Hon.
Members, I may, on behalf of the
House, be permitted to extend a cordial welcome to the representatives of the
States who are attending this Session and I hope representatives of
other States will also be coming soon to assist in the great work which
this Assembly has undertaken. I need hardly point out that the tremendous task in
which we are engaged requires and expects assistance from all sons and
daughters of this country whether they are living in States or in
British India and whether they belong to one community or another. The future of
the country very largely will depend upon the Constitution which we are
able to frame and not only the people of this120 country but people all over the world are watching
our efforts with interest not unmixed with anxiety and it is140 up to us, to whatever class or community and whatever part
of India we belong, to make our contribution towards160 the accomplishment of this task. The British
Government has declared its intention to transfer power to Indians
by June, 1948. This has naturally added urgency to our work and we must proceed
in a business-like way to draw up our Constitution in as short a time as we
can. The British Government is pledged to take preparatory measures
for transfer of power in advance and while this is being done on one
hand, we must be ready with our Constitution240 well in advance of the date-line to assume responsibility in
accordance with the Constitution framed by us. I am, therefore, hoping that
the Assembly will proceed with all expedition. There are undoubtedly
difficulties which the Assembly will have to face280 but if we proceed with determination, we shall be
able to conquer them.
It will be recalled that the Assembly appointed several
Sub-Committees. The Reports of four of these Committees will be placed before
the House in due course. I320 suggest that the Assembly should proceed to appoint Committees to
formulate the principles on which the Constitution to be framed will be
based and when those principles have been approved, the work of drafting the
Constitution could be undertaken by360 a suitable agency and finally the Constitution
so drafted could be considered in detail by this Assembly. My suggestion
to the Assembly will be that the Sub-Committee for framing the principles
should be asked to submit its report in time for consideration by the Assembly
sometime in June or July and after the report has been considered by the
Assembly,420 the drafting could be done and the Assembly
itself could meet in September and finalise the Constitution by the end of
October. This is roughly the time-table as the Order of the Business Committee
and I envisage it. It is necessary that the Constitution should be
finalised as early as possible so that there may be time
thereafter for the480 process of transfer to be completed within the
time fixed by the British Government. What I have suggested is tentative
as developments are taking place and no one can say for certain what steps the
Constituent Assembly may have to take to fulfil its functions. We have already
defined our objective and the Constitution that has to be framed will
naturally have to conform to it. Whatever the nature of the Constitution that
may have to be drafted whether for560 one undivided India or only for parts of it,
we shall see to it that it gives satisfaction to all coming under its
jurisdiction. While we have accepted the Cabinet Mission’s Statement of 16th
May which contemplated a Union of600 the different Provinces and States
within the country, it may be that the Union does not comprise all the
Provinces. In that case we can and should insist that one principle will apply
to all parts of the country and640 no Constitution will be forced upon any
unwilling part of it. This may mean not only a division of India but a division
of some Provinces. For this, we must be prepared and the Assembly may
have to draw up a Constitution based on such division. Let us not be
daunted by the immensity of the task or diverted from700 our purpose by developments which may take
place but go ahead with faith in ourselves and the country which has720 sent us here.
Hon. Chairman, Sir, I thank you for the
cordial terms in which you have welcomed us, the representatives of the
States who are here today. I wish more had come in. I have every hope that at
the next Session, few of the States' seats will remain unoccupied. Sir, the
Baroda Delegation has suffered a serious loss by the tragic death of one of its
members who was on his way to the Constituent Assembly. Sir, this800 Assembly is framing the Constitution of free
India. We, the States, are an integral part of India and we shall
share the freedom with British India. We, therefore, want to share the
responsibility of framing the Constitution. We claim that840 we are in a position to make substantial contribution
to the common task. A hundred and fifty years of unitary British rule
has resulted in a measure of uniformity in British India, but in the States,
there is still a great variety. Some States are as advanced as
British India, where the people are associated with the administration. Some
are absolute monarchies. Some are feudal and some are primitive. All these
have to be fitted into the Indian Constitution, because our 93 million
of population is included in the Indian total of 400 million. We do
not want to disturb the main design, as indicated in the first
Resolution of this Assembly; but we want to introduce a variety in960 the pattern so that we may fit into it according
to our capacity. We want unity in diversity. I appeal980 to our British Indian colleagues to exercise a
little patience with us. We want to march along with them but the pace has
to be regulated without impeding the forward move. We are at one with you
in that the Indian Union should be strong in the Centre so that India
may hold her head high in the comity of nations. We do not believe in isolated
independent existence, which can only weaken the Union. We shall join
you wholeheartedly in a spirit of co-operation and not in any spirit or
securing special privileges at the cost of the Union. 1080 We shall endeavour to make the
Constitution develop according to the genius and capacity of the different
units, so that the development may be natural and healthy.
Mr. President, Sir, following what my
honourable friend has so very eloquently1120 said, I also, on behalf of the representatives
of States who have joined and taken seats today, wish to express our thanks to
you for the welcome you have extended to us. This was indeed the day to
which we have been looking forward. It is a dream which has come true, for at
no time in India's history has a representative gathering of people who
can speak on behalf of the whole of India met and taken counsel. There
have1200 been occasions in the past when sections of India
have met. We in the States have also been meeting frequently, but never
in the history of India, has there been an occasion when representatives from
all parts of India have met together in order to decide their future.
Therefore, I consider that the taking of seats of certain representatives1260 of Indian States today has a symbolic
value which far outweighs the actual number of representatives who have
joined, or1280 the insignificance of members who have
themselves joined. This is indeed a symbol of the unity to come and from the
work that begins today, in co-operation between the representatives of the
States and those of the Indian Provinces, we can really hope to look
forward to the emergence of a Union of India. Before I proceed to any
other matter, I must say a few words of thanks to the work of the
Negotiating Committee which made it possible for us to come and sit here. No
doubt a Report of that Committee's work will be made to you in a few minutes
and it is not for me to say anything about it, but this much I might1400 say that, but for the wisdom, courage and
vision with which your representatives approached the question of Indian
States, it would not have been possible for those of us who desired from
the beginning to actively associate themselves with this1440 work to take our place here. Therefore, on
behalf of those of us who are here, I must thank the Negotiating Committee for
having made this possible. It is true that we represent only a certain
number of States. All of us who represent 93 million in Indian
States have not come here today. But one thing I should like to say, that
we are by no means an insignificant minority. We, who have come
here, represent no less than 20 million people out of 93 million people of
Indian States and those who have formally and publicly announced their
intention of joining the Constituent Assembly, form more than another 10 to 15
million people, so that actually when we come to think of it, a very
substantial portion of the people of Indian States are represented in the
Constituent Assembly today. 1582
