Vol. 17, Part III · pages 176–180

147WHAT WAY EMANCIPATION ? Be thy own light While thinking over what message should I give you on this occasion, I recollected the message given by the Lord Buddha to His Bhikkhu Sangh just before his Mahaparinirvan and which has been quoted in Mahaparinibban Sutta. Once the Bhagwan, after having recovered from illness was resting on a seat under a tree, His disciple venerable Ananda went to the Buddha, and having saluted sat beside Him, said, “I have seen the Lord in illness as well as in happiness. But from the present illness of the Lord, my body has become heavy like a lead, my mind is not in peace, I can’t concentrate on the Dhamma, but I feel consolation and satisfaction that the Lord will not attain the Parinibban unless the message is given to the Sangh.” Then the Lord replied thus, “Ananda! What does the Sangh expect from me ? Ananda, I have preached the Dhamma with an open heart, without concealing anything. The Tathagata has not kept anything concealed as some other teachers do. So Ananda, what more can Tathagata tell the Bhikkhu Sangh. So Ananda, be self illuminating like the Sun. Don’t be dependent for the light like the Earth. Believe in yourself, don’t be dependent on others. Be truthful. Always take refuge in the truth and do not surrender to anybody.” I also take refuge in the words of the Buddha. “Be your own guide. Take refuge in your own reason. Do not listen to the advice of others. Do not succumb to others. Be truthful. Take refuge in truth. Never surrender to anything. If you keep in mind this message of Lord Buddha at this juncture, I am sure, your decision will not be wrong.” 1 zz 1. : Janata : dated 27th June, 1936. Translated by : Vasant Moon and Editors.

30 ... THERE WILL BE NO DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE MAHARS AND THE MANGS Promises their Quota If they Join his Party for Elections The Bombay Presidency Mang Conference was held on Tuesday the 2nd June 1936 at Naigaum, Dadar, about 5,000 members of the Mang community and delegates from the different districts of the Presidency attended the session. The main resolution which was adopted unanimously stated that the Mang community had no other remedy but change of religion for obtaining freedom and equality. The resolution also declared that the Mang community had full trust in Dr. B. R. Ambedkar and that it was prepared to follow him ‘enmasse’ in his move for a change of faith. Other resolutions relating to the amelioration of the condition of the community were also unanimously adopted. Dr. Ambedkar, who was present by special invitation, addressed the Conference for about an hour. At the outset he pointed out that he had chosen the moment for delivering the speech after the Mang community had declared its decision on the subject of change of faith especially because he did not want to influence their decision in the slightest degree. He demanded the existence of the evil of castes amongst the Depressed Classes themselves. Hinduism to Blame He said, however, that it was not an evil for which the Depressed Classes were responsible. It was Hinduism which was responsible for it. If the Mang community wanted to get out of the evil effects of the caste system, they had perforce to get out of that fold. He assured the Mang community as a member of the Mahar community, a majority community of the Depressed Classes in the Bombay Presidency, that if they chose to come with them there would be no distinction whatsoever between the Mahars and the Mangs. He further assured the Mang community that the Mahars were prepared to guarantee them their quota out of the 15 seats allotted to the Depressed Classes in the Bombay

149..........THERE WILL...........MANGS Presidency provided they were prepared to abide by the pledges of the party. In conclusion Dr. Ambedkar told the audience that the remedy of the change of religion he had placed before the Depressed Classes was in itself a gigantic scheme for the lowly to rise from their age-long degradation.—A. P.” 1 zz 1: The Bombay Chronicle, dated 5th June 1936.

31 YOU MUST GIVE UP YOUR DISGRACEFUL PROFESSION “An impassioned appeal to cast off the evil practices and customs among certain sections of the Depressed classes was made by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar at a meeting at Damodar Thakersey Hall, Bombay, on Tuesday the 16th June 1936, at night. The meeting was largely attended by men and women belonging to the Devdasi, Potraje, Bhute, Aradhi and Jogtini sects and was held to accord support to the mass conversion move inaugurated at Yeola. After several speakers, both men and women, had addressed the gathering on the need for a change of faith as a step toward social freedom, Dr. Ambedkar made a fervent appeal, especially to the women, most of whom had come from Kamathipura. Dr. Ambedkar said, “Whether you change your religion alongwith us or not, it does not matter much to me. But I insist that if you want to be with the rest of us you must give up your disgraceful life. The Mahar women of Kamathipura are a shame to the community. Unless you are prepared to change your ways, we shall have nothing to do with you, and we shall have no use for you. There are only two ways open to you : either you remain where you are and continue to be despised and shunned, or you give up your disgraceful profession and come with us. You will ask me how you are to make your living. I am not going to tell you that. There are hundreds of ways of doing it. But I insist that you must give up this degraded life. You must marry and settle down to normal domestic life as women of other classes do and not continue to live under conditions which inevitably drag you into prostitution.” 1 zz 1. : The Times of India, dated 17th June 1936.

32 DO NOT BECOME A VICTIM TO ANY CONSPIRACY Dr. B. R. Ambedkar called a general meeting of ‘Samta Sainik Dal’ on Sunday Nov. 8, 1936 at 9 a.m., before leaving for Europe. This meeting was held at Damodhar Hall, Parel, Bombay and was chaired by Dr. Ambedkar. 1 While addressing the meeting Dr. Ambedkar said, “I am leaving for Europe tomorrow in connection with some very important work of urgent nature. You will have to shoulder heavy responsibility in my absence. You must be knowing that according to the new Constitution fifteen seats have been reserved in the Legislative Assembly for the Depressed Classes. Election to the Legislative Assembly will be held in February next year. We have been allotted these fifteen seats in different districts of the Province. I have nominated candidates from the Independent Labour Party to contest elections against these seats. Why did my colleagues and I choose to form the Independent Labour Party to contest the coming elections? This is the question I am going to discuss in this meeting. With a well-organised and strong party like the Indian National Congress existing in India, what was the necessity of forming a new Party, is a legitimate question which many would like to ask. It has a very simple answer. The main object of the Congress is to achieve independence. My colleagues and I also want to attain freedom but to achieve freedom is not so simple or easy task. Even the weapon of ‘Satyagraha’ evolved by Mr. Gandhi is not likely to be efficacious. Even with non co-operation and civil disobedience it is not possible to achieve independence. This certainly is beyond our capacity. Everybody seems to be thinking in this manner. If this is so difficult, what is the use of having dreams of such meaningless independence. So long as we do not have the strength and capacity to win true freedom, it is wise and profitable to follow the well-tried methods to achieve our object. I believe this is the correct view. India has not yet become a nation. This country is divided into as many as 4000 castes. Besides this, there are the evils like 1: Janata, dated 5th December 1936.