Pandit Motilal Nehru’s speech

IF the speech of Sir Malcolm Hailey showed remarkable powers of debate, the speech of Pandit Motilal Nehru on Wednesday was not only fully equal to it in this respect, but had the higher quality, which the former entirely lacked, of true statesmanship. On some of the points, it gave a conclusive reply to Sir Hailey, especially as regards the alleged discrepancy between what Indians demanded some years ago and what they are demanding now. The difference between then and now, said the Pandit, was a difference made by the aftermath of the war. It was also due to the experience of and a closer reading of the Government of India Act. That Act, said the Pandit, had now been found to have given India nothing but “autocracy garbed in parliamentary forms.” “Not a single decision of the House can be enforced against the will of the executive. The ultimate veto is there. There is, therefore, no element of real responsibility in the first and the only stage of the reforms granted by the Government of India Act.” Is there anyone who can challenge it today? The Pandit unequivocally rejected the idea of a Royal Commission. He said, “There would be official and non-official evidence, one of which would cancel the other, and nothing would come out of it.” The only way out of the present impasse, he pointed out, lay in a round-table conference, which would enable the government and the people to meet each other and come to a decision after discussing the subject in all its bearings. And how in the name of logic and common sense could the government resist the proposal?