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I WANT THE REINS OF GOVERNMENT IN YOUR HANDS
“Speaking at a reception given in his honour by the Depressed Classes Welfare Association, Delhi, this afteroon, the 23rd August 1942, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Labour Member of the Government of India, made an important statement about the future of his community vis-a-vis the constitutional goal of India.
He said,
“I want to put the Depressed Classes on terms of equality with the other communities in India. I do not want you to remain servile to other communities, but I want to place the reins of Government in your hands. You should share in the political power of the country, on terms of equality with the Mussalmans.”
The right of Depressed Classes to share and partition the power and authority of the Government was recognised by the British Government.
Since 1940 the position of Depressed Classes had suffered a set back. Firstly, the Cripps Proposals inter-alia envisaged a settlement with the Congress and the Muslim League, and as long as such a settlement was reached, the Depressed Classes did not matter, “I hold that this was a great betrayal of the Depressed Classes,” declared Dr. Ambedkar.
Proceeding, he said that since that failure of the Cripps Mission, Public persons in India and abroad only talked of a settlement with the Congress and the Muslim League. The Congress has been trying to reach a settlement with the Muslim League, but had never bothered to reach a settlement with the Depressed Classes, and Gandhiji shortly before his arrest had declared that he did not recognise a separate identity for the Depressed Classes. He added, “It has therefore become very necessary to secure our position in the political life of the country; a position of perfect equality and sovereignty. Unless we secure such a position, we will be pushed back to our former position of servility and servitude.”