A Rare Press Interview of the Mother

Dear Friends,

On 31 October 1954 the Mother had given a rare press interview on the eve of the merger of Pondicherry with India. This interview was published on 2 November 1954 in ‘The Times of India’. We are immensely thankful to Shri Sandeep Joshi who has collected this rare press coverage and send it to us.

With warm regards,

Anurag Banerjee

Founder,

Overman Foundation.

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                         French Example for Portugal

                                       “MOTHER’S PLEA”

PONDICHERRY, October 31: The “Mother,” the principle disciple of Shri Aurobindo and head of the ashram inPondicherry, today declared: “If the Portuguese are reasonable they should follow the example of France.”

She made the statement in one of her rare press interviews.

In a special interview on the eve of the merger of Pondicherry, the “Mother” referred to the attitude of the Portuguese in regard to Goa.

Asked what steps would she suggest if the Portuguese refused to negotiate for a solution of the problem, she said: “Human beings succeed, even if they do the right thing only when the time appointed by the Divine arrives.

“In cases like this, people think and react with external feelings, and it is generally because of misunderstanding between people and between countries that they get hurt and do things that are not right but increase the troubles in the world instead of diminishing them. If nations answer one another in this violent manner, violence will never end.

“If the Portuguese can be on the side of truth, justice and goodwill, then grace will be theirs, and also Divine help,” the “Mother” said.

                                            “INDIANS ARE RIGHT”

“It is evident that Indians are right when they are seeking to have Goa integrated with their land. If they go on with faith and confidence in Divine grace which necessarily will be always on the side of what is true they will help in hastening conclusions of this issue in many ways. It may be that reason will come to the Portuguese. Such things do happen sometimes.”

The “Mother” called upon the people of Pondicherry“to be straight forward and have goodwill to one another.”

She was giving a message to the people of the Settlement on the eve of Independence Day.

The message said: “Be straight forward, be honest. Have goodwill to one another and do your best in life. Progress as much as you can and public affairs will go on all right.”

She was asked what part the Ashram would play to promote the best traditions of French culture in this area. She replied that the Ashram was already a centre of French culture in India and the International University Centre was its outer expression.

 

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