THE SITUATION IN INDIA
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Sia,—May I say about "E. K. Cook's" letter (September11th), corn- menting on mine (September 4th), just one or two things?
• (1) The figure cited by me was taken from statistics sent from India ; but Sir Frank Brown's figure of 49 millions for the Depressed Classes must be official, and I am only too happy to accept it. From my point of view it betters my case, leaving the more to be added to the Orthodox Hindu masses—as balance of the last census figure for the Hindus of 2551 millions.
(2) As to arguments from the results of the last general election, any- one who was present both in urban and rural areas, as I was, at the time could have told your correspondent that votes did not represent reality. A British system—the vote—was adopted, but the British safeguard of a scrutiny of the votes obtained was not made use of. Probably because the Government wanted India to get her chance of self-government, and certainly also because so little was known by any party about the whole adventure, save by the Congress.
(3) Mr. Gandhi has certainly been for long in the news as the champion of the Untouchables But after the Round Table Conference of 1931 Dr. Ambedkar exposed that claim, so far as representation was concerned.
And as to social reform, "temple entry" and the "defiling of caste wells" led to riots and bloodshed, not to greater privilege and inter- caste understanding. The late Maharajah of Mysore, an Orthodox Hindu, proved that it is the Orthodox Hindu who must himself undertake social reform, and can best do it—on the basis of the Hindu religion as sightly interpreted—apart from the incrustations of priestcraft.
E. K. Cook would learn much about the " caste " systems and the possibilities of progress and democracy in that State. The system in its religious and only admissible aspect is a religious, not a social, taboo: and is based on the maxim that because of beliefs connected with a vegetarian as against a meat (or carrion) diet, an Orthodox Hindu caste man, may not accept service, but may (and must) serve even the lowest out-of-caste man. In this view the out-castes have rights, which the caste men cannot deny them.
It is too often forgotten also that Queen Victoria's Proclamation rubbed out all caste and out-caste differences by a stroke of the pen, so to speak. And it is this which has released for the service of our country such leaders as Dr. Ambedkar, Bishop Azariah, and many others, in the administrative, judicial, and professional areas of our modern Indian
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