FEDERATION VERSUS FREEDOM 341
you is, and it is a very important question, “Will it be open to you to tackle this question after the Federation is established ?” I say no. You will perhaps ask why. How does this conclusion follow ?
I have already pointed out that with regard to the entry into the Federation, the Provinces and the States stand on a different footing. The Provinces have no choice. They must agree to be the units of the Federation. The States have a choice. They may join the Federation or they may refuse to join the Federation. That is so from the standpoint of the Provinces and from the standpoint of the States. What is the position from the standpoint of the Federation ? Has the Federation any choice in the matter of the admission of the States ? Can the Federation refuse to admit a State into the Federation ? The answer is no. The Federation has no right to refuse. The State has a right to enter the Federation. But the Federation has no right to refuse admission at any rate for the first 20 years. That is the position. Now what does the admission of a State into the Federation mean ? In my view the admission of a State into the Federation means recognition of the sovereign status of the State. Recognition of its sovereign status means the recognition of its indestructibility which means its right to the integrity of its territory and to guaranteeing of its powers of internal administration. This would apply even to the State with a population of 27 and revenue of Rs. 80. These being the implications of the admission of a State in the Federation, I am perfectly justified in suggesting that the territorial reorganisation of the Indian States will not be possible after the establishment of the Federation and the people of the Indian States will be forever doomed to misrule and mal-administration.
Can British India do anything in the matter now ? I think British India is not in a position to do anything in the matter. If British India could have secured Responsible Government for itself, it might have been in a position to dictate which State should be admitted and on what terms. It would have been in a position to make the reorganization of the States territory into tolerably big units as a condition precedent for their entry into the Federation. Unfortunately British India has no Responsible Government. Indeed its right to Responsible Government at the Centre is denied and is made dependent upon the entry of the States. “No States, no responsibility” has now become the fate of British India. That being the position of British India, British India is not in a position to make terms with the States as she would have been able to do if she had Responsible Government. That is why I have said and that is why I have always maintained that British Indians should first ask for a Federation and Responsibility confined to British India. Once that is obtained, the path for an All India Federation on the basis of freedom and good government all round will become possible. That possibility will be gone if this Federation comes into being.