378 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
There is one other things which you must also remember and it is this. In an autocracy where the laws are made by the wishes of a dictator or by an absolute monarch the art of speaking is unnecessary. No autocrat, no absolute monarch need pay any attention to eloquence because his will is law. But in a parliament where laws are made, no doubt by the wishes of the people, the man who succeeds in winning our opposition is the man who possesses the art to persuade his opponent. You cannot win over a majority in this House by giving a black eye to your opponent. A minority is not going to curb a majority by bringing goondas, nor is the majority going to record and obtain a victory by laying low the members of the minority. You will have to carry a proposition only by the art of speaking, by persuading his opponent, by winning him over his side by argument, either gentle or strong, but always logically and instructively. Therefore, a supreme qualification for success in a parliamentary institution is the capacity to possess the House. Therefore, you should go to Parliament fully prepared to make a serious contribution to a serious subject and I also want to add that you should learn, very seriously the art of public speaking. It is not a very difficult art as I can tell you from my own experience. I am not a very great speaker and I do not know if anybody who would care to write the history of people in India who have played their part in Indian politics would find any justification to put me among the best speakers in India. I do not cover that honour. At one time, I was so much overwhelmed by my shyness which made me so nervous that I was on the point of giving up a job of a Professor in the Sydenham College for nothing else except for the fear that boys will probably run me down. But I can assure those of you who have similar fear to cast it away and to make an effort to acquire the command over language which is not a very difficult task at all.
Then, there must be absolute unconditional obedience to the ruling of the Speaker. You must never question the ruling of the Speaker. If there is a difficult point of order on which there is no precedent, on which, he cannot off hand, give his ruling, he will call on different sides of the House to express their point of view as to what is the correct interpretation of a certain ruling. But