01-20-2006, 01:50 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->SHRI H.V. KAMATH (C.P. & BERAR: GENERAL)
...The other day Shrimati Vijayalakshmi while addressing the United Nations General Assembly in Paris observed with pride that we in India have borrowed from France their slogan of liberty, equality and fraternity; we have taken this from England and that from America, but she did not say what we had borrowed from our own past, from our political and historic past, from our long and chequered history of which we are so proud.
On one thing I join issue with Dr Ambedkar. He was pleased to refer to the villagesâI am quoting from a press report in the absence of the official copyâas âsinks of localism and dens of ignorance, narrow mindedness and communalismâ; and he also laid at the door of a certain Metcalfe our âpathetic faithâ in village communities. I may say that is not owing to Metcalfe but owing to a far greater man who has liberated us in recent times, our Master and the Father of our nation, that this love of ours for the villages has grown, our faith in the village republics and our rural communities has grown and we have cherished it with all our heart. It is due to Mahatma Gandhi...that we have come to love our village folk. With all deference to Dr Ambedkar, I differ from him in this regard. His attitude yesterday was typi¬cal of the urban highbrow; and if that is going to be our atti¬tude towards the village folk, I can only say, âGod save us.â If we do not cultivate sympathy and love and affection for our village and rural folk I do not see how we can uplift our coun¬try. Mahatma Gandhi taught us in almost the last mantra that he gave in the best days of his life to strive for panchayat raj. If Dr Ambedkar cannot see his way to accept this, I do not see what remedy or panacea he has got for uplifting our villages. In my own province of C.P. and Berar we have recently launched upon a scheme of Janapadas, of local self-government and decentralisa¬tion; and that is entirely in consonance with the teachings of our Master. I hope that scheme will come to fruition and be an example to the rest of the country. It was with considerable pain that I heard Dr Ambedkar refer to our villages in that fashion, with dislike, if not with contempt. Perhaps the fault lies with the composition of the Drafting Committee, among the members of which no one, with the sole exception of Sriyut Munshi, has taken any active part in the struggle for the countryâs freedom. None of them is therefore capable of entering into the spirit of our struggle, the spirit that animated us; they cannot comprehend with their heartsâI am not talking of the head it is compara¬tively easy to understand with the headâthe turmoiled birth of our nation after years of travail and tribulation. That is why the tone of Dr Ambedkarâs speech yesterday with regard to our poorest, the lowliest and the lost was what it was. I am sorry he relied on Metcalfe only. Other historians and research scholars have also given us precious information in this regard. I do not know if he has read a book called âIndian Polityâ by Dr Jayaswal; I do not know if he has read another book by a greater man, âThe Spirit and Form of Indian Polityâ by Sri Aurobindo. From these books we learn, how our polity in ancient times was securely built on village communities which were autonomous and self-contained; and that is why our civilisation has survived through all these ages. If we lost sight of the strength of our polity we lost sight of everything. I will read to the House a brief de¬scription of what our polity was and what its strength was:
<!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->At the height of its evolution and in the great days of Indian civilisation we find an admirable political system, efficient in the highest degree and very perfectly combining village and urban self-government with stability and order. The State carried on its workâadministrative, judicial, financial and protectiveâwithout destroying or encroaching on the rights and free activities of the people and its constituent bodies in the same department. The royal courts in capital and country were the supreme judicial authority co-ordinating the administration of justice throughout the kingdom.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
That is so far as village republics are concerned. I believe the day is not far distant when not merely India but the whole world, if it wants peace and security and prosperity and happiness, will have to decentralise and establish village republics and town republics, and on the basis of this they will have to build their State; otherwise the world is in for hard times...
Now what is a State for? The utility of a State has to be judged from its effect on the common manâs welfare. The ultimate con¬flict that has to be resolved is this: whether the individual is for the State or the State for the individual. Mahatma Gandhi tried in his life time to strike a happy balance, to reconcile this dwandwa ( ) and arrived at the conception of the Panchayat Raj. I hope that we in India will go forward and try to make the State exist for the individual rather than the individual for the State. This is what we must aim at and that is what we must bring about in our own country.
...While supporting the motion I would like to make it clear to you that I do not have at present the enthusiasm with which such a motion should be supported.
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->SHRI MAHAVIR TYAGI (U. P. GENERAL)
...Then, a word about the villages. Dr Ambedkar said that he was happy that the âDrafting Committee has not accommodated the village.â He characterised it as âa sink of localism and a den of communalismâ. It is these sinks of slavery that were facing all sorts of repression in the freedom struggle. When these sinks of slavery that were being charred, burnt and tortured in Chimoor, the pyramids of freedom were applying grease on the back of the Britishers. Unless I raise my voice against the remarks which Dr Ambedkar has made against villages, I cannot face my village people. Dr Ambedkar does not know what amount of sacrifice the villagers have undergone in the struggle for freedom. I submit that villagers should be given their due share in the governance of the country. If they are not given their due share, I submit that they are bound to react to this...
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
...The other day Shrimati Vijayalakshmi while addressing the United Nations General Assembly in Paris observed with pride that we in India have borrowed from France their slogan of liberty, equality and fraternity; we have taken this from England and that from America, but she did not say what we had borrowed from our own past, from our political and historic past, from our long and chequered history of which we are so proud.
On one thing I join issue with Dr Ambedkar. He was pleased to refer to the villagesâI am quoting from a press report in the absence of the official copyâas âsinks of localism and dens of ignorance, narrow mindedness and communalismâ; and he also laid at the door of a certain Metcalfe our âpathetic faithâ in village communities. I may say that is not owing to Metcalfe but owing to a far greater man who has liberated us in recent times, our Master and the Father of our nation, that this love of ours for the villages has grown, our faith in the village republics and our rural communities has grown and we have cherished it with all our heart. It is due to Mahatma Gandhi...that we have come to love our village folk. With all deference to Dr Ambedkar, I differ from him in this regard. His attitude yesterday was typi¬cal of the urban highbrow; and if that is going to be our atti¬tude towards the village folk, I can only say, âGod save us.â If we do not cultivate sympathy and love and affection for our village and rural folk I do not see how we can uplift our coun¬try. Mahatma Gandhi taught us in almost the last mantra that he gave in the best days of his life to strive for panchayat raj. If Dr Ambedkar cannot see his way to accept this, I do not see what remedy or panacea he has got for uplifting our villages. In my own province of C.P. and Berar we have recently launched upon a scheme of Janapadas, of local self-government and decentralisa¬tion; and that is entirely in consonance with the teachings of our Master. I hope that scheme will come to fruition and be an example to the rest of the country. It was with considerable pain that I heard Dr Ambedkar refer to our villages in that fashion, with dislike, if not with contempt. Perhaps the fault lies with the composition of the Drafting Committee, among the members of which no one, with the sole exception of Sriyut Munshi, has taken any active part in the struggle for the countryâs freedom. None of them is therefore capable of entering into the spirit of our struggle, the spirit that animated us; they cannot comprehend with their heartsâI am not talking of the head it is compara¬tively easy to understand with the headâthe turmoiled birth of our nation after years of travail and tribulation. That is why the tone of Dr Ambedkarâs speech yesterday with regard to our poorest, the lowliest and the lost was what it was. I am sorry he relied on Metcalfe only. Other historians and research scholars have also given us precious information in this regard. I do not know if he has read a book called âIndian Polityâ by Dr Jayaswal; I do not know if he has read another book by a greater man, âThe Spirit and Form of Indian Polityâ by Sri Aurobindo. From these books we learn, how our polity in ancient times was securely built on village communities which were autonomous and self-contained; and that is why our civilisation has survived through all these ages. If we lost sight of the strength of our polity we lost sight of everything. I will read to the House a brief de¬scription of what our polity was and what its strength was:
<!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->At the height of its evolution and in the great days of Indian civilisation we find an admirable political system, efficient in the highest degree and very perfectly combining village and urban self-government with stability and order. The State carried on its workâadministrative, judicial, financial and protectiveâwithout destroying or encroaching on the rights and free activities of the people and its constituent bodies in the same department. The royal courts in capital and country were the supreme judicial authority co-ordinating the administration of justice throughout the kingdom.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
That is so far as village republics are concerned. I believe the day is not far distant when not merely India but the whole world, if it wants peace and security and prosperity and happiness, will have to decentralise and establish village republics and town republics, and on the basis of this they will have to build their State; otherwise the world is in for hard times...
Now what is a State for? The utility of a State has to be judged from its effect on the common manâs welfare. The ultimate con¬flict that has to be resolved is this: whether the individual is for the State or the State for the individual. Mahatma Gandhi tried in his life time to strike a happy balance, to reconcile this dwandwa ( ) and arrived at the conception of the Panchayat Raj. I hope that we in India will go forward and try to make the State exist for the individual rather than the individual for the State. This is what we must aim at and that is what we must bring about in our own country.
...While supporting the motion I would like to make it clear to you that I do not have at present the enthusiasm with which such a motion should be supported.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->SHRI MAHAVIR TYAGI (U. P. GENERAL)
...Then, a word about the villages. Dr Ambedkar said that he was happy that the âDrafting Committee has not accommodated the village.â He characterised it as âa sink of localism and a den of communalismâ. It is these sinks of slavery that were facing all sorts of repression in the freedom struggle. When these sinks of slavery that were being charred, burnt and tortured in Chimoor, the pyramids of freedom were applying grease on the back of the Britishers. Unless I raise my voice against the remarks which Dr Ambedkar has made against villages, I cannot face my village people. Dr Ambedkar does not know what amount of sacrifice the villagers have undergone in the struggle for freedom. I submit that villagers should be given their due share in the governance of the country. If they are not given their due share, I submit that they are bound to react to this...
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->