DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6523#0302
290
friends, that we have no true caste in.India to-day.
"We only have the name of it. That is why I speak
of the ' passing ' of it. Nor can you wisely have it
restored in the form in which it once existed, even if
that were possible. For you have to take up greater
responsibilities, the greater responsibilities of Self-
Government which I have spoken of, and caste is
keeping you out of the conditions of life which are
absolutely necessary for the growing of India in the
future. If you have to mingle with all ai-ound you,
men of every caste and men of none ; if you have to
mingle with the English, as you must do—for remem-
ber the colour bar exists on your own side as well as
on theirs; if I spoke on Friday of the pride and
arrogance of the one, we must not forget that on the
other side there was and is as much pride, as in the
days when a Brahmana would wash his hands care-
fully if he had shaken hands with an Englishman.
The bar is not all on one side; I have had a Bra hmana
do it with me; I do not mind, naturally, because I
thought it foolish and childish. But there is the fact
that now you have to mingle side by side. I have
pleaded for equality, but equality in society and poli-
tics means intermingling with people of all castes,
and with the English and with other foreigners as
well. You cannot do your duty to Mother India in the
future, unless you are willing to meet men of all types
on the same level. What about our Musalman friends ?
Caste breaks up Indian society far more than
friends, that we have no true caste in.India to-day.
"We only have the name of it. That is why I speak
of the ' passing ' of it. Nor can you wisely have it
restored in the form in which it once existed, even if
that were possible. For you have to take up greater
responsibilities, the greater responsibilities of Self-
Government which I have spoken of, and caste is
keeping you out of the conditions of life which are
absolutely necessary for the growing of India in the
future. If you have to mingle with all ai-ound you,
men of every caste and men of none ; if you have to
mingle with the English, as you must do—for remem-
ber the colour bar exists on your own side as well as
on theirs; if I spoke on Friday of the pride and
arrogance of the one, we must not forget that on the
other side there was and is as much pride, as in the
days when a Brahmana would wash his hands care-
fully if he had shaken hands with an Englishman.
The bar is not all on one side; I have had a Bra hmana
do it with me; I do not mind, naturally, because I
thought it foolish and childish. But there is the fact
that now you have to mingle side by side. I have
pleaded for equality, but equality in society and poli-
tics means intermingling with people of all castes,
and with the English and with other foreigners as
well. You cannot do your duty to Mother India in the
future, unless you are willing to meet men of all types
on the same level. What about our Musalman friends ?
Caste breaks up Indian society far more than