The Nehru Report and Muslim Rights — Page 8
[ 8 ] the Muslim Leaders' Conference held at Delhi, as a result of which the memorable Delhi proposals accepting joint electorates subject to certain reservations, were tentative ly formulated. But it very conveniently omitted to refer to what transpired at Simla where the Muslim Leaders called an All�lndia Muslim Conference to place the Delhi proposals before the community. The facts, however. were that when the D·elhi proposals, that accepted the joint electorate subject to certain reservations, provoked a good deal of adverse criticism in the country, our leaders realised that the bulk of the Moslem opinion was against such overtures. About this time was held a meeting of the Hindu Mahasabha at Nagpur, and 1\/Ir. Kelkar as President delivered a speech so bitterly hostile to Muslim demands that it made many of the l\1uslim leaders realise their mistake. Thereupon the IVloslem League convened, in September, 1927, at Simla, a meet ing of the representatives of all the I\tluslim Parties, whether members of the League or not. ,I too received an invitation and although, as a rule, I keep aloof from such gatherings, but happening at this instance to be on the spot in connection with the Anti--Blasphemy Bill. I attended the conference. From what I gathered from the discussions that ranged for full two days in support of the separate electorate, I can safely say that if votes were taken, a clear majority of 70 per cent. would have carried the day in favour of communal representation. Of those, favouring the joint electorate system, most agreed that although their personal inclinations were for it, their community, no doubt t stood solidly for the other system. All Mr. Jinnah" s efforts failed to persuade the representatives of different pro. . vinces and associations to abandon the system of separate representation. Mr. Jinnah (who was the president of the meeting·) at last declined to put the matter to vote saying