46 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
Nor can it be said that they have neglected to provide the country with the best equipment of modern civilization such as currency, roads, canals, railways and the post.
- All this is true. But the question is at what cost? There is no doubt that a kind of dwarfing or stunting of the Indian race is going on under the British rule. In the words of the late Mr. Gokhale “We must all the days of our life live in an atmosphere of inferiority, and the tallest of us must bend.” No Indian can feel that upward impulse which is the source of elevation witnessed in a self-governing community. You may not appreciate the moral grounds on which the claim to Swaraj is made to rest and you may even be amused by it when it is urged by members of the aristocracy as one when one hears satan quoting scriptures in support of his cause. There is no doubt that the cost of the British Government in India is out of all proportion to the means of the people. It is the costliest government in the world. This again may not appeal to you and you may say that no cost is too great for the maintenance of law and order in this country. But there is one thing that I think must appeal to you and that is the poverty of the people. Is there any parallel to the poverty of the Indian people in any part of the world? In the first quarter of the 19th century when British rule in India had become an established fact there were five famines with an estimated loss of 1,000,000 lives. During the second quarter of the century there were two famines with an estimated mortality of 400,000. During the third quarter there were six famines with a recorded loss of life of 5,000,000. And during the last quarter of the century what do we find? Eighteen famines, with an estimated mortality which reaches the awful total of from
15,000,000 to 26,000,000. And this does not include the many more millions (over 6,000,000) in a single year kept alive by government doles. Gentlemen, what must be the cause of this? In plain terms the cause is the deliberate policy pursued by the British in the government of this country. The aim of the British Government all long has been to discourage the growth of trade and industry in this country. This is not an accusation which rests on mere inference. It is an admitted principle of British administration that India be so governed that she will