966 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
Now, I have said that I did not agree with the majority of the Maharashtrians, if I may say so, that there should be a united Maharashtra. My contention is that there should not be. I am going to say the same thing about U. P., about Rajasthan and about these huge Hindi reptile provinces, which have been looming large before us. I shudder to see U. P. standing before me in that shape.
Shri H. P. Saksena (Uttar Pradesh) : God save your soul.
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar: Do not pray for my soul. I have no soul. I am a Buddhist. Nobody need take the trouble of praying for my soul. I do not believe in God. I have no soul. I have spared you that trouble.
Now, I am surprised, I must say, that the Commission should have retained U.P. as it is, should have retained Rajasthan as it is, and should have linked up the two provinces of Vindhya Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh into one.
Shri K. S. Hedge (Madras) : Madhya Bharat.
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar: What does this mean ? I have made a little calculation. The area of U.P. is 1,14,323 sq. miles. Its population is 6,32,54,118. Bihar : The area is 70,368 sq. miles; its population is 4,02,18,916. Madhya Pradesh: Area is
2,01,633 sq. miles; its population is 3,28,46,971.1 know I have to deduct something here for Vidarbha. Rajasthan : Area is
1,28,424 sq. miles; population is 1,52,97,979. The total area is 10 crore sq. miles and population is about 15 crores.
Shri T. Pande (Uttar Pradesh) : Ten lakh sq. miles.
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar: That does not matter very much to my argument.
The question that requires to be dealt with in my judgement is a very serious question. Are we to have one State for one language, or are we to have one language for one State ? If this question had no political consequences, nobody would bother about it, but the trouble is that this question has very serious political consequences. In the United States, the population of the various States differs. In some States it is small, and in some States it is big. But the Americans do not mind it on account of the fact that the States have