DR. AMBEDKAR AND THE HINDU CODE BILL 1069
moved an amendment not embracing simply our community in terms of Sikhs, or Hindus or Muslims ; but looking at the main clause as it has been framed, I was forced to use this word. I would have very much preferred to have used a territorial term saying that the Punjabis be absolved, or certain agricultural classes be absolved. But, since the framers of the Bill themselves have used the word Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and Sikh, I have moved an amendment in these terms. In fact, I have an amendment to clause 1 that the operation of the Bill be not extended to Punjab and P.E.P.S.U. I base my arguments not on narrow communal or religious grounds. I shall come to that later. I do not minimise the fact that this attempt to bring the Sikhs under the domain of Hindu Law will savour of bad political communial taste.
The other day, the learned Doctor cited a case to show that the Sikhs have all along been governed by the Hindu Law. With all apologies to him, I may point out that the law that he has cited was confined to the non-agriculturist properties. The Sikhs mainly comprise agriculturists. In fact the agriculturist Sikhs comprise 95 per cent. of the Sikh community. When you have to discern clearly and generalise in this way as to what law applies to them, you have not got to see that commercial classes of the Sikhs, the khatri Sikhs or other Sikhs who are resident in the cities, but you have got to look to the main community, the agriculturist Sikhs and see what their laws is. And I can cite not one, but innurable cases. I can cite case after case to prove
1 P.M. that in the Punjab the agricultural Sikh, along with other agricultural classes were all along governed by a secular law—and here incidentally it was an advance far ahead of what is proposed in this Hindu Code. So, I say we are there absolutely governed by a secular law. There we have got a uniform law for the agriculthral population who form the bulk of the population. We should not look at the law governing the microscopic minority of the people. We have to look at the law that prevails among the main bulk of the population, the main bulk which in this case forms about 95 per cent. of the population there. There, as I have said, we have an advanced law, that whether he be a Muslim or a Hindu or a Sikh, we are governed so far as succession to property is concerned, by one common law, and that is the customary law. But here you are bringing forward this Hindu Code and so I confront you with the statement that we have got one common, uniform law which cuts across all communities and all narrow communalism in the Punjab. But by this measure you are trying to introduce for the first time communalism in the Punjab. ( Interruption ) . Yes. The customs are