47
RESIGNATION NOT DUE TO ILLNESS
Dr. Ambedkar’s statement, New Delhi, October
12,1951.
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar said here to-day that he had not resigned on grounds of illness.
In a Statement he said that in his letter of August 10 last, to the Prime Minister, he had referred to his illness but had not mentioned it as a ground for his resignation. He had mentioned it is a ground for getting higher priority for the Hindu Code. In their letter of resigntion of September 27 last, he had not mentioned illness as a ground for his resignation.
“How anybody can spell out from those two letters that I resigned because of my health, I am unable to understand. I knew that attempts were being made to give such an impression, that is why I wanted to make a statement in the House so that nobody should be under any false impression.”
The former Law Minister expressed surprise over the question about his statement in Parliament on his resignation having been raised against at 6 p. m. yesterday. After reading the press reports of what had happened in the House in his absence, he found that some confusion had been created in the minds of the members by what was said by the Prime Minister and the Deputy Speaker.
“Unfortunately,” Dr. Ambedkar said, “the Prime Minister did not inform me that he was going to raise the question in the evening at six O’ clock. If he had told me of his intention to do so, I would have certainly been present in the House to hear what he had to say, and offer my explanation there. But I received no such intimation from him and consequently was not present in the House.
“I, therefore, think it necessary to clarify the position. I have not been able to understand what exactly the Prime Minister wanted to gain by reading the correspondence between him and me. I can only guess. If the impression which the Prime Minister seems to be desirous of creating by reading the correspondence was that the ground for my resignation was my illness, it is not difficult to dispel that conclusion.”