Vol. 9 · pages 466–470

Note on the Annexure The present volume of ‘What Congress and Gandhi have done to the Untouchables,’ is the reprint of the first edition published in 1945. Dr. Ambedkar brought out a second edition, in 1946. Certain changes by way of substantial additions and improvements are noticed. Chapter 9, which contains these changes is therefore annexed to the Volume. No changes are noticed in the remaining text. The Editorial Committee is grateful to Shri G. P. Mandavkar of Nagpur for bringing to our notice the contents of the second edition.

CHAPTER IX A PLEA TO THE FOREIGNER Let not Tyranny Have Freedom to Enslave I IT is a matter of common experience that barring a few exceptions, almost all foreigners, who show interest in Indian political affairs, take the side of the Congress. This quite naturally puzzles and annoys the other political parties in the country, such as the Muslim League, claiming to represent the Musalmans, the Justice Party—now in a state of suspended animation but still—claiming to speak in the name of the non-Brahmins and the All-India Scheduled Castes Federation, claiming to represent the Untouchables, all of whom have been appealing to the foreigner for support but to whom the foreigner is not even prepared to give a sympathetic hearing. Why does the foreigner support the Congress and not the other political parties in India ? Two reasons are usually assigned by the foreigner for his behaviour. One reason assigned by him for supporting the Congress is that it is the only representative political organization of the Indians and can speak in the name of India and even for the Untouchables. Is such a belief founded on facts ? It must be admitted that there have been circumstances which are responsible for creating such a belief. The first and foremost circumstance for the spread of this view is the propaganda by the Indian Press in favour of the Congress. The Press in India is an accomplice of the Congress, believes in the dogma that the Congress is never wrong and acts on the principle of not giving any publicity to any news, which is inconsistent with the Congress prestige or the Congress ideology. To the foreigner the Press is the principal medium of information about the Indian political affairs. The cry of the Indian Press being what it is, there is therefore no wonder if the people in England and America know one thing and only one thing, namely, that the Congress is the only representative body in India including even the Untouchables.

440 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES The effect of this propaganda is considerably heightened because of the absence of counter-propaganda on behalf of the Untouchables to advertise their case against the Congress claim. There are various explanations for this failure on the part of the Untouchables. The Untouchables have no Press. The Congress Press is closed to them and is determined not to give them the slightest publicity. They cannot have their own Press and for obvious reasons. No paper can survive without advertisement revenue. Advertisement revenue can come only from business and in India all business, both high and small, is attached to the Congress and will not favour any Non-Congress organization. The staff of the Associated Press in India, which is the main news distributing agency in India, is entirely drawn from the Madras Brahmins—indeed the whole of the Press in India is in their hands and they, for well-known reasons, are entirely proCongress and will not allow any news hostile to the Congress to get publicity. These arc reasons beyond the control of the Untouchables. To a large extent the failure of the Untouchables to do propaganda, it must be admitted, is also due to the absence of will to do propaganda. This absence of will arises from a patriotic motive not to do anything, which will damage the cause of the country in the eyes of the world outside. There are two different aspects to the politics of India, which may be distinguished as foreign politics and constitutional politics. India’s foreign politics relate to India’s freedom from British Imperialism, while the constitutional politics of India centre round the nature of a constitution for a free India. For a discriminating student the two issues are really separate. But the Untouchables fear that though the two aspects of India’s politics are separable, the foreigner, who counts in this matter and whose misunderstanding has to be guarded against, is not only incapable of separating them but is very likely to mistake a quarrel over constitutional politics for a disagreement over the ultimate purposes of India’s foreign politics. This is why the Untouchables have preferred to remain silent and allowed the Congress propaganda to go unchallenged. The Congressmen will not admit the patriotic motives of the Untouchables in keeping silent over Congress propaganda which is directed against them. The fact, however, remains that the silence and the desire to avoid open challenge on the part of the

441 WHAT CONGRESS AND GANDHI HAVE DONE TO THE UNTOUCHABLES : A PLEA TO THE FOREIGNER Untouchables have been materially responsible for the general belief that the Congress represents all, even the Untouchables. While, as explained above, there are circumstances which are responsible for creating the belief that Congress represents all including the Untouchables, such a belief is not warranted by the facts as disclosed by the elections that took place in 1937. How the claim of the Congress to represent all has been disproved by those elections, has already been described in an earlier part of this book, both generally and also with particular regard to the claim of the Congress to represent the Untouchables. If the foreigner will make a note of it he will see how wide the propaganda is from the facts. At a time when the representative character of the Congress was not put to test in an election it was excusable for a foreigner to be carried away by propaganda. But the matter has now been put to test in the elections that took place in 1937. With the results of the elections available to check the position, it may be hoped that the foreigners will revise their view that the Congress represents all, including the Untouchables, and that they will realize that the other parties are equally representative of elements in the social life of India which are outside the Congress and have therefore the right to be heard. II There is another reason why the foreigner lends his support to the Congress. It lies in the difference between the demonstrative activities of the Congress and the other political parties in the country. While he compares the activities of the different political parties, he sees Congressmen engaged in a conflict with the British Government, launching campaigns of civil disobedience, breaking laws made by a foreign Government, organizing movements for non-payment of taxes, courting prison, preaching non-co-operation with Government, refusing offices and exhibiting themselves in other ways as men out to sacrifice themselves for the freedom of the country. On the other hand, he sees the other political parties uninterested, passive and taking no part in such a struggle. From this, he concludes that the Congress is a body struggling for the freedom of India, while the other parties are indifferent, if not obstructive and as a lover of freedom feels bound to support.