SCHEDULED CASTES..............TO INDIA 367
India they are being tyrannized by the Caste Hindus in all parts of the country. While in Pakistan they are subjected to forcible religious conversion, in Hindustan they are subjected to forcible political conversion. They are compelled to be members of the Congress and if they refuse to become members they are boycotted and their lives made impossible. There have been cases particularly in the U. P. where the tyranny and oppression against the Scheduled Castes have been carried to the length of burning them alive. The tyranny and oppression that is being practised upon the Scheduled Castes in East Punjab by the the Sikhs and Jats who have come from West Punjab have been equally unbearable. The administration which is entirely by Caste Hindus has done nothing to render them the slightest assistance.
Notwithstanding the gloomy prospect for the Scheduled Castes who are in India, I would like to tell the Scheduled Castes who happen today to be impounded inside Pakistan to come over to India. The Congress party has weakened the political safeguards necessary for the Scheduled Castes under the new Constitution to such an extent as to make them worse than useless. Nonetheless, our numbers are so great that if we are well-organised, we cannot fail to influence the Government of the day.
Muslims Are not Friends
It would be fatal for the Scheduled Castes, whether in Pakistan or in Hyderabad, to put their faith in the Muslims or the Muslim League. It has become a habit with the Scheduled Castes to look upon the Muslims as their friends simply because they dislike the Hindus. This is a mistaken view. The Muslims wanted the support of the Scheduled Castes but they never gave their support to the Scheduled Castes. Mr. Jinnah was all the time playing a double game. He was very insistent that the Scheduled Castes were a separate entity when it suited him but, when it did not suit him he insisted with equal emphasis that they were Hindus. The Muslims and the Muslim League, charged as they are with the passion to make the Muslims a governing class as quickly as possible, will never give consideration to the claims of the Scheduled Castes. This I speak from experience.