456 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
(2) The new constitution is not to include all the present Provinces of India but only such Provinces as may be willing to be bound by it. For this the Provinces have been given a right to decide whether they shall join the new constitution or stay out of it. This is left to be done by a plebiscite in which a bare majority is declared enough to decide the issue.
(3) The Constituted Assembly shall be required to enter into a treaty with the British Government. The treaty is to contain provisions for the safety and security of racial and religious minorities. After such a treaty is signed the British Government is to withdraw its sovereignty and the constitution framed by the Constituent Assembly is to come into operation.
Such in brief outline is the scheme of His Majesty’s Government. The proposal regarding Constituent Assembly is not a new proposal. It was put forth by the Congress when the war broke out and what is important is that this proposal of the Congress was rejected by His Majesty’s Government. This is what Mr. Amery said in the House of Commons on August 14,1940, regarding Constituent Assembly :—
“Congress leaders.....have built up a remarkable organisation the most efficient political machine in India..... If only they had succeeded, if the Congress could, in fact speak, as it professes to speak, for all the main elements in India’s national life, then however advanced their demands our problem would have been in many respects far easier than it is today. It is true that they are numerically the largest single party in British India, but their claim in virtue of the fact to speak for India is utterly denied by very important elements in India’s complex national life. These others assert their right to be regarded not as mere numerical minorities but as separate constituent factors in any future Indian policy. The foremost among these elements stands the great Muslim community. They will have nothing to do with a constitution framed by a Constituent Assembly elected by a majority vote in geographical constituencies. They claim the right in any constitutional discussions to be regarded as an entity and are determined only to accept a constitution whose actual structure will secure their position as an entity against the operations of a mere numerical majority. The same applies to the