I WAS..................INDIA 329
country will grow to its fullest manhood and nationhood. Can you expect greater generosity, greater and nobler spirit than the one we exhibited in all this political controversy. I therefore would like to tell our Hindu brethren that they should better revise their mentality and take into account the sacrifices we are prepared to make, the risks we are prepared to take. Let us come to terms and settle this question. I am quite willing, and prepared to agree. But unfortunately, I have not found adequate response from the Hindu Community. They had been poohpoohing every time we raised our heads.
I recalled how in 1932 when the question of the Scheduled Castes first came under the surface and was placed on the same plane as that of the Muslims and whenever the Franchise Committee went in order to investigate and ascertain the total number of Scheduled Castes people in the different Provinces, I found that all Hindus liberal, narrow minded, broad minded Hindu, all joining together in one conspiracy to tell the Committee that there was no such a thing as Depressed or Scheduled Classes in our country, (shame, shame). It was the same story in U.P., Bihar, Punjab and other places. Why ? The answer is very simple. Our Hindu brethren had come to realise that His Majesty’s Government had decided to give separate representation to the Scheduled Classes in the Legislature and that the amount of representation would depend upon the Scheduled Castes, and as they could not defeat the project of His Majesty’s Government, these subterranean methods were employed to defeat this project by saying that there were no Scheduled Castes at all. That was the sort of strategy, a mean strategy that was employed by the Hindus in 1932. Today I find the Hindus are employing another sort of strategy.
Gandhi-Wavell Correspondence
I drew the attention of the gathering to the GandhiWavell Correspondence particularising the one letter, dated
15th July 1944, which I said was very important and critical. The Viceroy in the letter had stated that while His Majesty’s Government was prepared to grant India freedom at the end of the war. His Majesty’s Government insist upon one thing viz. that the constitution shall come into existence which will have the consent of what you call