Vol. 10 · pages 481–485

460 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES Government, as any trade treaty. If the treaty is to be of the former kind it will be the law of the land and will have legal sanction of the Indian Government behind it. If, on the other hand, the treaty is to be of the latter kind it is obvious it will not be the law of the land and will have no legal sanction behind it. Its sanction will be a political sanction. Now a treaty cannot override the constitution framed by the national Government for the obvious reason that such a thing, as was found in the case of Irish Free State, is incompatible with Dominion Status. The only sanction behind such a treaty will be a political sanction. It is obvious that the use of such sanction must depend upon the colour of the Government and the state of public opinion. Given this fact the questions that arise are two :—(1) What are the means which His Majesty’s Government will have at its disposal to enforce the treaty obligations. (2) Secondly, will His Majesty’s Government be prepared to use these means to coerce the Indian National Government to abide by the terms of the treaty. With regard to the first question it is obvious that the means for enforcing the treaty are two-fold, use of force and trade war. As to the military force, the Indian army will not be available. It will be entirely transferred to the control of the new Indian National Government. His Majesty’s Government will have therefore lost this means of enforcing the treaty. It is impossible to believe that His Majesty’s Government will send its own army to compel the National Government to obey the treaty. A trade war is not possible. It is a suicidal policy and the experience of the Irish war with the Irish Free State for the recovery of land annuities shows that a nation of shop-keepers will not sanction it even though it may be for their interest and honour. The treaty therefore is going to be an empty formula if not a cruel joke upon the Depressed Classes. His Majesty’s Government has sent out these proposals to be welcomed by Indians. But neither His Majesty’s Government nor Sir Stafford Cripps have offered any explanation as to why they are offering to Indians the very proposals which His Majesty’s Government have been condemning in scathing terms only a few months ago. A year ago His Majesty’s Government said that they would not grant Constituent Assembly because that would be a coercion of the minorities. His Majesty’s Government is now prepared to grant Constituent Assembly and to coerce the

461 THE TRANSFER OF POWER minorities. A year ago His Majesty’s Government said that they will not allow Pakistan because that is Balkanization of India. Today they are prepared to allow the partition of India. How the Government of a Great Empire lose all sense of principle ? The only explanation is that His Majesty’s Government has, as a result of the course of the war, become panic-striken. The proposals are the result of loss of nerve. How great is the panic that has overtaken His Majesty’s Government can be easily seen if one compared the demands made by the Congress and the Muslim League and the concessions made to them by these proposals. The Congress, while it demanded that the constitution should be framed by a Constituent Assembly, did not demand that the question of safeguards for the minorities should be decided by the Constituent Assembly by a mere majority vote. On the other hand when the Viceroy announced that the British Government will not be a party to the coercion of the minorities involved in the demand by the Congress, the Working Committee of the Congress at its meeting at Wardha held on August 22, 1940 passed the following resolution :— “The committee regrets that although the Congress has never thought in terms of coercing any minority, much less of asking the British Government to do so, the demand for a settlement of a constitution though through a Constituent Assembly of duly elected representatives has been misrepresented as coercion and the issue of minorities has been made into an insuperable barrier to Indians progress.” The Working Committee added :—“The Congress had proposed that minority rights should be amply protected by agreement with the elected representatives of the minorities concerned.” This shows that even the Congress did not demand that the decision of minority rights should be included in the purview of the Constituent Assembly. His Majesty’s Government has not only given the Congress what it did not ask for but has given them the additional right to decide this minority rights issue by a bare majority vote. With regard to the question of Pakistan, the same attitude is noticeable. The Muslim League did not demand that Pakistan must be conceded immediately. All that the Muslim League had asked for was that at the next revision of the constitution the Musalmans should not be prevented from raising the question of Pakistan. The present proposals have gone a step beyond and distinctly given to the Muslim League the right to create Pakistan.

462 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES These are constitutional proposals. They are intended to lead India to wage a total war in which Hindus, Musalmans, Depressed Classes and Sikhs are called upon wholeheartedly to participate. Yet Sir Stafford Cripps, either with the consent or without the consent of His Majesty’s Government has been making discrimination between major parties and minor parties. The major parties are those whose consent is necessary. Minor parties are those with whom consultation is believed to be enough. This is a new distinction. Certainly it was never made in the prior pronouncements either of His Majesty’s Government or of the Viceroy. The pronouncement spoke of the “consent of the principal elements in the national life of India.” So far as the Depressed Classes are concerned I am not aware of any pronouncement in which the Depressed Classes were placed on a lower plane than the one given to the Mussalmans. I quote the following from the speech of Viceroy made in Bombay on January 10, 1941 from which it will be seen that the Depressed Classes were bracketed with the Mussalmans. “There are insistent claims of the minorities. I need refer only to two of them; the great Muslim minority and the Scheduled Classes; there are the guarantees that have been given to the minorities in the past, the fact that their position must be safeguarded and that those guarantees must be honoured.” This invidious distinction now sought to be made is a breach of faith with those minorities whose position has been lowered by this discrimination. From a constitutional point of view it is an obnoxious distinction. From the point of view of total war it is bound to cause more disaffection and disloyalty in the country. It is for the British to consider whether in this attempt to win the friendship of those who have probably already decided to choose other friends they should lose those who are their real friends. The proposals show a sudden volte face on the part of His Majesty’s Government. The putting forth of those proposals which were denounced by them as an invasion of minorities’ rights is an indication of their complete surrender of right to might. This is Munich Mentality, the essense of which is to save oneself by sacrificing others. It is this mentality, which is writ large on those proposals. My advice to the British Government is that they should withdraw these proposals. If they cannot fight for right and justice and their plighted word they should better make peace. They can thereby at least save their honour.” zz

6 * The Marquess of Linlithgow to Mr. Amery Telegram, MSS. EUR. F. 125/23 MOST IMMEDIATE 1 July 1942 PRIVATE AND PERSONAL No. 1968-S. Your private and personal telegram No. 799@ of July 1st. I would prefer ( a) to issue announcement in paragraph 4 as a separate announcement, and to accompany it with ( b) a communique in the following terms :— Begins. His Majesty the King has been pleased to approve the appointment of Sir C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Sir E. C. Benthall, Sir Jogendra Singh, Sir J. P. Srivastava and Sir Mohammad Usman to the Executive Council of the GovernorGeneral of India. The following appointments to portfolios have been made by the Governor-General :— As Member in charge of “Information” Sir C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar in succession to the late Right Hon’ble Sir Akbar Hydari. As Member in charge of “Civil Defence” Sir J. P. Srivastava in succession to the late Dr. Raghavendra Rao. As Member for “War Transport” and for “Posts and Air” respectively consequent on the appointment of Sir Andrew Clow, late Member in charge of “Communications”, to be Governor of Assam, Sir E. C. Benthall and Sir Hohammad Usman. As Member for “Defence” Sir Firoz Khan Noon. * The Transfer of Power, Vol. II, No. 211, pp. 300-01. @ No. 206

464 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES To succeed Sir Ramaswami Mudaliar as Commerce Member on his appointment as a Representative of India at the War Cabinet, Mr. N. R. Sarker. As Member in charge of the Department of Education, Health and Lands in succession to Mr. Sarker, Sir Jogendra Singh. As Member in charge of the Department of Labour in succession to Sir Firoz Khan Noon, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar. The Portfolio of His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief will in future be designated the “War” portfolio. The new Defence Member will be responsible for the work at present discharged by the Defence Co-ordination Department, together with such other matters relating to the defence of India as are not included in the portfolios of “War” and “Civil Defence”. Ends. zz