WHAT CONGRESS AND GANDHI HAVE DONE TO THE UNTOUCHABLES : APPENDIX V 319
of capital punishment in Travancore State and took credit for Having carried out a great humanitarian Reform. As a matter of fact, the object was really preventing the Brahmin from being brought under the guillotine in obedience to the principle of equality before law.
How far did this Proclamation change facts and how far it has remained a show ? It is not possible to get real facts as they exist in Travancore. In the course of the discussion on the Malabar Temple Entry Bill in the Madras Legislatives Assembly, certain facts relating to Travancore were mentioned by Sir T. Pannirselvam which, if true, would show that the whole thing is hollow.
Sir T. Pannirselvam said :—
“One of the arguments advanced by the Premier in support of the measure was that temples in Travancore had been thrown open to the ‘Untouchables.’ A Maharaja vested with autocratic powers did so by an order. But how was it working there ? From representations received, he was led to believe that after the first flush of enthusiasm, Harijans had left off going to temples, and people who used to worship previously before Harijans were allowed to enter the temples, had stopped worshipping in temples. He would ask the Government to tell them if the measure was really a success in Travancore.”
On the third reading of the Bill, Sir T. Pannirselvam made a statement which must have come as a surprise to many. He said :
“He wanted to know whether it was a fact that the private temples of the Senior Maharani were excluded from the Proclamation. What was the reason for it ? Again during the celebration of the marriage of the daughter of the Senior Maharani, it was found necessary, so he was told, to perform purificatory ceremony of the temple. If such a purification of temples took place, what happened to the Proclamation ?”
These facts were not challenged by anybody, either by Sir C. P. Ramaswami Iyer or C. Rajagopalachariar. Evidently, they cannot be challenged. If they are incontrovertible, then the less said about the Malabar Temple Entry Proclamation as a spiritual testament, the better.
Is this Temple Entry in Travancore the be-all and end-all of the social reform in Travancore ? Is there to be just Temple Entry and no further or is it going to lead to equality in the matter of religious status ? Will, for instance, the Devastan Department be placed in the hands of the. Untouchables and the Shudras ? Nine years since the Proclamation have passed, there has been no move in democratization of religion in Travancore.
Will the Untouchables of Travancore have to pay for Temple Entry ? I am not in a position to say. But I like to reproduce