460 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
Government, as any trade treaty. If the treaty is to be of the former kind it will be the law of the land and will have legal sanction of the Indian Government behind it. If, on the other hand, the treaty is to be of the latter kind it is obvious it will not be the law of the land and will have no legal sanction behind it. Its sanction will be a political sanction. Now a treaty cannot override the constitution framed by the national Government for the obvious reason that such a thing, as was found in the case of Irish Free State, is incompatible with Dominion Status. The only sanction behind such a treaty will be a political sanction. It is obvious that the use of such sanction must depend upon the colour of the Government and the state of public opinion.
Given this fact the questions that arise are two :—(1) What
are the means which His Majesty’s Government will have at its
disposal to enforce the treaty obligations. (2) Secondly, will His
Majesty’s Government be prepared to use these means to coerce the
Indian National Government to abide by the terms of the treaty.
With regard to the first question it is obvious that the means for
enforcing the treaty are two-fold, use of force and trade war. As
to the military force, the Indian army will not be available. It will
be entirely transferred to the control of the new Indian National
Government. His Majesty’s Government will have therefore lost this
means of enforcing the treaty. It is impossible to believe that His
Majesty’s Government will send its own army to compel the National
Government to obey the treaty. A trade war is not possible. It is a
suicidal policy and the experience of the Irish war with the Irish
Free State for the recovery of land annuities shows that a nation
of shop-keepers will not sanction it even though it may be for their
interest and honour.
The treaty therefore is going to be an empty formula if not a
cruel joke upon the Depressed Classes. His Majesty’s Government
has sent out these proposals to be welcomed by Indians. But neither
His Majesty’s Government nor Sir Stafford Cripps have offered any
explanation as to why they are offering to Indians the very proposals
which His Majesty’s Government have been condemning in scathing
terms only a few months ago. A year ago His Majesty’s Government
said that they would not grant Constituent Assembly because that
would be a coercion of the minorities. His Majesty’s Government
is now prepared to grant Constituent Assembly and to coerce the