Sir, I submit that the whole of the Government of India Act of 1935 is based upon a foolish theory of the dominion-hood of India. Every word of that Act is based upon that theory, and if we have to carry out our determination and achieve the objects set out in Objectives Resolution, I think there is no occasion, and it will be simply a waste of time and energy–to discuss this wretched thing, the Government of India Act, 1935. Where is the use of it ? Of course, if we have got some secret understanding that you have resolved that in spite of you declaring yourselves a Republic, you will remain within the British Commonwealth, and if you are going to coin some new phrase as I said sometime ago, if you say that you will be a republic dominion, as Holland is, proposing to do with Indonesia, and if that Republic will remain in the arms of the Commonwealth, we be making fools of ourselves. If we accept this Bill, we may become a Republic, but ours will be a republic dominion. We will still be staying within the ‘British Commonwealth’. Sir, even if the word ‘British’ is dropped from the ‘British Commonwealth’, the position will be no better, because, if we remain in the Commonwealth it will mean that we will now have to co-operate with Holland and Belgium and with the rest of the Western Bloc which has been formed with the express purpose Soviet Russia. If a war breaks out in future between the Anglo-American Bloc and the other side, we will have to co-operate with the Western Bloc. It will man that we say good-bye to our determination to remain neutral in any future world war. It will mean that we give up everything for which we any future world war. It will mean that we give up everything for which we have stood for. If we say at this stage that we are going to leave the British Commonwealth and if we say that we will become a republic, there will remain no link of the British Crown. If there is no link of the British Crown, then what will be the basis of our remaining within the British Commonwealth ? People say it will be on the basis of common citizenship and the first citizen will be the British King. Sir, to this I say that when we see the attitude of South Africa, New Zealand and Canada, it is absolutely futile to accept any common citizenship. Therefore I say that we will have nothing to do with any citizenship common citizenship or first citizenship. We will have no longer anything to do with this tom-foolery. Therefore if we are determined to establish are public in India, by all means attempt to introduce it and reject the 1935 Act and everything connected with the dominion hood of India. Everything else is futile and absolutely irregular. I say it is immoral to do any other thing at this stage.
