Page:Bal Gangadhar Tilak, his writings and speeches.djvu/348

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Home Rule

broken up into rival parties. Supposing you have to defend India against a combination inspired from Germany, what will you do? {A cry " we will fight.") I will tell you what my answer is. They say that they will not trust India. They will trust Japan and any other people on the surface of the earth but India. 'The work of the Deputation is to convince the British Democracy that the gravity of the situation — as the Chairman remarked, the centre of gravity— lies in India and not in England. It is here that the solution is to be found and not in America and Japan. The map of the world in changed and if we do not take the advantage of these circumstances which are providential, we do not deserve to be called citizens, we do not deserve to be called men. Times do not change for you. Time and tide wait for no man and you have to run with them. If you fail to take advantage of the time and circumstances, you fail in the important duties of citizenship. Providence is favourable to you. Why? Because the whole world is changed and it is impossible that there could not be a change. When the world is changed, if you propose to remain stationary, possibly you will be wiped of speedily. You must move along with the times. What is necessary at present is to make the British people realise the position. We are not going to appeal to their generosity, and nothing could be gained by that procedure. We must make them realise that unless they are prepared to raise India, they must

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