Vol. 17, Part III · pages 256–260

66 WATANDARI, A CURSE TO MAHARS “Dr. B. R. Ambedkar presided over a meeting of about 4,000 persons which was held at Sinnar, Nasik district, on August 16th, 1941. Dr. Ambedkar stated that in accordance with the decision of the Haregaon Conference in December 1939, a memorial had been submitted to His Excellency the Governor of Bombay, but to no effect. He alleged that Mahars and Mangs had not been accorded equality of treatment with other watandars but that the Judi tax on their watan lands had been increased. He, therefore, advised Mahars and Mangs to resist the collection of the increased tax and not to relinquish possesstion of their lands under any circumstances.” 1 However, there were additional dimensions in the speech of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar on the subject which were reported by the Bombay Chronicle. The dimensions were : “Thundering speeches calling upon the Mahar, Mang and Vethia watandars of Maharashtra to resist by every means within their power the collection of the additional land revenue levied on watan lands, characterised the mass meeting of the watandars held here last night under the Presidentship of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar.” Decision to resist the collection of the tax was a logical sequel to them. “During my entire public career I have remained consistently loyal to the British Government in India,” said Dr. Ambedkar in the course of his Presidential address. “I have been loyal to the British because the . . . . . Depressed Classes, surrounded by enemies on all sides, could not afford to fight on all the fronts at the same time. I, therefore, decided to fight the two thousand year old-tyranny and oppression of the caste Hindus and to secure social equality for the Depressed Classes before everything else.” 1: The Bombay Secret Abstract, dated 23rd August 1941.

228 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES “I have directed for these many years bitter and virulent attacks on the Hindu society and its numerous evils, but I can assure you that I shall direct attacks a hundred-fold more bitter, more virulent, more deadly . . . . . against the British than I have ever done against the Hindus if my loyalty is going to be exploited for crushing my own people and taking away from them the last dry bone from which they draw their barest sustenance.” “I want to tell the British authorities that their rule over this province is due to us, that it was the Mahar regiments that destroyed the Peshwa rule and established British raj in this province. The Mahars won Maharashtra for the British. What did they get for the services? Nothing. This watandari has become a curse to the Mahars. It ties them down to eternal poverty. It saps their self-respect. It keeps them degraded. All that we say is We don’t want your watandari. Relieve us from your service. Levy the full land revenue on our lands and engage men on the basis of monthly payment as you have done for other village services. That has been my demand for these 20 years. What do we get instead? Far from being relieved of the services, additional duties are imposed on the watandars and additional “judi” levied on them. It is a monstrosity that I will not tolerate. I challenge the British authorities to do their worst. I tell them here and finally that they will not get a pie of the additional duty from us. Let them do their worst. As for you, watandars, my instructions are plain. You must resist payment of the additional duty no matter what the consequences. If they attach your houshold goods, or your cattle you must do everything to prevent their taking away the goods and cattle.

229WATANDARI...............TO MAHARS Whatever happens we will see to it that the Government climb down. There is no going back on our decision, no faltering in the execution of the decision. After the Presidential address two resolutions were passed one supporting the memorandum* sent to the Governor by Dr. Ambedkar on the question of Mahar watandari and the other calling upon the watandars to resist collection of the additional “Judi” by every means within their powers. Among the speakers on the resolutions were Messrs R. R. Bhole, B. H. Varade, J. S. Aindale, P. J. Roham, D. G. Jadhav, B. K. Gaikwad and A. V. Chitre, all members of the Bombay Legislative Assembly representing Poona, Belgaum, Sholapur, Ahmednagar, Khandesh, Nasik and Kolaba districts respectively. Each of them offered the fullest possible support of the Mahars from their district to any movement that the Nasik district might start and if necessary, to start Satyagraha on their own districts if the authorities did not yield in time. In his concluding speech Dr. Ambedkar corrected the impression created by some of the previous speakers as to the exact date for starting the movement. “If there are attachments brought tomorrow your resistance begins tomorrow. There is no waiting, no question of receiving instructions” said Dr. Ambedkar. “This tax has to be resisted right from the moment attempts are made to collect. Let the watandars, therefore, go back with this idea fixed in their minds that the collection of the additional tax has to be resisted from the very first step and at every subsequent step.” 1 zz * See the Memorandum on Pp. 308-338 in part-1 of this Volume—Editors. 1 : The Bombay Chronicle, dated 19th August 1941.

67 REMARKABLE CHANGE UNDERGONE. . . . . “The remarkable change that the Kasar Wadi area near Dadar has undergone during the past few years and the noteworthy improvement in the Harijan quarters in the locality effected by the Municipality were referred to by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar on Wednesday, the *20th August 1941 when a purse was presented to him by the residents of the locality for a building for the Independent Labour Party headquarters for which land worth Rs. 40,000 has already been taken on lease. Mr. Upsham presenting the purse said that, that was the fourth occasion on which they were presenting the purse for the building fund. Mr. D. V. Pradhan, General Secretary of the Municipal Kamgar Union who presided, said that he was sorry to refer to the fact that the Gujarati section of the Depressed Classes while sharing to the full the advantages accruing from the activities of the Union was not prepared to share the burden of the Union’s activities. He also announced that the Municipal workers would orgainise a procession on September 7 to back up their demand for dearness allowance.” 1 zz * The date of newspaper ‘20th’ might have been wrongly reprinted.-Editors. 1 : The Bombay Chronicle, dated 20th August 1941.

68 EDUCATED PERSONS SHOULD JOIN MILITARY “Under the auspices of the Mahar community a public lecture was delivered by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar “on Mahar Battalion” at R. M. Bhatt High School, Parel, on September 24th 1941. at about 9-15 p.m. About 500 Mahars attended the meeting. Dr. Ambedkar said that the meeting was held to encourage educated men from his community to join Military. The Government of India had promised him to form a Mahar Battalion on account of the great valour shown by the 111, Mahar Battalion in the last Great War. He also pointed out that the said Battalion was abolished as the officers of that battalion who were almost high class Hindus and Muslims complained that the soldiers were useless for military work. So this time, the lecturer said he insisted on the Government to appoint Mahar Officers in Mahar Battalion. Therefore he requested the audience to join Military in general and particularly to those who were educated. The lecture terminated at about 10 p.m.” 1 However, there were additional dimensions in the speech of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar on the subject which were reported by the ‘Times of India’ The dimensions were : “Dr. Ambedkar stated that in spite of the harsh treatment being meted out to them, on account of the ‘Watandar’ system pursued in Nasik, Khandesh and other districts of the province by the local Government, this was not the time for Mahars to withhold their co-operation. After the last war, the Mahar Battalion was disbanded and the Mahars who had joined the army were not provided for. Recently, he had made representations to Government that a Mahar Battalion should be permanently maintained. The thanks of the community for the success of their cause were due to the Governor of Bombay and the Viceroy. 1: B. S. A, dated 25th September 1941.