Then further on, Dr. Ambedkar says : “Such is the part the village communities have played in the history of their country. Knowing this, what pride can one feel in them? They have survived through all vicissitudes may be a fact. But mere survival has no value. The question is on what plane they have survived. Surely on low, on a selfish level. I hold that these village republics have been the ruination of India. I am therefore surprised that those who condemn Provincialism, and communalism should come forward as champions of the village. What is the village but a sink of localism, a den of ignorance, narrow-mindedness and communalism ? I am glad that the Draft Constitution has discarded the village and adopted the individual as its unit.”
