DR. AMBEDKAR AND THE HINDU CODE BILL 871
Panditji made a reference to the proviso to sub-clause (2) of Clause 2 which reads :
“Provided that if it is proved that such person would not have been governed by the Hindu law or by any custom or usage as part of that law in respect of any of the matters dealt with herein if this Code had not been passed, then, this Code shall not apply to that person in respect of those matters.”.
What I understood him to say was that perhaps this might save the custom and usage prevalent in the Punjab. But I differ from him, because sub-clause (2) reads:
“ This Code also applies to any other person, who is not a Muslim, Christian, Parsi or Jew by religion;”
and read with this sub-clause, the proviso does not refer to the custom or usage of the Hindus or Sikhs. Therefore, in my humble opinion this would not save the custom or usage and I, therefore, do not entertain his hope.
Pandit Thakur Das Bhargava: I never said that this proviso would save our customs or usage. What I meant was that if it is proved that we are not governed by the Hindu Law—the words are, “ provided that if it is proved that such person would not have been governed by the Hindu Law”—Punjabis would not be covered by this proviso. But our customs and usage will not be saved. It applies to all the Hindus. What I meant was that, as a matter of fact, our customs and usage should be saved by another provision which should say that we are allowed to be governed by our own customs, etc. But this proviso will introduce a certain amount of uncertainty.
Sardar Hukam Singh : Sub-clause (1) of Clause 2 definitely lays down that the Code will apply to Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs and also converts to Hinduism.
Therefore, so far as I am concerned, there is no ambiguity at all. Be that as it may Panditji no doubt agrees with me to this extent that our custom and usage would not be saved at any rate.
Sir, if a uniform Code had been attempted for all the citizens of India, then perhaps I would not have stood up and raised this objection, even if I had been called upon as a Punjabee to make some sacrifices. I would have made sacrifices in the hope that if we can grow up as a united nation, as one people, certainly some sections will have to make some sacrifices. But that is not the object here. No attempt is being made to weld all people into one nation by this Code. There