द इण्डियन स्ट्रगल / भारतीय स्वाधीनता संग्राम (नेताजी सुभाष चन्द्र बोस - ऐतिहासिक विश्लेषण)

126 THE INDIAN STRUGGLE
The Anglo-Indian papers of Calcutta, The Statesman, and
The Englishman (now defunct), came out with statements to
the effect that I was the brain of the revolutionary conspiracy.
My solicitors at once filed legal proceedings against both the
papers for defamation. The proceedings dragged on for
months and in the meantime attempts were made to secure
the help of the Government in the suit in the matter of
obtaining proofs to substantiate the charges made against me
in the Press in support of the Government. As the Govern-
ment did not agree to help in the matter, an attempt was
made to secure the assistance of the India Office in London.
By that time there had been a change in the Cabinet in
England. A General Election had taken place in October
and as a result of the scare created by the Zinovieff letter,
there had been a landslide in favour of the Conservative
Party. Following the defeat of the Labour Party at the polls,
the Labour Secretary of State for India, Lord Olivier, had
made room for the Conservative Secretary of State, Lord
Birkenhead. Though the India Office was inclined to help
the Anglo-Indian papers in the suit brought against them for
defamation, they were unable to find any documentary evidence
to prove my complicity in a revolutionary conspiracy. For-
ward, the Swarajist paper of Calcutta, happened to get hold
of and publish a letter, written to Calcutta from London on
the subject, in which an agent of the India Office was reported
to have said that I had been arrested on the verbal testimony
borne against me by certain people, but that there was no
documentary evidence against me. The publication of this
letter further embarrassed the Government.
No one in India felt these persecutions more than Desh-
bandhu Das did. In a magnificent speech delivered from the
Mayoral chair of the Calcutta Corporation, he gave vent to
the deep indignation which stirred the public at the time.
He accepted full responsibility for what the Chief Executive
Officer had done and challenged the Government to arrest him.
The Government did not accept the challenge but replied
in a different way. They opened negotiations with him for
settlement of the entire Indian question. At that time,
Mahatma Gandhi was politically a back-number. He had