DUTY OF GOVERNMENT TOWARDS DISTRESSED PEOPLE 439
Institutions what is there to prevent all the despised castes — the Dheds,, Mahars, etc., from flocking in numbers to their walls ?
Social Prejudices of the Hindus
“ Paragraph 22. There is little doubt that if a class of these latter were to be formed in Bombay they might be trained, under the guiding influence of such Professors and masters as are in the service of the Board, into men of superior intelligence to any in the community : and with such qualifications, as they would then possess, there would be nothing to prevent their aspiring to the highest offices open to Native talent — to Judgeships, the Grand Jury, Her Majesty’s Commission of the Peace. Many benevolent men think it is the height of illiberality and weakness in the British Government to succumb to the prejudices which such appointments would excite into disgust amongst the Hindu community, and that an open attack should be made upon the barriers of caste.
Wise Observations of the Honourable Mount Stuart Elphinstone Cited
“ Paragraph 23. But herewith wise reflections of Mr. Elephinstone, the most liberal and large minded administrator who has appeared this side of India, point out the true rule of action. ‘It is observed,’ he says, ‘that the missionaries find the lowest caste the best pupils; but we must be careful how we offer any special encouragement to men of that description ; they are not only the most despised, but among the least numerous of the great divisions of society and it is to be feared that if our system of education first took root among them, it would never spread further, and we might find ourselves at the head of a new class, superior to the rest in useful knowledge, but hated and despised by the castes to whom these new attainments would always induce us to prefer them. Such a state of things would be desirable, if we were contented to rest our power on our army or on the attachment of a part of the population but is inconsistent with every attempt to found it on a more extended basis!”
- Such is the antagonism towards the Schedule Castes with which began Government’s policy of giving education to Indians. This policy