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ARE THE DALITS CHILDREN OF (DEV)DAASI?
We saw above, that after the Poona Pact (24.9.1932), Gandhi started All India Anti-Untouchabilty League on 30.9.1932 which was later named as "Servants of the Untouchables society" and again as "Harijan Sevak Sangh" and then Gandhi started "Harijan" weekly on 11.02.1933. Thus from 1932, Gandhi started calling the Untouchables as "HARIJANS" because he named his Sangh as Harijan Seva Sangh. On 18.01.1938 in the Bombay Legislative Assembly, a new Bill was tabled that defined the Scheduled Castes as Harijans, the people of God. Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar's lieutenant Bhaurao Gaikwad moved an amendment to delete the appellation and not to give statutory recognition to the word 'Harijan'. He asked if the untouchable classes of people were the people of God, were the touchable classes assumed to belong to the monsters? The Premier, Mr Kher tried to pacify saying that the word was a polite one and traced the origin of the word to a song of the Gujarati saint-poet, Narsi Mehta. In the place of Narsi Mehta, a brahmin, there were many children born to Devadasis. They were born to the Brahmin temple priests. These children could not consider the Brahmins as their fathers. This system was sanctified in Hindu religion. The poet called these children as "Harijans". Gandhi used this word to denote only the Dalits. Gandhi has said "on the strength of its having been used by the first known poet-saint of Gujarat , I felt it to be acceptable and started using it." Narsi Mehta called only the children of Devadasis as "Harijans", children of God, since they could not call themselves as children of any particular man. He did not give this name to the Untouchables who have been living in India with honour just like other Caste Hindus, having fathers, grand fathers and great great great grand fathers over all these thousands of years! Knowing very well that in his own state of Gujarat, Narsi Mehta had given this name of "Harijan" to only the children of devadasis, how could Gandhi call the Untouchables, one third of the his own Hindu population as children of dasis? What a blot on the honour of the mothers of 170 million Dalits? What a shame to 170 million Dalits, one third of the whole population of India , the largest democracy in the world? Is there a parallel, like this, in the history of mankind, in any other part of the world,where people of any religion had disgraced, humiliated and inflicted such an inhuman atrocity on one third of their own people belonging to their own religion?
Now for 75 years,
170 million Untouchable Hindus have been bearing this shame! Ref.:
DHANANJAY KEER, AMBEDKAR 'LIFE
AND MISSION ' ps 301-302 |