After the Draft Constitution was presented to this Assembly the safeguards which this Constituent Assembly had provided for the so-called minorities have been voluntarily surrendered by them. These provisions, viz., joint elections and no reservation, could have been imposed on the minorities at the very beginning but we found that after the partition of India the minorities were satisfied that our government is going to be a secular one, that there would be no differential treatment on account of religion or other causes, the minorities being fully satisfied came forward and their leaders frankly and openly proclaimed that they did not want any safeguards. This change of heart is a great achievement and we are going to have joint electorates hereafter. Of course provision has been made with respect to the scheduled castes, that for a particular number of years they would enjoy reservation of seats but after that this safeguard also would disappear. This means that the minorities feel confident that in the Indian Union they will have equal rights, equal privileges and equal opportunities as provided in the Constitution. So it is not an imposition by the majority on the minorities but it is voluntary surrender on account , of the confidence which the minorities feel.
