138 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
action. They are responsible for the outlook which man has on life. They are responsible for the attitude one holds towards his fellow man. They prescribe principles which govern conduct, mould character and implant in man that mysterious thing called conscience which acts as his sentinel and prevents him from going wrong.
It is when one comes to examine this Hindu Civilization in the matter of its religious content, the way of life it prescribes, that one begins to doubt whether this Hindu Civilization is at all an advantage to the generations who are fated to. inherit it. What does this civilization offer to the 25 millions of Primitive Tribes who are living on its frontiers ? What does it offer to the 5 millions of Criminal Tribes who are living in the midst of that civilization? What does it offer to the 50 millions of Untouchables who are not only living in the midst of that civilization but are required to sustain it ? What would the Primitive Tribes say of a civilization which has made no effort to adopt them in its fold ? What would the Criminal Tribes say of a civilization which has driven them to take to criminal ways for earning their livelihood ? Would it be unjust if they said that this is not Civilization, this is infamy ?
As to the Untouchables, theirs has been a fate of degradation and destitution in the past and for whom under the Hindu Civilization there seems to be no escape in the future. Even Indians do not seem to realize the extent of degradation and destitution that is involved in this system of Untouchability. The observations of the Committee appointed by the Government of Bombay to inquire into the grievances of the Depressed Classes and Aboriginal Tribes in 1928 are very pertinent. It said.
“There is nothing strange in the idea that an unclean person or thing causes repulsion which underlies the idea of pollution. But what is regrettable about it as applied to the (UNTOUCHABLES), is its irrationality. It stamps an individual as untouchable by the mere accident of his birth. A person born Untouchable, remains Untouchable however superior he may be in personal cleanliness to the so-called touchable, and there is no way open to him by which he can escape his fate. What is surprizing in all this is that an Orthodox Hindu, notwithstanding the differences between his religious notions and mode of living and outlook in life and those of the Mahomedans, Parsis and Christians treat them as touchables. This has resulted in further aggravating the position of the (Untouchables). For this unjust discrimination on the part of the Orthodox Hindus, in some cases being influenced by the Orthodox Hindus especially in villages, even the Mahomedans, Parsis and