964 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
fishermen say that they are not Maharashtrians ? I would like any one to go and make enquiries and find out what is the opinion of the kolis who were the original inhabitants of Maharashtra. If those ladies and gentlemen who have indulged in these wild allegations want to know a little bit of its characteristics, I should like to tell them that even before the Portuguese acquired Bombay, Bombay belonged to a dowager queen called Lakshmi Bai and the Portuguese took it as a tenancy from her. It did not even belong to the Portuguese. The Portuguese never conquered it. They took it. The poor queen subsequently could do nothing. Ultimately, it was transferred to the British as a dowry to the wife of Charles II. It was so small that the dowry was not more than £10. That was because Bombay was what I shall call a place occupied by a few kolis. I have got with me the original print of the original Bombay when it transferred itself from the Portuguese to the British. Therefore, historically, geographically and logically— the logic which we have applied to other cities—I cannot see how anybody can dispute the claim of the Maharashtrians to have the city to themselves.
Of course, there is a wide difference of opinion between myself and the rest of the Maharashtrians. The rest of the Maharashtrians want Bombay as part of a United Maharashtra. Now, I am very much against this United Maharashtra. I do not understand why Maharashtrians should want a United Maharashtra and I am sure about it that in the course of future history, we are not going to war with U. P. nor are we going to war with any of the northern territories like -Rajasthan. Why do you want a United Maharashtra ? I am at one with Maharashtrians that Bombay belongs to Maharashtra. On that, I will fight tooth and nail. There can be no doubt on that point at all. And therefore I had suggested that the Government might give Bombay a separate status as a City State and call it the “Maharashtra City State” so that it will be part of Maharashtra and at the same time, it will enjoy the status of an ‘A’ class State. But since the Government, for some reason which it is very difficult for me to understand, is going to reduce the status of Bombay City to that of the Nicobar Islands, I tell them right now that I