260 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
II
India Office, 9th September 1946
Secretary of State’s Minute : Serial No. 51/46
Prime Minister,
Your personal minute No. M. 296/46 of September 4th, @ regarding the representation of the Scheduled Castes on the Advisory Committee of the Constituent Assembly.
- It certainly was the Mission’s intention that the Advisory Committee should contain representation of the Scheduled Castes and I informed Dr. Ambedkar of this by a letter # I wrote to him in India. In the third paragraph of your reply to him of 1st August you explained to Dr. Ambedkar that, while H.M.G. themselves consider the Scheduled Castes an important minority which should be represented on the Minority Advisory Committee, they could not accede to his request for a public declaration to this effect, since any such declaration :
(a) would also have to specify all the other elements which H.M.G consider should be included as minorities in the Advisory Committee; and
(b) would be liable to be interpreted as an attempt to interfere with the Constituent Assembly’s freedom of action.
- The position, however, is that we have left the composition of the Advisory Committee to be decided by the Constituent Assembly and we cannot now prescribe it ourselves. I do not think we can be accused of misleading the House as the position was clearly stated in the President of the Board of Trade’s speech on 18th July of which the relevant passage was attached to my Minute to you of 3rd September. [‡]
Transfer of Power, Vol. VIII, No. 288, Pp. 466-68. @No. 253. (Refers to S. No. in The Transfer of Power.—Ed. #No.399. Vol. VII (See P. 502.-Ed.). ‡ No.250. (See p. 515.— Ed.).