THE MINORITY................TO 375
though it was far from reality, and thus they took the political decision at our cost. This loss to the Scheduled Castes was due to the shameless attitude taken by the Rashtriya Harijans. In the Minority Sub-Committee I stressed our demand for Separate Electorate by suggesting a solution that a successful candidate should at last secure 35% of the votes of the community he represented but there, the hasty action of the Muslim group in leaving the hall at the time of voting made my proposal to secure equal votes for and against, i. e. 7 v/s 7. I tried myself in the Advisory Committee and a strange thing is that Mr. Manuswami Pillay, Speaker from the Madras Assembly, supported my amendment. Mr. Vallabhbhai Patel also did not vote against it. But in the General Constituent Assembly, Mr. Pillay, one of my supporters, was one of the signatories to oppose this proposal. I was struck with wonder to all this. This is the second crooked role played by the Rashtriya Harijans to the permanent annoyance and common interest of the Scheduled Castes at large. It is for these reasons that I have not any clear line of action for the present.
Now, I must tell you one thing that the Separate Electorates alone are not only ends and means of the Scheduled Castes Federation. Separate Electorates with our means are good but in themselves, they are bad. You have got the Separate Electorates but no political safeguards. I don’t know what will be their lot. I could succeed in getting you some political safeguards in Legislative Assemblies and services. It is because of my efforts that the rest of the minorities like Sikhs, Indian Christians and Muslims have some safeguards. Because it was only myself, who was so very insistent on this demand, the Constituent Assembly had no courage to displease me at this stage. I am glad to say that I could serve the minorities in the real sense of the term.
It is likely that you should have been disappointed and I am also not so much happy about it. Even then we have got to play our role in the future. I would like to tell you about the history of the British Labour Party. That party during the last 24 years has developed so much that today it has its rule.