838 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
Code will apply to other persons who are not Muslims, Christians, Parsis or Jews. I think the most straightforward and logical way of putting this definition would have been to say that all persons who are not Muslims, Christians, Parsis or Jews are Hindus. It comes to that. Therefore, I submit, at that time, there might have been some hesitation in the mind of the draftsmen and this idea was introduced at a later stage. Otherwise there was nothing to prevent them from saying what they actually meant.
But there is a snag in this clause 2, sub-clause (2). Does it necessarily follow that a man who is not a Muslim, Christian, Parsi or Jew is a Hindu ? He may be a communist, as is suggested by a friend here. Or he may belong to the religion of Shintoism as professed in Japan. Or he may have no religion at all. How can it be accepted as an inexorable principle that a man must be a Christian, Parsi, Muslim, Jew or a Hindu ? There may be a person who belongs to no religion, or there may be a person whose religion is apart from any of these great religions.
Shri Tyagi : Hinduism is a cocktail of all religions.
Shri Naziruddin Ahmad : Of course, to say that all the rest belong to the Hindu religion may sound very sweet to Hindu ears. But the question is whether we should force the so-called benefits of this Code on anybody ? Should we call anyone a Hindu and force the Code on him ? That is the point. Suppose there are some foreigners here, or their servants or subordinates or friends. We are encouraging tourist traffic and we can expect many such persons in India. And suppose one such foreigner dies while in India. Who will inherit his wealth ?
Dr. Ambedkar : You will inherit his wealth if he dies in India.
Shri Naziruddin Ahmad : The question is, are those persons who do not belong to any of those religions to be the victims upon whom the so called benefits of this Hindu Code should be forced ? The Hindu community is docile and in an absolute minority in the House, but outside there is a great deal of objection raised and that being the case, should these so-called benefits be forced on all ? Should you force the Code upon all the persons who are neither Muslims, Christians, Parsis or Jews, and because they do not belong to any