1142 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
was no method or system of marriages, where a state of things prevailed which probably, in decent society, would not be considered worth mentioning. That is the stake which is involved.
I should have liked to have dealt with the question of divorce ; I should have, liked to have dealt with the question of widow remarriage; I should have liked to have dealt with the question of inter-caste marriage; I should have liked to have dealt with the question of monogamy. I hope I will have opportunities as these clauses come up to deal with each one of these at the appropriate time. It is not for reasons of orthodoxy alone that this question must be considered. It is from the point of view of the over all interest and well-being of society that we should tackle these problems. I said society. Society means the whole group of people, all the inhabitants taken together. It is formed of the units, of the individuals. But, the unit and the whole, even though they are inseparably interdependent, have their own separate entity also. The body is made up of all the limbs. But, the hand has its own existence by itself; the head has its own. The body as a whole cannot be by itself without the hands, feet, legs and the head.
[S HRIMATI D URGABAI in the Chair ]
But, the body is not merely the hand or the feet or the head. It is the sum total of the whole. When, therefore, we have to think of society, we have to think of the good and interest of society as a whole and if any thing is in the interest and well-being of all, then, whether it is pleasant or whether it is a little less pleasant for one individual here or one individual there, that must be adopted. When these topics come up, I hope I shall have opportunities to deal with them. I wished to say a great deal to bring out in clear perspective the issues involved, the fallacy or correctness of the approach made, and the conclusion to which we must irresistibly be driven. And right now, Madam, I should have had another advantage, that one esteemed Member of this House, in the very nature of things, being in the Chair, is now bound to be as fair to me as anybody else. But I said that I shall not take more time, and shall respect the wishes and the decisions of the esteemed Leader of this House. I will therefore close my speech, and close it with the earnest appeal that a matter of this seriousness, affecting the life of 300 million human beings should be considered as carefully and in as great a detail as may be humanly possible. There is only one formal thing which I must do now and that is to move