PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 825
I write this because I heard that in the last Party meeting you are reported to have said that the Bill may be taken up in the first week of September. I am sure that that was merely your suggestion. It was not your decision.
With kind regards.
Yours sincerly,
Sd/- B. R Ambedkar.
I wrote to him the same day :
10th August 1951.
My dear Ambedkar,
I wrote to you yesterday about the Hindu Code Bill. Today I got your letter of the 10th.
I am sorry that your health is causing anxiety. I suggest that you take things a little easy.
About the Hindu Code Bill, you know that we have a good deal of opposition not only inside the House but outside. With the best will in the world, we cannot brush aside this opposition and get things done quickly. They have it in their power to delay a great deal. We must therefore proceed with some tact and with a view to achieve results. I am anxious that the Bill should be passed in this Session.
The Cabinet decision was, and I think it was recorded in the minutes, that the Bill should be taken up at the beginning of September. I mentioned that at the Party Meeting and they agreed. For us to try to hasten it and bring it earlier would needlessly give a handle to our opponents and create trouble. Also it would be far more advantageous to have it early in September, after we have finished with some of the important Bills—the ordinances, the Part C States Bill, the Industry Bill. If we try to have the Hindu Code Bill before any of these, again that will create a furore and give a handle to others. I think that, taking everything into consideration, it is far better to stick to the dates we have announced and then go ahead with it. We shall be able to do so then with greater vigour and somewhat less opposition. Parliament is going to sit till at least the 1st week of October. So there is plenty of time.
Yours sincerly,
Sd/-Jawaharlal Nehru.