Vol. 17, Part I · pages 426–430

401SCHEDULED CASTES’................MANIFESTO— 49. To sum up under the scheme set out by the Federation the available resources for the development of the country will come to- (1) From the Army Budget .. Rs. 50 crores (2) From the Salt Revenue .. Rs. 30 crores (3) From Excise .. Rs. 25 crores (4) From Life Insurance (5) From compulsory Insurance of Figures not State and Private Employees available. 50. The sources indicated can be depended upon to provide enough funds for the development of the country. IV. Co-operation between Scheduled Castes Federation and other Political Parties 51. Mere Organization does not make a party. A party means a body of people who are bound by principles. Without principles a party cannot function as a party for in the absence of principles there is nothing to hold the members of it together. A party without principles is only a caravanserai. The Scheduled Castes Federation will not, therefore, ally itself with a Political Party which has not laid down its principles and whose constitution does not demand a pledge from its members to stand by those principles and whose principles are not in antogonism with these of the Federation. 52. It is not enough to have political ideals. What is necessary is the victory of ideals. But the victory of ideals can be ensured only by organized parties and not by individuals. For these reasons the Federation will not support independent candidates who belong to no party except in exceptional cases. 53. Secondly, the Scheduled Castes Federation would like to work in co-operation with the Backward Classes and the Scheduled Tribes. For they are more or less in the same position as the Scheduled Castes. These classes unfortunately have not developed that degree of political consciousness which the Scheduled Castes have by reason of political and social activity of the Scheduled Castes Federation during the last twenty years. The Constitution of Free India has made the Backward Classes, the Scheduled Tribes and the Scheduled Castes virtually the masters of the country.

402 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES Hitherto the minority of Caste Hindus have made themselves the rulers of the country. The fear of the Scheduled Castes Federation is that the Backward Classes and the Scheduled Tribes by reason of their want of consciousness may fall a prey to the minority of Caste Hindus and continue to be their slaves instead of becoming masters of their own. The Scheduled Castes Federation’s first concern is to help these Classes to get on their feet. If they so wish, the Scheduled Castes Federation would be prepared to change the name and call itself the Backward Classes Federation so as to include both sections in a common organization. If this is not possible, the Scheduled Castes Federation would be ready and willing to forge a working alliance with such organizations. 54. As regards other Political Parties, the Scheduled Castes Federation’s attitude can be easily defined. The Scheduled Castes Federation will not have any alliance with any reactionary Party such as the Hindu Mahasabha or the R. S. S. 55. The Scheduled Castes Federation will not have any alliance with a Party like the Communist Party the objects of which are to destroy individual freedom and Parliamentary Democracy and substitute in its place a dictatorship. 56. The Scheduled Castes Federation does not believe in totalitarianism and, therefore, will not join a political party which is already totalitarian and which will not permit an opposition party to grow. 57. The Scheduled Castes Federation is equally opposed to the growth of multiplicity of Political Parties. The ideal of the Scheduled Castes Federation is to have two parties. That alone can give stability to the State and Freedom to the individual. The Federation will strive to bring about a two party system in this country. Such an ideal, however, does not seem to be realizable within the short time available from now and the coming general election. For the moment what is possible is to form an All India Party consisting not of individual members but of different political parties as units all having a common basis in Political principles and bound by common

403SCHEDULED CASTES’................MANIFESTO— descipline but each having its own autonomy in the matter of its internal organization and the setting up of candidates on some agreed basis and reciprocal obligation to support one another’s candidate subject to a committee of approval. In short, the Party should be some what on the lines of the British Labour Party which is a Federal Party. 58. The Scheduled Castes Federation is prepared to be a unit of such a Federal Party if Parties such as the K.M.P. Party, the Socialist Party, the Justice Party and where no such Parties exist other Parties on the following terms and conditions : (i) Every Party to such an alliance must have its principles set out in clear terms; (ii) The principles of such a Party should not be opposed to the principles of the Scheduled Castes Federation; (iii) The Party seeking alliance must pledge its support for the social and economic uplift of the Scheduled Castes; (iv) The Party must agree to permit the Scheduled Castes Federation to function as an autonomous unit within the Federal Organization in the matter of its internal affairs; and (v) The Party must not be affiliated to any Party which is not recognized by Federal Party as a unit of its own. 59. With regard to individuals who seek the aid of the Scheduled Castes Federation in Election they would be required to become Associate Members of the Federation and sign a pledge to the effect that they accept the principles, the policy, the programme and the descipline of the Federation. zz

47 RESIGNATION NOT DUE TO ILLNESS Dr. Ambedkar’s statement, New Delhi, October 12,1951. Dr. B. R. Ambedkar said here to-day that he had not resigned on grounds of illness. In a Statement he said that in his letter of August 10 last, to the Prime Minister, he had referred to his illness but had not mentioned it as a ground for his resignation. He had mentioned it is a ground for getting higher priority for the Hindu Code. In their letter of resigntion of September 27 last, he had not mentioned illness as a ground for his resignation. “How anybody can spell out from those two letters that I resigned because of my health, I am unable to understand. I knew that attempts were being made to give such an impression, that is why I wanted to make a statement in the House so that nobody should be under any false impression.” The former Law Minister expressed surprise over the question about his statement in Parliament on his resignation having been raised against at 6 p. m. yesterday. After reading the press reports of what had happened in the House in his absence, he found that some confusion had been created in the minds of the members by what was said by the Prime Minister and the Deputy Speaker. “Unfortunately,” Dr. Ambedkar said, “the Prime Minister did not inform me that he was going to raise the question in the evening at six O’ clock. If he had told me of his intention to do so, I would have certainly been present in the House to hear what he had to say, and offer my explanation there. But I received no such intimation from him and consequently was not present in the House. “I, therefore, think it necessary to clarify the position. I have not been able to understand what exactly the Prime Minister wanted to gain by reading the correspondence between him and me. I can only guess. If the impression which the Prime Minister seems to be desirous of creating by reading the correspondence was that the ground for my resignation was my illness, it is not difficult to dispel that conclusion.”

405RESIGNATION NOT DUE TO ILLNESS Propriety of Reading out Dr. Ambedkar’s letters Mr. Kamath’s Query in Parliament, New Delhi, October 12 : The propriety of the Prime Minister’s reading out to Parliament last evening the letters exchanged between Dr. Ambedkar and himself, without taking the permission of the former and without informing him, has raised in Parliament this morning by Mr. H. V. Kamath. Soon after Dr. Ambedkar had taken his seat in the front bench amidst cheers. Mr. Kamath raised this question and asked whether Dr. Ambedkar would be permitted to make a statement commenting on the correspondence. The Deputy Speaker said that every member should speak for himself. He pointed out that he had fixed 6 p. m. last evening as the time Dr. Ambedkar to make the statement. At that time Dr. Ambedkar was not in his seat and the Prime Minister wanted to read out certain relevant papers and permission was given. No particular notice need be given to any member. Clarifying his position, Dr. Ambedkar said that when he left the Chamber in the morning, he was quite sure that he had left the impression on the House and the Chair that he was not prepared to make a statement at 6 p.m. He was not saying that he felt injured by the Prime Minister’s reading out the correspondence at 6 p.m. “knowing fully well that I had stated clearly in the morning that I was not going to obey your observations and make the statement at 6 p.m.” Dr. Ambedkar added :— “Whether it was justifiable for the Prime Minister to have read out the letters or not is a matter I leave to the Prime Minister and yourself, because I have other channels open to me for correcting wrong impressions”. Closing the incident the Deputy Speaker said. It is always open to a member to change his mind and make the statement especially when once I had fixed 6 p. m. as the time for the statement.”1 zz 1 : The Times of India, dated 11-10-1951, the dates ‘11’ seems to be incorrect—Editors. Reprinted: Khairmode, Vol. 10, Pp. 119-121.