द इण्डियन स्ट्रगल / भारतीय स्वाधीनता संग्राम (नेताजी सुभाष चन्द्र बोस - ऐतिहासिक विश्लेषण)

282 THE INDIAN STRUGGLE
September 26th, temples and public wells throughout India
began to be thrown open to the untouchables. In fact so rapid
was the march of progress, that it looked as if the demon of
untouchability would be laid low in no time. However,
a resistance was met with at Guruvayur in South India
where the Zamorin, the trustee of the temple, refused to throw
it open to the untouchables on the plea of tradition and
legal difficulties. Thereupon, Mr. Kelappan, a well-known
and highly-esteemed Congress worker, commenced a fast as
a protest against the exclusion of untouchables from the temple.
When his condition became critical, the Mahatma was pre-
vailed upon to intervene and save his life. At the request
of the Mahatma, who undertook to continue the fight, Kelap-
pan gave up the fast. About this time it was found that in
many places the authorities or trustees of several temples were
raising legal obstacles in the,way of throwing open the temples
to untouchables. It was therefore considered desirable to
introduce legislation in the Madras Legislative Council and
in the Indian Legislative Assembly to remove such legal
difficulties once for all. The Bill drafted for the Madras
Council was refused sanction by the Viceroy. Permission for
introduction of the Bill drafted for the Indian Legislative
Assembly was granted by the Viceroy on January 23rd, 1933,
but it was made clear that the Government would not commit
itself in any way with regard to the Bill and would afford full
opportunity for public opinion to express itself on the question.
A special request was made to the Government of India for
affording facilities for the speedy passage of the Temple
Entry Bill, but the Viceroy declined to offer any such facilities
and thanks to the dilatory tactics of the Government, the Bill
is still hanging fire. To strengthen the demand for temple
entry for untouchables, a plebiscite of temple-goers was taken
at Guruvayur on December 25th, 1932. Though Guruvayur
is regarded to be a socially backward place, out of 20,163
votes recorded, 77 per cent. were in favour of temple entry,
13 per cent. were against, while 10 per cent. were neutral.
Another beneficial result followed from the appeal of the
Mahatma made on September 26th to settle Hindu-Moslem
differences. A Unity Conference was convened at Allahabad