52 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
collision would follow. Just then Gandhi turned to Ambedkar whom he saw for the first time, and, after formal question, he switched on to the main topic.
G ANDHI : Well, Doctor, what have you to say in the matter ?
A MBEDKAR : You called me to hear your views. Please tell me what you have to say. Or you may please ask me some questions and I shall answer.
G ANDHI : ( with a staring look at Ambedkar ): I understand that you have got some grievances against me and the Congress. I may tell you that I have been thinking over the problem of Untouchables ever since my school days—when you were not even born. You may perhaps be knowing what enormous amount of efforts I had put in to incorporate this problem in the programme of the Congress and make it a plank of the Congress platform. The Congress leaders opposed it on the plea that it was a religious and social question and as such it should not be mixed with political ones. This is not all. The Congress has spent not less than rupees twenty lakhs on the uplift of the Untouchables. And it is really surprising that men like you should offer opposition to me and to the Congress. If you have to say anythig to justify your stand, you are free to do so.
A MBEDKAR : It is true, Mahatmaji, that you started to think about the problem of Untouchables before I was born. All old and elderly persons always like to emphasize the point of age. It is also true that because of you the Congress Party gave recognition to the problem. But let me tell you frankly that Congress did nothing beyond giving formal recognition to this problem. You say the Congress spent more than rupees twenty lakhs on the uplift of the Untouchables. I say it was all waste. With such a backing I could have effected an astounding change in the outlook and economic conditions of my people. And in that event it would have been imperative for you to see me long before. But I tell you that the Congress is not sincere about its professions. Had it been sincere, it would have surely made the removal of Untouchability a condition, like the wearing of khaddar, for becoming a member of the Congress. No person who did not employ Untouchable women or men in his house, or rear up an