948 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
which may be applicable to the entire society without any distinction. Yesterday, the Hon. Minister made certain observations which in my opinion do not befit him, it is just possible that I may be wrong. I thought that he became somewhat irritated and lost his temper or he felt that we were putting obstruction in the passage of the Bill. But this is not the thing. This is the opinion of the most of the people, and I am one of them, that it would have been far better had this law been made applicable to the entire society without distinction. According to the Hon. Minister, it will be a matter of great pleasure if such a Bill could be introduced within two days. It will be very good if this Bill could be got passed within half an hour. It was not a good thing for our Hon. Minister, holding such a responsible post, to laugh at those people who hold different opinions than what he holds. It has been clearly stated in our Constitution, it may not be in the chapter relating to fundamental rights but it is in the preamble chapter:
“That State shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform Civil Code throughout the territory of India.”
It has been clearly stated in our Constitution. The Bill which has been presented before us today is opposed to this clause. We have suffered a lot as a result of this class and caste distinctions. After attaining independence, we framed our Constitution and this is the first social Bill which has been presented before us after the passing of the Constitution. We should have incorporated some of the ideals in this social Bill and that could have been easily done., if only this was to be applied to the entire society. If some clauses of this Bill are deleted and the good ones selected then a Bill could be prepared which could be applied to the entire society as a whole. Then, the people who are opposing this Bill today would not have done so.
There is one thing more and which is quite apparent. There are many good things in this Bill as well. I would rather say that it abounds in good things and the points of disagreement are very few. There is one important point in the fundamental things, which have been laid down in this Bill. One of the disputed points is that women should also be given the right of succession to property. It is easy to say a thing as my friend Shri Syamanandan Sahaya has done, I hold him in great esteem, by declaring that we already treat women as masters of our household. I would like to tell him that that is akin to the maxim “the safe is yours but let the keys remain with me.” We have seen and are aware of the consequence’s resulting from non-existence