Vol. 17, Part II · pages 206–210

183MEMORANDUM . . . . . . . CABINET MISSION constituencies. They claim the right in any constitutional discussions to be regarded as an entity against the operations of a mere numerical majority. The same applies to the great body what are known as the Scheduled Castes who feel, in spite of Mr. Gandhi’s earnest endeavours on their behalf, that as a community, they stand outside the main body of the Hindu community which is represented by the Congress.” —Extract from the speech by The Rt. Hon’ ble Mr. L. S. Amery, Secretary of State for India, in the House of Commons on August 14, 1940. 5. “3. Without recapitulating all the * ........ reasons in detail, I should remind you that His Majesty’s Government * ........ at time made it clear; (a) That their offer of unqualified freedom after the cessation of hostilities was made conditional upon the framing of a Constitution agreed by the main elements of India’s national life and the negotiation of the necessary treaty arrangements with His Majesty’s Government. (b) That it is impossible during the period of hostilities to bring about any change in the Constitution by which means alone a “National Government” such as you suggest could be made responsible to the Central Assembly. The object of these conditions was to ensure the fulfilment of their duty to safeguard the interests of the racial and religious minorities, of the Depressed Classes and their Treaty obligations to the Indian States,” —Extract from the letter by Lord Wavell to Mr. Gandhi, dated 15th August, 1944. * Illegible

184 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES Appendix II Constituency Primary Election Final Election Votes cast in favour of Congress Candidate votes cast in favour of Federation Candidate Votes cast in favour of Congress Candidate Votes cast in favour of Federation Candidate I - Bombay City 1. Bombay 2,096 11,096 43,456 39,498 (Parel, Byculla) 2. Bombay City 2,088 12,899 59,646 42,510 (North and Suburban) II - Central Provinces 1. Nagpur - Umrer 270 1,933 Results of the Final Elections not available 2. Hinghanghat - 342 1,339 Wardha 3. Bhandara -Sakoli 976 3,187 4. Yeotmal-Darwa 514 452 III - Punjab 1. Karnal 519 1,691 Non - Congress returned unopposed 2. Ambala-Simla 1,392 6,509 10,503 7,533 3. Hoshiarpur 641 6,577 16,307 19,134 (West) 4. Jullundar 775 7,750 18,018 21,476 5. Ludhiana - Ferozpore 812 5,986 24,352 Figures not available

185MEMORANDUM . . . . . . . CABINET MISSION Appendix II — Contd. Constituency Primary Election Final Election Votes cast in favour of Congress Candidate votes cast in favour of Federation Candidate Other Votes cast in favour of Congress Candidate Votes cast in favour of Federation Candidate IV - Madras 1. Amalapuram 2,683 10,540 2,321 2. Coconada 1,411 7.590 ... 3. Bandar 4,914 12.182 11,442 4. Guddappah 3,482 1,360 ... 5. Penukonda 2,564 2,567 ... Results not known 6. Thiru- 1,960 1,874 ... vannomala 7. Tindivanam 2.785 2,679 209 8. Mannar - 2,893 No 6,505 gudi candidate 9. Pollachi 2,430 791 337 10. Namakal 2,336 2,069 ... Note : - In the Primary Election a voter has only one vote while in the Final Election a voter has as many votes as there are seats. Except in the Madras Presidency where the distribution system is compulsory, in all other Provinces the voter is free to distribute his votes as he likes.

186 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES Appendix III Relative strength of Caste Hindu voters and Scheduled Caste voters in Constituencies in which seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes in Bombay Province Name of the General Constituency Total of voters Total of General voters Total of Scheduled Caste voters 1. Bombay City North 2,10,268 1,67,002 34,266 & Bombay Sub - urban Dist. 2. Bombay City 1,70,511 1,52,991 28,520 (Byculla and Parel) 3. Kaira District 1,46,584 1,39,266 7,318 4. Surat District 90,435 85,670 4,765 5. Thana South 72,416 67,749 4,667 6. Ahmadnagar South 82,989 75,607 7,382 7. East Khandesh East 1,01,486 91,377 10,109 8. Nasik West 1,11,969 99,271 12,698 9. Poona West 91,368 77,389 13,979 10. Satara North 1,05,352 94,200 11,152 11. Solapur North-East 74,296 64,583 9,713 12. Belgaum North-East 97,725 79,422 18,303 13. Bijapur North 69,478 60,485 8,993 14. Kolaba District 1,07,638 1,02,637 5,001 15. Ratnagiri North 36,531 33,002 3,329 Note: - In the above table, General voters mean Caste Hindu voters. This table shows how the Scheduled Caste voters are vastly out numbered by the Caste Hindu voters and how impossible it is for the Scheduled Caste voters to win the reserved seat in the joint electorate by dint of their voting strength, even if everyone of the Scheduled Caste voter were to come to poll. Exactly the same sort of situation exist in other Provinces. zz

3 DR. AMBEDKAR’S INTERVIEW WITH CABINET MISSION Cabinet Mission interviewed Dr. B. R. Ambedkar as a representative of the All India Scheduled Castes Federation. Similarly, Mr. Jagjiwan Ram, Mr. Radhanath Das and Mr. Prithvi Singh Azad were also interviewed as representatives of All India Depressed Class League—Editors “Dr. Ambedkar was interviewed on behalf of the Scheduled Castes Federation. In reply to an enquiry as to the method of representation of Scheduled Castes in the constituent assembly he said that he did not want a constituent assembly at all. It would be dominated by the Caste Hindus and the Scheduled Castes would be no more than a small minority which would always be outvoted. All the assurances of protection which His Majesty’s Government had given to the minorities would go by the board. His own proposal was that the tasks envisaged for the constituent assembly should be divided into two classes, namely (a) constitutional questions properly so called, e.g. the relation between the legislature and the executive and their respective composition and functions, and (b) communal questions. Matters under (a) should be referred to a commission presided over by an eminent constitutional lawyer from Great Britain or the U.S.A. The other members should be two Indian experts and one representative each of the Hindu and Muslim Communities. The terms of reference should be the Government of India Act of 1935 and the Commission should be required to recommend what changes should be made in the Act as it stood. Matters under (b) should be referred to a conference of the leaders of the different communities. If the conference failed to arrive at an agreed solution, His Majesty’s Government should make an award. Dr. Ambedkar claimed that, before they left, the British must ensure that the new constitution guaranteed to the Scheduled Castes, he elementary human rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and that it restored their Separate Electorates and gave