Page:The Pilgrims' March.djvu/59

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C. R. DAS
37

students of Calcutta knew how to answer this question. He had given up his life for the wellbeing of his dear devoted students. Are there none now to tell us the meaning of his sacrifice not by speaking angry words, nor by shedding idle tears but by taking up the cause he loved so well and by strengthening that cause by their own sacrifice.

Merely existing is not living. I wish I could say the students of Calcutta were living as men should live, as Jitendralal Bannerjee lived. Now that his body is imprisoned, is there no one amongst the students of Calcutta who has the heart to hear the call of his soul?

APPEAL TO CALCUTTA STUDENTS.

The arrest of Lala Lajpat Raj has opened a new chapter in the history of our movement. To my mind the meaning of this arrest is significant. The bureaucracy is impatient of our success. It has lost its temper and naturally it has commenced to strike. Hitherto the attack of the bureaucracy has been more or less indirect. This is direct. Lajpat Rai is one of the pillars of the Congress movement. Through him the Congress itself has been struck. I welcome this direct attack. It means an open trial of strength between the bureaucracy and the Congress, and