द इण्डियन स्ट्रगल / भारतीय स्वाधीनता संग्राम (नेताजी सुभाष चन्द्र बोस - ऐतिहासिक विश्लेषण)

MAHATMA GANDHI IN EUROPE 251
number of seats would be reserved in the Legislatures for the
Depressed Classes on the basis of a Common Electorate for
all sections of the Hindus. At that time, the Mahatma would
not think of any such compromise. When Dr. Ambedkar
joined the Minorities Pact, he was assured not only of a
number of seats for the Depressed Classes, but also of a
separate electorate for them. There is no doubt that if a
settlement had then been made with Dr. Ambedkar, the terms
would have been much better than the terms of the Poona
Pact concluded in September 1932, after the historic fast of
the Mahatma.
At the meeting of the Minorities Committee held on
November 13th, 1931, the Chairman, Mr. Ramsay Macdonald,
referring to the Minorities Pact, claimed that it was acceptable
to well over 115 million people in India. He also replied
to the Mahatma's attack at the previous meeting and urged
on the contrary, that inability to solve the communal question
was hampering the progress of Constitution-building. In his
speech the Mahatma emphatically challenged both these
assertions and with reference to the first, he claimed that the
Congress represented 85 or 95 per cent. of the population
not merely of British India but of the whole of India. In
the same speech the Mahatma made one significant assertion:
'I would like to repeat what I have said before—that while
it will always accept any solution that may be acceptable to
the Hindus, Mussalmans and Sikhs, the Congress will be
no party to special reservation or special electorates for any
other minorities.'¹ The Mahatma once again urged the
appointment by the Government of a judicial tribunal to
give a final decision on the communal question.
Before the Federal Structure Committee on October 23rd,
1931, Mahatma Gandhi put forward with due emphasis the
Congress view regarding a Supreme Court for India. He
urged that this Federal Court should be a court of the widest
jurisdiction possible and not one to decide only those cases
that arise from the administration of Federal laws. He
¹ In the light of this statement the Mahatma's endorsement of the
Poona Pact in September, 1932, is inexplicable, since the Poona Pact
provided for reservation of seats for the Depressed Classes.