Maia Ramnath - Decolonizing Anarchism.pdf - Libcom

Echoes and Intersections I 49
commitments without compromise. But Vivekananda was
not her only philosophical inspiration; she had also discovered
Peter Kropotkin en route, becoming fiercely excited
about his ideas, which she claimed "confirm [ ed] me in my
determination toward Anarchy." When she met Kropotkin
in London in 1902 after some correspondence, she decided
that he knew "more than any other man of what
India needs."3 Given her close association with Aurobindo's
circle, it seems likely that Kropotkin's ideas entered the mix.
The group's militancy soon intensified in a program of
targeted assassinations, bombings, sabotage, and political
dacoity (social banditry) to obtain weapons and funds. There
were raids on police stations, armories, British treasuries, tax
collections, and even expropriations of wealthy Indians, some
of whom were presented with certificates declaring them
holders of a debt to be repaid after the revolution by the treasurers
of a Free India. Besides arms and ammunition, funding
went toward printing costs and legal expenses. Bande
Mataram was founded in 1906 as an English-language daily
paper targeting the educated elite, as companion to the
Yugantar, "the paper for the masses" in colloquial Bengali.4
The revolutionary headquarters was an empty house
and grounds on Calcutta's outskirts, known as Maniktola
Garden. There in idyllic seclusion, they set up bomb-making
and arms-storage facilities along with a library, on the
principle of revolutionizing minds in order to achieve revolutionary
goals. Bullets and bombs, they knew, were only a
quick fix; deeper, lasting change would require the education
of consciousness through integrated physical, political,
and spiritual training.