466 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
be made in the Treaty for their protection. I said that these would be on the lines of the League of Nations minority treaties, and that, if there were special provisions in the Constitution, these would probably be repeated in the Treaty, and that there would be some obligation to refer the matter to some outside authority in the event of a dispute, the Government of the Indian Union undertaking to abide by the decision so given. If the Indian Government failed to do so this would constitute a breach of treaty, and the British Government could take such steps as it considered wise in the particular circumstances. I said that, though this form of protection might seem to them inadequate, it was the only possible one, once granted the principle of selfdetermination for India.
On the following day Dr. Ambedkar and Mr. Rajah wrote to
me saying that the proposals were unacceptable to the Depressed
Classes, as they would place them under an unmitigated system
of Hindu rule, and would be resisted by them by all the means
at their disposal. They requested me to convey their anxieties
to His Majesty’s Government, and to impress upon them that
the Depressed Classes would regard it as a breach of faith if a
Constitution were forced upon them by His Majesty’s Government
which had not received their free and voluntary consent, and did
not contain within itself the provisions necessary for safeguarding
their interests.
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