The existing Indian States are one of the greatest obstacles in the path of Indian freedom. They are double-edged weapons in the hands of the British Government. Schemes for All-India Constitutional Reforms are torpedoed on the ground that the Indian States are sovereign bodies with Treaty rights; they are free to join or not to join the Indian Federation. And the grant of full responsible government within the States is hampered systematically on the pretext that the Princes are responsible to the Paramount Power without whose sanction nothing of realimportance could be carried out in the States. Thus,while the Princes have been reduced to ‘glorified vassals’ of the Crown, they are always trotted out before Nationalist India as ‘big problems’ in framing the future Constitution. As a matter of fact, their treaties are not worth the paper on which they are preserved. “They are so many grants made principally or wholly for the consolidation of Paramountcy. Lawyers will no doubt be found who would argue that Treaties are solemn pledges which can be enforced by the Princes. How can a dwarf enforce rights against a giant ?”[94]
