"For what? To quench the fire of the funeral?

"But it is strange that in a country which is now bulging with a population of almost one billion, nobody opposes such stupid ideas. It seems nobody is concerned about what happens to man and his future. These priests have exploited man for centuries, have destroyed his dignity. They have been the greatest slave-makers. Half of society consists of women and they have taken all their freedom, even the freedom to breathe. They want women to commit suicide.

"This person should be immediately imprisoned. He has to prove on what grounds, on what causality, a woman burning alive can bring clouds. And as I have said, he should commit suicide himself to prove it. That would be more manly and more courageous.

"Secondly, just like the women, in this country a great number of people have suffered for centuries; they have been called untouchables. Even if their shadow touches you, you have to take a bath. Such insult, such humiliation!

"A new temple is raised, where the untouchables, to whom Gandhi gave the name harijans, meaning 'God's men'

"Clever politics, cunning diplomacy: if these are God's men, then what is everybody else? And these 'God's men' have been suffering for centuries. They aren't permitted to read any Hindu scripture, they cannot, or enter any Hindu temple. And because harijans are trying to enter this temple, suddenly all the Hindu chauvinists, who would not have dared to say anything against the shankaracharya, are now demanding that he should retire from his post because he is preventing the harijans from entering into the temple.

"Man's history is full of strange turns. On this point all Hindu scriptures are in favor of the shankaracharya. The politicians who are supporting the entry of harijans into Hindu temples should burn all the Hindu scriptures. But everybody's concern is votes. Nobody is concerned with the untouchables, the harijans, or their entry into the temple.

"The real question is: should they remain part of Hindu society? Their number is twenty-five crore. They are one fourth of Hindu society. Even a man like Mahatma Gandhi was against giving harijans a separate vote, by which they could have a certain independence from centuries of slavery."