Author’s Views: The author after describing the stand taken by various delegates of the Second Round Table conference concludes their hair splitting arguments were sad, ironic and tragic. ( The reader is urged to go through the book as I can not quote the text verbatim due to copyright constraints)
Comments: It would be better to follow the proceedings of the conference in toto before arriving at any conclusion/ comment on the wisdom of the people who attended the conference irrespective they belonged to Congress or Minorities or Depressed Classes (who all indulged in the so called circular hair splitting). The author while narrating events as told by Aga Khan , Begam Shaw Nawaz etc conveniently by passes the actual proceedings of the Conference. A brief on the same is given below.
The work of the RTC was done by two Committees namely, the Federal Structure Committee and the Minorities Committee. Gandhi was a member of both. He demanded control by the Federal Legislature of the Army and Foreign Affairs. He objected to the provisions suggested in regard to commercial discrimination and to the proposed financial safeguards. He wanted that, before they were taken over by a National Government, financial obligations of the Government of India would have to be scrutinized. What was the contribution/ stand of other Indian members to the Federal Structure Committee on these issues? None, as they had no clue as to what Gandhi was driving at. A scrutiny or financial audit of the Government would have put extensive financial obligations on His Majesty’s Government.
Gandhi took part in the negotiations with persistence in the proceedings of the Minorities committee. Dr. Ambedkar demanded separate electorates for Depressed Classes and he was supported by other minorities barring Sikhs. Dr.Ambedkar declared “ the Depressed classes are not anxious, they are not clamorous, they have not started any movement for claiming that there shall be immediate transfer of power from the British to the Indian people”. Muslim and Sikh speakers made it clear that they could not commit themselves to the federal scheme until the communal issue has been solved. Aga Khan presented a memorandum to the Prime Minister demanding, in addition to the maintenance of the statutory rights, special representation through communal electorates and a declaration of civil rights. Gandhi was agreeable if the Prime Minister gives his decision only in so far as it related to Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs. He would press congress to accept MacDonald’s award. Aga Khan, Shoukat Ali, Jinnah, Shafi and Iqbal, declared that they would not be a party to any document unless it included all minorities. (Why? Because they wanted to scuttle any decision being arrived at).
When Mcdonald during his speech on November 13, included the Depressed Classes demand for separate electorates in the Minorities pact, Gandhi was determined to oppose it. He declared that the different communities were encouraged to press, with all the vehemence at their command, their own respective views, and pointed out that this question was not the main fulcrum, but the central fact was Constitution Building. He pertinently asked whether the delegates were brought here 6000 miles from India to settle the communal question? He was very vehement that he did not want “on our register and on our census untouchables, classified as a separate class”. This was his principled stand and it was no circular hair splitting. He, very rightly felt that the Communal Question / Minority Issues are internal and not to be resolved by an outsider (ie. The British). It is surprising how the author omitted the stand taken by the representative of Depressed Classes and Gandhi’s stand during the Conference.
It is also worth the while to recapitulate what Gandhi spoke during the Plenary Session on November 28 (almost at midnight.) “ I do not think anything I can say this evening can possibly influence the decision of the cabinet. Probably the decision has already been taken. Matters of liberty of practically a whole continent can hardly be decided by mere argumentation.” He reemphasized that the communal problem might be solved if the wedge of the foreign rule was withdrawn, driving the point that it would be better to solve the problem in-house rather asking a third party to mediate.
The wedge of the foreign rule was the root cause of the communal problem, which Gandhi correctly diagnosed where as all others were asking the perpetrators of the problem to solve the same! Yes this is what is ironic.
The outcome of the Second Round Table Conference may be sad and tragic but definitely not ironical.
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