Babasaheb Dr B.R Ambedkar

z:\ ambedkar\vol-05\vol5-03.indd MK SJ+YS 23-9-2013/YS-10-11-2013 142
142 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
temple or tank. If he does so, purification becomes necessary. Even
while using the public road, if he sees his lord and master, he has
to leave the ordinary way and walk, it may be in the mud, to avoid
his displeasure by accidently polluting him. To avoid polluting the
passerby, he repeats the unpleasant sound, “O, Oh, O”—In some
places i.e. Palghat, one may see a Cheruman with a dirty piece of
cloth spread on the road side, and yelling in a shrill voice, “Ambrane,
Ambrane, give me some pice and throw them on the cloth”. His
position is intolerable in the Native States of Cochin and Travancore,
where the Brahaman influence is in the ascendent, while in the
Palghat Taluka the Cherumans cannot, even to this day enter the
bazaar. In Malabar it is stated that ** “The man of high caste shouts
occasionally as he goes along, so that the low caste man can go off
the road, and allow him to pass unpolluted. And those of the lowest
castes shout, as they go, to give notice of their Pollution bearing
presence, and learning the command of the man of high caste, move
away from the road. It is common to see people of inferior caste
travelling parallel to the road, but not daring to go along it”.
What a degradation for these unfortunate souls who have been turned
by this Hindu Civilization into social lepers! To be called an Untouchable
is enough of a misfortune. But to require an Untouchable to proclaim
by his own mouth his shame that he is an Untouchable is a cruelty to
which in my opinion there is no parallel. What would an Untouchable
say of this Hindu Civilization ? Would it be wrong if he said that it is
felony and not civilization?
That the condition of the Primitive Tribes, of the Criminal Tribes
and of the Untouchables is the result of fundamental doctrines of Hindu
Civilization there can be no manner of doubt.
Why have there been no missions to bring these Primitive Tribes
into the Hindu fold?
Why has crime become an occupation for certain tribes ? Why
have certain classes been treated as unfit for human association, as
Untouchables ?
The answer to each of these questions will have reference to some
basic principle of the Hindu Civilization.
To the first question the answer is that the caste system prevents
the Hindu Religion from becoming a missionary religion and caste is
a fundamental part of the Hindu Civilization. To the second question
the answer is that the system of Chaturvarna limits the opportunities
which a person can have for earning an honourable living. All learned
are the preserve of the Brahmins; all warlike services are the monopoly
**Thurston—Tribes and castes of Southern India, Vol. 5, p. 196.