News of issuance of Sri Aurobindo’s Arrest Warrant Published in The Times (London) on 7 April 1910.

Dear Friends,

On 4 April 1910, the day Sri Aurobindo arrived at Pondicherry, an arrest warrant was issued against Him by the British Government in which He was charged with sedition for authoring and publishing the article To My Countrymen in the Karmayogin of which He was the Editor. Three days later, on 7 April 1910, The Times (London) published in its pages the news of the issuance of this arrest warrant under the title of Warrant Against a Nationalist Editor. Following the publication of this news, Lord Viscount John Morley, Secretary of State for India (1905-1910) had written to Lord Minto, the then Viceroy of India: ‘Under what law has the warrant been issued? Does the article contain direct incitement to violence or assassination?’

The news of issuance of arrest warrant against Sri Aurobindo as it was published in The Times (London) on 7 April 1910 has been published in the website of Overman Foundation.

With warm regards,

Anurag Banerjee

Founder,

Overman Foundation.

The Times (London), 7 April 1910

4 Replies to “News of issuance of Sri Aurobindo’s Arrest Warrant Published in The Times (London) on 7 April 1910.

  1. Interesting. Normally one wouldn’t expect arrest warrants to be published in a leading daily like the The Times, London.
    Thanks for sharing, Anurag

  2. I know it is well known in the circle of Sri Aurobindo’s sadhaks or admirers but it would have been interesting to show as a complement to the warrant, the article “Letter to my countrymen” to illustrate how far it was from a sedtitious document in regard to the legal norm. For me as a jurist, it is so evident that it was an intrusion of the politics in the field of justice. As Anurag pointed out in introduction, even among the high authorities in Great Britain, some persons (Morley) were doubtful about the legality of the document.

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