40 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
From the ‘ Arya Gazette ’ of Lahore dated 30th June 1921:
“A Mahashaya wrote an article in the paper ‘ Young India ’ , in which he reported that in district Surat there is a village called Sisodri. In a very short span of time it has made such progress on the path of nationalism, that it could be held up as a model of non-cooperation. With all this, however, the old contempt for the Harijan remains. The writer says that in the nationalist school of that place, 1 saw a Dhed caste child sitting all apart in one corner of the class room and proclaiming by his very looks that he was an untouchable. I asked the students why they did not let this boy sit with them and they replied: that this could not be until the Harijan left drinking wine and eating meat. The Harijan boy at once said that he had already given these up. The high caste students could say nothing now.”
From the ‘ Pratap ’ of 12th February 1923:
“Mahashaya Santramji has reported :
It happened recently that a Brahmin teacher was appointed by the Government to go and teach in a village school for Chamar boys. When he came there, the Brahmins, Kshatrias and others boycotted the teacher saying, ‘You have come here to teach the Chamars and raise them to our level. Have You?”
From the ‘ Tej’ of 11th April 1924:
“Swami Shradhanandji has written:
There was a nationalist school in Khatsayas which I visited towards the end of November 1921. When 1 enquired how many Harijan children read there, I was told only three and they too, sit outside the class room in the verandah. In my lecture I objected to this procedure and said that in a nationalist institution, it was only proper that these boys should be allowed to sit inside the class room. The manager of the school acted on my advice. The next day the benches of the school were all deserted and till this day the Grand building of that nationalist school stands locked out and dreary.”
From “Milap” dated 18th April 1924:
“Here is an incident from Hoshungabad. The district Council sent a circular letter to the schools that the Harijan children should be educated in the schools. The headmasters began to act on the orders. When one of the schools admitted some Harijan children the Honorary Magistrate took great offence at it and withdrew his children from that school; other guardians also followed suit and all together got a meeting of the school committee convened and resolutions passed in it, that the education of Harijans in the school