116 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
Why only Conference of Mahars ?
Some people may raise an objection as to why the Conference has been called upon only of the Mahars ? If the declaration of the conversion is meant for all the Untouchables, why has not a meeting of all the Untouchables been convened ? Before starting the discussion on the issues before the Conference, I feel it obligatory to reply to these questions. There are various reasons for convening the Conference only of the Mahars. Firstly, neither any safeguards from the government nor social rights to be demanded from the Hindus through this Conference. The only question before this Conference is, ‘What should be done for the betterment of our life ?’ How are we to carve the path for our future life ? The question can be solved and need to be solved by the respective castes separately. This is one of the reasons, why I have not called a Conference of all the Untouchables.
There is another reason for calling the Conference of only the Mahars. About ten months have passed since the declaration was made. During this period, sufficient efforts have been made to awaken the pubilc conscience. I feel, the proper time to judge the public opinion has come. In my opinion, to do this, meetings of each caste separately, is the simplest way to judge its opinion. In order to materialise the problem of conversion, it is very necessary to judge public opinion. And I believe, public opinion judged through meetings of each caste separately will be more representative and reliable than the opinion arrived at through a common meeting of all the Untouchables. Such a meeting, though termed as of all the Untouchables, will not necessarily be representative of all the Untouchable castes. In order to avoid this sort of situation, and to ensure the public opinion, this meeting of Mahars alone has been called. Though the other communities are not included, they are not at loss. If they do not intend to convert, they have no reason to regret for not being included in this Conference. If at all they wish to leave their religion, nothing can come in their way, only because they have not participated in this Conference. The other communities from the Untouchables are free to hold meetings like the Mahars and express their opinion. I would advice them to hold such meetings, and I will extend whatever help is needed from me, to the best of my capacity. This much is enough as an introduction. Now I turn to the main subject.