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DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
to give their support to the amendment of Mr. Sharma. Closure was moved and the House accepted Mr. Sharma’s motion for circulation of the Bill by the end of June 1934. Opinions were duly received. They fill a whole volume of over a thousand foolscap pages. The Bill was ready for the next stage namely to move for the appointment of a Select Committee. Mr. Ranga Iyer had even given notice for such a motion. A strange thing happened. The Government of India decided to dissolve the Assembly and order new election. The result of this announcement was a sudden change in the attitude of the Congress members in the Central Legislature towards Mr. Ranga’s Bill. One and all stood out against it and refused to give any further support to the Bill. They were terrified of the electorates. Mr. Ranga Iyer’s position was very pitiable. He described it in very biting language, the venom of which could hardly be improved upon. So well did he describe the situation that I make no apology for reproducing the following extract from his speech Rising to move his motion Mr. Ranga Iyer said:
“Sir, I rise to move what is known as the Temple-Entry Bill, to remove the disabilities of the so-called Depressed Classes. Sir, I move :—
‘That the Bill to remove the disabilities of the so-called Depressed Classes in regard to entry into Hindu temples be referred to a Select Committee consisting of the Honourable Sir Nripendra Sircar, the Honourable Sir Henry Craik, Bhai Parma Nand, Rao Bahadur M. C. Rajah, Mr. T. N. Ramakrishna Reddi, Rao Bahadur B. L. Patil and the Mover.’
“I will delete with your permission, the words ‘with instructions to report within a fortnight’ and then I will continue the remaining portion of the motion :
‘and that the number of members whose presence shall be necessary to constitute a meeting of the Committee shall be five.’
“Sir, at the time I gave notice of this motion, I did not think that before a fortnight we would be going into the wilderness. Therefore, I recognise the limitations of this motion, for there will be no time even to go to a Select Committee. I recognise that it gives us an opportunity to express our opinion on the subject.
“I have already stated that I owed an apology to Mr. Satyamurthi for while interrupting Mr. Mudaliar, I was not in a