The Nehru Report and Muslim Rights — Page 46
46 l ,,, holt ount. ry, and a siugl tank al lt, to challt. ng a whole 1rn1y. In , horl', wnr to clny dc. p nds not so much on 1nan' s p rsonal slr ngth and hrav ry as on tht. mechan. is1n� of war. And vc ry nnl11rnlly chivalry and courage ,vithout th 111 hnnis1ns of war cannot now give th<. san, ad 1 antng ns th y did in the past. '"['hus r<·volts in these day!. '. , nrc not th, affairs of a particular s ction of peopl but of the country as a whole. Men carry on th ir activiti s in s er 't, inciting the whole country; and the arn1y. the office--bcarers. and the civil population, all rise sin1ultaneously against the Government. Only a few high officials are left to deal with the revolt. But the l\tlussaln1ans can never expect to bring about such a state of things in India for the obvious reason that the major part of the population is Hindu, and naturally their sym pathy will go with the Government. Moreover, the l\1ussalmans should bear in mind that the Hindus are not all what they call the Baniyas. The Pt1njab Mussalmans have been labouring under the false impression that these Baniyas can never put up a fight against them. While as a matter of fact the Sikhs also socially form a part of the Hindus, though from religious standpoint they are nearer to the Moslems than to the Hindus. B(-sides, on account ot certain other political considerations, the Sikhs, unless and until some leader of exceptional ability should rise among them, are compelled in political matters to join hands with the Hindus. Their population is confined to the Punjab, where they have relatively the same status as the Muslims have in the whole of India. But under the special conditions of the Punjab where the Muslims form only a very narrow majority, the Sikhs cannot be granted any special concessions. And it happens that the Moslems have become an obstacle in the path of the Sikhs. Hence it is that they are obliged to come to an understanding with the Hindus, and notwithstanding a11