The All-India Panchayat shall be a voluntary federation of the Provinces and States, with the largest measure of local autonomy for the federating units. Since India is essentially one and indivisible from the geographical and cultural standpoints, it is expected that all the Provinces and Indian States would gladly join such a Federation to promote national welfare. Every effort should also be Imade to create the necessary atmosphere for close collaboration and development of common national life.Nevertheless, no territorial unit could be compelled to jointhe All-India Federation against the declared and established will of the adults of that territory. Reference to secession has been purposely avoided, though it is implicit in voluntary accession. It may be relevant to mention here that even in Soviet Russia, the right of secession is confined only to the eleven “Union Republics”; it is not granted to the numerous other units like the ‘Autonomous Republics’. Moreover, the right of secession even in the case of Union republics is nominal because it is now well-known that activities for bringing about secession are deemed by Soviet Courts as highly treasonable and counter-revolutionary.
