Some friends have characterised property as theft. Sir, this I attribute to ignorance. They do not realise that most of the property held now is really purchased property, whether it be landed property or otherwise. Land was the safest investment till a day ago and the hard-earned savings of the people were invested in land. It was supposed to be an insurance against old-age, against sudden calamities, for widows and for orphans. It is another matter if we decide upon taking away those properties; but let us not go to the extent of characterising property as theft. That, in my humble opinion, would be a very wrong conception of property as it has evolved.
