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WE WILL CARRY ON ALL INDIA LAND SATYAGRAHA EVEN AGAINST CENTRAL GOVERNMENT
“Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, President of the Scheduled Castes Federation, today, the November 16th, 1953 at New Delhi, has asked his partymen in Marath wada of Hyderabad State to withdraw their land Satyagraha in Aurangabad district.
He complimented the Hyderabad Government for the good treatment they meted out to the satyagrahis.
The State Government had issued orders to restore the land and was considering a proposal to allot to the Scheduled Castes the forest areas cleared during the days of communist activity.
“I think this is a good response to a legitimate grievance” Dr. Ambedkar said.
Out of 1,700 satyagrahis some 1,100 had been released unconditionally without trial by the State Government. “I must say that this is a very gracious act.”
Dr. Ambedkar added : “I have heard that some of the satyagrahis cut down trees for which I express my regret. Our object was to get land for cultivation and not to cut trees.”
Dr. Ambedkar said he was issuing the statement to clear two misunderstadings.
It had been suggested by some members of the Federation, that the Satyagrah in Hyderabad State had not been authorised by him. This was wrong. “This Satyagraha was authorised by me and for very good reasons.”
“The Scheduled Castes people all over India have been living in dire poverty without land and without work and when I found that the Hyderabad Government had in the first instance, granted them some waste land to cultivate and had taken back the land after the grantees had ploughed, sown and were only waiting for gathering the harvest, there was no other way left except to take action.”