68 SOCIAL SCIENTIST Hindustan ruled by Britain from all its ancient tradition and from the whole of its past history.4 As a result, cotton producing India had to import cotton increasingly from Europe. On the contrary during that period, the number of muslin makers declined from 150000 to 20000. George Campbell, one of the British Governors included the report of the House of Commons, 1812, in his Modern India: A Sketch of the System of Civil Government (1852) which itself admitted the truth of British plunder. What were the positive aspects of British rule in India? May I take this opportunity to quote from Marx's "The Future of British Rule in India59 in this context. Analysing the conditions of British India Marx observed: Modern industry, resulting from the railway system, will dissolve the hereditary divisions of labour, upon which rest the Indian castes, those decisive impediments to Indian progress and Indian power.8 The newly-born class in India, it may be noted, was faithful to the British Rule but 'imbued with European Science5 and that actually accounted for the emergence of the 'new consciousness5, and the conflicts arising between the old and the new domain of values.6 Even among those loyal to the Britishers, a general sentiment against the British gradually started growing.7 Marx sought to describe this social change as 'the only social revolution ever heard of in Asia5!8 Rammohun^ attitude towards the British may be explained from two angles. He was under the impression that the British Government was a definite improvement upon the type of its Mogul predecessors*, that our relation with the English would be of much help in breaking the fetters of the society.9 He felt that law and justice would be guaranteed by the stable government, thereby minimising the oppression of the poorer class by the upper class; that under the enactment of democratic laws, personal and civil liberties also would be protected.10 Disciplines like mathematics, chemistry, physics etc, he thought, would create a mental make-up that would weaken the roots of our religious and social vices.11 Rammohun^ emphasis was on 'social transformations5, or what Rabindranath Tagore called Kalantar. But at the same time Rammohun was sceptical about the representatives of the British rule in India; at least his attitude could by no means be dubbed 'loyal5 or 'faithful5 to the Britishers.12 The Englishmen close to him were directly or indirectly associated with the liberal policies of the House of Commons and most of them were disciples of Mill and Bentham.1 8 Incidentally, it may be noted that in studying the history of the British in India, the role of the Benthamites in the British administration has not yet been evaluated.14 It was not easy for Hastings or Curzon to declare what Bentick could: 'It would ill become me in my opinion to conceal the unpleasant fact that, during my course, I have seen too much of this conquerors spirit of the pride of domination, of the abuse of power, and of the too general