Now I come to the position of the Indian States in the Constitution. The Indian States are placed under the control of the Centre under article 371 for a period of ten years. Article 371 read with article 365 makes Indian States almost complete vassals. For a moment I am constrained to think of the long struggle for freedom in which the peoples of the Indian States took no little part. There are people in the States who have given up even their lives in the freedom struggle. There are many of us who have made smaller sacrifices also. What is the final out-come of all these struggles? In the place of the foreign imperialism, we are now having an Indian Imperialism. It is true that Sardar Patel, as if by the wielding of a magic wand, has obliterated even the last vestiges of a certain sort of autocracy in the States. But Sir, now we find that we are placed under the guardianship of the Centre and we are considered almost as minors. I ask, where is the autonomy of which we spoke so much in 1937? Where is the autonomy for which we wanted assurances from Governors in 1937 when the Congress was about to accept office?
