Target Exam

CUET

Subject

History

Chapter

Modern India: Framing the Constitution

Question:

Read the passage given below to answer.

"I believe separate electorates will be suicidal to the minorities"

During the debate on 27 August 1947, Govind Ballabh Pant said:
I believe separate electorates will be suicidal to the minorities and will do them tremendous harm. If they are isolated for ever, they can never convert themselves into a majority and the feeling of frustration will cripple them even from the very beginning. What is it that you desire and what is our ultimate objective? Do the minorities always want to remain as minorities or do they ever expect to form an integral parts of a great nation and as such to guide and control its destinies? If they do, can they ever achieve that aspiration and that ideal if they are isolated from the rest of the community? I think it would be extremely dangerous for them if they were segregated from the rest of the community and kept aloof in an air-tight compartment where they would have to rely on others even for the air they breath. The minorities if they are returned by separate electorates can never have any effective voice.

CAD, Vol.II

Which minister from Madras made a powerful plea for continuing separate electorates?

Options:

R.V. Dhulekar

B. Pocker Bahadur

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

Govind Ballabh Pant

Correct Answer:

B. Pocker Bahadur

Explanation:

The correct answer is Option (2) → B. Pocker Bahadur

On 27 August 1947, B. Pocker Bahadur from Madras made a powerful plea for continuing separate electorates. Minorities exist in all lands, argued Bahadur; they could not be wished away, they could not be “erased out of existence”. The need was to create a political framework in which minorities could live in harmony with others, and the differences between communities could be minimised. This was possible only if minorites were well represented within the political system, their voices heard.