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“DAWN” ON AMBEDKARS POLITICAL MISSION TO ENGLAND
1st January, 1947
After a month of patent labour in Britain where he met leading members of the Govt. as well as of the opposition, Dr. Ambedkar, the Scheduled Castes leader, has returned to India where his main work lies. The trip to London was undertaken in order to place his community’s case before the British Public in a realistic manner. Congress propaganda for the last several years has created a wrong picture of the existing divisions in the country and even the Cabinet Mission was taken in by its false presentation of facts.
The All India Scheduled Castes Federation is the representative organisation of the Community and Congress has come in as an interloper to disrupt the strength and solidarity of the organisation. The statement by the Cabinet Mission members in the House of Commons that the Congress represented the Scheduled Castes is correct only to the extent that this powerful political organisation backed up with its immense resources succeeded in capturing many seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes. That did not mean that the true representatives of the community have been returned to the various legislatures.
Dr. Ambedkar’s immediate task in Britain was to demolish this myth and he has done it in the memorandum which he has submitted to the British political leaders. The memorandum itself has not been published but from the interview Dr. Ambedkar gave on his arrival in Karachi it is clear that he has gained some measure of success in his mission. He has established personal contacts with several leading personalities in Britain including Mr. Attlee and Mr. Churchill, and he speaks confidently that when the matter comes to be examined by the Parliament at the time of passing the Act transferring sovereignty some definite steps are sure to be taken to ascertain the real wishes of the Minorities as to the safeguards they need. It is also cheering to hear from the Doctor that there is not only a great deal of sympathy among the British Public for the Scheduled Castes’ cause but also general resentment that the Cabinet Mission should have ignored the claims of the