Centuries-old prejudices do not disappear by words or wishful thinking. Hard work, right propaganda has to be undertaken from town to town, village to village, house to house, and people have to be educated to accept and practise what has been resolved, not merely as a concession to the pressure of modern times, but as an abiding principle and way of life, in an humble spirit of atonement for past mistakes. A change of heart, a moral and emotional change in attitudes and behaviour, has to he brought about. Working for the economic and political betterment of those who had been relegated to the background and bringing them up to stand shoulder to shoulder with all the rest of our people is a Herculean task. But this in itself is not enough; for, such ‘equality’ may be brought about without shedding the feelings of separateness. What we should desire and strive for, is not merely economic and political ‘equality’ – we want a real change, a complete integration. This change is beyond the power of politics, of governmental plans. It is impossible to achieve it by the clever manipulations of political parties dealing in patch-work in the name of integration. Strenuous work springing from the heart and manifesting itself in day-to-day behaviour, work on a spiritual, moral and social plane, is called for.

Author: P P Guru ji

Source: Bunch of Thoughts