Vol. 17, Part III · pages 466–470

437IF OUR.....................FARCE candidate and get our second vote in return. We have not decided as yet which party we will join hands with. Many parties have approached us for alliance but nothing has yet been finalised. Negotiations are going on. We have to think many times before we join hands with any party. But we must join with some party or the other. In the end I want to tell you that thousands of people come to Delhi from Punjab and U. P. and other distant places to put their grievances before me. Some complain that they have been beaten by the Zamindars and when they approached the authorities concerned, decisions were taken against them as the people in power also belong to high castes. So there are so many complaints that it is not possible for me to cope with these single handed. Many people return to their homes disappointed. So I have decided to construct a building in Delhi and to keep a pleader there who will scrutinise our people’s complaints and advise them in the matter. We have already purchased a piece of land in New Delhi for the purpose and on that site we want to construct a building which shall be the Head Office of the Federation. People from outside will be entertained there and their grievances heard. We do not have sufficient funds for the construction of this building, although it is absolutely essential. So I request that you all should contribute something according to your means. In this way we shall be able to achieve our purpose. Bawa Tula Dass will tour the whole Punjab for the collection of building Fund. I once again request you to contribute liberally for this noble cause.” zz

127 POOR PEOPLE MUST UNITE SEPARATELY TO ACHIEVE THEIR PURPOSE Dr. Ambedkar’s Speech at Patiala, Punjab on 29th October 1951 during election campaign. He said. Dear brothers ! As my friend Mr. Rajbhoj has told you I am not feeling well today. This is due to the fact that I had to travel a long journey by road. So I will not be able to speak for a long time but I will speak on some important topics. Everybody in India is busy with elections. There are many politicians and parties who have nothing else but elections with them. I very much appreciate the anxiety of the people about the coming elections and agree that we should think many times before we decide to vote for a party or an individual. The people elected now will continue in office for five long years. So, we must be very careful about it. This is the time of life and death of political parties as well as individuals. Every citizen and politcal party has got to take proper part in elections but for this, their very existence is in danger. You know that today the Congress is the party in power in India. It is forty years old and it has got large funds at its disposal. For the last four or five years. Congress Party is governing over India, Congressmen are now canvassing people to vote for the Congress. They argue that no other party is so powerful to run the Government and can achieve what Congress has achieved in the past and will be able to do in the future. They state only under Congress rule India can prosper and as such all people whatever their religion, caste, creed might be, should vote for the Congress candidates and make them successful in the coming election. This is what Congressmen are propagating. It is right that Congress has got means of propaganda so much so that every candidate standing for Congress ticket will have more than 100 agents at the disposal for his propaganda. Congress has got its headquarters where so many people are working like government servants. They have got offices of each

439POOR PEOPLE...............PURPOSE and every branch. This is all due to money. Congress is the richest party in India. With money, it can do whatever it likes. Without money no party can propagate and without proper propaganda no other party can flourish. Congress has so moulded the public opinion through propaganda in its favour that now it is trying to do all sorts of things under its cover. Congress has been in power now for four years and you can well understand what it has done for the people. There is no food, no clothes and no shelter. Congress has failed to deliver the goods during these four years and how can one expect that it would help people if it comes into power again ? Corruption, nepotism and black-market are the only industries which have flourished during the Congress rule. Corruption and other evils are even greater now than during the British rule over India. We are dying of starvation and there is a vast disparity between the rich and the poor. If the Congress has not been able to remove this disparity during the five years, how will it be able to do in future ? Rich people are becoming richer and poor are becoming poorer day by day. What Congress has done in this direction ? Congress Government is corrupt Government. Congress Minister take bribery. They get money through black-market. They are corrupt. If our Ministers are of such bad character, you can well understand how their subordinates will behave and what will be the position of the labour under the capitalists. I had expected that our present Prime Minister will do something in this connection and bribery, corruption, black-marketing will end for ever. But I am sorry to note that in his Presidential Address to the All India Congress General Session in New Delhi, Pandit Nehru stated that corruption is rampant in other countries also and as such we should not worry very much if it is prevalent in India too. He further added that corruption and bribery is in a very small scale in India as compared to other countries. I do not know how Prime Minister is going to remove this evil when he is openly encouraging it by saying that corruption is in a very small scale here. Even it is in small scale it must be removed. What has the Prime Minister done in this direction? Should he keep quiet if the Ministers and other high officials of the Government are corrupt ?

440 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES All what I have said is not my criticism, but the Congressmen have criticised the Congress Ministers and none else. In Madras, for instance, Mr. T. Prakasham was the Premier for some time. When he was turned out from office and Mr. Raje occupied his seat, there were certain charges against Mr. Prakasham and when an enquiry was made it was found that he had earned a huge amount through bribery, etc. He had issued thousands of licenses and permits. The same thing is happening in Madhya Pradesh. There are so many Ministers who have taken bribe but still they are Ministers of the worthy Government. Nobody is taking any action against them but they are being encouraged instead. The people who charge these Ministers are being sent to jail. What is happening in Punjab ? Mr. Sachar and Dr. Bhargava are fighting against each other. Both were Premiers in the Punjab. Both have pleaded not guilty. Each has demanded an enquiry against the other. No one can deny the fact that both took bribes and encouraged black-marketing during their rule in the Punjab and still no enquiry is being made. Now they are again trying for the Premierships. During the coming elections, they want to put as many candidates of their own camp on Congress tickets as would be sufficient to support them for the Premiership. The last date for the filing of papers in the Punjab is 5th November but upto this day i.e. 29th October 1951, no list has so far been finalised because of their differences and I think that they will never come to a point. When any person has charged any Minister or other Government official for bribery, it is the duty of the Government to institute an enquiry and punish the culprit. No Government can exist if it allows its Ministers and other high dignitaries to take bribe in such a way. If every Government Minister will make money what will be the Government then ? In England, one Minister was charged for bribery in the House of Commons. Mr. Atlee, the then Prime Minister in England, at once ordered an enquiry. A Commission was appointed to enquire into the matter. The Commission stated in its report that the Minister concerned had taken some cloth from a friend of his, who happened to be a businessman and that this act of his cannot be

441POOR PEOPLE...............PURPOSE taken as bribe. But even on this ground that he accepted the cloth from a businessman, whether he was friend or enemy, without paying any money, Mr. Atlee turned out that Minister from office. But our Congress Government does not even feel its duty to enquire into the charges against the Ministers, not to speak of their removal from office. Congressmen ask the people to vote for the Congress and promise that they will work for the welfare of all. They state that they will remove poverty and help the backward classes so that they will achieve a better standard of life. I want to ask you, can the snake and the mongoose (Ichneumon) live together. Can cat co-operate with the rat ? Can elephant live with ‘Birree’ ? Certainly, if the snake wants to mix up with the mongoose (Ichneumon) and make any profit out of it, it is mistaken. Mongoose will eat up the snake. Rat will be swallowed by the cat, if it wants to join hands with the cat. Similarly, elephant cannot enjoy the life with ‘Birree’. Mongoose is the enemy of the snake, cat is the enemy of rat and ‘Birree’ is the enemy of the elephant. They cannot form a joint company. Similarly, in the human world, there are weak as well as strong persons. One is the enemy of the other and certainly weak cannot live peacefully in the company with the strong. Money-lender and borrower cannot live peacefully. Moneylender will try to exploit the borrower to his own advantage. Bania (Money-lender) will always try to extract what it can out of the poor people. Brahmins will never show sympathy for the poor Scheduled Castes and if they did so there will be nobody to serve them. There are so many sections in this world which are enemies. There are poor as well as rich sections, and the rich are always there to exploit the poor. Now I want to question you that if we form a party of the snake, mongoose, cat, rat, elephant and ‘Birree’, will the snake, rat and elephant be safe there ? Certainly not. They will always be at the mercy of their masters. Similarly, if the Depressed Classes join hands with the Brahmins and form a political party, do you think that the Depressed Classes will be safe there ? I warn you to be careful and give fullest consideration to this matter. You should not be caught in the net spread by the Congress. If you think that by joining hands with