1062 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
Shri Bhatt: So I hope the Hon. Minister of Law would keep some sort of provision in it in the same manner in which some laxity has been allowed in the above clause, otherwise you are only limiting its scope. The then Home Member Mr. Henry Craik made a mention of it in his speech and said:
“I think it deserves very careful consideration, whether it is not wise in those matters to give the individual the option and not to compel him to accept a rule or law of which he may be imperfectly informed.”
Shri B. Das (Orissa) : I think Sir Henry Craik was a bachelor—he did not understand society.
Shri Bhatt: I have taken this from the Debates of 1937 where it is given on page No. 2544 of Volume No 3. Hence, my submission is that we too should keep a provision of this nature in it. Look into the Baroda Act which all of us appreciate. Baroda is several years ahead of us, ask them now where they are at present. Ask them what facilities they enjoy and from what difficulties they suffer, and how they enforce their various laws. They might perhaps admit that the old days were by far better. I do not say all that with any special motive. I hold that so far as social laws are concerned Mysore is ahead of all other parts of India. And if I am not wrong—Mysore friends would excuse me— Sir Sayaji Rao Gaikwad was the first to introduce Educational and Health reforms long before Mysore and other stepped in.
Dr. Ambedkar : He did a blunder :
Shri Bhatt : You want to take us, the people of Rajasthan, on to progress. We find that we are a tardy people and go slow. Our speed is that of a camel which cannot go along with the speed of your aeroplane. So it is good to slow down the speed of your aeroplane. The Baroda Hindu Code also lays down :
“ This Act shall apply to all persons domiciled in the Baroda State.
(a) who are Hindus by birth or by conversion to Hinduism or to whom any part of this Act is made applicable by this Act, to the extent to which it is so applicable.
Explanation 1. The people to whom the Hindu law or any part thereof is applicable by custom and usage shall be deemed to be Hindus…..”
Shri Syamnandan Sahaya : Which Code is this ?