ROLE OF ......................... INDIAN DEMOCRACY 161
Hindus. But if you insist on postponing the referendum further, I would begin to suspect that what you want is not to test the bona fides of the Caste Hindus but time only to organize the Depressed Classes for an adverse referendum.” He made an impassioned appeal for mutual trust, confidence, and goodwill. He described how from the age of twelve, his whole being had rebelled against the very idea of regarding any fellow human being Untouchable and how since then he had led a ceaseless crusade against the evil. “You have a perfect right to demand cent per cent security by the statutory safeguards,” he told Dr. Ambedkar, “But, from my fiery bed, I beg of you not to insist upon the right. I am here to-day to ask for a reprieve for my Caste Hindu brethren. Thank God, their conscience has been roused. If you proceed to wrest from them cent per cent security by the statutory means, then it will interrupt the process of heart-cleansing and self-purification that is fast taking place among them. The particular injustice, for a while, to the Untouchables might be checked, but the taint in Hinduism would remain. After all, Untouchability is but a symptom of that deep-seated taint. And, if Hinduism is not completely purged of it, it will assert itself again and again in various ways and continue to poison our entire social and political fabric. I entreat you, therefore, not to deprive Hinduism of a last chance to make a voluntary expiation for its sinful past. Give me the chance of working among the Caste Hindus. That is but fair. If you ask for ten or fifteen years, then it is no chance at all. Hindus must give a good account of themselves within five years or not at all. For me, therefore, the five-year limit of referendum is an absolute matter of conscience. There should be a referendum, but not at the end of any period longer than five years. Tell your friends that I am adamant on this point. I may be a despicable person, but when truth speaks through me I am invincible. “(Epic Fast, Pp. 211—212).” [1]
“The interview ended, and leaders started to settle other details regarding the number of men in the panel, number of total seats in the Provincial Assemblies, duration of the primary system, duration of reserved seats and distribution of posts.” “This meeting took place at the residence of Raja Bahadur Shivlal Motilal.”
1 : Reprinted. Khairmode, Vol. 5, Pp. 47-48.