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284 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
Parliament on or before December 31,1929, but in the event of its non-acceptance by that date or its earlier rejection, Congress will organise a non-violent non-co-operation by advising the country to refuse taxation or in such other manner as may be decided upon. Consistently with the above, nothing in this resolution shall interfere with the carrying on, in the name of the Congress, of the propaganda for complete independence.”
This shows that Hindu opinion is not in favour of Independence but in favour of Dominion Status. Some will take exception to this statement. It may be asked what about the Congress resolution of 1927 ? It is true that the Congress in its Madras session held, in 1927 did pass the following resolution moved by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru:—
“This Congress declares the goal of the Indian people to be complete National Independence”.
But there is enough evidence to support the contention that this resolution did not and does not speak the real mind of the Hindus in the Congress.
The resolution came as a surprise. There was no indication of it in the speech of Dr. Ansari* who presided over the 1927 session. The Chairman† of the Reception Committee only referred to it in passing, not as an urgent but a contingent line of action.
There was no forethought about the resolution. It was the result of a coup and the coup was successful because of three factors.
In the first place, there was then a section in the Congress which was opposed to the domination of Pandit Motilal Nehru and Mr. Gandhi, particularly the former. This group was led by Mr. Srinivas Iyengar who was the political rival of Pandit Motilal.
- This is all that Dr. Ansari said about the subject in his speech :
“Whatever be the final form of the constitution, one thing may be said with some degree of certainty, that it will have to be on federal lines providing for a United States of India with existing Indian States as autonomous units of the Federation taking their proper share in the defence of the country, in the regulation of the nation’s foreign affairs and other joint and common interests”.— The Indian Quarterly Register, 1927, Vol. II, p. 372.
† Mr. Muthuranga Mudaliar said :
“We ought to make it known that if Parliament continues in its present insolent mood, we must definitely start on an intensive propaganda for the severance of India from the Empire. Whenever the time may come for the effective assertion of Indian nationalism, Indian aspiration will then be towards free nationhood, untrammelled even by the nominal suzerainty of the King of England. It behoves English statesmanship to take careful note of this fact. Let them not drive us to despair.”—Ibid., p. 356.