464 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
Chair, he gave us a ruling that references regarding the speech of Dr. Ambedker need not be made here in extenso except by way of a few preliminary remarks. Therefore, I would request the hon. Member to speak on the merits of the Bill.
Shri Deshbandhu Gupta: I have practically made no reference to that. I was only trying to make out that even without the proposed reservation of a seat Delhi would have returned a Harijan candidate. My hon. friend has made an unfortunate speech at a time when this Bill was coming before Parliament but I have purposely avoided making reference to it. I only wish to tell him that coming as he does from Bombay very probably he does not know the conditions prevailing in Delhi. All that he has done is that he has tried to treat the entire population of Delhi as Harijans. That is the contribution that he has made to the Constitutional advancement of Delhi. On that my friend can certainly congratulate himself, as that is one way of equalising. Instead of raising the status of Harijans he has tried to lower the status of non-Harijans and brought them both on the same political level. I want him to realise that in 1921 and even earlier in Delhi, the foreign Government, of which he is so much enamoured today, was using and exploiting the Harijans against the best interests of the country. A big all-India depressed classes conference was held in September 1921 in the People’s Park to mobilise support to welcome the Prince of Wales in those days, when the whole country was against it. In spite of this attitude of the depressed classes leaders the movement for the uplift of Harijans which was started by the late Swami Shraddhanand continued as they felt that the removal of disabilities of the Harijans was a matter of duty with them and not a question of doing any favour to the Harijans. Swami Shraddhanand in Delhi was attacked by the supporters of the old British Government—in which camp most of the people who were following the lead of my hon. friend were then—while he was leading a procession to have temples and use of wells thrown opened to Harijans. All that is part of history and should not be forgotten. Therefore, I would have thought a privilege, if at least Delhi had been left out of this Bill and given an opportunity to return Harijan without there being any