1164 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
Seth govind Das : @ [No, Sir, that statement did not have any reference to the Hindu Code, I believe that the House is aware that I am opposed to many of the provisions of the Hindu Code.]...
*Shri Laxminarayan Sahu : ...Even though I sincerely compliment and congratulate Dr. Ambedkar for the hard labour he has put in this connection, yet I am afraid I cannot compliment him for this unnatural product of his labour which under constant changes has almost become shapeless and ludicrous. I know fully well and I believe that he is likely to say in reply that it is not entirely his handi-work. He had to frame the Constitution in accordance with the wishes of the majority party in the country....
†Shri R. K. Sidhwa : Now coming to the Constitution, on the 6th of December 1946 before entering this House, this memorable hall which has been renovated particularly for framing of this Constitution which will be remembered in the history of India.... From experience we have seen that today is exactly three years, or rather to be more accurate 15 days less than three years, when we have completed this Constitution. On the 1st of February 1948 after our deliberations from the 9th December 1946 to
1947 a draft Constitution was presented to us. It included 313 articles in the Constitution. Today we have now presented to this House 395 articles, that is to say 82 new articles were inserted. Then there were nearly 220 old articles which were simply scrapped off and in the case of nearly 120 articles the phraseology is materially changed. Accepting the Preamble without a change or a single comma or punctuation, several articles have been changed and I am very glad and the House is also glad that we have by experience thought it desirable that it was not in a hurry that we should prepare a Constitution. We are therefore right in taking this long time and preparing a Constitution for which we shall all be proud. There have been criticisms outside this hall that we have taken a long time and wasted some money. I give no countenance to that. It was also stated that some of us were sending amendments for the purpose of sending amendments and making speeches. We did not countenance or listen to their arguments. We were lighting our battles in this Constitution Hall, to put our views and we have fought our battle very well, and I am glad that the Drafting Committee have taken our battles in the right spirit. We have done our duty. Proceedings in the matter of record are there for future generations to see and the historians will have to judge whether we have wasted the time or we have done our duty to the people of this country and framed a Constitution, for which all of us are proud and I am very proud too.
*CAD, Official Report, Vol. X, 17th November 1949, p. 613.
† Ibid., p. 623.
@Translation of Hindustani speech.