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

252 THE INDIAN STRUGGLE
opposed the idea of having two Supreme Courts, one to deal
merely with Federal Law and the other to deal with all the
other matters not covered by the Federal Administration or
the Federal Government. On November 17th, 1931, the
Mahatma spoke on the Congress demand for complete control
over the army and over external affairs. He said, that the
present army, whether Indian or British, was an army of
occupation. 'I would say emphatically that the whole of this
army should be disbanded if it does not pass under my control
before I could possibly shoulder the burden of running the
Government of India under the terrible handicaps under
which we are labouring as a legacy of alien rule. . . . If the
British people think that we shall require a century before
that can be done, then for that century the Congress will
wander in the wilderness and the Congress must go through
that terrible fiery ordeal . . . and if it becomes necessary and
if it is God's will—a shower of bullets.'
On November 19th, 1931, before the Federal Structure
Committee, the Mahatma opposed the resolution on com-
mercial safeguards for Britishers passed by the first Round
Table Conference as being detrimental to the interests of the
Indian people. He agreed that there should be no racial
discrimination against foreigners as such. He also agreed
that 'no existing interest legitimately acquired and not being
in conflict with the best interests of the nation in general,
shall be interfered with except in accordance with the law
applicable to such interests.' But he made it clear that the
National Government of the future might find it necessary
to dispossess the 'haves' in the interests of the 'have-nots,'
i.e., the famished millions of India. Existing interests should
be subjected to judicial scrutiny when necessary—but no
racial question would be involved therein. He further
opposed the existing rights¹ of the European community in
India in regard to criminal trials. In his next speech at the
Round Table Conference on November 25th, he maintained
that the obligations to be taken over by the future National
Government of India should be subject to audit and impartial.
¹ For instance the right to have a European judge or a European jury
in the trial.