264 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
agreed that Scheduled Castes should have at least two members in a Cabinet of 14. The reason for a change of front between 1945 and 1946 is not known.
(iii) They have not been given the right to separate representation in the Constituent Assembly. How the Cabinet Mission’s decision constitutes a departure from established policy of H.M.G.
- The decision of the Cabinet Mission has not only done a grave wrong to the Untouchables but it has registered a serious departure from the principles which have guided H.M.G. in its policy regarding Indian politics and regarding the position of the Untouchables.
(i) Before 1920, the Constitutional changes in the Government of India were made by the British Government on their own authority and in accordance with their own wishes.. It was for the first time, that in 1920 that the British Government decided to frame the Constitution of India in consultation with Indians. Accordingly, a Round Table Conference was called to which Indians were invited. Among the Indians, there were representatives of the Untouchables who were invited separately and independently of the Congress or of any other political party.
(ii) Mr. Gandhi, the Congress representative, at the Round Table Conference fought against the recognition of the Untouchables as a separate element in the national life of India and contended that they were part of the Hindus and were therefore not entitled to separate representation. The British Government over-ruled Mr. Gandhi and by their Award recognised that the Untouchables were a separate and distinct element in the national life of India and were therefore entitled to the same safeguards as the other minorities of India such as the Muslims, Indian Christians etc.
(iii) The British Government adhered to this principle in the Simla Conference which was held in June 1945. Among the Indians invited to that Conference, there was a representative of the Untouchables who again was invited separately and independently of the Congress or any other political party.