary Governor, acting in close association with his chosen officers, in a manner highly detrimental to the interests of the people. And if I may pause here for a moment and ask what guarantee there is that in Indian province will get a Governor who has the capacity, the integrity and the willingness to act as a constitutional head, ever ready to establish healthy conventions, broadening the base of the constitution, and not as an arbitrary dictator or as an interfering busybody, the answer is that the guarantee is nil. If I ask again that protection that people of an Indian province have to save themselves from the clutches of a Governor and his happy family of selected civil servants, the answer is that the protection is nil, It is common knowledge that a Governor of an Indian province is selected not always on the ground of merit, or breadth of outlook, but very often for personal considerations and political patronage. Thus a man who by reason of his administrative and personal qualities may not even be competent to become a head clerk in Clive Street or who by reason of his capacity for carrying on intrigues and setting one against the other may at best adorn a modest chair in Elysium Row, finds himself raised to the giddy heights of Governorship of an Indian province. Shielded as he is from public criticism, forgetful of his own obvious limitations, he is encouraged to do ants behind the scene which render him positively dangerous to the peace and tranquillity of the province under his charge.

During my experience as a minister I found to my utter surprise, that in many vital matters affecting the rights and liberty of the people, the advice tendered by the ministers was invariably subject to revision in the light of the counsel tendered by the more trusted members of the services whose omnicompetence was almost of a divine character. Let me make it clear beyond dispute that I do not charge public servants, as a class, with having failed to respect the spirit of provincial autonomy in this province. I know of officers, British and Indian, whose services have been of inestimable value to the province. My charge is directed against a coterie of officials forming the Fourth Estate of the Real Estate, who today exercise a malign influence over the affairs of the province, and according to the language of the Defense of India Rules, are dangerous men. I cannot possibly discuss all the details of the provincial administration in respect of which the farcical state of a Government within a Government has been the main characteristic. But such matters related not only to the department of law and order but also to other departments. The keynote of the policy of interference was that people of the land were not to be trusted, and power, whenever possible, must remain in the hands of chosen British officials enjoying the confidence of the Governor and his coterie.

In the matter of release of political prisoners, the ministers were anxious to pursue a policy which while fully consistent with the present war emergency would at the same time help to mobilise public opinion of all shades in favour of the defence of the province against Axis aggression. Whether the recommendations affected the general state policy or individual cases systematic obstruction came from the permanent officials, whom ministers could not remove, ultimately backed by the support of the head of the provincial administration. The revised scheme of Home Guards approved by the Council of Ministers, calculated to lay the foundation of a people's army, irrespective of caste, community, or politics, was summarily rejected by the Governor in as much as the stalwars of the department of law and order were not prepared to trust Bengalis to unite in the defence of their own motherland or in maintaining internal security. The present situation regarding food and supply of essential commodities has taken an acute turn. But here also the interfering hands of the Governor and the policy of his own selected officials whom the ministry was bound to accept, whether it liked them or not, have been mainly responsible for the lack of co-ordination and for the failure to draw up a comprehensive scheme for the relief of the people at large.

When the political disturbances due to the Congress decision in August had not broken out, the policy of combating the movement was outlined by the Government of India, and such is the nature of the responsible Government functioning in this unfortunate land that, that communication was not allowed to be placed before the Council of Ministers inspite of repeated demands made by the Chief Minister himself. A coterie of public servants could however see this document and they were ready with plans and proposals. But ministers were allowed access to it only after the policy had been given effect to by the Government of India on 9th August last. In the matter of appointments, an Indian Civil Servant, who was a Bengali, could easily be superseded by the decision of the Governor in spite of ministerial advice, on the plea that all