Reservations in India: Myths and Realities By Mulchand Savajibhai Rana

http://books.google.co.in/books?id=NN8VJ41kFO0C&lpg=PP1&pg=PA199#v=onepage&q&f=false

UNPUBLISHED PREFACE to Buddha and His Dhamma

UNPUBLISHEDPREFACE
April 6, 1956
[Text provided by Eleanor Zelliot, as prepared by Vasant Moon]

A question is always asked to me: how I happen[ed] to take such [a] high degree of education. Another question is being asked: why I am inclined towards Buddhism. These questions are asked because I was born in a community known in India as the "Untouchables." This preface is not the place for answering the first question. But this preface may be the place for answering the second question.

The direct answer to this question is that I regard the Buddha's Dhamma to be the best. No religion can be compared to it. If a modern man who knws science must have a religion, the only religion he can have is the Religion of the Buddha. This conviction has grown in me after thirty-five years of close study of all religions.

How I was led to study Buddhism is another story. It may be interesting for the reader to know. This is how it happened.

My father was a military officer, but at the same time a very religious person. He brought me up under a strict discipline. From my early age I found certain contradictions in my father's religious way of life. He was a Kabirpanthi, though his father was Ramanandi. As such, he did not believe in Murti Puja (Idol Worship), and yet he performed Ganapati Puja--of course for our sake, but I did not like it. He read the books of his Panth. At the same time, he compelled me and my elder brother to read every day before going to bed a portion of [the] Mahabharata and Ramayana to my sisters and other persons who assembled at my father's house to hear the Katha. This went on for a long number of years.

The year I passed the English Fourth Standard Examination, my community people wanted to celebrate the occasion by holding a public meeting to congratulate me. Compared to the state of education in other communities, this was hardly an occasion for celebration. But it was felt by the organisers that I was the first boy in my community to reach this stage; they thought that I had reached a great height. They went to my father to ask for his permission. My father flatly refused, saying that such a thing would inflate the boy's head; after all, he has only passed an examination and done nothing more. Those who wanted to celebrate the event were greatly disappointed. They, however, did not give way. They went to Dada Keluskar, a personal friend of my father, and asked him to intervene. He agreed. After a little argumentation, my father yielded, and the meeting was held. Dada Keluskar presided. He was a literary person of his time. At the end of his address he gave me as a gift a copy of his book on the life of the Buddha, which he had written for the Baroda Sayajirao Oriental Series. I read the book with great interest, and was greatly impressed and moved by it.

I began to ask why my father did not introduce us to the Buddhist literature. After this, I was determined to ask my father this question. One day I did. I asked my father why he insisted upon our reading theMahabharata and Ramayana, which recounted the greatness of the Brahmins and the Kshatriyas and repeated the stories of the degradation of the Shudras and the Untouchables. My father did not like the question. He merely said, "You must not ask such silly questions. You are only boys; you must do as you are told." My father was a Roman Patriarch, and exercised most extensive Patria Pretestas over his children. I alone could take a little liberty with him, and that was because my mother had died in my childhood, leaving me to the care of my auntie.

So after some time, I asked again the same question. This time my father had evidently prepared himself for a reply. He said, "The reason why I ask you to read the Mahabharata and Ramayana is this: we belong to the Untouchables, and you are likely to develop an inferiority complex, which is natural. The value of [the] Mahabharata and Ramayana lies in removing this inferiority complex. See Drona and Karna--they were small men, but to what heights they rose! Look at Valmiki--he was a Koli, but he became the author of [the] Ramayana. It is for removing this inferiority complex that I ask you to read theMahabharata and Ramayana."

I could see that there was some force in my father's argument. But I was not satisfied. I told my father that I did not like any of the figures in [the] Mahabharata. I said, "I do not like Bhishma and Drona, nor Krishna. Bhishma and Drona were hypocrites. They said one thing and did quite the opposite. Krishna believed in fraud. His life is nothing but a series of frauds. Equal dislike I have for Rama. Examine his conduct in the Sarupnakha [=Shurpanakha] episode [and]  in the Vali Sugriva episode, and his beastly behaviour towards Sita." My father was silent, and made no reply. He knew that there was a revolt.

This is how I turned to the Buddha, with the help of the book given to me by Dada Keluskar. It was not with an empty mind that I went to the Buddha at that early age. I had a background, and in reading the Buddhist Lore I could always compare and contrast. This is the origin of my interest in the Buddha and His Dhamma.

The urge to write this book has a different origin. In 1951 the Editor of the Mahabodhi Society's Journal of Calcutta asked me to write an article for the Vaishak Number. In that article I argued that the Buddha's Religion was the only religion which a society awakened by science could accept, and without which it would perish. I also pointed out that for the modern world Buddhism was the only religion which it must have to save itself. That Buddhism makes [a] slow advance is due to the fact that its literature is so vast that no one can read the whole of it. That it has no such thing as a bible, as the Christians have, is its greatest handicap. On the publication of this article, I received many calls, written and oral, to write such a book. It is in response to these calls that I have undertaken the task.

To disarm all criticism I would like to make it clear that I claim no originality for the book. It is a compilation and assembly plant. The material has been gathered from various books. I would particularly like to mention Ashvaghosha's Buddhavita [=Buddhacharita], whose poetry no one can excel. In the narrative of certain events I have even borrowed his language.

The only originality that I can claim in [=is] the order of presentation of the topics, in which I have tried to introduce simplicity and clarity. There are certain matters which give headache[s] to the student of Buddhism. I have dealt with them in the Introduction.

It remains for me to express my gratitude to those who have been helpful to me. I am very grateful to Mr. Nanak Chand Rattua of Village Sakrulli and Mr. Parkash Chand of Village Nangal Khurd in the district of Hoshiarpur (Punjab) for the burden they have taken upon themselves to type out the manuscript. They have done it several times. Shri Nanak Chand Rattu took special pains and put in very hard labour in accomplishing this great task. He did the whole work of typing etc. very willingly and without caring for his health and [=or] any sort of remuneration. Both Mr. Nanak Chand Rattu and Mr. Parkash Chand did their job as a token of their greatest love and affection towards me. Their labours can hardly be repaid. I am very much grateful to them.

When I took up the task of composing the book I was ill, and [I] am still ill. During these five years there were many ups and downs in my health. At some stages my condition had become so critical that doctors talked of me as a dying flame. The successful rekindling of this dying flame is due to the medical skill of my wife and Dr. Malvankar. They alone have helped me to complete the work. I am also thankful to Mr. M. B. Chitnis, who took [a] special interest in correcting [the] proof and to go [=in going] through the whole book.

I may mention that this is one of the three books which will form a set for the proper understanding of Buddhism. The other books are: (i) Buddha and Karl Marx; and (ii) Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Ancient India. They are written out in parts. I hope to publish them soon.

B. R. Ambedkar
26 Alipur Road, Delhi
6-4-56

Source; http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00ambedkar/ambedkar_buddha/00_pref_unpub.html

सार्वजनिक संस्थांच्या निधीविषयी महात्मा गांधींचे विचार

अनेक सार्वजनिक संस्था सुरु करुन त्यांची व्यवस्था चालविण्याच्या जबाबदारीचा अनुभव घेतल्यानंतरच मी अशा दृढ निर्णयावर आलो, की कोणत्याही सार्वजनिक संस्थेने कायम फंडावर गुजारा करण्याचा प्रयत्न करु नये. तसे करण्यामध्ये तिच्या नैतिक अधोगतीचे बीज साठविलेले आहे. 

सार्वजनिक संस्था म्हणजे लोकांची मान्यता आणि लोकांचे पैसे यांवर चालणारी संस्था. अशा संस्थेला लोकांची मदत मिळेनाशी होईल तेव्हा तिला अस्तित्वात राहण्याचा हक्कच राहत नाही. कायम फंडावर चालणाऱया संस्था लोकमताविषयी बेपर्वा होताना आढळतात; कित्येक वेळा तर धडधडीत लोकमताविरुद्ध आचरण करताना दृष्टीस पडतात. अशा तऱहेचे अनुभव हिंदुस्थानात आपल्याला पावलोपावली येतात. धार्मिक म्हटल्या जाणाऱया कित्येक संस्थांच्या हिशेबठिशेबांचा ठावठिकाणा नाही. त्यांचे व्यवस्थापक त्यांचे मालक होऊन बसले आहेत, आणि त्यांच्यावर कोणाचा ताबा चालत नाही. सृष्टी ज्याप्रमाणे रोजचे अन्न रोज तयार करुन रोज खाते, त्याप्रमाणे सार्वजनिक संस्थांचे असले पाहिजे, याबद्दल मला तिळमात्र शंका नाही. ज्या संस्थेला लोक मदत करण्यास तयार नाहीत त्या संस्थेला सार्वजनिक संस्था म्हणून जगण्याचा अधिकारच नाही. प्रतिवर्षी लोकवर्गणीतून मिळणारा फंड ही त्या त्या संस्थेच्या लोकप्रियतेची व तिच्या व्यवस्थापकांच्या प्रामाणिकपणाची कसोटी आहे; आणि प्रत्येक संस्थेने या कसोटीला उतरलेच पाहिजे, असा माझा अभिप्राय आहे. 

या माझ्या लिहिण्याविषयी गैरसमज होऊ नये. ज्या संस्थांना इमल्याची वगैरे जरुर लागते, अशा संस्थांना वरील टीका लागू पडत नाही. सार्वजनिक संस्थांच्या दैनंदिन खर्चाचा आधार स्वेच्छेने मिळालेली वार्षिक लोकवर्गणी हाच असला पाहिजे. 

हे विचार दक्षिण आफ्रिकेतील सत्याग्रहाच्या वेळी दृढ झाले. ह्या सहा वर्षांच्या महान झगड्यासाठी लाखो रुपयांची जरुर पडली, पण तो कायमनिधीशिवाय चालला. अशीही वेळ आठवते, की जेव्हा उद्याचा खर्च कोठून मिळेल याची मला कल्पनाही नव्हती. 

(स्रोत ः सत्याचे प्रयोग अथवा आत्मकथा, महात्मा गांधी, पान 187-188)

Mahatma
Gandhi on FUNDING for movement

Sheth
Adamji Miyakhan had, in my absence, discharged his duty with great
credit. He had increased the membership and added about £1,000
to the coffers of the Natal Indian Congress. The awakening caused by
the bills and the demonstration against the passengers I turned to
good account by making an appeal for membership and funds, which now
amounted to £5,000. My desire was to secure for the Congress a
permanent fund, so that it might procure property of its own and then
carry on its work out of the rent of the property. This was my first
experience of managing a public institution. I placed my proposal
before my co- workers, and they welcomed it. The property that was
purchased was leased out and the rent was enough to meet the current
expenses of the Congress. The property was vested in a strong body of
trustees and is still there today, but it has become the source of
much internecine quarrelling with the result that the rent of the
property now accumulates in the court.

This
sad situation developed after my departure from South Africa, but my
idea of having permanent funds for public institutions underwent a
change long before this difference arose. And now after considerable
experience with the many public institutions which I have managed, it
has become my firm conviction that it is not good to run public
institutions on permanent funds. A permanent fund carries in itself
the seed of the moral fall of the institution. A public institution
means an institution conducted with the approval, and from the funds,
of the public. When such an institution ceases to have public
support, it forfeits its right to exist. Institutions maintained on
permanent funds are often found to ignore public opinion, and are
frequently responsible for acts contrary to it. In our country we
experience this at every step. Some of the so-called religious trusts
have ceased to render any accounts. The trustees have become the
owners and are responsible to none. I have no doubt that the ideal is
for public institutions to live, like nature, from day to day. The
institution that fails to win public support has no right to exist as
such. The subscriptions that an institution annually receives are a
test of its popularity and the honesty of its management; and I am of
opinion that every institution should submit to that test. But let no
one misunderstand me. My remarks do not apply to the bodies which
cannot, by their very nature, be conducted without permanent
buildings. What I mean to say is that the current expenditure should
be found from subscriptions voluntarily received from year to year.

These
views were confirmed during the days of the Satyagraha in South
Africa. That magnificent campaign extending over six years was
carried on without permanent funds, though lakhs of rupees were
necessary for it. I can recollect times when I did not know what
would happen the next day if no subscriptions came in. But I shall
not anticipate future events. The reader will find the opinion
expressed above amply borne out in the coming narrative.

(Source
: An
Autobiography or The Story of my Experiments with Truth by Mohandas
K. Gandhi part 3,
The Calm After the Storm)

माझ्या माणसांनो

माझ्या माणसांनो,

तुम्ही काळे असाल, गोरे असाल, लाल किंवा पिवळे असाल,

कोणत्याही जातीचे, धर्माचे, देशाचे, भाषेचे असाल...

पण गर्भारपणी तुमच्या आयांच्या डोळ्यांत

सारख्याच स्वप्नांची निरांजने तेवली असतील.

प्रसुतीच्या असह्य वेणा त्यांनी

सारख्याच आशेने सहन केल्या असतील...

तुमचा बाप माझ्यासारखाच

काहीसा केविलवाणा, थोडा ओशाळवाणा,

तुमची वाट बघत बसला असेल...


तुम्ही काळे, गोरे, लाल, पिवळे असतानाही

कुठल्याही धर्माचे, देशाचे, भाषेचे असतानाही

जर सारखेच गरीब असाल, तर-

तुमच्या आईने कोरडा घास

तुम्हाला आसवांत भिजवून भरवला असेल.

पाठीवर हात फिरवताना,

बापाच्या गळ्यात आवंढा आला असेल.

तुम्हालाही माझ्यासारखंच...

खेळण्याबागडण्याचे वय संपायच्या अगोदरच

पोटाची खळगी भरण्याकरिता

बाहेर पडावं लागलं असेल.


केवळ तुम्ही कोण्या जातीचे, धर्माचे, वर्णाचे

किंवा देशाचे, प्रांताचे आहात

एवढ्याकरिता-

खोट्या आणि करंट्या अहंकाराचे बळी झाला असाल

तर तुम्हीही माझ्यासारखाच

एकमेकांचा द्वेष केला असेल.

नराधम नेत्यांच्या घोषणांनी उत्तेजित होऊन

एकमेकांची कत्तलही केली असेल.

भेकडपणाला शौर्य समजून

आपल्या सैतानी चिन्हांच्या नावाने

जयघोषही केला असेल!


माझ्या माणसांनो,

जन्माला आलात ना

तेव्हा कुणाच्याच छातीवर जानवे नव्हते.

कुणाच्याच मनगटात कडे नव्हते.

कुणालाच बाप्तिस्मा दिलेला नव्हता.

कुणाचीच सुन्ता केलेली नव्हती.

कुणाच्याच बगलेत पैशाच्या पिशव्या नव्हत्या.

कुणाच्याच काखेत भिकेची झोळी नव्हती.

जन्माला येताना – तुम्ही केलेल्या आकांताची

भाषा तर एकच होती...!


माझ्या माणसांनो,

जात, धर्म, भाषा, भेद विसरुन

जेव्हा तुम्ही प्रगतीची वाटचाल करत असाल

तेव्हा तुम्हाला भेटतील-मलाही भेटलेल्या त्याच शक्ती...

परंपरांची झूल पांघरणाऱ्या

भेदभावांची भूल घालणाऱ्या

अहंकारांचे निखारे फुलविणाऱ्या.

आणि तुम्ही जर सावध नसाल

तर शत्रुऐवजी एकमेकांचीच कत्तल कराल.


माझ्या माणसांनो,

विचारशक्तीला रजा देऊ नका.

संस्कारांचे गुलाम होऊ नका.

तुमच्यातील माणसाचा खून

सैतानालाच काय-पण तुमच्या देवालाही करु देऊ नका!

-जयंत गडकरी

Martin Luther King - I Have A Dream Speech - August 28, 1963

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech on Aug. 28, 1963, in Washington, D.C. Here is the text of his speech:

---

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.

We cannot turn back.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: "For Whites Only." We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."¹

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

नेहरु गेले त्यावेळची गोष्ट

पाठी शेकवित बसलेली पोरे कलकलली
शहर कसे करडे होत गेले
नंतर अंजिरी
पुढे – काळोखाने माणिक गिळले.

दगडी गाऊन घातलेले कारखाने
चिरुट शिलगावित
विचारांत बुडाले.
नंतर...
ओलेच खमीस खांद्यावर टाकून
खुराड्याकडे वळले.

‘क्या हुआ ए सुंद्रे!’
- ‘आज लोबन मत जला!’…नेहरु गये!!’
‘सच, तो चलो आज छुट्टी! ...’
शीण पेलणारे जग खाटेवर कलले.

मी उदास खिन्न होऊन चाललो
रस्ते कसे भयाण वाटले
कागदी खोळीत उजेड घेऊन चाललेला हातगाडीवाला.
मी विचारले,
‘हा प्रकाश आता कशाला नेतो आहेस?’
‘वा राव; पुढे काळोख दात विचकीत असेल!’

नेहरु गेले त्यावेळची गोष्ट!

- नारायण सुर्वे

जग बदल घालूनी घाव

जग बदल घालूनी घाव, सांगून गेले आम्हा भीमराव

गुलामगिरीच्या या चिखलात, रुतून बसला का ऐरावत
अंग झाड़ुनी निघ बाहेरी, घे बिनीवरती धाव, सांगून गेले…

धनवंतांनी अखंड पिळले, धर्मांधांनी तसेच छळले
मगराने जणु माणिक गिळले, चोर जाहले साव, सांगून गेले…

ठरवून आम्हाला हीन कलंकित, जन्मोजन्मी करुनी अंकित
जिणे लादुनी वर अवमानित, निर्मून हा भेदभाव, सांगून गेले…

एकजुटीच्या या रथावरती, आरूढ होऊनी चल बा पुढती
नव महाराष्ट्रा निर्मून जगती, करी प्रकट निज नाव, सांगून गेले…

- अण्णाभाऊ साठे

स्त्रियांविषयी बाबासाहेब म्हणतात-

२५ डिसेंबर हा मनुस्मृती दहन दिन. भारतीय स्त्रीमुक्ती दिन म्हणूनही तो पाळला जातो. स्त्रियांविषयी बाबासाहेब म्हणतात-

‘हिंदू लोकांत स्त्री म्हणजे एक पुरुषाच्या चैनीची वस्तू आहे, असा सर्वसाधारण समज आहे आणि पुरुषाच्या इच्छेनुसार स्त्रियांनी वागावे, अशी सर्वांची समजून असते. स्त्री म्हणजे चैनीची वस्तू समजली गेल्यामुळे तिच्या शरीराला वस्त्रप्रावरणांनी व दागदागिन्यांनी शृंगारण्यात बऱ्याच धनाचा व प्रेमाचा व्यय होतो हे खरे, तथापि माणूस म्हणून तिला कोणत्याच प्रकारचे हक्क हिंदू धर्मात देण्यात आलेले नाहीत. जड जीवाची जोपासना करण्यास संपत्तीचा वारसा तिला नाही तो नाहीच, पण शिक्षण घेऊन मन सुसंस्कृत करण्याचा अधिकारही तिला नाही. आमच्या शास्त्रात गाईला आत्मा आहे, असे सांगून ख्रिस्ती लोकांना लाजवू पाहणारे हिंदू लोक स्त्रीला आत्मा आहे, असे जरी मानीत असले तरी कृतीने तसे दाखवीत नाहीत, हे खरे.’

(दिनांक १५ जुलै १९२७ च्या ‘बहिष्कृत भारत’ या वर्तमानपत्रातील ‘आजकालचे प्रश्न’ या सदरातील हा उतारा)