Page:The Life of Lokamanya Tilak.djvu/97

Rh to secure unity by not pressing the Pandal question? Evidently, therefore party feeling got the better of patriotism. The smooth working of the Reception Committee at the Calcutta Congress of 1806 was endangered by bitter quarrels between the Brahmoes and the Orthodox party and a breach over religious questions seemed imminent. Here too, the principle ot keeping the Congress aloof from Social and religious controversies was forgotten. At the Madras Congress of 1894, some Purists of the Social Reform party v/anted to boycott certain delegates whose morals had become the subject of much public discussion and their extravagance was checked by the judicious and tactful conduct of the President who pointed out that though Gladstone was unwilling to negotiate with Pamell as the leader of the Irish Nationalists, still he had no objection to allow Parnell to work in the interests of Ireland. It will thus be seen that the Poona disputes in 1895, did not form an isolated episode in the history of the Congress. A political organisation that allows its cohesion to be endangered on side-issues betrays its own interests and plays into the hands of the common opponent. Viewed from this stand-point, the ridiculous controversies over the pandal question at Poona appear not merely imprudent but positively suicidal, irrespective of the responsibility of this party or that; and a careful perusal of the preceding pages will convince the reader that Mr. Tilak's contribution to these controversies was entirely involuntary.