The Reminiscences of Zafrulla Khan — Page 93
93 REMINISCENCES OF SIR MUHAMMAD ZAFRULLA KHAN I told them to schedule the cleaning out of these toilet rooms, for instance, the toilet rooms of the first three coaches next to the locomotive to be cleaned out at the first stop, the next three at the next stop and so on. In this way the whole train would be cleaned out two or three times during the latter part of the night, which was the time about which we were getting the complaints. They said that was quite feasible, and wondered why it had not been done. It was a very small matter but it illustrates the prevailing bureaucratic attitude. Occasionally the lighter side of things came out during a question hour which I always enjoyed. The day I was under fire, as it were, the greater part of the question hour in the Assembly was taken up with railway questions and commerce questions, and I was on drill all the time, standing up, sitting down and standing up again. Mr. Satyamurthi, who was the Deputy Leader of the Congress Party and was a very diligent worker - I might say a good friend, in spite of the fact that we were on opposite sides of the House - was particularly active during question hour and I appreciated the serious manner in which he carried out his duties. When we were in committee, I got full co-operation from him. His supplementary questions used to come like pistol shots. Before I had sat down after answering a question, I had to be up again on my legs answering his supplementaries. But some members put their questions merely to give expression to their sense of humour or to pull one's leg. One prominent Congress member who had a bent in that direction was Sri Prakash - he was subsequently the first Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan after Partition and later became Governor of Madras - a nice man, personally quite friendly towards me. His father, Dr. Bhagwan Das, was a very revered member also. During my time, that was the only instance of a father and son being members of the Assembly at the same time. On one occasion Sri Prakash put down a question: "Does government wish to encourage the use of bad English on the railways? If not, why is it that on many railway platforms a notice is stuck up: 'Do Not Spit. It Spreads Disease. '?" Mr. Frank d'Souza, who was my Director of Traffic, and used to bring up these questions to me, asked what draft answer should be put up. I told him no draft answer was needed. I would deal with the matter from the floor of the House.