DR. AMBEDKAR AND THE HINDU CODE BILL 907
“I shall accept no interpretation. The Pandits will come and go and I shall accept nobody’s interpretation. I will say that is not the interpretation and ultimately the Raja will have to fork out the one lakh of rupees.” Even so whatever advice or suggestion or opinion we may express here., if the Hon. Law Minister is in the mood of the Pandit what can we do ? We have to appeal to him and tell him what is the opinion outside. I have no doubt that he will depend upon us for giving him such information as we are capable of gathering by going round our constituencies…
Dr. Ambedkar : I have more information than you have.
Shri Syamnandan Sahaya : You may have more than what I personally have but I am talking of the Members of the House and I am not talking of myself only. I dare not say that I have more information than you have…….
An Hon. Member : What about the lakh of rupees ?
Shri Syamnandan Sahaya : The Pandit got the lakh of rupees all right.
Pandit Thakur Das Bhargava (Punjab) : Has the Hon. Minister not admitted before in this House that public opinion does not favour this Bill ?
Shri Syamnandan Sahaya : Has he ? I am very glad. That very strongly supports my case. If that is so, then there is no ground for the Hon. Minister to come to this House at all with this Code. In any case the difficulty arises when you come into power : then, naturally apart from power, one has also the feeling that one has the knowledge, the information, which no one else possesses. Mr. Gladstone was once rebuked by Queen Victoria by remarking, “You must know, Mr. Prime Minister, that I am the Queen, the Sovereign of England” And Gladstone hit back by saying. “Yes, Your Majesty, but I am the people of England”. So, you Mr. Law Minister may be today the Sovereign of India., we are the People of India, and if you don’t listen to us you will go the way the sovereigns have gone. Whether you like it or you don’t, this is what will happen.
This matter of the Hindu Code, in my opinion, should not be taken— pardon my saying so—as it is being taken. Religious reforms and social reforms are certainly necessary. No one could possibly get up in this House and say, “No, we shall stay where we are”. What are we then asking you to do ? We are only asking that the legislation be made permissive. Let the people know all about it. Let them think