z:\ ambedkar\vol-02\vol2-06.indd MK SJ+YS 21-9-2013/YS-8-11-2013 442
442 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
from the Depressed classes of the Bombay Presidency should be elected to the Legislative Assembly by their representatives in the Local Legislative Council.
II. Protection through Guarantees
- In addition to the demand for adequate representation the Sabha feels that it must also demand the inclusion of clauses in the constitution of the country and as a fundamental part thereof guaranteeing the civil rights of the Depressed classes as a minority in the Bombay Presidency. Such guarantees must cover the recognition of the following propositions concerning the interests of the Depressed classes : —
(1) That the education of the Depressed classes shall be recognized as the first charge on the revenues of the Province and that an equitable and just proportion of the total grant for education should be earmarked for the benefit of the Depressed classes.
(2) That the right of the Depressed classes to unrestricted recruitment in the army, navy, and the police shall be recognized without any limitation as to caste.
(3) That for a period of 30 years the right of the Depressed classes for priority in the matter of the recruitments to all posts, gazetted as well as non-gazetted in all civil services shall be recognized.
(4) That the right of the Depressed classes to the appointment of a special inspector of police from amongst themselves for every District shall be recognized.
(5) That the right of the Depressed classes to effective representation (as defined above) on the Local Bodies shall be recognized by the Provincial Government.
(6) That the right of the Depressed classes to appeal to the Government of India in cases of violation of these rights by the Provincial Government shall be recognized and the Government of India shall be given the power to compel the Provincial Government to conform to the law in the matter.
- Justification of such guarantees. —It may be argued that as the Depressed classes have been given adequate representation in the Council, there can be no danger to their rights, as there can be in the case of an unrepresented minority. Why then should there be these guarantees ? The Sabha demurs to this much faith in the efficacy of a representative form of Government to effectively protect a minority from the tyranny of the majority. In this connection the Sabha would like to invite the attention of the Commission to the views of John Stuart Mill who has observed that “the notion that the people have no need to limit their power over themselves, might seem axiomatic, when popular Government was the thing only dreamt about or read of as having existed at some distant period of the past. . . .. . . .. . It was now perceived that such phrases as self-Government, and the power of the people over themselves, do not express the true state of