Extra(4).
Congress and Muslim parties'
positions on the Communal question 1927-1931
Documents included:
- Indian National Congress Resolutions, December 1927
(full text).
- Nehru Committee Proposals, December 1928-January 1929 (full
text).
- All India Muslim Conference Resolution, January 1929 (full
text).
- Jinnah's Fourteen Points, March 1929 (full text).
- The Congress Scheme for a Communal Settlement,
October 1931 (full text).
From
'Speeches and Documents on the Indian
Constitution 1921-1947', Selected by Sir Maurice Gwyer and A.
Appadorai, OUP, 1957 Vol. I.
(1)Resolutions of the Indian
National Congress on the Political, Religious and other Rights of
Minorities, 28 December 1927
PART A. (Political Rights)
This Congress resolves:
1. That in any future scheme of Constitution, so far as representation
in the various Legislatures is concerned, joint electorates in all the
Provinces and in the Central Legislature be constituted.
2. That, with a view to give full assurances to the two great
communities that their legitimate interests will be safeguarded in the
Legislatures such representation of the communities should be secured
for the present, and if desired, by the reservation of seats in joint
electorates on the basis of population in every Province and in the
Central Legislature;
Provided that reciprocal concessions in favour of Minorities may be
made by mutual agreement so as to given them representation in excess
of the proportion of the number of seats to which they would be
entitled on the population basis in any Province or Provinces, and the
proportion so agreed upon for the Provinces shall be maintained in the
representation of the two communities in the Central Legislature from
the Provinces.
In the decision of the reservation of seats for the Punjab, the
questions of representation of Sikhs as an important Minority will be
given full consideration.
3. (a) That the proposal made by the Muslim leaders that reforms should
be introduced in North-West Frontier Province and British Baluchistan
on the same footing as in other Provinces is, in the opinion of the
Congress, a fair and reasonable one and should be given effect to, care
being taken that simultaneously with other measures of administrative
reform an adequate system of judicial administration shall be
introduced in the said Provinces.
(b) (i) That with regard to the proposal that Sind should be
constituted into a separate Province, this Congress is of opinion that
the time has come for the redistribution of Provinces on linguistic
basis-a principle that has been adopted in the Constitution of the
Congress.
(ii) This Congress is also of opinion that such readjustment of
Provinces be immediately taken in hand and that any Province which
demands such reconstitution on linguistic basis be dealt with
accordingly.
(iii) This Congress is further of opinion that a beginning may be made
by constituting Andhra, Utkal, Sind and Karnatak into separate
Provinces.
4. That, in the future Constitution, liberty of conscience shall be
guaranteed and no Legislature, Central or Provincial, shall have power
to interfere to make any laws interfering with libery of conscience.
'Liberty of Conscience' means liberty of belief and worship,
freedom of
religious observances and association and freedom to carry on religious
education and propaganda with due regard to the feelings of others and
without interfering with similar rights of others.
5. That no Bill, Resolution, Motion or Amendment regarding
inter-communal matters shall be moved, discussed or passed in any
Legislature, Central or Provincial, if a three-fourths majority of the
Members of either community affected thereby in that Legislature oppose
the introduction, discussion or passing of such Bill, Resolution,
Motion or Amendment.
'Inter-communal matters' means matters agreed upon as such by a Joint
Standing Committee of both communities-of the Hindu and Moslem members
of the Legislature concerned, appointed at the commencement of every
session of the Legislature.
PART B.(Religious and other rights)
This Congress resolves that:
1. Without prejudice to the rights that the Hindus and Mussulmans
claim, the one to play music and conduct processions whereever they
please and the other to slaughter cows for sacrifice or food whereever
they please, the Mussulmans appeal to the Mussulmans to spare Hindu
feelings as much as possible in the matter of the cow and the Hindus
appeal to the Hindus to spare Mussulman feelings as much as possible in
the matter of music before mosques.
And therefore this Congress calls upon both the Hindus and the
Mussulmans not have recourse to violence or to law to prevent the
slaughter of a cow or the playing of music before a mosque.
2. This Congress further resolves that every individual or group is at
liberty to convert or reconvert another by argument or persuasion but
no individual or group shall attempt to do so, or prevent its being
done, by force, fraud or other unfair means such as the offering of
material inducement. Persons under the age of eighteen years of age
should not be converted unless it be along with their parents and
guardians. If any person under eighteen years of age is found stranded
without his parents or guardian by persons of another faith he should
be promptly handed over to persons of his own faith. There must be no
secrecy as to the person, place, time and manner about any conversion
or reconversion, nor should there be any demonstration of jubiliation
in support of any conversion or reconversion.
Whenever any complaint is made in respect of any conversion or
reconversion, that it was effected in secrecy of by force, fraud or
other unfair means, or whenever any person under eighteen years of age
is converted, the matter shall be inquired into and decided by
arbitrators who shall be appointed by the Working Committee either by
name or under general regulations.
(2) Nehru Committee Proposals
regarding communal Representation as amended and adopted by the All
Parties National Convention, 22 December 1928 to 1 January 1929.
There shall be joint mixed electorates throughout India for the House
of Representatives and the Provincial Legislatures.
There shall be no reservation of seats for the House of Representatives
except for Muslims in Provinces where they are in a minority and
nonMuslims in the North-West Frontier Province. Such reservation will
be in strict proportion to the Muslim population in every Province
where they are in a minority and in proportion to the non-Muslim
population in the North-West Frontier Province. The Muslims or
non-Muslims where reservation is allowed to them shall have the right
to contest additional seats.
In the Provinces, (a) there shall be no reservation of seats for any
community in the Punjab and Bengal; (Provided that the franchise is
based on adult suffrage;
further
that the question of communal representation will be open for
reconsideration if so desired by any community after working the
recommended system for 10 years; (b) in Provinces other than the Punjab
and Bengal there will be reservation of seats for Muslim minorities on
population basis with the right to contest additional seats; (c) for
the North-West Frontier Province there shall be similar reservation of
seats for non-Muslims with the right to contest other seats.
Reservation of seats, where allowed, shall be for a fixed period of 10
years; provided that the question will be open for reconsideration
after the expiration of that period if so desired by any community.
(3) Resolution of the All-India
Muslim Conference, 1 January 1929
Whereas, in the view of India's vast extent and its ethnological,
linguistic, administrative and geographical or territorial divisions,
the only form of government suitable to Indian conditions is a federal
system with complete autonomy and residuary powers vested in the
constituent States, the Central Government having control of only such
matters of common interest as may be specifically entrusted to it by
the Constitution;
And whereas it is essential that no Bill, resolution, motion
or
amendment regarding inter-communal matters be moved, discussed or
passed by any Legislature, Central or Provincial, if a three-fourth
majority of the members of either the Hindu or the Muslim community
affected thereby in that Legislatire oppose the introduction,
discussion or passing of such Bill, resolution, motion or amendment;
And whereas the right of Moslems to elect their
representatives on the
various Indian Legislatures through separate electorates is now the law
of land and Muslims cannot be deprived of that right without their
consent;
And whereas in the conditions existing at present in India and
so long
as those conditons continue to exist, representation in various
Legislatures and other statutory self-governing bodies of Muslims
through their own separate electorates is essential in order to bring
into existence a really representative democratic Government;
And whereas as long as Mussulmans are not satisfied that their
rights
and interests are adequately safeguarded in the Constitution, they will
in no way consent to the establishment of joint electorates, whether
with or without conditions,
And whereas, for the purposes aforesaid, it is essential that
Mussalmans should have their due share in the Central and Provincial
Cabinets;
And whereas it is essential that representation of Mussulmans
in the
various Legislatures and other statutory self-governing bodies should
be based on a plan whereby the Muslim majority in those Provinces where
Mussulmans constitute a majority of population shall in no way be
affected and in the Provinces in which Mussulmans constitute a minority
they shall have a representation in no case less than that enjoyed by
them under the existing law;
And whereas representative Muslim gatherings in all Provinces in India
have unanimously resolved that with a view to provide adequate
safeguards for the protection of Muslim interests in India as a whole,
Mussulmans should have the right of 33 per cent representation in the
Central Legislature and this Conference entirely endorses that demand;
And whereas on ethnological, linguistic, geographical and
administrative grounds the Province of Sind has no affinity whatever
with the rest of the Bombay Presidency and its unconditional
constitution into a separate Province, possessing its own separate
legislative and administrative machinery on the same lines as in other
Provinces of India is essential in the interests of its people, the
Hindu minority in Sind being given adequate and effective
representation in excess of their proportion in the population, as may
be given to Mussulmans in Provinces in which they constitute a minority
of population;
And whereas the introduction of constitutional reforms in the
North-West Frontier Province and Baluchistan along such lines as may be
adopted in other Provinces of India is essential not only in the
interests of those Provinces but also of the constitutional advance of
India as a whole, the Hindu minorities in those Provinces being given
adequate and effective representation in excess of their proportion in
population, as is given to the Muslim community in Provinces in which
it constitutes a minority of the population;
And whereas it is essential in the interests of the Indian
administration that provision should be made in the Constitution giving
Muslims their adequate share along with other Indians in all Services
of the State and on all statutory self-governing bodies, having due
regard to the requirments of efficiency;
And whereas, having regard to the political conditions obtaining in
India it is essential that the Indian Constitution should embody
safeguards for protection and promotion of Muslim education, languages,
religion, personal law and Muslim charitable institutions, and for
their due share in grants-in-aid;
And whereas, it is essential that the Constitution should
provide that
no change in the Indian Constitution shall, after its inauguration, be
made by the Central Legislature except with the concurrence of all the
States constituting the Indian Federation ;
This Conference emphatically declares that no Constitution, whomsoever
proposed or devised, will be acceptable to Indian Mussulmans unless it
conforms with the principles embodied in this resolution.
(4) Mr Jinnah's Fourteen Points, 28
March 1929
Whereas the basic idea on which the All-Parties Conference was
called in being and a Convention was summoned at Calcutta during
Christmas Week, 1928 was that a scheme of reforms should be formulated
and accepted and ratified by the foremost political organizations in
the country as a National Pact; and whereas the Report was adopted by
the Indian National Congress only constitutionally for the one year
ending 31st December 1929 and in the event of the British Parliament
not accepting it within the time limit, the Congress stands committed
to
the policy and programme of Complete Independence by resort to civil
disobedience and non-payment of taxes; and whereas the attitude taken
up by the Hindu Maha Sabha from the commencement through their
representatives at the Convention was nothing short of an ultimatum,
that if a single word in the Nehru Report in respect of the communal
settlement was changed they would immediately withdraw their support to
it; and whereas the National Liberal Federation delegates at the
Convention took up an attitude of benevolent neutrality, and
subsequently in their open sesson at Allahabad, adopted a non-committal
policy with regard to the Hindu-Muslim differences; and whereas the
non-Brahmin and Depressed Classes are entirely opposed to it; and
whereas the reasonable and moderate proposals put forward by the
delegates of the All-India Muslim League at the Convention in
modification were not accepted, the Muslim League is unable to accept
the Nehru Report.
The League after anxious and careful consideration most earnestly and
emphatically lays down that no scheme for the future constitution of
the government of India will be acceptable to Mussulmans of India until
and unless the following basic principles are given effect to and
provisions are embodied therein to safeguard their rights and interests:
(1) The form of the future Constitution should be federal with the
residuary powers vested in the Provinces.
(2) A uniform measure of autonomy shall be granted to all Provinces.
(3) All Legislatures in the country and other elected bodies shall be
constituted on the definite principle of adequate and effective
representation of Minorities in every Province without reducing the
majority in any Province to a minority or even equality.
(4) In the Central Legislature, Mussalman representation shall not be
less than one third.
(5) Representation of communal groups shall continue to be by means of
separate electorates as at present: provided it shall 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
shall not in any way affect the Muslim majority in the Punjab, Bengal
and the North-West Frontier Province.
(7) Full religious liberty, i.e. liberty of belief, worship and
observance, propaganda, association and education, shall be guaranteed
to all communities.
(8) No Bill or resolution or any part thereof shall 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 a Bill, 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 is
devises 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 Muslims an
adequate share, along with the other Indians, in all the Services of
the State and in local self-governing bodies having due regard to the
requirements of efficiency.
(12) The Constitution should embody adequate safeguards for the
protection of Muslim culture and for the protection and promotion of
Muslim education, language, religion, personal laws and Muslim
charitable institutions and for their due share in the grants-in-aid
given by the State and by local self-governing bodies.
(13) No Cabinet, either Central or Provincial, should be formed without
there being a proportion of at least one-third Muslim Ministers.
(14) No change shall be made in the Constitution by the Central
Legislature except with the concurrence of the States constituting the
Indian Federation.
The draft resolution also mentions an alternative to the above
provision in the following terms:
That, in the present circumstances, representation of Mussulmans in the
different Legislatures of the country and other elected bodies through
separate electorates is inevitable and further, the Government being
pledged over and over again not to disturb this franchise so granted to
the Muslim community since 1909 till such time as the Mussulmans chose
to abandon it, the Mussulmans will not consent to joint electorates
unless Sind is actually constituted into a separate Province and
reforms in fact are introduced in the North-West Frontier Province and
Baluchistan on the same footing as in other Provinces.
Further, it is provided that there shall be reservation of seats
according to the Muslim population in the various Provinces; but where
Mussulmans are in a majority they shall not contest more seats than
their population warrants.
The question of excess representation of Mussulmans over and above
their population in Provinces where they are in minority is to be
considered hereafter.
(5) The Congress Scheme for a
communal Settlement, 28 October 1931
However much it may have failed in the realization, the Congress has,
from its very inception, set up pure nationalism as its ideal. It has
endeavoured to break down communal barriers. The following Lahore
resolution was the culminating point in its advance towards nationalism:
'In view of the lapse of the Nehru Report it is unnecessary to declare
the policy of the Congress regarding communal questions, the Congress
believing that in an independent India communal questions can only be
solved on strictly national lines. But as the Sikhs in particular, and
the Muslims and the other Minorities in general, have expressed
dissatisfaction over the solution of communal questions proposed in the
Nehru Report, this Congress assured the Sikhs, the Muslims and other
Minorities that no solution thereof in any future Constitution
will be acceptable to the Congress that does not give full satisfaction
to the parties concerned.'
Hence, the Congress is precluded from setting forth any communal
solution of the communal problem. But at this critical juncture in the
history of the nation, it is felt that the Working Committee should
suggest for adoption by the country a solution though communal in
appearance, yet as nearly national as possible and generally acceptable
to the communities concerned. The Working Committee, therefore, after
full and free discussion, unanimously passed the following scheme:
1.(a) The article in the Constitution relating to Fundamental Rights
shall include a guarantee to the communities concerned of the
protection of their cultures, languages, scripts, education, profession
and practice of religion and religious endowments.
(b) Personal laws shall be protected by specific provisions to be
embodied in the Constitution.
(c) Protection of political and other rights of minority communities in
the various Provinces shall be the concern, and be within the
jurisdiction, of the Federal Government.
2. The franchise shall be extended to all adult men and women.
(NOTE A. The Working Committee is committed to adult franchise by the
Karachi resolution of the Congress and cannot entertain any alternative
franchise. In view, however, of misapprehensions in some quarters, the
Committee wishes to make it clear that in any event the franchise shall
be uniform and so extensive as to reflect in the electoral roll the
proportion in the population of every community.)
3. (a) Joint electorates shall form the basis of
representation in the
future Constitution of India.
(NOTE B. Whereever possible the electoral circles shall be so
determined as to enable every community, if it so desires, to secure
its proportionate share in the Legislatures.)
(b) That for Hindus in Sind, the Muslims in Assam and the
Sikhs in the
Punjab and the North-West Frontier Province and for Hindus and Muslims
in any Province where they are less than 25 per cent of the population,
seats shall be reserved in the Federal and Provincial Legislatures on
the basis of population with the right to contest additional seats.
4. Appointments shall be made by non-party Public Service Commissions
which shall prescribe the minimum qualifications, and which shall have
due regard to the efficiency of the Public Service as well as to the
principle of equal opportunity to all communities for a fair share in
the Public Services of the country.
(Note B is not part of the scheme but has been added by me as not being
inconsistent with the scheme. - M.K.G)