DRAFT CONSTITUTION 429
- Shri Jaipal Singh (Bihar : General) : Mr. Vice-President, Sir, I have great pleasure in welcoming this article, more so as it has been suitably amended by Dr. Ambedkar, and I hope his amendment will be accepted by the House. Sir, to me this article seems to open a new era for India....
†Mr. Vice-President : Dr. Ambedkar.
Prof. Shibhan Lal Saksena (United Provinces : General) : Sir. I have to say something, and
Mr. Vice-President : I cannot allow the discussion to be prolonged any longer, and my decision is final in this matter.
Prof. Shibban Lal Saksena: To allow some people and not to allow others is not proper.
Mr. Vice-President : I know it is considered improper. Dr. Ambedkar.
The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : Sir, of the amendments which have been moved to article 23, I can accept amendment No. 26 to amendment No. 687 by Pandit Thakur Dass Bhargava. I am also prepared to accept amendment No. 31 to amendment No. 690, also moved by Pandit Thakur Dass Bhargava. Of the other amendments which have been moved I think there are only two that I need reply to, they are, No. 676 by Mr. Lari and amendment No. 714 also by Mr. Lari. I think it would be desirable, if in the course of my reply I separate the questions which have arisen out of these two amendments.
Amendment No. 676 deals with cultural rights of the minorities, while the other amendment. No. 714, raises the question whether a minority should not have the Fundamental Right embodied in the Constitution for receiving education in the primary stage in the mother tongue.
With regard to the first question, my Friend, Mr. Lari, as well as my Friend, Maulana Hasrat Mohani, both of them, charged the Drafting Committee for having altered the original proposition contained in the Fundamental Right as was passed by this House. It is quite true that the language of paragraph 18 of the Fundamental Rights Committee has been altered by the Drafting Committee, but I have no hesitation
*CAD. Vol. VII, 8th December 1948, p. 907.
† Ibid. pp. 922-25.