20 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
Mahad from December 21. The District Magistrate visited their camp every day to dissuade the delegates from the proposed Satyagraha.
With a batch of two hundred delegates and leaders, Dr. Ambedkar left Bombay on the morning of December 24. The next day they got down at noon at Dasgaon, five miles off Mahad. There, with anxious faces, an army of 3,000 satyagrahis awaited their leader. When they saw their leader, they greeted him with tumultuous applause.
After the reception, the Police Superintendent handed over a letter from the District Magistrate to Dr. Ambedkar, requesting him to see the District Magistrate at his Mahad office without loss of time. Dr. Ambedkar, with one of his lieutenants, Sahasrabudhe, hurried to his office. The District Magistrate in a swift and soft tone advised, argued and pressed for the postponement of the struggle ; but the leader did not see eye to eye with the Chief Executive of the District. It was however, agreed that he should be given an opportunity to address the Conference. In the meanwhile, the procession of the delegates had left Dasgaon and accompanied by police officers, it reached Mahad at half past two in the afternoon, singing songs which were punctuated by sky-rending slogans. The vast crowd entered the pandal amidst shouts of ‘Shivaji Maharaj ki Jai’. In the pandal proverbs hanging from pillars displayed inspiring immortal truths. In front of the gate there was a pit.
After his interview with the District Magistrate, Dr. Ambedkar hastened to the pandal and had his lunch in the company of his common followers. He refused to have any special food.
The Conference commenced its proceedings at four-thirty in the evening. Messages from several prominent persons wishing the satyagraha success were read out. Then the leader rose to address the Conference amidst deafening cheers, shouts and slogans raised by a mammoth gathering of fifteen thousand people. A majority of them had no clothes to their backs. Their old turbans were torn, their chins were unshaven; but their sunburnt faces shone with a peculiar enthusiasm and hope. The vast audience calmed down, and Dr. Ambedkar began his speech in a low, dignified but forceful voice.” [1]
1 : Keer, Pp. 98-99.