भारतीय इतिहास के ६ स्वर्णिम पृष्ठ (वीर सावरकर - विदेशी आक्रान्ताओं पर विजय गाथा)

and the ‘individual acts’ a screen to hide the Government anomalies in the hands of Mr. Bonarlaw. Botha is a prime minister and Redmond the constituted Leader of a Parliamentary Party and yet they released their own opponents and actual rebels, against their Governments. But the Congressmen think they are ‘responsible men’! The pariah that stands begging at the city gate is more responsible citizen and belongs to a higher caste than the Sheriff and the Chairman of the city itself! So, in the future resolultion and articles, this point should be clearly and definitely pressed that ‘political prisoners means all those undergoing imprisonment whether convicted or not, whether for individual acts or acts in general’ (I indeed fail to understand it altogether!)—for actions which proceeded from purely and admittedly political motives.’ The term political can be distinguished from private only by the criterion of the motive of the act and not by the act itself. No act is or can be by itself political. For, even a rebellion if that proceeds entirely for my own bread and butter is not political and ought not to create any sympathy in others, unless indeed my cause was only a case in hand and was fought out for establishing a general privilege or in vindicating of a general right. The thugs fought battles and were not political in the sense of sacrificing for the general good. But even the arson cases or flogging the prime ministers by a suffragist in England had been recognised by the British Government itself as political because the motive was neither personal aggrandisement nor revenge but the advancement of some social good. The means may be wrong, even criminal or not, the motive counts so far as the moral value, and here national aspect of the act is concerned. I write this with special stress for the reason that in case of an amnesty being granted—which I expect not—this point will be a stumbling block in our path, for the Government might adopt some anomalous distinction and interprete the term in any sense convenient to them but not just in itself. Try your best to make this clear to all you can approach and let our journalists and leaders keep this constantly before them. (a) Please do write to me in your letter whenever any of the provincial conferences have passed any resolution to this effect, whether last year’s Congress had deliberated on it in the subjects committee; how many papers write wholeheartedly about it, and if something could be done in this year’s Congress. When you write about it only mention those cases in which the general amnesty is asked and not only that of a few interned etc.