Question

“The British element is gone, but they have left the mischief behind”

Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel said: It is no use saying that we ask for separate electorates, because it is good for us. We have heard it long enough. We have heard it for years, and as a result of this agitation we are now a separate nation … Can you show me one free country where there are separate electorates? If so, I shall be prepared to accept it. But in this unfortunate country if this separate electorate is going to be persisted in, even after the division of the country, woe betide the country; it is not worth living in. Therefore, I say, it is not for my good alone, it is for your own good that I say it, forget the past. One day, we may be united … The British element is gone, but they have left the mischief behind. We do not want to perpetuate that mischief. (Hear, hear). When the British introduced this element they had not expected that they will have to go so soon. They wanted it for their easy administration. That is all right. But they have left the legacy behind. Are we to get out of it or not? CAD, VOL.V

 

“I believe separate electorates will be suicidal to the minorities”

During the debate on 27 August 1947, Govind Ballabh Pant said: I believe separate electorates will be suicidal to the minorities and will do them tremendous harm. If they are isolated forever, they can never convert themselves into a majority and the feeling of frustration will cripple them even from the very beginning. What is it that you desire and what is our ultimate objective? Do the minorities always want to remain as minorities or do they ever expect to form an integral part of a great nation and as such to guide and control its destinies? If they do, can they ever achieve that aspiration and that ideal if they are isolated from the rest of the community? I think it would be extremely dangerous for them if they were segregated from the rest of the community and kept aloof in an air-tight compartment where they would have to rely on others even for the air they breathe… The minorities, if they are returned by separate electorates, can never have any effective voice. CAD, VOL.II

Read both the Sources. What are the different arguments being put forward against separate electorates?

Answer 1

1. One argument was that separate electorates would divide people along religious and community lines.
2. They could make minorities remain separate from the majority instead of becoming part of a united nation.
3. Govind Ballabh Pant argued that separate electorates could permanently isolate minorities.
4. He believed that such isolation would create frustration and weaken the minorities politically.
5. Another argument was that representatives elected only by their own community might not have an effective voice in the wider political system.
6. Separate electorates could also continue the divisions encouraged by the British policy of separate political representation.
7. The opponents therefore preferred a system in which all communities participated in common electorates and shared political institutions.

Overall, they believed that separate electorates would harm national unity and integration rather than protect minorities.