z:\ ambedkar\vol-02\vol2-10.indd MK SJ+YS 21-9-2013/YS-8-11-2013 763
EVIDENCE : RIGHT HON. SIR SAMUEL HOARE AND OTHERS 763
their number of seats would be 10, and the arrangement would come to an end after 20 years. To put it very shortly that was the decision ?
Sir Samuel Hoare : Yes.
- Sir N. N. Sircar: The other date is the 18th August, 1932. That is the date on which Mahatma Gandhi wrote his letter to the Prime Minister— (I am quoting the words):—threatening a fast and saying : “This fast will cease if the British Government will revise their decision and withdraw their scheme of representation for the depressed classes.” Mahatma Gandhi wrote this letter to the Prime Minister threatening a fast and the consequences. Does that date agree with your information ?
Sir Samuel Hoare: I have not got the dates here. I take it the dates are accurate.
- Sir N. N. Sircar: Will the Secretary of State accept this course ? May I put all these dates in my questions, and, if there is any mistake it can subsequently be pointed out either by communication or by some other means ?
Sir Samuel Hoare : Yes.
- Sir N. N. Sircar: I am giving the dates. On the 18th August that letter was written by Mahatma Gandhi to the Prime Minister. On the
8th September, 1932, the Prime Minister wrote back to Mahatma Gandhi pointing out that the Prime Minister’s scheme, that is to say, the communal decision, had not separated the depressed classes from the Hindu community. The point is the date ; on the 8th September the Prime Minister tried to reason with Mahatma Gandhi that nothing wrong had been done. On the
15th September, 1932, Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya issued a notification in some of the newspapers calling a Conference to be held at Delhi on the 17th and 18th September. The invitation as it appeared in the Press was stated to be “To a few friends.” That is the 18th September, 1932. On the 16th September, 1932, another announcement was made by the same gentleman, Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya, in the Press that the venue had been changed from Delhi to Bombay, and, on the 20th September,
1932, the fast which later on was described as the fast unto death, began. On the 24th September the condition of Mahatma Gandhi was announced to be very serious, and on the 25th September, 1932, the Pact was singned. These are the dates I am giving to you. You can subsequently either correct them or accept them ?
Sir Samuel Hoare: Yes.
- Sir N. N. Sircar: in my next question I am giving you some other dates, and I will not press for an answer if you are not prepared with an answer just now, but I am only indicating my case broadly because I shall call witnesses on these points to prove these facts. The Pact was signed at Poona on the 25th September, 1932. In this Pact there are many signatories. I do not want to read out all the names. There is no signatory representing the Bengal Hindus, and the very next day, on the 26th September, 1932, at Delhi, at 11 o’clock, the Home Member announced the acceptance of the