PR ENGLISH SHORTHAND DICTATIONS: ENGLISH SHORTHAND DICTATION-81

Mr. Chairman, Sir, I rise to speak on behalf of millions of unknown, yet very important, hordes of unrecognized warriors of freedom, the original people of India who have variously been known as backward tribes, primitive tribes, criminal tribes and everything else, Sir, I am proud to be a Jungli, that is the name by which we are known in my part of the country. As we live in the jungles, we know what it means to support this Resolution. On behalf of more than 30 millions of the Adivasis, I support it not merely because it may have been sponsored by a leader of the Indian National Congress. I support it because it is a resolution which gives expression¹²⁰ to sentiments that throb in every heart in this country. I have no quarrel with the wording of this Resolution¹⁴⁰ at all. As an Adivasi, I am not expected to understand the legal intricacies of the Resolution. But my common¹⁶⁰ sense tells me that every one of us should march in that road of freedom and fight together. If there is any group of Indian people that has been shabbily treated, it is my people. They have been disgracefully treated, neglected for the last 6,000 years. The history of the Indus Valley Civilization shows quite clearly that it is the newcomers who have driven away my people from the Indus Valley to the jungles. This Resolution is not going to²⁴⁰ teach Adivasis democracy. You cannot teach democracy to the tribal people; you have to learn democratic ways from them. They are the most democratic people on earth. What my people require, is not adequate safeguards as Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru²⁸⁰ has put it. We do not ask for any special protection. We want to be treated like every other Indian. There is the problem of Hindustan; there is position of Pakistan; there is the problem of Adivasis. If we all³²⁰ shout in different militant directions, we shall end up in Kabristan. The whole history of my people is one of continuous exploitation and dispossession by the non-aboriginals of India punctuated by rebellions and disorder, and yet I take Pandit Jawahar³⁶⁰ Lal Nehru at his word. I take you all at your word that now we are going to start a new chapter of Independent India where there is equality of opportunity, where no one would be neglected. There is no question of caste in my society. We are all equal. Have we not been casually treated by the Cabinet Mission,⁴²⁰ more than 30 million people completely ignored? It is only a matter of political window-dressing that today we find six tribal members in this Constituent Assembly. What has the Indian National Congress done for our fair representation? Is there going to be any provision in the rules whereby it may be possible to bring in more Adivasis? By Adivasis, I⁴⁸⁰ mean not only men but women also. There are too many men in the Constituent Assembly. We want more women of the type of Mrs. Vijayalakshmi Pandit who has already won a victory in America by destroying this racialism. My people have been suffering for 6,000 years because of racialism of the Hindus and everybody else. My people are deeply concerned about what is going to happen about the selection to the Advisory Committee.

I want to be quite clear⁵⁶⁰ on that point. I think there has been juggling of words going on to deceive us. I have heard of resolutions and speeches galore assuring Adivasis of a fair deal. If history had to teach me anything at all, I⁶⁰⁰ should distrust this Resolution, but I do not. Now we are on a new road. Now we have simply got to learn to trust each other. We must create a new atmosphere of confidence among ourselves. I regret there has⁶⁴⁰ been too much talk in this House in terms of parties and minorities. Sir, I do not consider my people a minority. We have already heard on the floor of the House this morning that the Depressed Classes also consider themselves as Adivasis, the original inhabitants of this country. If you go on adding people like the exterior castes and⁷⁰⁰ others who are socially in no man's land, we are not a minority. In any case, we have prescriptive rights⁷²⁰ that no one dare deny. I am convinced that not only the Mover of this Resolution, but everyone here will deal with us justly. It is only by dealing justly, and not by a proclamation of empty words, that we will be able to shape a Constitution which will mean real freedom. I have heard pronouncements made by Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru in different parts of the country. More particularly, I was impressed by what he said during his visit⁸⁰⁰ to Assam during the elections. When he was in Ramgarh, I invited him to come and address the sixty thousand Adivasis who were assembled at Ranchi, only 30 miles away. Unfortunately, work kept him busy and he was unable⁸⁴⁰ to come. Sir, the solutions to the various problems of the Adivasis are obvious to my mind and these solutions will have to be thrashed out at some later date. Here I can only adumbrate what is my faith in what seems to be the just solution and it is by a realignment by a daring redistribution of provinces. Sir, the case of my own area has been very well put by yourself when you were the Chairman of the Reception Committee of the Ramgarh session of the Congress. I say you cannot teach my people democracy. It is the advent of Indo-Aryan hordes that has been destroying the vestiges of democracy. Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, in his book ‘Discovery⁹⁶⁰ of India’, talks of the Indus Valley Civilization and later centuries and says that there were many tribal republics, some⁹⁸⁰ of them covering large areas. There will again be many tribal republics which will be in the vanguard of the battle for Indian freedom. I heartily support the Resolution and hope that the members who are now outside will have the same faith in their fellow countrymen. Let us fight for freedom together, sitting together and working together. Then alone, we shall have real freedom.

Mr. Chairman, Sir, representing the mercantile community, I want to look at this proposal from the businessman's point of view. From that standpoint, I heartily support the proposal that has been put forward by Pandit¹⁰⁸⁰ Jawahar Lal Nehru. In my humble opinion, what the Cabinet Mission did was to recognize the aspirations of the people to attain independence, put some fetters on the deliberations of the Constituent Assembly and leave the rest to the talent¹¹²⁰ and genius of the representatives of this country. There are many lacunae in the Cabinet Mission's Statement which we are entitled to fill and shape our Constitution in such a manner as will give to the people their aspiration and give us a good Constitution. Unless we are prepared to lay down the general objective which we have got to achieve, unless we are prepared to appoint a committee and define the Central Subjects, I do not see how it¹²⁰⁰ is possible for us to go ahead with the shaping of the Constitution of India. According to my honourable friend’s argument, at this preliminary session, we would not even be able to appoint a committee to deal with the Central Subjects. I fail to understand how we can go ahead without doing so. If we do not define the Central¹²⁶⁰ Subjects at this period of time, it will not be possible for the provinces or the groups to frame their¹²⁸⁰ own Constitution. They may assume to themselves powers which may ultimately have to be taken over by the Central Government. It is, therefore, absolutely necessary that apart from laying down the objective, we should find out what is meant by the Central Subjects and what finances are necessary to administer them. Similarly, we shall have to lay down other principles, appoint an Advisory Committee to deal with the rights of minorities, how to safeguard their interests and do any other things that are desirable and endeavour to lay down for the purpose of framing the Constitution. He fears that if we put forward the objective now, Mr. Jinnah and his party may not come into the Constituent Assembly. I very¹⁴⁰⁰ humbly differ from his opinion. We have so often approached Mr. Jinnah. Have we ever succeeded in melting his heart for the purpose of joining us sincerely and honestly for the purpose of attaining independence? Even when the Interim Government¹⁴⁴⁰ was formed, he would not accept the invitation of Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru to join the Interim Government but stated to the contrary that he was accepting the invitation of the Viceroy. When the Congress time and again approached him to reach a settlement, he asked his friend Mr. Churchill to get him invited to London for the purpose of clearing up certain misunderstandings. I call them misunderstandings between the Congress and himself. Even now as we are proceeding with the work of the Constituent Assembly for the purpose of shaping the destiny of our country, he is spending his time at Cairo for the purpose of spreading a disease which I may call Hindu-phobia, that Hindu Raj will extend to the Mid-East. I am not sorry or surprised that he is engaged in the propaganda at Cairo. If he thinks that the Hindus are strong enough to extend their dominions to the Mid-East, it is all the more reason¹⁶⁰⁰ for him to come back to his own country and join us in framing a Constitution for attaining independence with due regard to the interests of all minorities consistently with peace and progress.¹⁶³³