1056 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
in whatever he does, will have the country’s interest before him ; that is why we consider him as our leader. We would not consider him as our leader if we did not have any faith in him. In the same way we believe that whatever our parents will do, will be allright for us. If we do not have any faith in them we will ourselves seek our mates but then we shall take into account our nature, habits and convenience. Our faith is based on these things and we should not make any such law as my create difficulties for the society, or spread discontent. After all, the object of every legislation is to make society happy and prosperous. But if people think that a certain legislation brings them disaster, bring them round to your point of view. If Dr. Ambedkar is so particular about this Bill let him address a meeting of a lakh of people and explain to them the benefits that will accrue from it. At the same time a pandit, an opponent of the Bill, should also put forward his point of view. If those one lakh people were to express their views by means of a secret ballot, may be that would satisfy you.
Shri Naziruddin Ahmad: That will be the end.
Shri Syamnandan Sahaya : Take a secret ballot in this very House and it will be the end.
Shri Bhatt: You are afraid and that is why you do not put it before the people. There was only one person, and that was Gandhiji who believed in putting everything before the people. He thought that untouchability should be abolished. The capatalists threatened to boycott him. When Gandhiji went to the Mulji Jetha Market of Bombay to collect money for the Tilak Swarajya Fund and asked for a crore of rupees for that fund, the capatalists said that they would give not one but five crores, only if Mahatmaji expunged the abolition of untouchability from his programme. Mahatmaji replied that on that condition he did not want even a single pie from them, not to say of five crores of rupees. He said that he would stand by his principles and march forward towards Swarajya. It is the duty of the Government to go to the people. We are ordinary men, have not studied the Shastras to any great extent. You have wisdom, go to the Pandits, to the Shankaracharya, who is opposing it, go to those women who are against it and whom you want to make happy and try to persuade them. I don’t think that this Bill is going to benefit only the women. I do not consider this to be a Magna Charta for women only. You are trying to benefit the whole of the society and I thank you for that. You should bear this in mind that the subject under discussion is not new. Not to talk of 1942, in
1937 Dr. Deshmukh had introduced a Bill which brought this matter