368 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
As regards conversion, we Scheduled Castes must look upon it as a last resort forced upon them by violence. And even to those who are converted by force and violence, I say that they must not regard themselves as lost to the fold for ever. I pledge my word that if they wish to come back I shall see that they are received back into the fold and tressed as brethren in the same manner in which they were treated before their conversion.
“The Scheduled Castes of Hyderabad should under no circumstances side with the Nizam and the Ittehad-ulMuslimeen. Whatever the tyranny and oppression which the Hindus practise on us, it must not warp our vision and swerve us from our duty. The Nizam deserves no sympathy in opposing Union with India. In doing this he is acting against his own interest. He does not realize that his own dynastic rights would be much safer if they were guaranteed by the Union Constitution which would have the sanction of 90 per cent of the Hindus of India than they would be if he relied on the Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen. I am anxious that no person from the Scheduled Castes bring disgrace upon the community by siding with one who is an enemy of India.” A.P.I.” [1]
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1 : The National Standard, dated 28th November 1947.