RIGHTS NOT...................CONVERSION 245
Poona Pact: Hindus’ Contention
The main point urged by the Hindu community now is that the circumstances in which the Poona Pact was evolved presumed without doubt that the Depressed Classes would remain as part of the Hindu community. Mr. Gandhi’s fast, which was solely responsible for the Pact, was undertaken in order to prevent the dismemberment of the Hindu community, which it was feared would result from the allotment of a separate electorate to the Depressed Classes.
It is argued that the Hindu community has made sacrifices under the Poona Pact and has surrendered some of the seats allotted to it under the original Award solely with the object of allaying the fears of the Depressed Classes and retaining them within the Hindu fold.
Since then, however, a section of the Depressed Classes under the leadership of Dr. Ambedkar has resolved to renounce the Hindu faith. The Bombay Mahar Conference, for instance, resolved that after thorough consideration the conference:—
( a ) “declares that a change of religion is the only remedy for the Mahar community to attain equality and freedom,
( b ) “assures Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, their accredited leader, that the community is prepared to change its religion en masse, and
( c ) “urges on the Mahar community, as a preliminary step towards the change of religion, to refrain henceforth from worshiping Hindu deities to put a stop to the observance of Hindu festivals and to put a stop to visiting Hindu holy places.”
Orthodox View
This resolution, according to orthodox Hindu opinion, leaves no doubt as to the intentions of the Mahars vis-a-vis the Hindu community and they cannot therefore complain if they are denied the electoral privileges conceded to them by the Hindus on the implicit understanding that they would remain Hindus.
In other words, as a Congress leader said recently, “they cannot have it both ways. Either they are Hindus and enjoy the privileges