UNREST IN INDIA.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 13231, 26 September 1908, Page 5

UNREST IN INDIA.

THE CHANGELESS INDIAN.

No. 111.

Br Joseph McFabju-ob, of the V.M.C.A. (Five Months in India.) The Life, the Form, has Changed, but the Spirit is Changeless. - Beggars 1 beggars! —a land of beggars. Again and again the words are forced from the lips of the traveller in India, sometimes in pity, sometimes in disgust, as he beholds the people. But the visitor is wrong in his hasty conclusion—at least from the average native's point of view, for are there not only ,5,200,000 beggars? And these, these are not to be pitied nor to bo despised, for are they not considered the most virtuous among all India's millions? -he stranger has impressed upon him very vividly from tho time he enters until he leaves the land with the sunny, cloudless skies that "the poor always yo havo with you" (forty millions go through life on insufficient food); but long before he leaves he would fain add another proverb for old Hindustan—hoggars always ye have with you. Children arc trained from their infancy to bes>. Anyone would admit that they are apt students of tho art. They surround you; they follow, beseeching, holding out little black, dirty hands, then, striking that part of the body whero the hunger is supposed to be felt, they cry, "Sah t sah! ge penny, I'se hungry, sah! sahr Here is a woman with a deformed baby in her arms; -i-obabW somo in " human treatment has produced the desired results in the child for the mother's purpose of gaining money. She insists on your gazing at this little object of outraged childhood, and wails, "Sah-eb, sah-eb." There on the roadside, under an old bamboo umbrella, burns a smoking fire nipht and day, with a living object sitting besido it. An occasional movement gives evidence of life, yet it looks neither human nor divine: uncovered head, unclothed body—out for tho accumulated dirt of mafly years,—there it sits in bno unchanging position. The fierce noonday sun scorches everything around, still tho fire burns and smokes, for the principal object of this fire is found in-making the smoke continually enter the eyes, which have already almost lost their vision. You ask what it is, and anyone can tell you that this is the most holy or most perfect man in tho whole district of thousands. And what is he? ; A beggar. You escape from the outside world with its squalor and clamour and enter tho sanctuary—a Hindu temple. Ah, this is refreshing; the priest approaches- with a beautiful garland of flowers which ho hangs around your neck. Soon you discover ho knows a' little English. How much? Enough to beg. He, too, is a beggar, although a very proud one—a high-cast© Brahmin. There is no escape in Indie, from the beggar—no, not even in the temple. Glancing around the tempi© as you leave, 'you see representations cut in stone which have never been described on paper because they are too vile— bestialities of the lowest depth, which the priest is eager to show tho tourist. It is an appalling fact that over this area of 1,500,000 square miles 5,200,000 beggars aro fed from year to year. They are unwilling to work if they Can get others to labour for thorn.This is their hereditary profession, and" not as a necessity forced upon them by misfortune. .While these men consider it no disgrace to.beg. they consider it a dbhonour and great hardship to do honest work. These able-bodied _ot do not add ono grain of rice to the produce of th© country, whereas if they were employed in agricultural labour they would raise lakhs of mounds of grain. Many of them make themselves look so hideous, so disgusting, that poor people with not sufficient food for themselves give to them out of awful- fear of the consequences of refusing. •-'-■ Th* types of beggars in India are innumerable. There is on* now walking | upon a raised' platform before a Hindu ! temple in Benares. He is quite naked; Thousands of mem, women and children ga„© on him ©very day, for an endless procession of pilgrims is continually entering the great sacred city of the Ganges. While th© masses wash in tho river for cleansing, this man never washes, for h© is supposed to b© so holy inside that h© does not need to wash th« outside. Tho dirt of years and the frequent application of filth has transformed a human being into something too loathsome to describe. There is another, who has' deserted his family in South India only a few months- ago. He is at ■present living with one Brahmin friend and getting his food from another. A handsome, strong-looking man he -is, but he is begging his way to the sacred city in th© north, where, no doubt, he will find another platform. And his wifo and family? Well,, they may starve at home. Many, can-be seen walking from place to place with great, heavy, rusty chains around their exposed bodies; others clothe themselves with an assortinent-of old iron, wood, rags—a collection of rubbish such as would b© found in a refuse heap' of a cityj some-spend many" hours each day sitting on what looks exactly like an old harrow turned spikes heavenward, and while these will use 'without compunction such a modern implement to harrow their bodies, th© cultivators of th© land are so conservative that they will employ nothing but th© "most primitive of implements to harrow th© soil. Among the countless types to b© seen is a huge, black, heavy-featured fellow who spends the years outside a tempi© gate in Bombay. He is usually wrapped in a blanket. Inside this blanket ho looks peaceful enough, but when ho rouses himself, shakes on his only garment, and furiously paces th© walk before the temple, you behold a roaring monster in human shape—like i a lion, but without his majestic appearance. Ncarfy all of this profession, like men of som© other professions, specialise in the arrangement of their hair, and they are wonderfully successful at making their heads look pr—cisely lik© a -large mutch, or, rather, over-used broom; or another favourite stylo is to have long black or brown coils, often reaching far below the waist, and in appearance very similar to an unravelled rope's end dipped in tar or brown paint. THE MASSES. Travel more, and th© first disappointment gives way to wonder before th© countless numbers and variety of the people. At all times they crowd the railway stations; at night their white, ghostly robes and black, flashing eyes startle th© darkness; during tho day their beautiful glossy hair and shiny skin almost reflect the rays of th© sun; file after file ca*j b© seen wending their way through the paddy fields, over the palm-coverea plains, sugar plantations, groves, and especially at the village wells with their water pots. Two hundred and eighth-seven j__lk>ns! A large family for Britain to car© for. the crrrES. We com© to the cities—largo cities, some now touching a million of a population. Tbe life of tho East and the West her© meet in, sharp contrast—palatial European buildings (many owned and occupied by tho Indian people), with "every modem improvement; ■. _nd

tho native family.hTing nndera^re© ■<wt_id* ; hundreds of years -gpi i W? *ho«•?. sands M»:_leemne.-»^^«^l'»- , s'^^ (:- -_mny more- thousands~> are v stoepmg across the haidjavemente Perhaps nowhere elsecould a©-round snch contrasts in dress, **£*■ '.««» cities The beautiful silken robes of the wealthier Parsis and ~ native women draping tbe figure with .wondrous art, ond the artless dress of only sunshine as worn by many of the poorer classes, and the stiff and very proper dress worn by the Britisher; unending variety and amazing harmony in it all. LIBERTY AND LICENSE! -During a native festival is the time to see the city life at its best and worst. Mohammedans are one-quarter of the Hindu population. At the Mohurrum festival, just passed, some idea of what liberty means to the Mohammedans was given to the public. This holiday, in common with quite a number of native holidays, must practically be recognised by the Government, although it is a time of great anxiety to the authorities. In a city like Bombay, with its ■million of a population, the streets aro crowded day and night for several days. All traffic must be stepped, telegraph wires or any obstacle which would impede the procession have to be put out of the way—nothing is allowed to hinder this annual festival of tho Mohammedans. There beiri_ no official heads to which the processionists own allegiance, those in authority are powerless to control or guide tho proceedings. ! The result, is that for three days and nights the police are on constant duty. Great excitement prevailed at this recent Mohurrum. * 'As tho Shiah Moghals passed along beating their breasts until the blood flowed, a slight disturbance took place which made it necessary for the police to make three arrests. • Once the elaborate tabut procession is stopped, anything may happen at Mohurrum time." . "The bazaar began to quiver with excitement, and in a few hours nerves became in such a stato of tension that there was a rapid succession of rushes and stampedes. From this to a nasty outbreak of fanatical passion was butSi short step. Organised assaults on Shiahs, particularly on Bohras, began to.increase, and a dead sot was made at tho leaders of the community and at the Shiahs'"* mosques. "When the police protected the Shiahs the attack was directed against them, and the position in the bazaar, until the commissioner gave the police orders to use their firearms, was very grave indeed. The arrest of three rowdiqs was, as far,aß can be gathered, the sole cause for tho abandonment of a religious procession on which the Sunni Mohammedans lay great store, and for rioting which led to the loss of five lives and injuries to nearly 100 people," besides a number of murders unrecorded. Meantime, the authorities look forward with much ooncorn to the next •Mohurrum. because of bitter feelings engendered at this, and the soldiers look forward-eagerly for the privilege of putting theories into practice—even if it-means only sweeping the streets with a few volle-s. But the innocent are destroyed withlthe guilty. What did the Mohammedans do for the Empire when they were in power? Sir William Hunter says: "No Moghal emperor ever conceived the idea of giving public instruction as a . State duty to all his subjects./ He might raise a marble mosque in honour ofj God and himself, lavish millions on a I favourite lady's tomb, or grant' lands to learned men of his own religion; but the task of educating the whole Indian people, Tich and poor, of whatever race or caste or creed, was -ever attempted." A HINDU HOLI DAY. A few weeks after t the above' riot there was a very fair exhibition of what a "Hindu Holi Day" could do to elevate the people. This is a great festival day with the Hindus to commemorate the temptation and fall of their god Krishna with.the Gopis. The god's temptation and downfall is not taken . in any sense as■'. a warning or a- lesson, but his sin is simply imitated by . th© people. - As usual, there, aro immense crowds in'the streets and.great excitement. Red paint is thrown on one another and on passers-by; while cent songs»aro sung.', It.is quite unsafe for a woman to be in the street on this day. From morning till evening the tom-toms beat, mad miisic. is played, foolish dancing, childish games t fifeworks, and are;indulged in. by all. Painted men, women,.and children 1 •go about with little or no clothing, wickedness is encouraged, and prostitutes drive a gainful; trade. . - ; About fifty Hindu festivals might be enumerated. In fact, there is scarcely a day of the year in which the Brahmin cannot.make "out a claim for v offerings on some grounds or" other. THE OLDEN SLAVES OF INDIA, . The Parsis, often called fire-warship-pcrs. "The wonders of. God in tho East are the sun and the sea. The sea lays its- spell on "the soul of the white man only. He alone has crossed it and knows the other side For him, it stretch, of grey water hoajving between two worlds. Tho sun is the natives' over-lord. " Hie life is told to the sun. Weariness, pain, death, love and longing are all of them sun-gif ts. If the sun be merciful to him —ai!_ is well.- Ah, that tyrant sun! Its ' sovereignty is boundless. Even the birds on the jungle-fringe are enslaved by it into silence at midday and the wild life of the forest seeks the deeper shade. Ye* this great sun, if you please, is niever so wonderful as in the setting. Through the long hours of the day he is enthroned in high state, anl loiotks down on. the slow-moving peoples who yield him obeisance. 'And just as scarlet is the colour loved- by Eastern potentates so is scarlet his own royal livery. When his day's work is over, he flings asirilo that scao-lct mantle of his, and his subjects watch it as it falls across; the sky—jfurling and unrfu<rling, tvntif it drops behind the sea. Thus does this dr_matio\su_i —the Idfe-and-rdeath lord of the Eastonly sink into his couch after ho has outwizarded the, wizards." '■'.' : The larger proportion of the wealthier inhabitants of the West of India are the Parsis- Forty-five " thousand 'of these are living in Bombay, and tho day the British retire from India there will be 45,000 less, rfbr they are hated! by the; native. Rightly or wrongly, they have a bad reputation-. A coolie will describe them by drawing his hand across his throat, and a business man j will not trust, thorn. Conrmoni report says that they bleed the native, and that they place along "the docks" traps for the British sailor—these are low drinking saloons with worse temptations than tho wine-cup inside. They, are an interesting people, having an intuition which enables them, to read character qnickly and accurately, and this in no small measure has made them to *be wonderfußy successful at business. They seem to enjoy th© most happy social relationships with on© another and m their hsojnes, and! it is a rare thing in India to see women on I something like equality-- with men, enI joying the freedom of walking abroad together. But things aro not always what they seem, and one who has been closely associatod with them says that their whole 'inner social life" is ho—eycombed with inxmoratity. Whatever' conclusion may be arrived at concerning tho Parsi, his wealth, and his cleverness, it is certain that the hope of a consolidated Indian Empire does not lie in this direction, nor is it probable that any preferred help from him would strengthen the unity of the people. ■■■'.- .THE BRAIN OF INDIA. "Their numbers are comparatively small—between 10 and 15 million- of Brahmins—but thought .numericaHyJew,. only 5 per cent, of population, they hold-, all that pop-la-ion in tho : _w_W ? bf -tike _affid^.v;?T-^?ocoupy,

every position of innuenco. m: th© land. They aro -tb. ticia__, ernment officials, and of, _ ail .grades. If thero k _ny.portion OQnfeTgn" inßuenco over their fellow ;inen,it w?lf be hold by a they are a sacred caster admitted by the people to be gods upon _arth-~a rank supposed to I_ye been attained -through- many transmigrations," .-■■.•' v r' ,■ ','■, Great minds v but; many of these men. When will ; their united voice bo board raised against tno-Tthines which holder, in slaW and ignor-ricoP Thiols the one question to which, all earnest men. interested in; India's welfare > seeV. an answer. There aro many ;«»*»« *vUs against :which tho native dlclaro befbrethey cartbo tn»todwjh the government of the peopH «*J J£rUnubtediv in a very, large measure tho Br-hSoW* the situation Sy niarriases ,bo ? dono.away with, "As iR tho mother, v so-ia the child." In Calcutta., children born, four die during: tho year. An can^evote ; all his -time: to'his School inspector; majorityxrf r boys aro exhausted and spent by tho energy and youthful gone. Henceforth, for 1 pnrpcees cation on the part of the «t~dent. they are an utter failure, and disappointment." Early marriage loads to nadegenoracy. For juries ## Hindus havo b-en children of children, and there da no surer way of bocoimng tho servant of _ervant_, widowhood • should treatment of widows ss th© foulest hlo» upon the Hindn character. . lindia-dif-fers from all oountries m the world in the number of ite widows. Nearly every fifth female in. the country is whnlo only onto in. -U of tho.maleß is a widower. In South India every third Brahmin woman is a widow.. __r1856V Lord Oanm-is, in epite-of oppogtion, legalised ttbo n_arriage of Hindu wii<a>w_. It has proved largely a -.dead letter. Hindu opinion, has proved too stro-e for the law, and the sad. fob 0? widows remains anchainged. ;.■■'• The few, widow marriages -which have, taken place were largely -rought about by money being ooirbributed by the leaders of -hbo movement towards the heavy marriage Latterly some men in good' positions have marroed their widowed daugbterß, but these aro exceptionß. ' a • ''" : ■ : - ." The root of all improvement, ever, is female education. William H*_rberr „says:—"Th© _egradat»a of the female intelligence mcaos the loss of half the brain power to a natien." Tins is not the whole of tfle evil. The ignorance of th© women of India is one of the ereatest obstacles to all reforms. An tmedncatod grandmother, fu_ of old prejudices _a_d superstitions, often rules a hold, opposing every change, however I useful "By .educating a boy you get an educated __ddvid__l, by educate-g a g?rl you get an educated family. And ti_3 "is India's present greatest need. Not one village in three om a Bobool. Perhaps m tho e-traord—iary work being done by Pandita Ramabti Pongre _tedh_vi among Hindu widows

and mr others catch" tho visum or-^wpdly/ap^^ . iog brotih_r_ of old Hindn«t^K|^^^|i)g^