Vol. 12 · pages 751–755

6 WITH THE HINDUS [Reproduced from the handwritten Ms—ed] It is impossible to believe that Hindus will ever be able to absorb the Untouchables in their society. Their Caste System and the Religion completely negative any hope being entertained in this behalf. Yet there are incorrigible optimists more among the Hindus than among the Untouchables, who believe in the possibility of the Hindus assimilating the Untouchables. Whether these incorrigible optimists are honest or dishonest in their opinion is a question which cannot be overlooked. Within what time this assimilation will take place, they are unable to define. Assuming that the optimists are honest, there can be no question that this process of assimilation is going to be a long drawn process extending over many centuries. In the meantime the Untouchables will have to live under the Social and political sway of the Hindus, and continue to suffer all the tyrannies and oppressions to which they have been subjected in the past. Obviously no sane man will think of leaving them to the will and the pleasure of the Hindus in the hope that some day in the unpredictable future they will be assimilated by the Hindus. Long or short, there will be a period of transition and some provision must be made against the tyranny and oppression by the Hindus. What provisions should be made in this behalf ? If the question is left to the Untouchables they will ask for two provisions being made : one for Constitutional Safeguards and two for Separate Settlements. I The nature of Constitutional Safeguards for the protection of the Untouchables have been defined by the All-India Scheduled Caste Federation, apolitical organization of the Untouchables of India in the form of resolutions. Resolution Nos. 3 and 7 in which they are defined are set out below : Resolution No. 3 [Quote p. 359] (Not written in the Ms—ed.)

732 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES Resolution No. 7 [Quote p. 361] (Not written in the Ms—ed.) The Hindus are very reluctant to allow the Untouchables these safeguards. The objection is general. There is also objection to particular safeguards. The general objection that the Untouchables are not a minority and therefore they are not entitled to safeguards which may be allowed to other minorities. The argument proceeds that the basis of a community to be called a minority is Religion if one is entitled to be recognized as a minority. The Untouchables are not separate from the Hindus in the matter of the religion. Consequently they are not a minority. That this definition of a minority is childish will be obvious to all those who have studied the question. [Left incomplete—ed] zz

7 FRUSTRATION The Untouchables are the weariest, most loathed and the most miserable people that history can witness. They are a spent and sacrificed people. To use the language of Shelley they are— “pale for weariness of climbing heaven, and gazing on earth, wandering companionless Among the stars that have a different birth” To put it in simple language the Untouchables have been completely overtaken by a sense of utter frustration. As Mathew Arnold says 1 “life consists in the effort to affirm one’s own essence ; meaning by this, to develop one’s own existence fully and freely, to have ample light and air, to be neither (. . . . . . .)* nor overshadowed. Failure to affirm ones own essence is simply another name for frustration. Its nonfulfilment of one’s efforts to do the best, the withering of one’s faculties, the stunting of one’s personality.” Many people suffer such frustrations in their history. But they soon recover from the blight and rise to glory again with new vibrations. The case of the Untouchables stands on a different footing. Their frustration is frustration for ever. It is unrelieved by space or time. In this respect the story of the Untouchables stands in strange contrast with that of the Jews. Their captivity in Egypt was the first calamity that visited the Jewish people. As the Bible says [Quote Childern’s Bible-39] (Quotation not recorded—ed.) Ultimately Pharaoh yielded. The Jewish people escaped captivity and went to Cannan and settled there in the land flowing with milk and honey. 1 Essays on Democracy * Erased from the MS—ed.

734 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES The second calamity which overtook the Jews was the Babylonian Captivity. (Some pages are missing—ed.) We can now explain why the Untouchables have suffered frustration. They have no plus condition of body and mind. They have nothing in their dull drab deadening past for a hope of a rise in the future to feed upon. This is due to no fault of theirs. The frustration which is their fate is the result of the unpropitious social environment born out of the Hindu Social Order which is so deadly inimical to their progress. Their fate is entirely unbearable. As Carlyle has said— [Quote p. 201] (Quotation not cited—ed.) Some are thinking of revolutions, even bloody revolutions to overthrow the Hindu Social Order. All are saying what Cabli Williams once said— [Quote p. 152] (Quotation not cited—ed.) Such is the degree of frustration they feel III The Covenant with God may be interpreted to mean in the language of Emerson a plus condition of mind and body. As Emerson has said “Success is constitutionaldepends on a plus condition of mind and body—on power of work—on courage. Success goes invariably with a certain plus or positive power : An ounce of Power must balance an ounce of weight.” If the Jews rose after their first captivity, it was primarily because of their plus condition of mind and body. This plus condition of mind and body can arise from two sources. It can arise from reliance on God. God, if nothing else is at least a source of power and in emergency man needs mental power, the plus condition of * Erased-ed. Essay on Democracy.