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DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
in the position of a Receiver. As soon as the dispute is over and the right kind of constitution is settled, it has bound it self to hand over the property to its rightful owners, namely, Indians. The Untouchables ask: why not take advantage of this ? why not adopt the straight and honest course of arriving at an agreement among the important elements in the country and then make a joint application for the release of the property ? That the Congress does not want to follow this line of action shows, say the Untouchables, that the Congress “Fight for Freedom” is nothing more than mere tactics, the object of which is to bypass the necessity of an agreed constitution demanded by the Untouchables and made a condition precedent by the British Government for the grant of freedom. The Untouchables do not say that they are out to underwrite the declarations made by the British Government, they do not say that if Indians are agreed it must necessarily be a case of “knock and it will open : ask and it shall be given unto you.” They admit that the British may not act up to the declarations they have made. It may be that even when an agreed constitution is produced, they may not act up to their promises, and a fight for freedom may become necessary. The Untouchables do not overlook these possibilities. But what they do say is that the Indians have not put the British to the test. They can’t be put to test unless they are presented with an agreed constitution. So long as the Congress does not adopt this course as the first—though it may not be last—line of action, the Untouchables feel that the Congress is not honest in its dealings with them, not even to the country. Who can say that the Untouchables have not sufficient justification for refusing to participate in the Congress “Fight for Freedom”?
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