THE SITUATION IN INDIA 27
Hitler and the Government that exists in Great Britain ? The answer simply is this …….. Interruption).
Mr. President (The Honourable Sir Abdur Rahim): Order, order. Honourable members must not go on interrupting like this.
The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : The answer is simply this and I want to put it in the most categorical form— the difference between autocracy and responsible government—I repeat it, I emphasise it,—lies in the fact that in autocracy there is no veto, in responsible government there is a veto. That is the simple fact about it. Let all those who want to understand the constitution and who want to frame constitutions bear that fact in mind.
Sir, the only question, the only quarrel that can arise—I can perfectly understand that sort of quarrel—is where should the veto lie ? Should it lie with the Secretary of State, should it lie with the Viceroy, or should it lie at any other place or in some other organisation ? That can be the only point of quarrel. As to the existence of the veto, I submit that there can be no quarrel among those who believe in responsibility, among those who believe in democratic government. The question, therefore, that arises is this : If we are not to have the veto with the Secretary of State, where arc we to have it ? It seems to me that if you want to transfer the veto from the Secretary of State, the only place where I can see it can be rightly placed is the Legislature. There is no other place for the veto.
Sir Syed Raza Ali (Cities of the United Provinces : Muhammadan Urban): I am glad that my Honourable friend has at last thought of the Legislature !
The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : The question, therefore, is this, and I think it is a simple question. Can we transfer the veto to the legislature as it exists today ? (Interruption by Pandit Lakshmi Kanta Maitra). I cannot teach you constitutional law. I am afraid I shall have to open a class. I spent five years in the Law College teaching constitutional law. The question to my mind is this. Can we transfer this veto to the Legislature ? And I must consider the question from the stand-point of the present Legislature because the demand is that the British Government should abdicate at once. The question is, is this Legislature suited as a receptacle in which we can place this veto ?