Vol. 8 · pages 281–285

256 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES This table does not show quite clearly the weightage obtained by the Muslims under the Lucknow Pact. It was worked out by the Government of India in their despatch* on the Report of Franchise Committee of which Lord Southborough was the Chairman. The following table is taken from that despatch which shows that the Muslims got a weightage under the Lucknow Pact far in excess of what Government gave them in 1909. Muslim percentage of Population Percentage of Muslim seats Proposed Percentage (2) of (1) (1) (2) (3) Bengal ... ... 52.6 40 76 Bihar and Orissa ... 10.5 25 238 Bombay ... ... 20.4 33.3 163 Central Provinces ... 4.3 15 349 Madras ... ... 6.5 15 231 Punjab ... ... 54.8 50 91 United Provinces ... 14.0 30 214 In 1927 the British Government announced the appointment of the Simon Commission to examine the working of the Indian Constitution and to suggest further reforms. Immediately the Muslims came forward with further political demands. These demands were put forth from various Muslim platforms such as the Muslim League, All-India Muslim Conference, AllParties Muslim Conference, Jamiat-ul-Ulema and the Khilafat Conference. The demands were substantially the same. It would suffice to state those that were formulated by Mr. Jinnah† on behalf of the Muslim League. * Fifth despatch on Indian Constitutional Reforms (Franchises), dated 23rd April 1919, para 21. † The demands are known as Mr. Jinnah’s 14 points. As a matter of fact they are 15 in number and were formulated at a meeting of Muslim leaders of all shades of opinion held at Delhi in March 1927 and were known as the Delhi Proposals. For Mr. Jinnah’s explanation of the origin of his 14 points, see AllIndia Register, 1929, Vol. I., p. 367.

257PAKISTAN : COMMUNAL AGGRESSION They were in the following terms :— 1. The form of the future Constitution should be federal with residuary powers vested in the provinces. 2. A uniform measure of autonomy should be granted to all provinces. 3. All legislatures in the country and other elected bodies should be reconstituted on the definite principle of adequate and effective representation of minorities in every province without reducing the majority of any province to a minority or even equality. 4. In the Central Legislature, Muslim representation should not be less than one-third. 5. The representation of communal groups should continue to be by means of separate electorates as at present, provided that it should be open to any community at any time to abandon its separate electorate in favour of joint electorates. 6. Any territorial redistribution that might at any time be necessary should not in any way affect the Muslim majority in the Punjab, Bengal and North-West Province. 7. Full religious liberty, that is, liberty of belief, worship, observances, propaganda, association and education should be guaranteed to all communities. 8. No bill or resolution, or any part thereof, should be passed in any legislature or any other elected body if three-fourths of the members of any community in that particular body oppose such bill or resolution or part thereof on the ground that it would be injurious to the interests of that community or, in the alternative, such other method as may be devised or as may be found feasible and practicable to deal with such cases. 9. Sind should be separated from the Bombay Presidency. 10. Reforms should be introduced in the North-West Frontier Province and Baluchistan on the same footing as in other provinces. 11. Provision should be made in the Constitution giving the Muslims an adequate share along with other Indians in all the Services of the State and in self-governing bodies, having due regard to the requirements of efficiency. 12. The constitution should embody adequate safeguards for the protection of Muslim religion, culture and personal law, and the promotion of Muslim education, language, religion, personal laws, Muslim charitable institutions, and for their due share in grants-in-aid given by the State and by self-governing bodies. 13. No Cabinet, either Central or Provincial, should be formed without there being a proportion of Muslim Ministers of at least one-third.

258 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES 14. No change to be made in the Constitution by the Central Legislature except with the concurrence of the States constituting the Indian Federation. 15. That in the present circumstances the representation of Musalmans in the different legislatures of the country and of the other elected bodies through separate electorates is inevitable, and, further, Government being pledged not to deprive the Musalmans of this right, it cannot be taken away without their consent, and so long as the Musalmans are not satisfied that their rights and interests are safeguarded in the manner specified above (or herein) they would in no way consent to the establishment of joint electorates with or without conditions. Note:—The question of excess representation of Musalmans over and above their population in the provinces where they are in minority to be considered hereafter. This is a consolidated statement of Muslim demands. In it there are some which are old, and some which are new. The old ones are included because the aim is to retain the advantages accruing therefrom. The new ones are added in order to remove the weaknesses in the Muslim position. The new ones are five in number: (1) Representation in proportion to population to Muslim majorities in the Punjab and Bengal, (2) One-third representation to Muslims in the cabinets both Central and Provincial, (3) Adequate representation of Muslims in the Services, (4) Separation of Sind from the Bombay Presidency and the raising of N.-W.F. P. and Baluchistan to the status of self-governing provinces, and (5) Vesting of residuary powers in the provinces instead of in the Central Government. These new demands are self-explanatory except perhaps 1, 4 and 5. The object of demands 1 and 4 was to place, in four provinces, the Muslim community in a statutory majority where it had only communal majority, as a force counteracting the six provinces in which the Hindu community happened to be in a majority. This was insisted upon as a guarantee of good treatment by both the communities of its minorities. The object of demand No. 5 was to guarantee Muslim rule in Sind, N.-W. F. P., the Punjab and Bengal. But a Muslim majority rule in these Muslim Provinces, it was feared, would not be effective if they remained under the control of the Central Government which could not but be in the hand of the Hindus. To free the

259PAKISTAN : COMMUNAL AGGRESSION Muslim Provinces from the control of the Hindu Government at the Centre was the object for which demand No. 5 was put forth. These demands were opposed by the Hindus. There may not be much in this. But what is significant is that they were also rejected by the Simon Commission. The Simon Commission, which was by no means unfriendly to the Muslims, gave some very cogent reasons for rejecting the Muslim demands. It said* :— “ This claim goes to the length of seeking to preserve the full security for representation now provided for Muslims in these six provinces and at the same time to enlarge in Bengal and the Punjab the present proportion of seats secured to the community by separate electorates to figures proportionate to their ratio of population. This would give Muhammadans a fixed and unalterable majority of the general constituency seats in both provinces. We cannot go so far. The continuance of the present scale of weightage in the six provinces could not—in the absence of a new general agreement between the communities—equitably be combined with so great a deparure from the existing allocation in Bengal and the Punjab. “It would be unfair that Muhammadans should retain the very considerable weightage they enjoy in the six provinces, and that there should at the same time be imposed, in face of Hindu and Sikh opposition, a definite Muslim majority in the Punjab and Bengal unalterable by any appeal to the electorate........” Notwithstanding the opposition of the Hindus and the Sikhs and the rejection by the Simon Commission, the British Government when called upon to act as an arbiter granted the Muslims all their demands old and new. By a Notification† in the Gazette of India 25th January 1932 the Government of India, in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (2) of section 52A of the Government of India Act, 1916, declared that the N.-W. F. Province shall be treated as a Governor’s Province.‡ By an Order in Council, issued under *Report, Vol. II, p. 71. †Notification No. F. 173/31-R in the Gazette of India Extraordinary, dated 25th January 1932. ‡The Simon Commission had rejected the claim saying : “We entirely share the view of the Bray Committee that provision ought now to be made for the constitutional advance of the N.-W. F. P. ............. But we also agree that the situation of the Province and its intimate relation with the problem of Indian defence are such that special arrangements are required. It is not possible, therefore, to apply to it automatically proposals which may be suited for provincial areas in other parts of India.” They justified it by saying: “ They inherent right of a man to smoke a cigarette must necessarily be curtailed if he lives in a powder magazine.”—Report, Vol. II. paras 120-121.

260 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES the provisions contained in sub-section (1) of section 289 of the Government of India Act of 1935, Sind was separated from Bombay as from 1st April 1936 and declared to be a Governor’s Province to be known as the province of Sind. By the Resolution issued by the Secretary of State for India and published on 7th July 1934 the Muslim share in the public services was fixed at 25 per cent. of all appointments Imperial and Provincial. With regard to residuary powers, it is true that the Muslim demand that they should be vested in the Provinces was not accepted. But in another sense the Muslim demand in this respect may be deemed to have been granted. The essence of the Muslim demand was that the residuary powers should not be vested in the Centre, which, put in different language, meant that they should not be in the hands of the Hindus. This is precisely what is done by section 104 of the Government of India Act, 1935, which vests the residuary powers in the Governor-General to be exercised in his discretion. The demand for 33 1/3 per cent. representation in the Cabinets, Central and Provincial, was not given effect to by a legal provision in the Act. The right of Muslims to representation in the Cabinets was however accepted by the British Government and provision for giving effect to it was made in the Instruments of Instructions issued to the Governors and Governor-General. As to the remaining demand which related to a statutory majority in the Punjab and Bengal, the demand was given effect to by the Communal Award. True, a statutory majority in the whole House has not been given to the Muslims and could not be given having regard to the necessity for providing representation to other interests. But a statutory majority as against Hindus has been given to the Muslims of the Punjab and Bengal without touching the weightages obtained by the Muslim minorities under the Lucknow Pact. These political grants to the Muslim community by the British Government lacked security and it was feared by the Muslims that pressure might be brought upon them or upon His Majesty’s Government by the Hindus to alter the terms of the grants to the prejudice of the Muslims. This fear was due to two reasons. One was the success of Mr. Gandhi in getting that part of the Award which related to the Depressed Classes revised by