31
YOU MUST GIVE UP YOUR DISGRACEFUL PROFESSION
“An impassioned appeal to cast off the evil practices and customs among certain sections of the Depressed classes was made by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar at a meeting at Damodar Thakersey Hall, Bombay, on Tuesday the 16th June 1936, at night.
The meeting was largely attended by men and women belonging to the Devdasi, Potraje, Bhute, Aradhi and Jogtini sects and was held to accord support to the mass conversion move inaugurated at Yeola.
After several speakers, both men and women, had addressed the gathering on the need for a change of faith as a step toward social freedom, Dr. Ambedkar made a fervent appeal, especially to the women, most of whom had come from Kamathipura.
Dr. Ambedkar said,
“Whether you change your religion alongwith us or not, it does not matter much to me. But I insist that if you want to be with the rest of us you must give up your disgraceful life. The Mahar women of Kamathipura are a shame to the community. Unless you are prepared to change your ways, we shall have nothing to do with you, and we shall have no use for you.
There are only two ways open to you : either you remain where you are and continue to be despised and shunned, or you give up your disgraceful profession and come with us.
You will ask me how you are to make your living. I am not going to tell you that. There are hundreds of ways of doing it. But I insist that you must give up this degraded life. You must marry and settle down to normal domestic life as women of other classes do and not continue to live under conditions which inevitably drag you into prostitution.” [1]
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- : The Times of India, dated 17th June 1936.