The Delhi Muslim Proposals

7/30/2019 The Delhi Muslim Proposals

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The Muslim League Splits into Two

Despite Jinnahs exhortation to the Muslims to represent a united front,the Muslim League split into two as already mentioned. The JinnahGroup met at Calcutta from 30 December 1927 to 1 January 1928 andthe Shafi Group convened at Lahore from 31 December1927 to 1January 1928.Both meetings claimed to be the Nineteenth Session ofthe All-India Muslim League. The basic reason for the split was thatJinnah Group stood for boycotting the Simon Commission and the ShafiGroup for cooperating with it.The Jinnah Group session was attended by some prominent non-Muslims among them Mrs. Annie Besant, Mrs. Sarojini Naidu and PanditMadan Mohan Malaviya.Mrs. Besant and Pandit Malaviya figuredamong those who addressed the meeting. One of the resolutionsenjoined that the Mussulmans throughout the country should havenothing to do with the commission at any stage or in any form. Anotherresolution confirmed the Delhi Muslim Proposals. Yet anotherresolution severely condemned Sir Muhammad Shafi and hiscolleagues for holding a session at Lahore in contravention of theConstitution of the League.On 16 February 1928 Jinnah supported a resolution proposedby Lala Lajput Rai in the Legislative Assembly expressing theAssemblys entire lack of confidence in the Simon Commission.Jinnah supported the resolution and reiterated that theprinciple for which we are fighting is that we want for theIndian representatives equal status and equal power. One can

only imagine Jinnahs distress. Not to speak of Hindu-Muslimunity, even the Muslims were divided amongst themselves.Beside the two Groups of the League there were the Jamiat-i-Ulema-i-Hind the All India Khilafat Conference and sundryprovincial groups. He sought respite from the endless stressby a trip to England and sailed on 5 May 1928 by SS Rajputana.One of his fellow-passengers on the outward voyage, DewanChamanlal, wrote an article recoding his impressions of Jinnah.Today he is unfortunately, frankly disgusted, he noted. Thefirst problem to solve and settle is the problem of Hindu-Muslim unity, Jinnah told him. He also regretted that Ghandi is

not a politician and added. I wish he had been.1

1 Creation of Pakistan: Compiled By Jamil-ud- Din Ahmad:Publishers UnitedLTD, 176, Anarkali, Lahore Jan 1986-

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Origin of the Nehru Committee

The Nehru Report was the Congress alternative to the forthcomingSimon Report. Lord Birkenhead, the Conservative Secretary of Statehad never made a secret of his poor opinion of Indian politics. Hebelieved that India would not be capable of supporting DominionStatus for centuries. In his opinion real obstacle to democraticinstitutions in India was the age long hatred between Hindus andMohammedans. All the conferences in the world cannot bridge theunbridgeable.A committee with Motilal Nehru as chairman was accordinglyappointed by the conference to consider and determine the principlesof the Constitution for India. Jawaharlal Nehru was not a member of theCommittee but as secretary of the congress had much to do with it.The Report of the Committee came to be popular called the NehruReport after the name of the chairman of the Committee.At the fourth meeting of the conference at Lucknow in August 1928,Motilal Nehru presented the Report of his Committee. The conferenceapproved the Report except that some members of the conference,among them Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Bose, took exception to thefact that the Report had settled for a Dominion Status. They pointedout that at the Madras session the Congress had declared completenational independence as its goal.On behalf of those who stood for independence, JawaharlalNehru read a statement confirming that in their opinion theConstitution of India should only be based on full

independence. They had decided, however, not to obstruct orhamper the work of this conference but proposed to carry onsuch activity as we consider proper and necessary in favor ofcomplete independence. The report came up for finalconsideration before the All Parties Convention which openedat Calcutta on 22 December 1928.2

2 Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah (His Personality and His Politics) By S.MBurke, Salim Al-Din Qurashi. Karachi, Oxford University Press-

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The Nehru Report

Towards the end of 1927 the British Government in pursuance of the

Government of India Act of 1919, appointed a statutory Commission toinquire into the working and future the Indian Constitution under thesupervision of Simon. It consisted of the members of the Parliamentand no Indian was there as a representative. In this conference, Motilal Nehru was appointed as its Chairman, Jawaharlal Nehru asSecretary. The final report was not signed by M.jakar, Mr.Joshi andShoaib Qureshi also refused to sign it.

Salient Features of Nehru Report

Dominion status was demanded instead of self rule. Declaration of Rights should be increased.

Muslims will be given one-fourth seats in the Central assembly

for ten years.

Federal parliamentary system was demanded.

They demanded joint system of election but asked to reserve

seats for minorities except Punjab and Bengal.

Reaction of Muslims

The Muslims of all shades of opinion united in opposition to the Nehrureport. The two wings into which the Muslim league had been spiltsince 1927 came closer. Nearly every shade of opinion in Muslimpolitics was represented in all Indian Muslim conference which met atDelhi on 31st December 1928 and 1st January 1929 under thechairmanship of Highness the Agha Khan (Sultan Muhammad Shah).

They demanded the following demands.

Their should be a federal system with complete autonomyand residuary powers vested in the provinces

Separate electorates were to continue Muslims should be given due share in the central and

provincial cabinets.

A due portion of seats should be given to Muslims in thepublic services and all statutory self-Government bodies.

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There must be safeguards for the protection andpromotion of Muslim education, language, religion,personal law, and Muslim charitable institutions.3

Jinnah and the Nehru Report

The Quaid who had gone to England on 5 may 1928 returned to India0n 26 October 1928. In a press statement on the same day he statedthat his position as president of the All-India Muslim League did notpermit him to anticipate the decisions of the League on the NehruReport. There is only one hope for India, he said, and that is unitybetween Hindus and Muslims. Hindus should show a more liberal andgenerous mind Muslims more trust.When the Muslim League convened at Calcutta for its 20 th Session on

26 to 30 December 1928, a resolution was passed on 27 December onM.C Chaglass motion that a delegation including Jinnah be appointedto represent the League at the Convention called by the IndianNational Congress to consider the Nehru Report.He proposed four amendments to the Nehru Report which are asfollows:

There should be no less than one-third Muslim representation in

the Central Legislature.

Reforms should be given in Punjab and Bengal.

The form of the Constitution should be Federal with residuary

powers vesting in the provinces. Sindh should be separated from Bombay.

The Burial of the Nehru Report

Though some Muslims accepted the Nehru Report, by far the largermajority rejected it. This was demonstrated when a large number ofhighly influential Muslims attended the Muslim All-Parties Conferenceat Delhi on 31 December 1928 under the president ship of the AghaKhan.

The conveners of the conference had invited about 600representatives belonging to all schools of thought. These included allnon-official Muslim members of the Provincial Councils and the CentralLegislature, and twenty representatives each from the followingorganizations: the All-India Muslim League, Calcutta (i-e., the Jinnah

3Gulaam Rabbani (University Lecturer) F.C College (A Chartered University),Lahore.

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Group), the All-India Muslim League, Lahore (i-e,. the Shafi Group), theAll-India Khilafat Conference, and the All- India Jamiat-ul-UlemaConference, Twenty Muslim representatives from each of the provincesof India were also invited. The Nehru Report in effect was buried.The one-year ultimatum to the British Government was a

transparent face saving device. No one could really haveexpected British Government to concede Dominion Status asthe next immediate step within a year response to a Reportwhich instead of uniting the Indian communities on oneplatform had exposed their divisions. Not surprisingly, at thenext session of the Congress at Lahore (19-31 December 1929)one of the resolutions declared that the entire scheme of theNehru Committees report had lapsed. At the same time,another resolution practically confessed the real reason forburying the report.4

The Legacy of the Nehru Report

The Nehru Report was a watershed in the Indian freedom movement.Instead of bringing about Hindu-Muslim unity, it drove the majority ofthe Muslims away from the Congress for ever. Jinnah and the AliBrothers had cooperated with Congress till and the respect theyenjoyed among Muslims had made Congress seem a friendlyorganization in the eyes of a large body of Muslims. The Ali brotherswere passionately religious and powerful orators in Urdu. Theywere the darlings of the masses. The results of their

castigation of the Congress became immediately perceptible.But in the long run it was the parting of Jinnah which had thedecisive result; the Nehru Report had unwittingly laid thefoundation of Pakistan. As a Hindu author observes, the mostvisible result of the Nehru Report was almost the completedivorce by Muslims of the nationalism as represented by theCongress. The Congress henceforth became a principally Hinduparty.5

4 Pakistan, the Real Picture: A Comprehensive History Course (712-1995- By:Rizwana Zahid Ahmed, Ferozsons (PVT) LTD, Lahore.

5 India Divided- By Rajendra Prasad- Book Traders, Lahore- Published By:Mustafa Waheed. Printed at Islamia Al Saudia Printers, Lahore.

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The Delhi Muslim Proposals (20 March, 1927)

Jinnah did not receive any positive response from the Hindu leadershipto his overtures for a constitutional pact between the Muslims and theHindus similar to the Lucknow Pact. In the mean time Hindu-Muslimrelations at the popular level were marked by continuing bloody riots.From 1922 onwards the number of serious Hindu-Muslim riots rosesteeply. There were 11 in 1923, 18 in 1924, 16 in 1925, 35 in 1926 and31 up to November 1927.

To achieve a breakthrough, Jinnah invited Muslim leaders fromdifferent parts of the country to meet at Delhi under his president shipon 20 March 1927.After due deliberation the conferees unanimously

offered the following terms for a Hindu-Muslim concord. Muslimsshould accept a settlement on the basis of the following proposal, sofar as representation in the various legislatures in any future schemeof Constitution is concerned.The Muslim league decided in the Delhi session of 1927 convened byMr.Jinnah decided to accept the Congress proposal and in place of theseparate electorates gave a set of demands. These demands wereknown as Delhi Proposals and are as follows:

Sindh should be separated from Bombay and made a province inits own right.

The Northwest Frontier Province and Baluchistan should be givenequal status with the other provinces including implementationof the 1919 Act.

The Muslims would accept joint electorates.

In Sindh, the Frontier and Baluchistan the Muslims would give thesame concessions to Hindus as Hindus gave to Muslims inprovinces in which the Muslims were in a minority.

In the Punjab and Bengal seats would be reserved for Muslims inaccordance with their ratio in the population.

In the central legislature, one third of the seats would bereserved for Muslims.

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This formula was announced on March 20, 1927.The same morning SirMuhammad Shafi arrived in Lahore. No one is certain whether or nothe approved the proposals in Delhi, but soon after his return to Lahorehe issued a statement saying he did not agree with them.

The Hindu communal parties accepted the proposal withregard to joint electorates, but rejected the other two,incredible though it might seem. It was a folly and a blunderof the first magnitude. This was the first time that Muslimshad agreed to have joint electorates. It was the chance of alifetime, a rare unexpected opportunity for a new start on areal national political life. Today, it seems inconceivablethat the separation of Sindh and reforms for Baluchistanand the North-West Frontier Province should have come inthe way of the acceptance of joint electorates. Never after

that did the Muslims agree to joint electorates. As timepassed, the communal demands of the Muslims increasedday by day, resulting ultimately in a demand for partition.6

Jinnahs Fourteen Points

Jinnah presented his famous Fourteen Points at the MuslimLeague Council session in Delhi on 28 March 1929. At the sametime he wrote a history of the Origins of Fourteen Points. Inthe history he stated that the Nehru Report could at best be

treated only as Hindu counter proposals to the Delhi Muslimproposals of 20 March 1927. As the Nehru Report was notacceptable to the Muslim League, he drafted a proposalembodying fourteen points which he called the basicprinciples to safeguard the rights and interests of Muslims. Tomake the proposal acceptable to as many Muslim schools ofthought as possible he made the list of safeguardsimpressively comprehensive.7

The form of the future Constitution should be federal, with theresiduary powers vested in the provinces.

6 [From Martial Law To Martial Law]- Politics in Punjab, (1919-1958) - By: SyedNur Ahmed. Copyright 1985, Vanguard Books LTD, 8- Davis Road, Lahore- NiraliDuniya Printers-

7 http://www.storyofpakistan.com/articletext.asp?artid=A035

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A uniform measure of autonomy shall be granted to allprovinces.

All legislatures in the country and other elected bodies shall be

constituted on the definite principle of adequate and effectiverepresentation of minorities in every province without reducingthe majority in any province to a minority or even equality.

In the Central Legislature, Mussulman representation shall not beless than one third.

Representation of communal groups shall to be by means of

separate electorates as at present, provided it shall be open toany community, at any time, to abandon its separate electoratein favor of joint electorate.

Any territorial re- distribution that might at any time be

necessary shall not in any way affect the Muslim majority in thePunjab, Bengal and NWFP Province.

Full religious liberty i-e., liberty of belief, worship and

observance, propaganda association and education, shall beguaranteed to all communities.

No bill or resolution or any part thereof shall be passed in any

legislature or any other elected body if three-fourths of themembers of any community in that particular body oppose sucha bill, resolution or part thereof on the ground that it would beinjurious to the interests of that community or in the alternative,such other method is devised as may be found feasible andpracticable to deal with such cases.

Sindh should be separated from Bombay Presidency.

Reforms should be introduced in NWFP and in Baluchistan.

Provision should be made in the Constitution, giving Muslims anadequate share along with the other Indians in all the services ofthe State and in local self-governing bodies, having due regard tothe requirements of efficiency.

The Constitution should embody adequate safe guards for theprotection of Muslims culture and for the protection and

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promotion of Muslim education, language, religion, and personallaws and Muslims charitable institutions and for their due sharein the grants in aid given by the State and by local self-governingbodies.

No Cabinet either, Central or Provincial should be formed withoutthere being a proportion of at least one third Muslim ministers.

No change shall be made in the Constitution by the Central

Legislature except with the concurrence of the Statesconstituting the Indian Federation.

Importance of Jinnah's Fourteen Points

A comparison of the Nehru Report with the quaid-e-Azam's FourteenPoints shows that the political gap between the Muslims and theHindus had really widened. Fourteen points of Quaid-e-Azam becameprinciples for Muslims of India. These points made it clear to Hindusand British Government that Muslims of India. Those points made itclear to Hindus and British Government that Muslims wanted their ownidentity without influence by Hindus. Fourteen Points not only revivedMuslim League but also directed them on a new way. These pointsprepared the Muslims of India for a bold step to struggle for freedom.

The importance of these points can be judged by the fact thatthese points were presented in the Round Table Conference of1930. As a result, these points became the demands of theMuslims and greatly influenced the Muslims thinking for thenext two decided till the establishment of Pakistan in 1947.8

8 http://www.angelfire.com/al/badela/timeline3.html

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The Delhi Muslim Proposals

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Transcript of The Delhi Muslim Proposals