414 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
provincial autonomy will fail to the ground and I am certain that the provincial Ministries will not touch such a proposal from the Centre even with a pair of tongs if such direction went counter to their own views.
Mr. Deputy Speaker: May I state for the information of the House that there are as many as 37 members—I have received chits, letters and so on from them—who are all anxious—most of them, if not all— to put forward their view points on this Bill. I would therefore suggest, however interesting the speech of the honourable member might be, that the points that have been raised on one side in support of the Bill may kindly be answered by others. Thus, all the points would be threshed out and this will contribute to the richness of the debate as well. Dr. Ambedkar has given a clear analysis of the Code with arguments. Of course, the House would like to know how those points are wrong and how they are met on the other side. Therefore, greater attention may be paid to that and also regard may be had to the number of speakers that are in the waiting list.
Shri H. V. Kamath : May I request you, Sir, to consider, in view of the vital importance of this Bill, that two or three days time is hardly adequate and that at least a week or two should be allotted for general discussion ?
Pandit Lakshmi Kanta Maitra : With great respect to the views which were expressed by you, Sir, if I have given the impression that I was filibustering, I am sorry. I may tell you, Sir, that this Bill is of such great importance that it would be utterly unfair to the House if you ask us to conclude this general discussion thus. Because, in the first stage, we had not the slightest opportunity to make a speech ; this is the stage after gating us committed to the principle of the Bill, in which we have to see how best we can serve our country, even within the limited sphere. If there are 36 speakers, there is the clearest possible indication that the Bill has now attracted serious attention and they want to give their viewpoints. Therefore, there is no particular sanctity to the period that is laid down for debates of this kind.
If we do not conclude the discussion today, certainly more days must be found for further discussion of this. This honourable the Law Minister is very zealous about it; he can give another additional session for this ; if not, even in this session four or five additional days could be found. The matter must be thoroughly debated. I hope the House will not accept closure; nor do I think that a closure will be moved