Combating untouchability

IT does not require any extraordinary perspicacity to realise that the classification of a large number of Hindus as untouchables and unapproachables is not only a serious blot on Hinduism but a source of vital weakness to its solidarity and capacity for resisting any attacks that might be made upon it. It is a well-known fact that quite a large proportion, if not the majority, of the Hindu converts to other faiths are drawn from the suppressed classes. And considering the treatment to which they are subjected within the Hindu fold, it is not at all a matter of surprise that this should be so. On the other hand, the patience and forbearance with which the depressed classes have been enduring the cruel, unjust, and, in certain cases, inhuman treatment for centuries are, indeed, marvellous. We are, however, not directly concerned for the present with this aspect of the matter, but with its political and civic aspects. Of late, systematic attempts have been made by the enemies of India’s political aspirations to make the existence of untouchability in certain parts of India the basis of their opposition to her demand for Swaraj. Attempts have also been made to defend the imposition of irksome and insulting disabilities on Indians in the colonies, on the ground that in India itself, the members of the distressed classes are not treated on a basis of equality. The extreme hollowness and the mala fides of this argument are quite obvious. But, at the same time, it must be confessed that as long as this institution will continue to exist, this argument will also be there, and that its existence is not at all calculated to enhance India’s reputation amongst the nations of the world.