not be directly connected with the murder and then proceeds audaciously to suggest that Mr. Tilak's writings did tend to cause not merely this single act but also all later acts of violence in the country. In support of his theory he adduces the statement of an accused person that read the reports of certain oppressive acts of the whites in the Kesari and other papers and decided to act as he did. If this is an argument for the audacity of Sir Valentine Chirol then he will have consistently to libel all papers which publish reports of the high-handed behaviour of individuals or even reports of legal proceedings where misbehaviour of the Superior Races has come into light in a court of law and has been judicially dealt with. No wonder that when men of Sir Valentine Chirol's type could be found even to-day there were lesser and more illiberal men still, in charge of administration in the nineties of the last century. Pressed by the panic pestilence had caused, the Government of Bombay launched a prosecution against Mr. Tilak. He was arrested in Bombay and as became lower Magistracy the Chief Presidency Magistrate of Poona refused him bail. At that stage even the High Court did not interfere. When how-
Page:Heroes of the hour- Mahatma Gandhi, Tilak Maharaj, Sir Subramanya Iyer.djvu/149
