ROLE OF ......................... INDIAN DEMOCRACY 147
As to his contention that in the Communal Award, the Depressed Classes have been separated from the caste Hindus, it is a view to which I cannot subscribe. If Mr. Rajah has any conscientious objection to Separate Electorates, there is no compulsion on him to stand as a candidate in the Separate Electorates. The opportunity to stand as a candidate in the General Electorate as well as the right to vote in it are there, and Mr. Rajah is free to avail himself of the same. Mr. Rajah is crying at the top of his voice to assure to the Depressed Classes that there is a complete change of heart on the part of the Caste Hindus towards the Depressed Classes. He will have the opportunity to prove that fact to the satisfaction of the Depressed Classes, who are not prepared to take his word by getting himself elected in the General Constituency. The Hindus who profess love and sympathy for the Depressed Classes, will have also an opportunity to prove their bona-fides by electing Mr. Rajah to the legislature.
The Communal Award, therefore, in my opinion satisfied both those who want Separate Electorates and those who want Joint Electorates. In this sense it is already a compromise and should be accepted as it is. As to the Mahatma, I do not know what he wants. It is assumed that although the Mahatma is opposed to the system of Separate Electorates he is not opposed to the system of Joint Electorates and Reserved Seats. That is a gross error. Whatever his views are to-day, while in London he was totally opposed to any system of Special Representation for Depressed Classes whether by Joint Electorates or by Separate Electorates. Beyond the right to vote in a General Electorate based upon Adult Suffrage, he was not prepared to concede anything to the Depressed Classes by way of securing their representation in the legislatures. This was the position he had taken at first. Towards the end of the R. T. C. he suggested to me a scheme which he said he was prepared to consider. The scheme was purely conventional without any constitutional sanction behind it and without any single seat being reserved for the Depressed Classes in the Electoral Law.