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UNLESS THESE POINTS WERE CLEARED NO LEAD ON PARTITION ISSUE
New Delhi, April 27, 1947.
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, President of the Scheduled Castes Federation, in an interview here today, said that the Federation had not come to any conclusion on the question of the partition of Bengal and the Punjab nor had it any desire to prejudge the issue.
If the Hindus wanted partition, he said, they would have to satisfy the Scheduled Castes on the following points :—
Firstly, what protection are the Hindus prepared to offer to the Scheduled Castes under the new Constitution as against what the Muslim League would be ready to offer? Secondly, where will the boundary line be drawn? Thirdly, will there be provision for an exchange of population? And fourthly, what provisions are the Hindus prepared to make for the economic rehabilitation of the Scheduled Castes who, as a result of division, will be left within the Muslim Zone and who will have been brought over to the Hindu Zone as a result of an exchange of population?
Unless these points were cleared, Dr. Ambedkar added, it would not be possible for the Federation to give a clear lead on the issue of the partition of Bengal and the Punjab.— A. P. I.” [1]
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- : The Times of India, dated 28th April 1947.