APPENDIX—X
AMBEDKAR URGES STATES TO JOIN INDIAN UNION
Says Hyderabad move will lead to Balkanisation
Bombay, June 17, 1947 (A.P.I.)
“The only way by which the Indian States can free themselves from Paramountcy is by bringing about a merger of sovereignty or Suzerainty. This can happen only when the Indian States join the Indian Union as Constituent units, says Dr. B. R. Ambedkar former member of the Viceroy Executive Council and leading Constitution Lawyer in a two thousand words statement opposing the declaration of dependence by certain Indian States.
Dr. Ambedkar declares, ‘The States should realise that their existence as Sovereign States will not be worth five years purchase. It is in the interests of the Princes themselves that they should join the Indian Union and become Constitutional monarchs.
To be independent and to hope to get recognition and protection from the United Nations Organisation, says Dr. Ambedkar, “is to live in one’s own paradise.” Dr. Ambedkar doubts if the United Nations Organisation will give recognition to the Indian States, ignoring the claim by India of Suzerainty over them.
But even if that happens Dr. Ambedkar affirms, the United Nations Organisation will never grant any assistance to an Indian State against external aggression or internal commotion without insisting upon the States first introducing responsible Government.
Dr. Ambedkar in conclusion says, “whatever the choice of the Indian States may be, the duty of the people of India is clear. On their behalf the Interim Government should notify His Majesty’s Government that the British Parliament has no right to pass any law abrogating Paramountcy and that any clause to that effect in the forthcoming legislation, conferring Dominion Status on India, should be treated by the people of India as repugnant to their Sovereignty and, therefore, null and void, and to declare that the Government of India will never recognise any Indian State as a Sovereign Independent States.”
In the course of the statement Dr. Ambedkar observes :