The Students’ Store transformed into the Shramajivi

A critique of the book "The Lives of Sri Aurobindo" by Peter Heehs
committed to objective, academic, respectful and honest discussions
Apr 26, 2009 Objective History in Four Lessons by Prithwindra Mukherjee Footnotes:

[1] Peter Heehs, The Lives of Sri Aurobindo, Columbia University Press, New York, p.xiv, Preface [2] Human Relations, 13 November, 2008 : http://humanrelations.blogspot.com/2008/11 [4] The suffix –da abbreviated from Dada, utilised in Bengal, is a mark of respect for someone senior in age and/ or experience. [7] Profuse information supplied by Arun Chandra Guha (First Spark of Revolution), Rowlatt (Report of the Sedition Committee) and Amiya K. Samanta, ed. (Terrorism in Bengal in 6 volumes) [8] Heehs, The Bomb in Bengal, p.227: in the footnote, Heehs refers to my conversation with Satish Sarkar [9] Political Trouble in India 1907-1917 by J.C. Ker (p.292), Report of the Committee by S.A.T. Rowlatt (Annexure 1/5) and First Spark of Revolution by Arun Chandra Guha (pp.175-177)

[10] Heehs quoted here as references J.C. Ker (Political Trouble in India 1907-1917) and A.C. Guha (First Spark of Revolution [11] Terrorism in Bengal, Amiya K. Samanta (ed.), Government of West Bengal, Calcutta, 1995, Vol. II, p.509 [12] “Nixon’s Report On Revolutionary Organisation” in Terrorism in Bengal, Amiya K. Samanta (ed.), Government of West Bengal, Calcutta, 1995, Vol. II, chapters V (p.544), VIII (p.591), IX (pp.611, 625) etc. [13] Peter Heehs, The Lives of Sri Aurobindo, p.xiv, Preface [14] For Version 1, see Item 4, p.5 of this article [15] Peter Heehs, Sri Aurobindo: A Brief Biography, Oxford University Press (India), 1999, p.69 [16] W. Sealy’s “Connections with Bihar and Orissa” in Terrorism in Bengal, Vol. V, p.63 (Italics by P.M.) [17] Smritikatha, Pondicherry, March 1962, p.32 [18] Peter Heehs, The Bomb in Bengal, p.227 [19] Amiya K. Samanta (ed.), Terrorism in Bengal : A Collection of Documents, Vol. I, 1995, pp.16-17 [20] Suresh Chakra Chakrabarti, op. cit., p.350 [21] PH, The Lives, pp.76-77 (Italics by P.M.) [22] The Lives, pp.74-77: (Italics by P.M.). [23] Terorism in Bengal, Vol. V, p.156 [24] Op. cit., Vol. II, p.519 [25] No.32 Muraripukur Road (Terrorism in Bengal, Vol. II, p.513) [26] W. Sealy gives the full address : “Ghorlas, Raidihi, P.O. Rohini, via Baidtanath, Deoghar”. (Terrorism in Bengal, Vol. V, p.16)

[27] Tegart’s Report on « Calcutta-Baranagar-Howrah Gang » in Terrorism in Bengal, Vol. III, p. 481, gives the address: No. 24 Kansaripara Road (Bhawanipore), where Jatin Mukherjee’s right-hand man Atul Krishna Ghose ran an important mess upto 1915. It continued to be a residence for important members of the secret society. [28] Girijashankar Raychaudhury, sriaurobindo o bangalar svadeshi yuga, Calcutta, 1956, p.644. [29] We maintain the variants of spelling (Jatin/ Jotin; Mukherjee/ Mukharjee etc.) [30] W. Sealy’s Report in Terrorism in Bengal, Vol. V, p.27 [31] W. Sealy’s Report in Terrorism, Vol. V, p.20 [32] Home Polit-Progs A, March 1910, No.33-40, quoted by Sumit Sarkar, The Swadeshi Movement in Bengal, 1977, p376 [33] op. cit., pp531-534 [34] Terrorism in Bengal, Vol. V, p.524 [35] Terrorism in Bengal, Vol. II, p.514

[36] First Spark of Revolution, by Arun Chandra Guha, pp116-117. Corroborated by Bhupendranath Datta in dvitîya swadhinata samgram, Navabharat, Calcutta, 1983, pp.168-169. Datta recalls that during the 1906 conference, he enquired about Jatin Mukherjee’s health, convalescing since his bout with the Royal Bengal tiger. [37] Terrorism in Bengal, Vol. II, p.521 [40] Nixon cannot hide his anger while writing : “Jogen Thakur is a disreputable relation of the Tagore family, closely connected with the Ramkrishna Mission.” (Op. cit., Vol. II, p.582).[41] Terrorism in Bengal, Vol. I, pp26-27 [43] Hiren Chakrabarti, Political Protest in Bengal, 1992, p.170

[45] Known by Sri Aurobindo’s intimates as kanishtha papishtha (‘the junior-most sinner’) [cf autobiographical writings by Suresh Chandra Chakravarti], this man will be commissioned by Jatin Mukherjee on 24 January 1910 to accompany Biren Datta-Gupta at the High Court to assassinate Shamsul Alam and to inform Sri Aurobindo that the mission was successful. Soon after this intimation, Sri Aurobindo will receive the command from within to go to Chandernagore. [46] First Spark of Revolution, Arun Chandra Guha, Orient Longman, 1971, p163 [48] Political Protest in Bengal, p.173 [49] India under Morley and Minto, M.N. Das, 1964, p122 [50] Hardinge Papers, Book 81, Vol. II, No.231 [51] Peter Heehs, The Lives of Sri Aurobindo, p.xiv, Preface

[52] Marcel Kvassay, in AntiMatter, posted by Tusar N. Mohapatra, Savitri Era Open Forum (internet). Italics by P.M. [53] For Version 2, see at the bottom of p.8 of this article [54] The Lives, p.440, No. 125, Heehs quotes two Government Proceedings (Home Department, series A, March 1910 [55] Sri Aurobindo’s official biography in 1471pp. (two volumes) [56] Singled out as “a leading member of Jugantar” (The Bomb, p.243), whose account was certified by Heehs as “representative” and whose examples as “convincing” (p.267) [57] Gitasree Bandyopadhyay, Constraints in Bengal Politics, 1921-41, Sarat Book House, 1984 [58] « Biplabi Bangala » in Galpa-bharati, kartik 1358 (October, 1951) [59] Article by Motilal Roy in Anandabazar Patrika, Special Jatin Mukherjee Supplement, Calcutta, 9 September 1947. [60] Amar dekha biplab o biplabi, Motilal Roy, 1957, p.115 [61] Two Great Indian Revolutionaries, by Uma Mukherjee, p.119 [62] “Working Men’s Cooperative” [63] The Bomb, p.249

[64] « The Students’ Store », a group of flourishing revolutionary enterprise to sell Swadeshi goods and finance the needs of the secret society, transformed into the Shramajivi. [65] Uma Mukherjee, loc. cit. [66] Smritikatha, pp.81-86 [67] « Shishya bhagini nivedita » in Sister Nivedita Birth Centenary Souvenir, Vol. I, p74, Calcutta, 1966. Quoted by Prithwindra Mukherjee in Undying Courage: the Story of Bagha Jatin, Academic Publishers, 1992, p181 [68] Meaning Lala Lajpat Rai from Punjab, Bal Gangadhar Tilak from Maharashtra and Bipin Chandra Pal from Bengal. Tilak alone seemed to appreciate and encourage the Extremist programme [69] J.C. Nixon of the Intelligence Department opened his Report with the promotion of societies since about 1900 in Calcutta “and are said to have spread to many of the districts of Bengal and to have flourished particularly at Kushtia, where Jatindra Nath Mukharji was leader.” [Report on The Revolutionary Organisations in Bengal]