Ranganayakammaa’s Note

A CLARIFICATION The first print of the Tamil translation of my book “For the solution of the ‘Caste’ Question……..” came out in July 2016 and all the copies have been sold out within a week. Now the second print is ready for binding. Meanwhile Nirmala, the Tamil translator of this book has brought a point to my notice. It is as follows: Chapter 14 in this book has a section titled ‘What is the difference between Gandhi and Ambedkar concerning Property?’ In this section I quoted the following words and attributed them to Ambedkar: “The mill owners will have to work on the terms dictated by labourers, if the latter could command intelligence of the former. It is clear, however, that labour will never attain to that intelligence. If it does, labour will cease to be labour and become itself the master. The capitalists do not fight on the strength of money alone. They do possess intelligence and tact” (Volume-9, page-280).

Referring to these words, some Tamil readers told the Tamil translator that these words are not those of Ambedkar but of Gandhi and Ambedkar had merely quoted Gandhi. They have also observed that these words are seen as part of Gandhi’s essay both in the English as well as Tamil versions of Ambedkar’s writings. Referring to these observations of some readers, the Tamil translator sought my clarification. The basis for my considering these words as those of Ambedkar is that that these words are printed as a separate paragraph without any quotations in the official Telugu translation of Ambedkar’s writings by the Telugu University, Hyderabad (Volume-9, page-257).

Further, the paras above and below this para have quotation marks (“….”) whereas this paragraph does not have quotation marks at all. Hence I thought that this paragraph which is printed separately and without quotation marks is a comment by Ambedkar on Gandhi’s views on the relations between the capitalist and the labourers.

In this context, I would like to draw the attention of the readers that I showed adequate evidence in my book in support of my argument that there is no difference between Gandhi and Ambedkar concerning the issue of Property. One can see the following chapters for a detailed discussion once again: *According to Ambedkar, ‘Protection against Economic Exploitation’ (chapter-14). * Ambedkar’s Own Economics (chapter-17). * Role of Ambedkar in ‘Drafting’ the Constitution (chapter-18). I am appending this clarification at the end of the book since the printed forms of the second edition are ready to leave for the binding shop.

RANGANAYAKAMMAA