Protection of civil rights act c.1

It is an admitted fact that none is an untouchable because of his birth or because of his following a particular profession, which he does for honest living. Great thinkers and social workers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Mahatma Fule, Dr. Ambedkar, Mahatma Gandhi and others have all along expressed themselves against the practice of untouchability from which the Scheduled Castes now popularly known as the Harijans suffer.
The untouchability observed and practiced in society could be stated to be an act of inhumanity by one person against the other. It has no basis whatever on religious theories. Religious principles which are broad and universal are one thing and custom which arises out of changing social conditions is another. Dharma is one which holds society together. In the early vedic times different members of the same family used to undertake different occupations of Chaturvarna (four castes) according to their inclinations and abilities. "Every member of the family was at liberty to adopt any profession he liked best. It is said that in vedic times all men were equal and there was no trace of untouchability as we see it today. According to Rigveda no man was considered too high or to low in the society those days. But this healthy spirit of equality gave place in course of time to the tradition bound caste system and to the institution of untouchability which divided the Hindus, warped their thinking and eroded the structure of the community. Traditionally each caste came to be associated with a profession-be it administration, trade or manual labour-and they developed a high. degree of exclusiveness among the professional classes.