266 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
— Extract from the speech made by Lord Linlithgow, at the Orient Club, Bombay on January 10, 1940.
(ii)
“These are two main points which have emerged. On these two points, His Majesty’s Government now desire me to make their position clear. The first is as to the position of the minorities in relation to any future Constitutional Scheme . . . . . . It goes without saying that they (H. M. Government) could not contemplate the transfer of their present responsibilities for the peace and welfare of India to any system of Government whose authority is directly denied by large and powerful elements in India’s national life. Nor could they be parties to the coercion of such elements into submission to such a Government.”
— Extract from the Statements by Lord Linlithgow on
8th August 1940.
(iii)
“Congress leaders . . . . . . have built up a remarkable organization, the most efficient political machine in India... if only they had succeeded. If the Congress could in fact speak, as it professes to speak, for all the main elements in India’s national life, then however advanced their demands, our problem would have been in many respect far easier than it is today. It is true that they are numerically the largest single party in British India, but their claim in virtue of that fact to speak for India is utterly denied by very important elements in India’s complex national life. These others assert their right to be regarded not as mere numerical minorities but as separate constituent factors in any future Indian policy. The foremost among these elements stands the great Muslim community. They will have nothing to do with a Constitution framed by a Constituent Assembly elected by a majority vote in geographical constituencies. They claim the right in any constitutional discussions to be regarded as an entity against the operations of a mere numerical majority. The same applies to the great body what are known as the