Vol. 15 · pages 991–995

972 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES Hyderabad should be made the second capital of India. You can have your Delhi and for some seasons it may be good. But you must have a capital in Southern India, where people may feel that their Government is nearer to them. I suggested at one time that Hyderabad should be made the second capital of india. It is one of the most beautiful towns that I have ever seen in India. It has got all the necessities and amenities which a capital may require. All that may be necessary would be to have a sort of Legislative Assembly and Council of State. If that is done, then the people in the South with whom I have had many talks, would feel that their Government is nearer, that it is not so far away as Delhi. Delhi to the Southern people is a kind of a foreign territory. It is hot and they do not want to stay for long. I hope my hon. friend will take these points into consideration. Sir, I am not in a condition to speak very long, nor have I got many other points to urge. But there is one thing that I would like to say. I had hoped that this Report of the S.R.C.† would have been placed before, not merely the party people, but generally before all, and they should have obtained the common advice of all the citizens of India and should have given effect to their decision. Sir, it was my hope that what we would settle now, we would settle for ever, because it is a very foolish thing for a gardener to plant a tree today and to uproot it tomorrow, to see whether it has taken root. That way the plant will never live. I cannot help reminding my hon. friend of the statement of Tom Paine that whatever is wrongly. settled is never permanently settled; it has to be resettled. If you are going to settle these things with the help of your party, remember that your party is not perpetual. You can seethe signs of waning even now before your eyes. If whatever you do you do without the consent of the Opposition, I have not the least doubt about it that when the Opposition would come into power, they would uproot the thing and replant it. Such a thing would be most dangerous for us. Sir, I have done. † State Reorganisation Committee.

973PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES Shri C. P. Parikh (Bombay): The hon. Member made an incorrect statement when he said that Shri Morarji said at any time categorically that Bombay belongs to Maharashstra. I think the hon. Member should make such statement with a sense of responsibility. Dr. B. R. Ambedkar: It is in the ‘Times of India’. *LEAVE OF ABSENCE TO DR. B. R. AMBEDKAR Mr. Deputy Chairman: I have to inform the hon. Members that the following letter has been received from Dr. B. R. Ambedkar. “I came to Bombay for treatment and had hoped to be able to return to Delhi in time. Unfortunately, I have not recovered. I am therefores, unable to attend and apply to you for leave of absence. I hope the Rajya Sabha will grant my request.” Is it the pleasure of the House that permission be granted to Dr. B. R. Ambedkar for remaining absent from meetings of the House from 29th March 1955, till the end of the Ninth Session and from all meetings of the House during the current Session ? (No hon. Member dissented. ) Permission to remain absent is granted. * P. D., Vol. 10-C, 1st October 1955, pp. 5529-30.

974 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES (55) *OBITUARY REFERENCE—DEMISE OF DR. B. R. AMBEDKAR The Prime Minister (Shri Jawaharlal Nehru): Mr. Deputy Chairman, I deeply regret to inform the House that a Member of this House who had played a very leading part in many matters passed away a short while ago. I refer to Dr. Ambedkar. Dr. Ambedkar for many, many years had been a very controversial figure in Indian public affairs, but there can be no doubt about his outstanding quality, his scholarship, and the intensity with which he pursued his convictions, sometimes rather with greater intensity than perhaps required by the particular subject, which sometimes reacted in a contrary way. But he was the symbol of that intense feeling which we must always remember, the intense feeling of the supressed classes in India who have suffered for ages past under our previous social systems, and it is as well that we recognise this bidden that all of us should carry and should always remember, It may be that some of us thought, as I have just said, that he overdid the expression of that feeling, but I do not think that, apart from the manner of utterance or language, anybody should challenge the rightness of the inetnsity of his feeling in that matter which should be felt by all of us and perhaps even more so by those who have not in themselves or in their groups or classes had to suffer from that. He was that. Therefore he became this symbol. But we in Parliament remember him for many other things and more particularly for the very prominent part he played in the making of our Conbstitution, and perhaps that fact will be remembered even longer than his other activities. I am quite sure that every Member of this House will want * P. D., Vol. 10-C, 6th December 1956, pp. 1769-70.

975PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES us to send our deep condolences and message of sympathy to his family and to express our deep sorrow at his demise. It is the custom of this House. I believe, Sir, that when a Member dies in Delhi, the House adjourns for the rest of the day. I leave it to you, Sir, and to the House, but I would suggest that it is right and proper for us to follow that custom. Mr. Deputy Chairman : I would like to associate myself with the sentiments expressed by the Prime Minister. I am sure every Member of this House shares the same sentiments. We have all heard with profound sorrow and a sense of shock of the sudden death of Dr. Ambedkar. He was present in the House only the day before yesterday and was in his usual mood, talking and joking with his friends. Many may not agree with him and his political philosophy but he was one of our prominent Members and he was always listened to with respect. His speeches were marked by scholarship, erudition and deep study. He will, however, be remembered as one of the great architects of our Constitution. He was also very anxious to see that the Hindu Law was enacted and most of it has been enacted. It is a great loss to this House Particularly, and, as a mark of respect, I request the House to stand up for two minutes. (The House stood in silence for two minutes. ) Mr. Deputy Chairman: The House stands adjourned till 11-00 A.M. tomorrow. The House then adjourned at fifty three minutes past eleven of the clock till eleven of the clock on Friday, the 7th December 1956. zz

976 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES LOK SABHA Thursday, 6th December, 1956 The Lok Sabha met at Eleven of the Clock 12-00 hrs. DEATH OF DR. AMBEDKAR *The Prime Minister and Leader of the House (Shri Jawaharlal Nehru): Mr. Speaker, Sir, I have to convey to the House the sad news of the death of Dr. Ambedkar. Only two days ago, I believe, the day before yesterday, he was present in the other House of which he was a Member. The news, therefore, of his death today came as a shock to all of us who had no inkling of such a thing happening so soon. Dr. Ambedkar, as every Member of this House knows, played a very important part in the making of the Constitution of India, subsequently in the Legislative Part of the Constituent Assembly and later in the Provisional Parliament. After that, he was not a Member of Parliament for some time. Then, he came back to the Rajya Sabha of which he was a sitting Member. He is often spoken of as one of the architects of our Constitution. There is no doubt that no one took greater care and trouble over Constitution making than Dr. Ambedkar. He will be remembered also for the great interest he took and the trouble he took over the question of Hindu Law reform. I am happy that he saw that reform in a very large measure carried out, perhaps not in the form of that monumental tome that he had himself drafted, but in separate bits. But, I imagine that the way he will be remembered most * P. D., Vol. 10, Part II, 6th December 1956, pp. 2059-68.