CHAPTER X
WHAT DO THE UNTOUCHABLES SAY?
Beware of Mr. Gandhi
C ONGRESSMEN never hesitate to impress upon the Untouchables that Mr. Gandhi is their saviour. Not only do Congressmen all over India hold out Mr. Gandhi as a real saviour but they go forth to persuade the Untouchables to accept the fact that he is their only saviour. When pressed for evidence, they tell the Untouchables that if any one ever took a vow to go on a fast unto death for the sake of the Untouchables it was Mr. Gandhi and none else. Indeed, without any compunction they tell the Untouchables that whatever political rights the Untouchables have got under the Poona Pact, they are the result of Mr. Gandhi’s efforts. As an illustration of such propaganda I refer to what one Rai Bahadur Mehrchand Khanna is reported [1] to have said at a meeting of the Untouchables held at Peshawar on April 12,
1945 under the auspices of the Depressed Classes League :
“Your best friend is Mahatma Gandhi who even resorted to a fast for your sake and brought about the Poona act under which you have been enfranchised and given representation on local bodies and legislatures. Some of you, I know, have been running after Dr. Ambedkar, who is just a creation of the British Imperialists and who uses you to strengthen the hands of the British Government in order that India may be divided and the Britishers continue to retain power. I appeal to you in your interests, to distinguish between self-styled leaders and your real friends.”
If I refer to the statement of Rai Bahadur Mehrchand Khanna it is not because he is worth taking notice of. For there cannot be any one guilty of bigger blackguardism in Indian politics than this man. In the course of one year—not in very remote time but in 1944—he successfully played three different roles. He started as Secretary of the Hindu Mahasabha, turned agent of British Imperialism, went abroad to explain India’s war effort to the British and American people and is now agent of the Congress in N.W.F. Province. The
1 Free Press Journal, dated, 14-4-45,