356 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
Scheduled Castes. I wonder whether he is aware of what has recently happened in that town of Salem. He probably is forgetful of it.
Sri M. Ananthasayanam Ayyangar : I do not know.
The Honourable Dr. B.R. Ambedkar : Or he is so much preoccupied with politics that he did not know what his own community members are doing. I like him to peruse the papers of the ‘Hindu’ of Madras, not of some past year but of the 12th of this month. He will find that Salem Brahmans met in a solemn conclave for the purpose of establishing a Brahman Sangh, for the purpose of protecting the interests of Brahmans, for the purpose of starting a college for Brahmans, for the purpose of starting industries for Brahmans. And who was the President of that Conference ? The great man Sachivotama Sir C.P. Ramaswami Ayer.
Sri M. Ananthasayanam Ayyangar : Your erstwhile colleague.
The Honourable Dr. B.R. Ambedkar : I do not know. When everybody in this country while talking of nationalism is practising sectarianism..........
Sri M. Ananthasayanam Ayyangar : I am sorry for both.
The Honourable Dr. B.R. Ambedkar : ....... for Members to come here and to tell a struggling community like that of the Scheduled Castes, who for the first time in their life have become conscious of their disabilities and are trying to found educational institutions in which they will be able to get higher education that they are acting in a sectarian spirit to my judgment is nothing short of imprudence. I would like to tell this House that it is complete misnomer to say that this is a Scheduled Caste college. It is a college which like any other college is open to every community. There is no bar to any body.
Pandit Govind Malaviya (Allahabad and Jhansi Divisions : Non-Muhammadan Rural): What is stated in the Budget ?
The Honourable Dr. B.R. Ambedkar : The Budget was before you for full one month, and you ought to have put a short notice question to ask for full details before you got up to oppose it. Now, as I said this is an institution which is open to every community. The college is not only open to all but the staff selected is also cosmopolitan. There are Hindus, there are Brahmins, there are non-Brahmins, there are Parsis, there are Christians, there are Muslims on the staff. And I like to tell the House that when the affiliation application came before