WHAT CONGRESS AND
GANDHI HAVE DONE
TO
THE
UNTOUCHABLES
_____________________________________________
THE REAL ISSUE
Aren't
The Untouchables A Separate Element ?
I
What is the fundamental issue in the
controversy between the Congress and the Untouchables ? As I understand the matter, the
fundamental issue is: Are the Untouchables a separate element in the national life of
India or are they not ?
This is the real issue in the controversy and
it is on this issue that the Congress and the Untouchables have taken opposite sides. The
answer of the Untouchables is yes. They say, they are distinct and separate from the
Hindus. The Congress on the other hand says 'No' and asserts that the Untouchables are a
chip of the Hindu block. This is the attitude of the parties to the issue. The attitude of
the British Government was made clear by Lord Linlithgow [f.1]in his statements as Viceroy and Governor-General of India
in which he declared in quite explicit terms that the Untouchables were a separate element
in the national life of India. Many people who regard the issue of constitutional
safeguards as the fundamental issue will feel surprised that I should regard as
fundamental an issue so apparently different from what they regard as fundamental. Really
speaking there is no difference. It all depends upon what one regards as the proximate and
what as ultimate. Others regard the question of constitutional safeguards as ultimate. I
regard as proximate. What I have stated as fundamental I regard as ultimate from which the
proximate follows, as the conclusion does from the premise in a logical syllogism. It may
be as well for me to state why I have thought it necessary to make this difference. The
evolution of the Indian Constitution appears to me to have established a sort of a logical
syllogism. The major premise in the syllogism is that where there exists an element in the
national life of India, which is definable as a separate and distinct element it is
entitled to constitutional safeguards. An element, making a claim for constitutional
safeguards, must show that it is definable as separate and distinct from the rest. If it
shows that it is separate and distinct, its right to constitutional safeguards is held
admissible.
That is how the provisions for constitutional
safeguards for Muslims, Indian Christians, Anglo-Indians, Europeans and Sikhs have come
into being. It is true that the constitution of India has not been framed in the light of
principles. It has grown in an haphazard manner, more in answer to exigencies than in
accordance with principles. Nevertheless, this silent postulate, if not a principle to
which I have referred, seems to be working throughout. The right of a group to
constitutional safeguards has come to be treated as consequential. It is deemed to follow
automatically when the fundamental condition is satisfied, namely that they do constitute
a separate and a distinct element in the national life of India. In dealing with this
controversy, one must deal with it as one is required to do with a syllogism. In a
syllogism both are fundamental, the conclusion as well as the premise and to close the
argument it is not enough to deal with the conclusion and omit to examine the premise.
Looking at the question from this angle I think I ought not to close the case of the
Untouchables with no more than a discussion of the constitutional safeguards. I feel that
I ought to deal also with the premise, the ultimate, or the fundamental proposition, from
which the constitutional safeguards seem to follow, if not as a matter of course at least
as a matter of precedent.
It will thus be seen that the decision I have
taken to give a separate treatment to the ultimate as distinguished from the proximate
proposition is not without justification. It also seems to be necessary to deal with it
separately and substantially, because the Congress seems to be fully -aware of the fact
that this is the fundamental issue and knows that once it concedes that the Untouchables
are a separate element it cannot prevent them from succeeding in their claim for
constitutional safeguards. If the Congress has come forward to contest this proposition it
is because it thinks that it is the first trench and if it fails to maintain it, it cannot
save the situation.
It must be a matter of considerable surprise to
those who know the conditions in India that the Congress should come forward to controvert
what is incontrovertible, namely, that the Untouchables are separate from the Hindus. But
since the Congress has chosen to do so, I must deal with the issue as best as I can.
The grounds advanced by the Untouchables that
they are separate from the Hindus are not difficult to comprehend. Nor do they require a
long and an elaborate statement. The statement of their case can be fully covered by a
simple question. In what sense are they Hindus ? In the first place, the word ' Hindu ' is
used in various senses and one must know in what sense it is used before one can give a
proper answer to the question. It is used in a territorial sense. Everyone who is an
inhabitant of Hindustan is a Hindu. In that sense it can certainly be claimed that the
Untouchables are Hindus. But so are the Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Jews, Parsis, etc. The
second sense in which the word ' Hindu ' is used is in a religious sense. Before one can
draw any conclusion, it is necessary to separate the dogmas of Hinduism from the cults of
Hinduism. Whether the Untouchables are Hindus in the religious sense of the word depends
upon whether one adopts as his tests the dogmas or the cults. If the tests of Hinduism are
the dogmas of Caste and Untouchability then every Untouchable would repudiate Hinduism and
the assertion that he is a Hindu. If the test applied is the acceptance of a cult such as
the worship of Rama, Krishna, Vishnu and Shiva and other Gods and Goddesses recognised by
Hinduism the Untouchables may be claimed to be Hindus. The Congress as usual maintains a
body of agents from among the Untouchables to shout when need be that the Untouchables are
Hindus and that they will die as Hindus. But even these paid agents will not agree to be
counted as Hindus if they are asked to proclaim themselves as Hindus, if Hinduism means
belief in caste and Untouchability.
One more point must be stressed. On the
foregoing analysis the Untouchable may be classed as a Hindu if the word Hindu is used in
the religious but in the limited sense of a follower of a recognised cult. Even here,
there is a necessity for giving a warning against concluding that the Hindu and the
Untouchable have a common religion. The fact is that even as followers of recognised cults
they cannot be said to have a common religion. The exact and appropriate expression would
be to say that they have a similar religion. A common religion means a common cycle of
participation. Now, in the observances of the cults there is no such common cycle of
participation. The Hindus and the Untouchables practise their cults in segregation so that
notwithstanding the similarity of their cults they remain as separate as two aliens do.
Neither of these two senses of the word ' Hindu ' can yield any result which can be of
help in determining the political question, which alone can justify the discussion.
The only test which can be of use is its social
sense as indicating a member of the Hindu Society. Can an Untouchable be held to be part
of the Hindu Society ? Is there any human tie that binds them to the rest of the Hindus ?
There is none. There is no connubium. There is no commensalism. There is not even the
right to touch, much less to associate. Instead, the mere touch is enough to cause
pollution to a Hindu. The whole tradition of the Hindus is to recognise the Untouchable as
a separate clement and insist upon it as a fact. The traditional terminology of the Hindus
to distinguish Hindus and Untouchables furnishes the best evidence in favour of the
contention of the Untouchables. According to this traditional terminology, Hindus are
called Savarnas and the Untouchables are called Avarnas. It speaks of the Hindus as
Chaturvarnikas and of the Untouchables as Panchamas. Such a terminology could not have
come into existence if separation had not become so prominent and its observance so
necessary as to require coining of special terms to give expression to the fact.
There is thus hardly any substance in the
Congress argument that the Untouchables are Hindus and that they cannot therefore demand
the same political rights as the Muslims and others can. While the argument from tradition
is a good and valid argument to prove that the Untouchables are not Hindus, it may appear
to some to be a weak one. I do not wish to leave the field without directly meeting the
Congress argument. For this purpose, I will grant that the Untouchables are Hindus by
religion. But the question is: Does it matter if they are Hindus ? Can it come in the way
of their being recognised as a separate element in the national life of India ? It is
difficult to understand how the mere fact that they might be called Hindus by religion in
such a limited sense can be the basis of an argument that they are an integral part of the
Hindu society.
Admitting for the sake of argument that they
are Hindus by religion, can it mean anything more than what I have said—namely that
they worship the same Gods and Goddesses as the rest of the Hindus, they go to the same
places of pilgrimage, hold the same supernatural beliefs and regard the same stones,
trees, mountains as sacred as the rest of the Hindus do ? Is this enough to conclude that
the Untouchables and the Hindus are parts of one single community ? If that be the logic
behind the contention of the Congress then, what about the Belgians, Dutch, Norwegians,
Swedes, Germans, French, Italians, Slavs, etc.? are they not all Christians ? Do they not
all worship the same God ? Do they not all accept Jesus as their Saviour ? Have they not
the same religious beliefs ? Obviously, there is a complete religious unity between all of
them in thought, worship and beliefs. Yet, who can dispute that the French, Germans and
Italians and the rest are not a single community ? Take another case, that of the Whites
and the Negroes in the U.S.A. They too have a common religion. Both are Christians. Can
any one say that the two on that account form a single community ? Take a third case, that
of the Indian Christians, Europeans and Anglo-Indians. They profess and follow the same
religion. Yet it is admitted that they do not form. one single Christian community. Take
the case of the Sikhs. There are Sikhs, Mazbi Sikhs and Ramdasia Sikhs. All profess
Sikhism. But it is accepted that they do not form one community. In the light of these
illustrations it is obvious that the argument of the Congress is full of fallacies.
The first fallacy of the Congress lies in its
failure to realize that the fundamental issue for settling the question whether to grant
or not to grant constitutional safeguards is union versus separation of a. socia.l group
in the population. Religion is only a circumstance from which unity or separation may be
inferred. The Congress does not seem to have understood that the Musalmans and the Indian
Christians have been given separate political recognition not because they are Musalmans
or Christians but fundamentally because they form in fact separate elements from the
Hindus.
The second fallacy of the Congress lies in, its
attempt to prove that where there is a common religion social union must be presumed. It
is on the basis of this reasoning that the Congress hopes to win. Unfortunately for the
Congress, it cannot. For the facts are strongly against making a conclusive inference. If
religion was a circumstance from which social union was made the only permissible
inference then, the fact that the Italians, French, Germans and Slavs in Europe, the
Negroes and the Whites in the U.S.A. and the Indian Christians, Europeans, Anglo-Indians
in India do not form a single community although they all profess the same religion is
enough to negative such a contention. The pity of the matter is that the Congress is so
completely enamoured of its argument based on religion as an unifying factor, that it has
failed to realize that there is no concomitance between the two and that there are cases
where there is no separation although religions are separate, that there are cases where
separation exists in spite of a common religion and what is worst, separation exists
because religion prescribes it.
To give a quietus to the Congress argument, it
may be desirable to give one illustration of each of these cases. Of the first case the
best and the easiest illustration I can think of is that of the Sikhs and the Hindus. They
differ in religion. But they are not socially separate. They dine together ; they marry
together; they live together. In a Hindu family one son may be a Sikh, another a Hindu.
Religious difference does not break the social nexus. Of the second, the case of the
Italians, French, Germans in Europe and Whites and Negroes in America are as good
illustrations as one would want. This happens where religion is a binding force but is not
powerful enough to withstand other forces tending to divide such as the sentiment of race.
Hindus and Hinduism are the best and perhaps the only illustrations of the third case,
where separation is the effect of religion itself. That there can be such a case, Hindus
at any rate need not require ' to be told. For, it is well known that Hinduism preaches separation instead of union. to be a Hindu means
not to mix, to be separate in everything. The
language commonly used that Hinduism upholds
Caste and Untouchability perhaps I disguises and conceals its genius. The real genius of
Hinduism is I to divide. This is beyond dispute. For, what do Caste and Un- touchability
stand for? Obviously for separation. For Caste is another name for separation and
untouchability typifies the extremist form of separation of community from community. It
is also beyond dispute that Caste and Untouchability are not innocuous dogmas to be
compared with other dogmas relating to the condition of the soul after death. They are
parts of the code of conduct which every Hindu is bound to observe during his life on
earth. Caste and Untouchability Far from being mere dogmas are among the foremost
observances prescribed by Hinduism. It is not enough for a Hindu to believe in the dogmas
of Caste and Untouchability. He must also observe Caste, and Untouchability, in the
conduct of his daily life.
The separation, which Hinduism has brought
about, between the Hindus and the Untouchables by its dogma of Untouchability is not a
mere imaginary line of separation, such as the one which the Pope once drew in a quarrel
between the Portuguese and their rivals for Colonial possessions; it is not like the
colour line which has length but no breadth and which one may observe or one may not
observe ; it is not like the race line, which involves distinction but no discrimination.
It has both depth and width. Factually the Hindus and the Untouchables are divided by a
fence made of barbed wire. Notionally it is cordon sanitaire which the Untouchables have
never been allowed to cross and can never hope to cross.
To put the matter in general terms, Hinduism
and social union are incompatible. By its very genius Hinduism believes in social
separation which is another name for social disunity and even creates social separation.
If Hindus wish to be one they will have to discard Hinduism. They cannot be one without
violating Hinduism. Hinduism is the greatest obstacle to Hindu Unity. Hinduism cannot
create that longing to belong which is the basis of all social unity. On the contrary
Hinduism creates an eagerness to separate.
The Congress does not seem to realize that the
argument it is using goes against itself. Far from supporting the Congress contention, it
is the best and the most effective argument that can be advanced to prove the contention
of the Untouchables. For, if any conclusion is to be drawn from the hypothesis that the
Untouchables are Hindus it is that Hinduism has always insisted both in principle and in
practice that the Untouchables are not to be recognised a chip of the Hindu block but are
to be treated as a separate element and segregated from the Hindus.
If therefore the Untouchables say that they are
a separate element, nobody can accuse them of having invented a new theory for the sake of
political advantages. They are merely pointing out what the facts are and how these facts
are the heritage of Hinduism itself. The Congress cannot honestly and convincingly use
Hinduism as an argument for refusing to recognise the Untouchables as a separate element.
If it does, it is only because it is actuated by selfish motives. It knows that the
recognition of the Untouchables as an element in the national life of India, as distinct
and separate from the Hindus, must result in the apportionment of places in the Executive,
the Legislature, and in the Public Services between the Untouchables and the Hindus and
thus limit the share of the Hindus. The Congress does not like that the Hindus should be
deprived of the share of the Untouchables which the Hindus are in the habit of
appropriating to themselves. That is the real reason why the Congress refuses to recognise
'that the Untouchables are a separate element in the national life of India.
The second argument of the Congress is that the
political recognition of the Untouchables as a separate element in the national life of
India should not be permitted on the ground that it will perpetuate the separation between
the Untouchables and the Hindus.
This is hardly an argument worth consideration.
It is the weakest of its kind and shows that the Congress has nothing better to advance.
Besides contradicting its previous argument, it is entirely misconceived.
If there is a real separation between the
Hindus and the Untouchables and if there is the danger of discrimination being practised
by the 'Hindus against the Untouchables then the Untouchables must receive political
recognition, and must be given political safeguards to protect themselves against the
tyranny of the Hindus. The possibility of a better future cannot be used as an argument to
prevent the Untouchables from securing the means of protecting themselves against the
tyranny of the present.
In the second place, this argument can be used
only by those who believe in the social fusion of the Hindus and the Untouchables and are
actively engaged in pursuing means and methods which will bring about such a fusion.
Congressmen have often been heard to say that the problem of the Untouchables is social
and political. But the point is, are Congressmen sincere when they say that it is a social
question ? Or do they use it as an excuse with a view to avoid the consequences of having
to share -political power with the Untouchables ? And, if they are sincere in holding that
it is a social question, what proof is there of their sincerity in this matter ? Have
Congressmen sponsored social Reform among Hindus ? Have they carried on a crusade in
favour of inter-dining and intermarriages ? What is the record of Congressmen in the field
of Social Reform?
It might be well to state what view the
Untouchables took of the problem of Untouchables. Until the advent of the British, the
Untouchables were content to remain Untouchables. It was a destiny preordained by the
Hindu God and enforced by the Hindu State. As such there was no escape from it.
Fortunate-ly or unfortunately, the East India Company needed soldiers for their army in
India and it could find none but the Untouchables. The East India Company's army
consisted, at any rate in the early part of its history, of the Untouchables and although
the Untouchables are now included among the non-martial classes and are therefore excluded
from the Army, it is with the help of an army composed of Untouchables that the British
conquered India. In the army of the East India Company there prevailed the system of
compulsory education for Indian soldiers and their children both male and female. The
education received by the Untouchables in the army while it was open to them gave them one
advantage which they never had before. It gave them a new vision and a new value. They
became conscious that the low esteem in which they had been held was not an inescapable
destiny but was a stigma imposed on their personality by the cunning contrivances of the
priest. They felt the shame of it as they had never done before and were determined to get
rid of it. They too in the beginning thought their problem was social and struggled along
the social lines for its solution. This was quite natural. For they saw that the outward
marks of their social inferiority were prohibition of interdining and intermarriage
between the Untouchables and the Hindus. They naturally concluded that for the removal of
their stigma what was necessary was to establish social intercourse with the Hindus on
terms of equality which in its turn meant the abolition of rules against interdining and
intermarriage. In other words, first programme of action which the Untouchables launched
out for their salvation after they became aware of their servile position was to bring
about Social Equality among all those, who come within the fold of Hinduism by insisting
upon the abolition of the Caste System.
In this, the Untouchables found an, ally in a
section of the Hindus. Like the Untouchables, the Hindus also by the contact with the
British had come to realize that their social system was very defective and was the parent
of many social evils. They too desired to launch forth a movement of social Reform. It
began with Raja Ram Mohan Roy in Bengal and from there had spread all over India and
ultimately culminated in the formation of the Indian, Social Reform Conference with its
slogan of Social Reform before Political Reform. The Untouchables followed the Social
Reform Conference and stood behind it as a body and gave it their full support. As every
one knows the Social Reform Conference is dead and buried and forgotten. Who killed it ?
The Congress. The Congress with its slogans "Politics First, Politics Last,"
"Politics by Each, Politics by All" regarded the Social Reform Conference as its
rival. It denied the validity of the creed of the Conference that social reform was a
necessary percursor of political reform. Under a constant and steady fire from the
Congress platform and from individual Congress leaders, the Social Reform Conference was
burnt down and reduced to ashes. When the Untouchables lost all hope of their salvation
through social reform, they were forced to seek political means for protecting themselves.
Now for Congressmen to turn round and say that the problem is social is nothing but
hypocrisy.
It is wrong to say that the problem of the
Untouchables is a social problem. For, it is quite unlike the problems of dowry, widow
remarriage, age of consent, etc., which are illustrations of what are properly called
social problems. Essentially, it is a problem of quite a different nature in as much as it
is a problem of securing to a minority liberty and equality of opportunity at the hands of
a hostile majority which believes in the denial of liberty and equal opportunity to the
minority and conspires to enforce its policy on the minority. Viewed in this light, the
problem of the Untouchables is fundamentally a political problem. Granting however for the
sake of argument that it is a social problem, it is difficult to understand why political
recognition of and political safeguards for the security of the Untouchables should retard
their social unification with the Hindus if there is a genuine desire to set in motion
processes which will bring about such a result. Congressmen appear to be arguing with no
definite conception in their mind. They don't seem to have a clear idea of the
inter-relation between political and social factors. This is well illustrated by its
opposition to separate electorates and its preference to joint electorates. The process of
reasoning is worth attention. In a joint electorate the Hindu votes for an Untouchable and
the Untouchable votes for the Hindu. This builds up social solidarity. In, a separate
electorate the Hindu votes for a Hindu and an Untouchable votes for an Untouchable. This
prevents social solidarity. This is not the point of view from which the Untouchables look
at the question of electorates. Their point of view is which of the two will enable the
Untouchables to get an Untouchable of their choice elected. But I am interested in
scrutinising the Congress argument. I do not wish to enlarge upon and complicate the
argument. The reasoning of the Congress appears to be correct. But it is only a
superficial view of the matter. These elections take place once in five years. It may well
be asked how can social solidarity between the Hindus and the Untouchables be advanced by
one day devoted to joint voting if for the rest of the five years they are leading
severely separate lives. Similarly, it may well be asked how can one day devoted to
separate voting in the course of five years make greater separation than what already
exists or contrarywise how can one day in five years devoted to separate voting prevent
those who wish to work for union from carrying out their purposes. To make it concrete how
can separate electorate for the Untouchables prevent intermarriage or interdining being
introduced between them and the Hindus ? Only a congenital idiot will say that they can.
It is therefore puerile to say that the political recognition of the Untouchables as a
separate element and granting them constitutional safeguards will perpetuate separation
between them and the Hindus if the Hindus desire to put an end to it.
There are other floating arguments against the
claim of the Untouchables for political safeguards which must also be examined. One such argument is that there are social
divisions everywhere Europe; but they are not taken into accouirt by the people of Europe
in framing their constitutions. Why should they be taken into account in India ? The
thesis is general. But it may be extended to such a length that even the claim of the
Untouchables may be enveloped by it. As such I prefer to state why I think it is unsound.
In making my comments I propose to make a
distinction between the statement and the argument founded on it and deal with them
separately. The statement is good up to a point. In so far as it alleges that every
society consists of groups it cannot be challenged. For even in European or American
society there are groups associated together in various ways and for various purposes.
Some are like the kindred closely bound together by blood or language. Some are of the
nature of social classes differentiated on the basis of rank and status. Others are
religious associations upholding particular dogmas; not to mention, political parties and
industrial corporations, criminal gangs and so on in an endless variety with differing
aims and bound together some loosely some closely by differing degrees of affinity. But
when the statement goes beyond and says that the castes in India are not different from
Groups and classes in Europe and America it is nothing but an arrant nonsense. The groups
and classes of Europe may be the same as the caste in India to look at. But fundamentally
two are quite different. The chief distinguishing feature is the isolation and
exclusiveness which are the hall-marks of the castes in India and which are maintained as
matter not of routine but of faith none of which characteristics is to be found in the
group or the class system of "Europe or America.
Turning to the thesis the social organisation
of India being different from what it is in Europe and America it follows that while
Europe and America need not take into account the facts and circumstances of their social
organisation in framing their constitution, India cannot omit to take account of her Caste
and Untouchability. For a fuller understanding of the matter I may explain why Europe need
not and why India must. The danger to a society organised, in groups is that each group
develops what are called "is own interests" and the question of forging
constitutional safeguards arises from the necessity of counteracting the mischief that
such interest might cause to others outside it., Where there is a possibility of
counteracting the mischief by non-political means there is no necessity for forging
constitutional safeguards. If, on the other hand, non,-political means of counteracting it
do not exist then constitutional means must be forged. In Europe the possibility of
counteracting mischief arising from -a' group seeking to maintain "its own
interest" does exist. It exists because of the absence of isolation and exclusiveness
among the various groups which allows free scope for interaction with the result that the
dominant purpose of a group to stand out for its own interests and always seek to protect
them as something violate and sacred gives way to a broadening and socialisation of its
aims and purposes. This endosmosis between groups in Europe affects dispositions and
produces a society which can be depended upon for community of thought, harmony of
purposes and unity of action. But the case of India is totally different. The caste in
India is exclusive and isolated. There is no interaction
and no modification of aims and objects. What a caste or a combination of castes regard
"as their own interest" as against other castes remains as sacred and inviolate
as ever. The fact that they mingle and co-operate does not alter their character. These
acts of co-operation are mechanical and not social. Individuals use one another so as to
get desired results, without reference to the emotional and intellectual disposition. The
fact that they give and take orders modify actions and results. But it does not affect
their dispositions. That being the case the" Indian constitution must provide
safeguards to prevent castes with "their own interests" from doing mischief to other helpless castes.
There is another distinguishing feature of the
Indian caste system which justifies why the Indian Constitution must take account of it
and provide against mischief arising from it. Every society consists of groups. But it
must be recognised that the mutual relations of the groups are not the same everywhere. In
one society groups may be only non-social in their attitude towards one another. But in
another they may be anti-social. Where the spirit which actuates the various social groups
is only non-social their existence may not be taken into account in framing a
constitution. There is no cause for danger in a group which is only non-social. But where
a group is actuated by an anti-social spirit towards another and to which alien is
synonymous with enemy the fact must be taken into account in framing the constitution and
the class which has been the victim of anti-social spirit must be given protection by
proper safeguards. In India the castes are not merely non-social. Often they are
anti-social. This is particularly true of the "Hindus towards the Untouchables. A few
facts will suffice to show how anti-social the Hindus are towards the Untouchables. For
instance, the Hindus will not allow the Untouchables to take water from a well. The Hindus
will not allow the Untouchables entry in schools. The Hindus will not allow the
Untouchables to travel in buses. The Hindus will not allow the Untouchables to travel in
the same railway compartment. The Hindus will not allow Untouchables to wear clean
clothes. The Hindus will not allow Untouchables to wear jewellery. The Hindus will not
allow Untouchables to put tiles on the roofs of their houses. The Hindus will not tolerate
Untouchables to own land. The Hindus will not allow Untouchables to keep cattle. The
Hindus will not allow an Untouchable to sit when Hindu is standing. They are not isolated
acts of a few bad men among the Hindus. They are the emanations of the permanent
anti-social attitude of the Hindu community against the Untouchables. [f.2]
It is unnecessary to carry the matter further.
It is enough to say that the thesis is full of fallacies and it would be a most shameful
piece of chicanery if it was used as a ground for opposing the demand of the Untouchables
for constitutional safeguards.
There is another floating argument one
sometimes comes across. The basis of the argument is that Untouchability is a vanishing
thing and therefore there is no use recognising the Untouchables as a separate element in
the national life of India. Everything is vanishing and there is nothing that is permanent
in human history. The point may be considered when Untouchability has gone root and
branch. Until that state arrives, it is unnecessary to pay any regard to it. We must all
hope for the disappearance of Untouchability. But we must be careful not to be misled by
people who boast of being incorrigible optimists. An optimist is a good companion to cheer
up when one is in a state of depression. But he is not always a truthful witness of facts.
This argument is no argument at all. But since
some people may be allured by it I wish to expose it and to show how futile it is. Those
who raise this point do not seem. to make a distinction between Untouchability as a
touch-me-not-ism and Untouchability as a mental attitude manifesting itself in social
discrimination. The two are quite different. It may be that Untouchability as a
touch-me-not-ism may be gradually vanishing in towns, although I am doubtful if this is
happening in any appreciable degree. But I am quite certain Untouchability as a propensity
on the part of the Hindus to discriminate against the Untouchables will not vanish either
in towns or in villages within an imaginable distance of time. Not only Untouchability as
a discriminating propensity will not disappear but Untouchability as touch-me-notism will
not disappear within a measurable distance of time in the vast number of villages in which
the vast number of Hindus live and will continue to live. You cannot untwist a
two-thousand-year-twist of the human mind and turn it in the opposite direction.
I am quite aware that there are some
protagonists of Hinduism who say that Hinduism is a very adaptable religion, that it can
adjust itself to everything and absorb anything. I do not think many people would regard
such a capacity in a religion as a virtue to be proud of just as no one would think highly
of a child because it has developed the capacity to eat dung, and digest it. But that is
another matter. It is quite true that Hinduism can adjust itself. The best example of its
adjust ability is the literary production called Allahupanishad which the Brahmins of the
time of Akbar produced to give a place to his Dine-llahi within Hinduism and to recognise
it as the Seventh system of Hindu philosophy. It is true that Hinduism can absorb many
things. The beef-eating Hinduism (or strictly speaking Brahmanism which is the proper name
of Hinduism in its earlier stage) absorbed the non-violence theory of Buddhism and became
a religion of vegetarianism. But there is one thing which Hinduism has never been able to
do—namely to adjust itself to absorb the Untouchables or to remove the bar of
Untouchability. There have been many reformers who, long before Mr. Gandhi came on the
scene, tried to remove the stain of Untouchability. But they have all failed. The reason
for their failure appears to me to be very simple. Hindus have nothing to fear from the
Untouchables, nor have they anything to gain by the abolition of Untouchability. Hindus
gave up beef-eating because they were afraid that otherwise Buddhism would overpower
Hinduism. Hindus wrote Allah-upanishad because they had everything to gain by helping
Akbar to establish a new religion. The author gained money by pleasing the Emperor and by
lending aid to establish a religion which promised less tyranny and oppression to the
Hindus than Islam held out. Neither of these considerations exist for the most sanguine
among the Untouchables to expect that the Hindus will readily put an end to this curse of
Untouchability.
Not only have the Hindus nothing to fear and
nothing to gain, they have in fact much to lose by the abolition of Untouchability. The
system of Untouchability is a gold mine to the Hindus. In it the 240 millions of Hindus
have 60 millions of Untouchables to serve as their retinue to enable the Hindus to
maintain pomp and ceremony and to cultivate a feeling of pride and dignity befitting a
master class which cannot be fostered and sustained unless there is beneath it a servile
class to look down upon. In it the 240 millions of Hindus have 60 millions of Untouchables
to be used as forced labour and because of their state of complete destitution and
helplessness can be compelled to work on a mere pittance and
sometimes on nothing at all. In it the 240 millions of Hindus have 60 millions of
Untouchables to do the dirty work of scavengers and sweepers which the Hindu is debarred
by his religion to do and which must be done for the Hindus by non-Hindus who could be no
others than Untouchables. In it the 240 millions of Hindus have 60 millions of
Untouchables who can be kept to lower jobs and prevented from entering into competition
for higher jobs which are preserved for the Hindus. In it the 240 millions of Hindus have
60 millions of Untouchables who can, be used as shock-absorbers in slumps and dead weights
in booms, for in slumps it is the Untouchable who is fired first and the Hindu is fired
last and in booms the Hindu is employed first and the Untouchable is employed last.
Most people believe that Untouchability is a
religious system. That is true. But it is a mistake to suppose that it is only a religious
system. Untouchability is more than a religious system. It is also an economic system
which is worse than slavery. In slavery the master at any rate had the responsibility to
feed, clothe and house the slave and keep him in good, condition lest the market value of
the slave should decrease. But in the system of Untouchability the Hindu takes no
responsibility for the maintenance of the Untouchable. As an economic system it permits
exploitation without obligation. Untouchability is not only a system of unmitigated
economic exploitation, but it is also a system of uncontrolled economic
exploitation." That is because there is no independent public opinion to condemn it
and there is no impartial machinery of administration to restrain it. There is no appeal
to public opinion, for whatever public opinion there is it is the opinion of the Hindus
who belong to the exploiting class and as such favour exploitation. There is no check from
the police or the judiciary for the simple reason that they are all drawn from the Hindus,
and take the side of the Exploiters.
Those who believe that Untouchability will soon
vanish do not seem to have paid attention to the economic advantages which it gives to the
Hindus. Untouchable cannot do anything to get rid of his untouchability. It does not arise
out of any personal fault on his part. Untouchability is an attitude of the Hindu. For
Untouchability to vanish, it is the Hindu who must change. Will he change ?
Has a Hindu any conscience? Is he ever known to
have been fired with a righteous indignation against a moral wrong ? Assuming he does
change so much as to regard Untouchability a moral wrong, assuming he is awakened to the
sense of putting himself right with God and Man, will he agree to give up the economic and
social advantages which Untouchability gives ? History, I am afraid, will not justify the
conclusion that a Hindu has a quick conscience or if he has it is so active as to charge
him with moral indignation and drive him to undertake a crusade to eradicate the wrong.
History shows that where ethics and economics come in conflict" victory is always
with economics. Vested interests have never been known to have willingly divested
themselves unless there was sufficient force to compel them. The Untouchables cannot hope
to generate any compelling force. They are poor and they are scattered. They can be easily
suppressed should they raise their head.
On this analysis, Swaraj would make Hindus more
powerful and Untouchables more helpless and it is quite possible that having regard to the
economic advantages which it gives to the Hindus, Swaraj, instead of putting an end to
Untouchability, may extend its life. That Untouchability is vanishing is therefore only
wishful thinking and a calculated untruth. It would be most stupid—-if not
criminal—to take it into account in -considering the demands of the Untouchables for
constitutional safeguards and ignore the hard facts of the present and their certainty to
continue in the indefinite future.