28 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
What is the composition, what is the character of this Legislature ? Now, Sir, it is quite true and I do not think I am saying anything derogatory to this House, that, having regard to the efflux of time, this House is almost in a deceased state.
Sardar Sant Singh : It is always.
The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : It was elected for three years, but it has been sitting for almost nearly nine years. I do not know to what extent the present Members of this House can be said to derive a mandate from their constituencies which can be regarded as direct and fresh, if it has not become stale by the efflux of time. I won’t say anything about it, but let us proceed further and examine the composition of the House.
Mr. President (The Honourable Sir Abdur Rahim) : The Honourable Member has already exceeded his time.
Pandit Lakshmi Kanta Maitra (Presidency Division) : NonMuhammadan Rural): What my Honourable friend says has nothing to do with the motion before the House.
The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : If you think, Sir, that my time is up ……
Mr. President (The Honourable Sir Abdur Rahim) : The time limit was arrived at by agreement of all Parties and I have got to enforce it.
The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : Then I will close my speech. Examine the Legislature from any point of view you like, examine it from the point of view of the mandate, examine it from the point of view of the composition of the legislature, its representative character, examine it also from the point of view of the electorate which is represented, and I have no doubt about it that this House cannot be regarded as sufficiently representative to impose a veto on a national government.
Mr. Jamnadas M. Mehta : Why did you call the Session ?
(There were some more interruptions.)
The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : The point, therefore, is this, Either you must acknowledge the fact that this House is not representative enough to have the veto deposited in it, or you must consider whether during the period of the war it is possible for us to enter upon refashioning this legislative Assembly in such a manner that it will contain within itself a sufficient number of Hindus,