The Nehru Report and Muslim Rights — Page 167
[ 167 ] would lie in the Privy Council. 11 have already stated that in the event of the Hindus being in power, no great weight is likely to be attached to such appeals, but in the event of the provinces being autonomous the Muslim voice is not likely to prove too weak to make such appeals a real deterrent in respect of infringement of the consl� tution. AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION. In addition to the abuse of the constitution there i�, as already mentioned, the question of the amendment cf the constitution. If it would lie with the majority com munity to change or amend it at will, all our postulations and efforts are useless, for the Hindus whenever they choose can deprive the Muslims of all their rights and privileges. It is essential, therefore, to provide that no amendment or alteration of the law would be possible without the consent of the one important minority. It is much to be deplored that there is no such provision ;n the draft before us. On the contrary, it provides that the law can be amended with only two-thirds of the total votes. As under the Nehru Scheme at least 75 % of the members in the Central Legislature would be Hindus, they could manage easily enough to change, amend, and alter the law with the Hindu votes alone. That the con stitution of a Government can be amended even against the will of a powerful minority cannot be conducive to the peace of the country. It is, therefore, most important that the Muslim proportion should be raised to at lea�t 34% or 33% so that no change be possible without th·�ir consent. To say that it is against principle to accord increased representation to any community is to betray complete ignorance of the constitutions of the world. In Czechoslo-