GANDHI AND HIS FAST 387
Now I say that temple entry is not a spiritual act. It is a political manouver.
Is Mr. Gandhi acting from spiritual motive? In appealing to the Hindus Mr. Gandhi said:
“I have adressed this appeal to you, which proceeds out of my soul’s agony. I ask you to share that agony and shame with me and cooperate with me, for I have no other end to serve than to see Sanatoria Dharma revivified and lived in its reality in the lives of millions who at present seem to me to deny it.”
This soul’s agony was born after the Poona Pact. What did Mr. Gandhi think of the Problem of Temple Entry before the Poona Pact? Before the Poona Pact Mr. Gandhi was of different opinion. That opinion was expressed not very long before the Poona Pact and not long before this appeal was addressed to the Hindus from which I have....... It was expressed in Gandhi Shikshan, Vol. II, p. 132. Mr. Gandhi then held the opinion that separate temples should be built for the use of Untouchables.
Mr. Gandhi said: [1]
“How is it possible that the Antyajas (Untouchables) should have the right to enter all the existing temples? As long as the law of caste and ashram has the chief place in Hindu Religion, to say that every Hindu can enter every temple is a thing that is not possible today.”
It is obvious that Temple Entry is not original with him and therefore not spiritual. The agony is caused by the grave and sudden provocation brought about by the demand of the untouchables for separate electorates. Mr. Gandhi was afraid of the principle underlying separate electorates. He felt that this principle may be extended and may ultimately lead to separation and cessation of the Untouchables from the Hindu fold. It was to counter this move that he changed his opinion and started the temple entry move. The motive of Mr. Gandhi is political and there is nothing spiritual about it.
I do not wish this conclusion to rest merely upon this evidence of change of front on the part of Mr. Gandhi. There is abundance of other evidence in support of it.
I will refer first to the Guruvayur Temple Satyagraha which was started by a caste Hindu by name Kellappan to secure entry into the Guruvayur Temple for the Untouchables. A few facts regarding this episode may be interesting.
1 Quoted from ‘What Congress & Gandhi have done to the Untouchables’, p. 107 (Not in MS).