Petitions
All India Depressed Classes
25 June 1947.
Remarks
Basant Rai, President of the All India Depressed Classes Ad-Dharmi Mandal, Lyallpur, wrote to the Governor General on 25 June 1947 on behalf of the Scheduled Castes of Punjab. The letter was not addressed to the Constituent Assembly but appears in the Assembly’s files, likely because a copy was forwarded or filed there. It was written at the moment of Partition, as the Punjab was about to be divided into Pakistan and Hindustan.
Rai’s concern was that Partition would leave the Scheduled Castes defenceless. In a united India, the combined weight of different minorities had offered some check on majority communities. In the two new dominions, Hindus and Muslims would each hold overwhelming majorities in their respective territories and be free to legislate as they pleased. The Scheduled Castes, whose inferior position Rai attributed directly to the political, social, and economic laws of majority communities, still looked to the government to protect their interests.
The demands were brief and numbered. Weightage for Scheduled Castes in legislatures, government services, and economic distribution for as long as the community lagged behind others. A standing military force drawn from Scheduled Caste people, whose ability in military service, Rai noted, had been established in two World Wars. Free education. Free access to land for agriculture and housing.
The document is short, written in plain and direct language, without legal citations or historical argument. It reads as an urgent appeal filed at a moment of political upheaval by a community leader who saw Partition closing off what little protection his people had.
From
Basant Rai,
President,
All India Depressed Classes,
Ad-Dharmi Mandal, Harchandpura No. 2.
LYALLPUR.
TO
His Excellency,
The Governor General in India,
New Delhi.
Respected Sir,
We the representatives of the Scheduled Castes in the Punjab, and office bearers of All India Depressed Classes ad-dharmi Mandal Lyallpur submit for your favourable consideration the following on behalf of the Scheduled Caste at this time when the constitution of the country is in process and transference of Power is going to be made.
(1) That the Punjab is going to be partitioned into two “Pakistan” and “Hindustan”. Hindus of the Eastern Part will become contiguous with their own brothren in the rest of India and the Mohammedans in Pakistan area would become contiguous with their brothren of the same faith in Afghanistan, Iran etc., Both the communities will have brute majorities in their own areas and would be free to enact any law they desire for their own benefit and to the prejudice of the minorities.
(1) That the Punjab is going to be partitioned into two “Pakistan” and “Hindustan”. Hindus of the Eastern Part will become contiguous with their own brothren in the rest of India and the Mohammedans in Pakistan area would become contiguous with their bro thren of the same faith in Afghanistan, Iran etc., Both the communities will have brute majorities in their own areas and would be free to enact any law they desire for their own benefit and to the prejudice of the minorities.
(2) That the Salutory influence and effect of the combined forces of the minorities would be altogether absent in these two dominions as it was the case in one India.
(4) That the Scheduled Castes still look up to the Government to look after their interest.
(3) That the decision will work havoc against the interest of the Scheduled Caste people unless safeguards are made in the very constitution.
(5) That we suggest the following few lines for action:-
(a) That the Scheduled Castes be given weightage in the Legislatures, in the services, in the distribution of Economy goods by State and other walks of life as long as the scheduled Caste community lags behind the other communities. It is urged that the inferior position of the Scheduled Castes is owing to the Political, Social, and Economic laws of the majority communities.
(b) That constitution should provide for a standing Military Force of the Scheduled Castes people. The Military instinct and ability for Military Services has well been established during the last two Wars.
(c) The Constitution should provide free education and other facilities thereof to the depressed Classes.
(d) That the Scheduled Caste people should have free access to lands for agricultural and housing purposes.
Dated Lyallpur,
the 25th June, 1947.
Yours Obediently,
Basantrai