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DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
in the common mass of people. In a memorial submitted to the Emperor on the 5th March 1869 they said: [1]
“The Place where we live is the Emperor’s land. The food that we eat is grown by the Emperor’s men. How then can we claim any property as our own ? We now reverently offer up our possessions and also our followers (Samurai as well as ‘common folk’) with the prayer that the Emperor will take good measures for rewarding those to whom reward is due, and for fining such as do not deserve reward. Let imperial orders be issued for altering and remodelling the territories of the various clans. Let the civil and penal codes, the military laws down to the rules, for uniforms and for the construction of engines of war, all proceed from the Emperor. Let all affairs of the Empire, both great and small, be referred to him.”
How does the governing class in India compare in this behalf with the governing class in Japan ? Just the opposite. The governing class in India has no such intention of making any sacrifice on the altar of Indian Freedom. Instead of surrendering its privileges in the name of nationalism, the governing class in India is using or misusing the slogan of nationalism to maintain its privileges. Whenever the servile classes ask for reservations in the Legislatures, in the Executive and in public services, the governing class raises the cry of ‘nationalism in danger.’ People are told that if we are to achieve national freedom, we must maintain national unity, that all questions regarding reservations in the Legislatures, Executives and the public services are inimical to national unity and therefore for anyone interested in national freedom it is a sin to stand out for such reservations and create dissensions. That is the attitude of the governing class. It stands in glaring contrast with that of the governing class in Japan. Far from sacrificing its privileges for nationalism, it is exploiting nationalism to preserve them.
The governing class in India does not merely refuse to surrender its power and authority; it never loses an opportunity to pour ridicule on the political demands of the servile classes. Some [2] members of the governing classes have gone to the
1 lbid, p. 233.
2 The parody written by Dr. R.P. Paranjpe appeared in a magazine called Gujarathi Punch for May 1926 under the heading “A Peep into the Future.” As a specimen of this class of writing by members of the governing class it is worth perusal. It is a satire based on certain incidents which are imagined to