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Show Wins l DISLIKE PITY Attitude of Missionaries Resented Re-sented Pity Given in Ignorance, Ig-norance, Says Mrs. Sen Tiy WILLIAM h. M.VLTjABAK, International News Service Staff Correspondent. LONDON, April 11. "No self-rc-spcctlng- nation with a great past such as we have had likes to bo pitied and the missionaries have pitied us, In ignorance. This Avas one of the statements made by Mi's. Mrinallnl Sen, one of the leading- high caste women of India, In-dia, who is In England for the purpose pur-pose of Instructing thc Occidental nations na-tions in a proper realization of India, and, incidentally, to attend the forthcoming forth-coming conforence of women's .suffrage .suf-frage organizations. The conference will be the first to be held since the war, and although at first It was Intended In-tended to hold il in Madrid, It has been decided to have It In Switzerland, ; the Spanish government having de-t de-t elded that it had so many anti-clerical features that it was inadvisable to allow al-low it to be held in Spain. "We Indians have benefited a great deal by the missionaries," continued Mrs. Sen. "They have felt for us, worked for us, and, perhaps, some of them have died for us. Still, with all due respect and gratitude for all their well-meaning efforts, 1 must say, speaking in general terms, they have failed to outer Into our hearts, because be-cause while they looked upon our religions re-ligions and civilization, they have not troubled to studj' them, they do not think anything can be worth existing', besido Christianity and western civil- ' ization. "The well-meaning western people , go out to work for and among us with- ' out taking trouble to know us. Nevertheless, Never-theless, I must admit that the- mis-! cation in Jndinfor which we can J never ' be too grateful. Much they i have also done in times of famine and epidemics and wo have much toi learn from the workers of the west regarding what can be done in the! cause of humanity. j "India is Just now awakening from her sleep of thc past 150 years. Women Wom-en will be the regeneration of India ' in this new era. and to her we must' look. Our women are "doing their bit' and carrying on the old traditions. Wei have women of high literary ability, 1 wwomen with admirable philnnthropi-cal philnnthropi-cal activities and women with the ca- j pacify for' ruling and managing big states. We have lady novelists, schol- ! ;irs, editors, poets, doctors.nursea and ( teachers. Wome of . our lady land- n ..... .... I.. TJ 1 I... , I iii jdviiijui ci.ii; Kiiuwji as ucnei i manager of their states than thej majority of men land owners. I "We have women lawyers, too bjit1 j they arc not allowed to practice in i the courts, which is very unfair, es-1 j pecially in India, where most of thc I high class ladies of both Hindu and ; Moslem communities are still in Pur- dah (behind the veil), and consequently conse-quently they are not as well defended j as they should' be when forced to up- I pear, in a court trial' ; "The time is coming when man and ' woman, black, while, brown or yellow, ' will be given the same ehance and the same opportunities al 11 over the world! and when all barriers will crumble ! down. ... I "The hand that rpeks the 'cradle rules the world.' and makes or' un-:'; makes nations builds or destroyes i I empires. The early teachings that are instilled In baby minds tako'firm root i j invisibly and boar fruit In later life i i and for generations. . i "We must be given a fair chance' 1 and must have the sympathy and co-) operation of our men. We mi3t ex- I tend a helping hand to each other it we want to kep peace and prosperity I j in this world. East and west have i met at last haVo imbibed each oth- ; , er's spirit and been benefited by it. I j One human nature is the fundamental!' basis of the world. We must regard i j everybody else as a brother or sister!, ! soul on the path of life and realize!) I that thc final goal is certain for us ! . ' 1 1 Mrs. Sen was married to her first ! husband at the age of twelve yearB. I, He died when she was but fifteen , years old, and twelve years later Mrs. j Sen met her present husband. The marriage was a secret oncon account! of the laws of caste, which prohibit a j widow from remarrying. Mrs. Sen's! own account of the affair is as follows: fol-lows: . j ! "1 had to run away from my other : home without the knowledge of .my' father and mother and other relatives. ' I I climbed over th s.-irri gate was guarded by armed sentries, ' i as are all the houses of titled people I in India. I left my home and with it all my property, for a Hindu widow,' when married again, has no claim on j her first husband's property. 1 My husband is the son of the great : Indian reformer, Keshulb Chandra! Sen, and his sister is the Dowager Maharini of Cooch Behar. I was entitled en-titled the Hani Mrlnatlni of Palh-parah, Palh-parah, but ha.ve relinquished my title. My husband has been local adviser to the Indian students in London for the past seven years, and I assl3t him in this great work. ' r can claim to be the first woman to go up in an aeroplane, for some ten years ago I made an ascent in India In-dia with a Belgian aviator called Baron de Cator. I have devoted myself to my husband's work and have done a little writing for publication in my spare moments. 1 am looking forward for-ward to the convention at Geneva, where I will represent the women of India." . |