Sir, it has given me very great pleasure, and I know that this pleasure would be shared by every section of the House, that representatives of the minorities, and the representatives of the Muslims also, have given proof as never before of a sane, sound, balanced, patriotic outlook. It augurs well for the future. I am sorry, Sir, that perhaps, the only exceptions are a few friends from the South. Old traditions take a long time to die out. For nearly forty years, the Muslims were used to the props and crutches provided to them by the British. We came to love these prop and crutches. Many a patient who has lost the use of his legs and is given crutches will stick to them and would like to lean on them even when some good surgeon has given him back the use of his legs. These generally wish to cling to their crutches. Crutches is not the right word; I should say, stilts because, stilts not only support you, but also give you artificial height. If we throw away these stilts, not only do we need to trust to the strength of our legs but also we are reduced in height. We were given some artificial importance in this country. It was an importance which was nothing more than an illusion. We wish to cling to that illusion, to the mere emptiness of it. I hope that in course of time, not in the distant future but in the very near future, even those friends will come to realise that their truest friend and not their ill wisher was a man like the Honourable Sardar Patel, and other leaders who are shaping the destinies of this country.
