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DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
such Untouchables elected as were prepared to become the tools of the Hindus ?
(13) After having accepted the Poona Pact why did not Mr. Gandhi keep up the gentleman’s agreement and instruct the Congress High Command to include representatives of the Untouchables in the Congress Cabinets ?
(14) Why did Mr. Gandhi disapprove of the appointment by Dr. Khare of Mr. Agnibhoj—a member of the Scheduled Castes—as a minister in the Congress Cabinet in the C. P. when Mr. Agnibhoj was in every way qualified to be a Minister ? Did Mr. Gandhi say that he was opposed to the creation of such high ambitions among persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes ?
III
What is the explanation that Mr. Gandhi has to offer ? What is the explanation that Mr. Gandhi’s friends have to offer ? Mr. Gandhi’s anti-untouchability campaign is marked by so many twists and turns, inconsistencies and contradictions, attacks and surrenders, advances and retreats that the whole campaign has become a matter of mystery. Few have a belief in its efficacy and quite a large number hold that there is not enough earnestness and sincerity behind it. Some explanation is therefore necessary. It is more for the sake of Mr. Gandhi’s reputation, for earnestness and sincerity than for the sake of giving a clear understanding of Mr. Gandhi’s aims and methods to the reader that one would like Mr. Gandhi and his friends to explain the points raised in the foregoing questions.
It would no doubt be interesting to know what Mr. Gandhi and his friends may have to say in reply to these questions. Everybody interested in this question will naturally be looking forward to it. It will not however do for anyone else to anticipate the reply and then deal with it. They must be left to frame it in their own way and select their own time to do so. In the meantime one may well ask what the Untouchables have to say about Mr. Gandhi and his anti-untouchability campaign. It is not difficult to state what view the Untouchables take of Mr. Gandhi’s anti-untouchability campaign.
Do the Untouchables regard Mr. Gandhi as being in earnest ? The answer is in the negative. They do not regard Mr. Gandhi as being in earnest. How can they ? How can they look