Vol. 1 · pages 171–175

156 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES Bombay is a home only to the Maharashtrians and none else. It is not therefore logical or fair to count the non-Maharashtrians for the purpose of coming to the conclusion as to who form the majority of population in the Bombay City. Again it is not realized that the increase in the non-Marathi-speaking people in the Bombay City is due to the absence of a local law restricting citizenship. If Bombay State had such a law all this influx into Bombay from all parts of India could have been shut out and the Maharashtrian majority retained. It is also not realized that the influx of the non-Maharashtrians in Bombay is due to the fact that Bombay is a port, and it is a port on the Western Coast. The route from Europe to Bombay is much shorter than the route from Europe to Calcutta or Europe to Madras. That is why large number of poor people from other parts of India leave their homes and come to Bombay as temporary residents. It is easier to find a job in Bombay than elsewhere. Really speaking the matter has to be looked at from a different point of view. People have been coming to Bombay for the last two hundred years or so. Yet this influx has not reduced the Maharashtrian population in the city below 48 per cent. After two hundred years, the bedrock of its population remains Maharashtrian in its composition. This is due to the migratory character of City (See Appendix 3). The Gujarathis are migratory population. There are also other arguments which could be urged in favour of allowing Bombay to remain as part of Maharashtra. Bombay is not the only composite city in India. Calcutta and Madras are also composite cities. If Calcutta can be part of Western Bengal and Madras can be part of Madras State what objection can there be to Bombay being made part of Maharashtra ? This is the question that every Maharashtrian will ask. I see no answer to this question. The only answer that comes to one’s mind is that the Congress High Command thinks that Maharashtrians are unfit to rule others. This is a slur on the Maharashtrian character and they will not tolerate it. It is said that Bombay has been built up by the capital belonging to non-Maharashtrians. That may be so. But has Madras been built by the capital of Madrasees ? Has Calcutta been built by the capital of Bengalees? Without the capital of Europeans Madras and Calcutta would have been villages. Then why urge this point against the Maharashtrians when they claim Bombay to themselves ? Maharashtrians have at least contributed labour without which Bombay could not have been what it is. It must always be remembered that the life lines of Bombay lie in Maharashtra. The sources of its electricity lie in Maharashtra. Sources of its water supply lie in Maharashtra. The sources of its labour lie in Maharashtra. Maharashtra can at any time make the city of Bombay ‘ Mohenjodaro’ a City of the Dead.

THOUGHTS ON LINGUISTIC STATES 157 The Gujarathi population is filled with fear that Maharashtrians will practise discrimination against them. But under our Constitution discrimination is not possible for the reason that the Constitution contains a list of fundamental rights and remedies by way of writs from the High Court and the Supreme Court which can immediately provide redress for a wrong. For every wrong of a discriminative character there is a remedy provided by the Constitution. Why should the Gujarathis have any fear ? Let us now consider what benefit the Gujarathis are going to get from Bombay being made a separate City State. Their population in the Bombay State is only ten per cent. How many seats can they get in the Bombay City State Legislature ? Not even ten per cent. How can ten per cent protect their clients against 90 per cent ? It must be remembered that the feelings between the Maharashtrians and the Gujarathis would hereafter be running high as never before. A Maharashtrian will not vote for a Gujarathi candidate and a Gujarathi voter will not vote for a Maharashtrian candidate. Hitherto the Gujarathis have been able to plough the sands of Maharashtra with their money. But money may not succeed once self-respect is aroused. The Gujarathis must consider whether goodwill is not a better protection than a paltry share in the Government of the City. While the case of Maharashtra is as strong as steel there are some points on the other side which they must not fail to consider in their anger. They want Bombay to be within Maharashtra. But the question which they must consider is : What do they want ? Do they want prosperous Bombay or do they want decadent Bombay ? Can Bombay be prosperous under Maharashtra ? This in other words means : can Maharashtra provide the capital necessary for the growing trade and industry of the City ? No Maharashtrian can answer this question in the affirmative. The Maharashtrians may be able to supply the need for capital after a course of years. But certainly not now. The second point is : what would be the effect on the standard of living of Maharashtrians living in Bombay if the City’s prosperity declines either by flight of capital or removal of business houses. The Maharashtrians must not forget, however it may hurt their pride, that they are a nation of clerks and coolies. What employment can they get in a declining city ? The Maharashtrian should consider the question of Bombay from this point of view. There is a saying which says : loZuk'ks leqRiÂs v/Z R;tfr iafMr% A There is also another reason why Bombay City should be made a separate state. The minorities and the Scheduled Castes who are living in the villages are constantly subjected to tyranny, oppression, and even murders by the members of the majority communities. The minorities need an asylum,

158 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES a place of refuge where they can be free from the tyranny of the majority. If there was a United Maharashtra with Bombay included in it where they can go to for safety ? The same tyranny was practised over the Brahmins, Marwaris and Gujarathis living in the villages when Godse killed Mr. Gandhi. All the Brahmins, Marwaris and Gujarathis who were once living in villages ran away and are now living in towns and forgetting their experiences are shouting for United Maharashtra, after having reached a safe harbour. It seems to me that Maharashtrians will do well to accept the decision of the Congress High Command for the time being. The Maharashtrians need have no fear of losing Bombay. Nobody can dispossess Maharashtrians of Bombay. Much less can there be any custer of them by anybody. The real objection to the creation of Bombay as a separate State arises from the fact that the name Bombay does not carry within it the sense that it is part of Maharashtra. It is to remove this objection that I propose that the new State of Bombay should be renamed by another name which will carry on its face the word Maharashtra. Supposing in terms of this suggestion instead of saying that Bombay be made a separate State it is said that Maharashtra be divided into four States, (1) Maharashtra City State (which is Bombay City), (2) Western Maharashtra, (3) Central Maharashtra, (4) Eastern Maharashtra; what objection can there be to the creation of a separate State of Bombay ? This also involves the separation of Bombay. With this change in the name of the City I like to know which Maharashtrian can raise objection to the creation of Bombay as a separate City State on the ground that this scheme separates Bombay from Maharashtra ? To say that Bombay be made a separate State is merely stating that Maharashtra be divided into four States. If there is no objection to Maharashtra being divided into two or three States what objection can there be to Maharashtra being divided into four? I can see none. For the sake of similarity in language I propose that Calcutta be called Bengal City State and Madras be called Tamil City State. This is one proposal which I make to ease the tension between Maharashtrians and Gujarathis. The Maharashtra City State will be a surplus State. Those who are wanting United Maharashtra with Bombay are hoping to get the benefit of this surplus for Maharashtra. The surplus revenue of the City State arises because of (1) The Property Tax and (2) The Electricity Tax. Can the revenue from these two sources be appropriated by Maharashtra if Bombay becomes a separate City State ? Nothing can be done to take away the yield of the Property Tax from the Bombay City State Property Tax. It is a local tax, on local situated

THOUGHTS ON LINGUISTIC STATES 159 property. The State within which the property is situated is entitled to the yield of the Tax. With regard to the Electricity Tax the situation is different. When Gujarath and Maharashtra are separated—and they must be— Gujarath will claim the revenue derived from electricity produced and consumed within Gujarath. Maharashtra will claim the revenue derived from electricity produced and consumed within Maharashtra. Bombay City as a State will do the same. Can Bombay be allowed to do so and appropriate the revenue to itself ? Is it just ? Bombay City does not produce electricity. It is produced outside Bombay City in Maharashtra. Therefore the new Bombay City State has no right to appropriate to itself the whole revenue derived from electricity. The proper thing to do is to apply the principle of the segregation of the sources and division of the yield well known to all students of State Finance. To put it in concrete shape let the Centre take over the taxation of Electricity and divide the yield among the four States of Maharashtra— (1) Bombay, (2) Western Maharashtra, (3) Central Maharashtra, (4) Eastern Maharashtra according to their needs. It will also ease the financial strain that the three Maharashtras are likely to suffer on account of the separation of Bombay. IV UNITED OR DIVIDED ? I have said that Bombay be given a new area and made into a separate City State. There now remains the question of how to deal with the rest of the Maharashtra. I have suggested that the rest of the Maharashtra should be divided into three States. From very ancient times Maharashtra has been divided into three States. Maharashtra first comes to be known in history during the time of Ashok. It is mentioned in Mahavansa in connection with reference to the missionaries sent by Ashok to different parts of India for the purpose of propagating Buddhism. But thereafter the Pali literature speaks of Trai Maharashtrika or three Maharashtras. It means that from very ancient times there have been three Maharashtras. My proposal is not therefore new. The distribution of population, area and revenue would be as shown in Table (on page 160). The accompanying map No. 5 will show the area and boundaries of each of the three divisions.

160 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES For the present, from the point of view of area and population there is nothing to complain against the three divisions. From the earliest times they have always been spoken of as Trai Maharashtras. The division does no wrong to the language principle. In fact if all the three Maharashtras have the same language it can help to develop the Marathi language if it is worth their while to do so. The question of viability I will consider later on. I propose to deal with it separately in a special chapter. Bombay was then unknown. Otherwise it would have been the fourth part of Maharashtra. Of the remaining three parts what I call Eastern Maharashtra is already a separate State. All that required is that it should be allowed to remain separate. It has got a well-established administration system, a wellestablished revenue system and a well-established judicial system. It has been separated from the trammels of the Hindi-speaking people. The only problem that remains is how to divide the area covered by the Maharashtra which is part of the present Bombay State and the Marathwada of the Hyderabad State. Instead of forming a merger of the two into one and joining it to the third which I call Eastern Maharashtra, why not divide the Maharashtra part of Bombay and Marathwada into two equal States ? This is my scheme. I transfer six districts of Maharashtra part of the Bombay State and make them part of Marathwada. ( See Map No. 5). The distribution of the area and population of the three Maharashtras are shown below : The Population Area and Revenue of the Three Maharashtra States will be approximately as follows Name of State Total Population (in crores) Total Area (in sq. miles) Total Revenue Total Expenditure WESTERN MAHARASHTRA 1,26,77,316 30,028 26,24,20,441 not known CENTRAL MAHARASHTRA 1,24,09,044 55,482 21,63,80,095 not known EASTERN MAHARASHTRA 80,27,130 39,004 9,41,11,012 not known Total .. 3,31,13,490 1,24,514 57,29,11,548 I will now proceed to state my reasons in support of my plan. I have said that Maharashtra has always been divided into three. This is a historical argument. It at least shows that the tradition, the way of life and the social and economic condition of what is called United Maharashtra is not one. Those who are in a hurry to have United Maharashtra