(Kale Memorial Lecture)
Address delivered on 29th
January 1939 at the Annual Function
of
the Gokhale Institute of Politics
and Economics held in the Gokhale Hall, Poona
" The
distance you have gone is less important than the direction in which you are
going today." -tolstoy
First Published: 1939 Reprinted from the first edition
______________________________________________________________
Contents
Preface
X :
Federation from different points of view
FEDERATION VERSUS
FREEDOM
A word or two as regards the origin
of this tract and the motive which has led me to publish it at this time will, I think, not be out of place.
Many
in this country must be aware that there exists in Poona
an institution which is called the GOKHALE INSTITUTE OF POLITICS
AND ECONOMICS, WORKING
under the direction of Dr. D. R. Gadgil.
The
Institute holds a function annually to celebrate what is called the Founder's
Day and invites some one to deliver an address on
some subject connected with politics or economics. This year, I was asked by
Dr. Gadgil to deliver an address. I accepted the
invitation and chose the Federal Scheme as the subject of my address. The
address covered both (1) the structure of the Federation and (2) a critique of
that structure. The address was delivered on 29th January 1939 at the Gokhale Hall in Poona. The address as prepared had
become too lengthy for the time allotted to me and although I kept the audience
for two hours when usually the time allotted for such address is one hour I had
to omit from the address the whole of the part relating to the Federal
structure and some portion from the part relating to the criticism of the structure.
This tract, however, contains the whole of the
original address prepared by me for the occasion.
So much for the origin of this
tract. Now as to the reasons for publishing it. All addresses delivered at the Gokhale Institute are published. It is in the course
of things that this also should be published. But there are other reasons besides
this, which have prevailed with me to publish it. So far as the Federation is
concerned, the generality of the Indian public
seems to be living in a
fog. Beyond the fact that there is to be a Federation and that the Federation
is a bad thing the general public has no clear conception of what is the nature
of this Federation and is, therefore, unable to form an
intelligent opinion about it. It is necessary that
the general public should have in its hand a leaflet containing an outline of
the Federal structure and a criticism of that structure in small compass
sufficient to convey a workable understanding of the Scheme. I feel this Tract
will supply this need.
I also think that the publication
of this tract will be regarded as timely. Federation
is a very live issue and it is also a very urgent one. Soon the people of British India will be called upon to decide
whether they should accept the Federal Scheme or they should not. The premier
political organization in this Country, namely, the Congress seems to be
willing to accept this Federation as it has accepted Provincial Autonomy. The negotiations that are going on with
the Muslim League and the manoeuvres that are being carried on with the Indian
States give me at any rate the impression that the Congress is prepared to
accept the Federation and that these negotiations and manoeuvres are designed
to bring about a working arrangement with other parties so that with their help the Congress may be in the
saddle at the Centre as it has been in the
Provinces. Mr. Subhas Chandra
Bose has even gone to the length of suggesting
that the right wing
of the Congress has committed itself to this Federation so far that it has already
selected its cabinet. It matters not whether all this is true or not. I hope
all this is untrue. Be that as it may, the matter is both grave and urgent, and I think all those who have anything to say on the subject
should speak it out. Indeed I feel that silence at such a time will be
criminal. That is why I have hastened to publish my address. I believe that I
have views on the subset of Federation which even
if they do not convince others will at least provoke them to think.
I feel greatly honoured by your
invitation to address you this evening You have met today to celebrate a day
which is set out as your Founder's Day. I had the privilege of personally knowing the late Rao
Bahadui R. R. Kale
the founder of your Institute. He was my colleague in the
old Bombay Legislative Council. I know how much care and study he used to
bestow upon every subject which he handled. I am
sure he deserves the gratitude of all those who care for knowledge and study
for helping to establish this Institute, whose main function as I understand is
to dig for knowledge and make it ready for those who care to use it. For, first
knowledge is power as nothing else is, and secondly, not all those who wish and
care for knowledge have the leisure and the patience to dig for it. As one who
believes in the necessity of knowledge and
appreciates the difficulties in its acquisition I am glad to be associated in
this way with him and with the Institute he has founded.
The theme I have chosen for the
subject matter of my address is the Federal Scheme embodied in the Government
of India Act, 1935. The title of the subject might give you the impression that
I am going to explain the Federal Constitution.
That would be an impossible task in itself. The Federal Scheme is a vast thing.
Its provisions are contained, first in 321 sections of the Government of India
Act, 1935, secondly in the 9 Schedules which are part of the Act, thirdly in 31
Orders-in-Council issued under a the Act and
fourthly the hundreds of Instruments of Accession to be passed by the Indian
States. Very few can claim mastery over so vast a
subject and if any did he would take years to expound it in all its details.
I have set to myself a very limited task. It is to examine the scheme in
the light of certain accepted tests and to place before you the results of this
examination so that you may be in a position to form your own judgment
regarding the merits of the scheme. It is true that I cannot altogether avoid
setting out the outlines of the scheme. In fact, I am going to give an outline
of the scheme. I realize that it is an essential preliminary without which my
criticism might remain high up in the air. But the outline I am going to draw
for my purpose will be the briefest and just enough to enable you to follow
what I shall be saying regarding the merits of the scheme.
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