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GANDHI AND JINNAH SHOULD RETIRE
“The Hon’ble Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Labour Member, Viceroy’s Executive Council arrived in Bombay today, 2nd May 1943 by the Frontier Mail. Dr. Ambedkar will preside on May 7 and 8 over a Conference of representatives of labour, millowners and Government.” [l]
“Asserting that Mr. Gandhi and the Congress High Command had displayed “utter political bankruptcy,” the Hon’ble Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Labour Member, Government of India, pleaded at a mass meeting held under the auspices of the Scheduled Classes at Naigaum, Bombay on Sunday evening, the 9th May 1943 that Mr. Gandhi should retire from active politics. He added that Mr. Jinnah, President of the All India Muslim League, “who has taken up an impossible position should also retire.” He emphasised that unless both these leaders quitted the stage, it was absolutely hopeless to make any move to lift Indian politics from the present quagmire. It was only then that Indian politics might be expected to move on a line that might help the country towards its progress.
Dr. Ambedkar said that Mr. Gandhi was by far the most fortunate politician that had ever been born. He was fortunate because he had all the necessaries for effective politics for the mere asking, while other political leaders had to spend half their lives in collecting them. Mr. Gandhi had both “man-power and money-power” in abundance, while the late Mr. Tilak, Mr. Ranade and Mr. Gokhale, never had “moneypower” and as for “man-power,” they had to spend the whole of their lives in collecting it.
With all that, Mr. Gandhi’s political career had been a series of failures during the last 25 years. His politics was no doubt very exciting as compared with the placid politics of Gokhale or Ranade. But there was one thing quite certain, namely, that the politics and methods of Gokhale and Ranade would never have
- : The Sunday Chronicle : dated 2 nd May 1943.