PEOPLE CEMENTED............INDEPENDENT 39
in it. But this proposal is conditioned by the proviso that no candidate from the Depressed Classes will be allowed to stand for election unless his fitness is certified by the Governor of the Province. The reason why such a system is unacceptable is because it makes the proposed system of election so much akin to the system of nomination now prevalent that there is nothing to choose between them. And in cases in which the Governor chooses to certify only one candidate in a constituency, the system of election will in practice be nothing else than nomination pure and simple. There is no knowing how the system of certification will work and what will be the elements that will be taken into account in granting it. The Commission suggests that the Governor should certify “after consultations with the Associations of the Depressed Classes or otherwise as he thinks best.” In either cases we ought not to consent to it. If the system of consultation with Associations is adopted, it will only result in the multiplication of bogus asssociations with no other object except that of supporting their pet candidates howsoever unacceptable they might be to the generality of the people. On the other hand if the system adopted is “otherwise,” then there can be doubt that it will degenerate into the worst sort of officialdom and will leave the power of certification into the hands of the Mamlatdars and the Tahasildars. For, it is on their reports that the Governor will have to act, if he is to act some intelligent basis. You know what class of Officers these Mamlatdars or Tahasildars are, and the attitude they generally bear to the Depressed Classes and to their intelligentsia. You can therefore well imagine what sort of persons they are likely to recommend for certification.
- I cannot agree with the Commission that there is any special necessity of certification in the matter of the representation of the Depressed Classes. If the object is to rule out ineffectives from the legislature then I submit that there are many other interests whose representation in the legislatures must be made subject to the process of certification. If ineffectiveness implies want of the knowledge of English and inability to deliver speeches in it, then I know of instances in the Bombay Legislative Council where many of the Non-Brahmin members and a vast majority of the Sind Muslim members are