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Message to the
Russia
While in Warsaw, Colonel Raja J. P.
Bahadur Singh learnt that his application of an earlier date
from Berlin requesting for PERMISSON To ENTER RUSSIA was NOT
SANCTIONED by THE ALL-RUSSIA CENTRAL SOVIET GOVERNMENT IN
MOSCOW. Thereupon, the Raja sent a MESSAGE TO THE PEOPLE OF
RUSSIA, detailing the ideals of the Humanistic Club which
he founded, the purpose for which he was touring in Europe,
the present-day mentality and conditions of the public, and
his own conceptions and methods-which he calls Humanistic-for
promoting Peace and goodwill, not only against suspicion and
hatred between the several nations, but also against bickerings,
quarrels and fightings among the several parties, classes
and creeds within each nation.
This message of his to the Russians,
the Raja forwarded through His Excellency, Dimitri Bogomolow,
Minister Plenipotencier of the ALL RUSSIA SOVIET REPUBLIC
IN WARSAW. In this connection, he wrote a letter to that official
dignitary also.
Both the Letter and the Message are
reproduced in the following pages.
The Letter to the Russian Plenipotencier
in Warsaw
HOTEL EUROPYSKI, WARSAW,
3rd June 1929
From,
Raja J. P. Bahadur Singh,
President of the Humanistic Club, Bangalore, India
To
His Excellency DIMITRI BOGOMOLOW,
Minister Plenipotencier of All-Russia Soviet Republic, WARSAW
Your Excellency,
I am touring the world of Europe on
my pacifist lecture tour and wanted to visit Moscow also requested
for permission to that effect of the Soviet Government at
Moscow, which your Excellency represents. But, to my sorrow,
permission has been refused. I believe I shall be failing
in my duty towards humanity for which I have dedicated my
life if I do not give some sort of message of peace and goodwill
to that vast country of Russia. Therefore, I am submitting
this message, with the best of my good wishes for peace and
prosperity, to the people of Russia through Your Excellency
for its kind transmission.
I remain,
Yours faithfully
Raja J. P. Bahadur Singh
THE MESSAGE TO THE RUSSIANS
Citizens of the All-Russia Soviet Republic,
I asked for the permission of the Soviet
Government to allow me to visit Moscow, in order to express
my views on the problem of peace and to learn from that country
the methods of working for the peace, prosperity and comfort
of the working classes whose cause they profess to champion.
But I am surprised to find that the privilege to these has
been denied to me. So, I think there must be some misunderstanding
somewhere. It might be that the title RAJA (Prince) which
I hold has gone against the Soviet Principles, which, as I
am given to understand, tolerates no inequalities between
man and man whether in wealth or status. But, the designation
is only a matter of the past, and I am not even rich as people
seem to think. In fact, I may even say that I am steadily
working my way up to poverty by spending what little I have
on my mission of peace and goodwill. The reason of my asking
for permission for a visit to Soviet Russia is that I am under
the impression that the Soviet Government and people believe
in the equality of men. They may as well believe in the 'Fundamental
Oneness of Humanity,' despite such minor differences as class,
party, creed or country. It is for the interests of this Humanity
as a whole that I have been working, and am always ready to
co-operate with anybody who is working for the same end. I
believe that I may fail in my duty to Humanity, if I do not
give any message to that vast country, RUSSIA.
Through I believe in the 'Principle
of the Fundamental Oneness of Humanity' and cannot see why
one man must be taken as master and another as slave, at the
same time I admit the necessity for some rules and regulations
whereby men must live and work, as against the animals which
have no rules and regulations to live by. For, if men like
animals fight for everything they want, for instance, for
the hand of a pretty girl, or for a good piece of bread, or
for a decent looking piece of cloth, humanity would soon get
extinct. If facilities for equality of opportunity are allowed,
I for one will be ready to recognize the authority of anybody
for the up keep of a constitution which a group of human beings
require for their own safety and security.
I recognize that the first principle
of life, whether of animal or of man, is the desire for self-preservation.
It is because of this desire for self-preservation that we
see all stress, strife and struggle going on around us. It
is only because of its desire to live that every living being
is impelled to move and work. Thus, the central pivot on which
all the desires, actions and thoughts of man turn is this
desire for self-preservation. And I will say this much here,
that is the desire for self-preservation and not self-sacrifices,
that has made man what he is to-day, leading him slowly from
the primitive stages of barbarism and savagery to the modern
days of culture and civilization. It was the desire for safety,
both from the fury of the elements of Nature and from the
big, cruel and ferocious animals, that impelled men to build
houses, and it was again the desire for greater security and
safety that made them to form themselves into tribes and bands,
and thus bring about the greater structure of human society.
Thus, the desire for self-preservation
is universal. It is the central motive of action in all sentient
life, whether in man, animal, plants or in any other living
being. So, the question that remains is "What are the
methods that man ought to employ for self-preservation as
against the methods employed by other sentient lives?"
Restricting ourselves to the animals which come next in order
of man, we see that the methods employed by them for the preservation
of life are cunning, force and aggressiveness. The weaker
and smaller animals employ cunningness to preserve their lives,
while the stronger and the bigger make use of their superior
force and strength for the same end Now, we have to consider
if man who claims to have reached the highest link in the
chain of Evolution, being endowed with the exclusive faculty
of reason and deliberation which no other living being possesses,
has evolved some methods which are less animal-like and at
the same time far more effective than either cunningness or
aggressiveness. And the answer that will suggest itself to
us is that he certainly has. And the methods that he has evolved
are, in my opinion, unity, goodwill and Co-operation.
Let me explain this at a little length.
In the beginning, men were like animals, living and moving,
each by himself, suspecting and fearing one another. There
were no tribes, no families, no houses. Men then lived in
caves and forests, and History tells us that they even used
to kill and eat one another, just as animals do. But, man
was different from the animals in this respect. He had the
faculty of reason and thought, however untrained and crude,
which animals have not. So, as the primitive men began to
develop and exercise slowly this faculty more and more, it
came to them gradually with greater clearness at every step
that, with unity and mutual co-operation alone, they could
preserve their lives more easily and with greater sense of
security than through mutual distrust, suspicion and ill-will.
It was this discovery by man long ages ago which has helped
him to from such institutions as families, homes, countries,
nations and so forth.
Thus, we see that the methods employed
by man for self-preservation as distinct from those of animals
are unity and co-operation. But, this does not mean that on
innumerable occasions man has not sunk to the level of the
animal and has not used force and brutality instead of goodwill
and co-operation. Even as recently as only a decade ago, men
were engaged in one of the most cruel and deadliest of wars
which ended, both to the victors and the vanquished, in misery,
distress and loss of hundreds of thousands of human lives.
As a result of the last war there is found everywhere, both
in the East and in the West, discontent, unrest and discord.
And, due to this great discontent and unrest, men are everywhere
being divided more and more into innumerable parties and classes.
Therefore, to-day more than ever before, men require to be
reminded of the principles of unity, goodwill and co-operation.
If people were to take the correct view
of their respective positions- inspite of such inevitable
differences as class, creed, rank, country or nationality-
all men could live and work together in peace and goodwill.
I say inevitable differences, because I think that to reduce
the whole of humanity to one level is beyond doubt impossible.
For, in what respect can we equalize the people of the world?
For instance, take the example of wealth. If you divide among
the inhabitants of a certain village a certain amount of money
equally and if you examine after a few weeks, you will find
that unequal amounts of money are left in the hands of each
of some of the villagers, while some have little our no money
left. Now, let us take the example of equality in position
and rank. Supposing in a certain country we did away with
all differences of position and rank, by abolishing law-courts
and all other institutions of law and order, we shall soon
find that either that country has gone back to the old conditions
of barbarism and savagery, or some persons or groups of persons
have established their authority, and the rest of the people
are reduced to a state of utter slavery. Let us taken one
more instance as to what will happen if we try to bring the
whole of humanity into one way of thinking. We shall find
that this is also impossible, as no two persons ever think
alike. Therefore, the attempt to bring all humanity to adopt
one religion, one custom or one principle of any kind is out
of question. The natural and best course therefore that lies
before us, in my opinion, is to recognise the fundamental
oneness of humanity with complete liberty to each member to
think and to act for himself, guided by right authority, without
injuring or going against the interests of the other members.
Because the attempt on one's part to live or to benefit oneself
at the cost of another will result in the violation of the
liberty of those against whom such an attempt, is directed.
It will not only be checked and opposed by the other party,
but it is likely to recoil with loss and injury on one's own
self.
After the preservation of life, the
next important thing for a man is to make that life comfortable
and happy. Let us now consider the question of bringing comfort
and happiness to mankind. What is comfort first of all? If
a man has enough food to satisfy his hunger, enough clothes
to wear and a house to live in, he can be said to lead a fairly
comfortable life. But, for none of these man can solely depend
upon himself. To get one's food alone, from the time of tilling
the ground and sowing the seed to the time of preparing the
food, one requires the co-operation of others. And, again
to get one's clothing from the time of cultivating cotton
or breeding sheep to the time of tailoring the cloth, one
requires the co-operation of others. In constructing a house,
one requires the labour of several classes of people. But
this inter-dependence and co-operation can only exist if you
are friendly and peaceful with those whose services you require.
Hence, to make your life comfortable you require peace and
co-operation.
Now, we have to consider what happiness
is and how it can be attained? Happiness is that condition
of life where there is no anxiety and sorrow. Now, in order
to attain happiness, it is necessary to find out ways and
means to mitigate anxiety and sorrow. If you try to find out
the origin of this sorrow and anxiety, you will ultimately
trace it to you own mind and say, "It is our mind which
is the source of all anxiety and sorrow." But, I have
not come here to teach you Hindu philosophy, though I think
it will not be too deep and difficult for any one to understand
that, the less the ill-will and hatred you display, the less
is the chance for your anxiety and sorrow. In other words,
under conditions of friendliness and peace, you can move about
with greater security and happiness than under conditions
of ill-will and discord. Thus, peace, unity and co-operation
are necessary for one's comfort and happiness.
It was with the object of spreading
among the general public of every country,-firstly the principle
of the preservation of life, and secondary the principle of
attaining comfort and happiness through unity, goodwill and
co-operation,-and to promote peace and goodwill among the
several contending parties, classes creeds and so on, I started
the Humanistic Club in India. It is for the purpose of spreading
these ideas, as also to know what other people in Europe have
though out in this line, that I have come over to Europe and
am going about from country to country.
During my travels in Europe, I have
found that Soviet Russia is more or less isolated. People
go to meet it ten paces at some acts, and go back twenty paces
at some other acts. For instance, when Minister Maxim Lithvinoff
and his Colleague, Commandant Alexander Langovoy, advocated
wholesale disarmament during the Preparatory Meeting for Disarmament
in Geneva last April, it made some peace-loving people rush
on to the side of the Soviet. But, when they say such occurrences
like those on the first of May in Berlin and elsewhere causing
injury, arrest and loss of several lives, people naturally
went twenty paces back. The Central Soviet Body, or the Government
and the Soviet Principles, may not have anything to do with
such acts of violence. But, unless an organized attempt is
made to prevent the followers of the Soviet Principles from
taking part in such violent demonstrations by intimidation
or direct attack, other countries and peoples will not cease
suspecting and hating the Soviet ideas.
I am not suggesting this as an agent
of any party, class, creed or country, but am telling it frankly
as one man to another man. If you want justice and equality,
if you want safety and security, if you want comfort and happiness,
if you want that your ideas should get popularity in the world,
the surest way to get all these is through the practice of
goodwill and co-operation.
The Humanistic Method or Methods to
be employed by man as a human being in bringing about peace
and goodwill on earth is to remind man of his duty as Man
and to explain to him the utility of unity and co-operation,
avoiding all such actions as are likely to cause separation,
isolation, division and discord.
Though denied the privilege of delivering
them personally, I beg to submit these few words of my message
to the people of Russia with all good wishes for their peace,
prosperity and happiness.
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