The Nehru Report and Muslim Rights — Page 66
r 66 I •. c ul a r law docs not constitute a sufficient guarantee; it j eq u all y irnp ortant that p r ovision should bF; made fo r its d u e enfo r c einent. The Rajp al case* is of recent o�cur. re nce. AU the nc·ws p ap ers that are now united in thei r sup p ort of the Nehru- f {e por t , ag re< ·d that the object o f th e l a w in this case had been defeated. The same doo r i s o pen s till ; and it is essentia l that it should be closed. (2 ) The second essentia l is that the law in question sh o uld be made safe ag ains t future alteration fo r th e o b vi o u s r e ason, tha t i t is q uite eas y fo r a majorit y a t firs t t o fram e law s desired b y a minorit y in orde r to win the i r c on fid enc e , and late r or to re pea l the same when Self G o v ernmen t ha s been attained ; for, those who can make a la w ca n als o unmake it. I n th e new States , tha t wer e formed in Europe after t h e wa r , a two- fold provision ha s been mad e to protect th e ri g ht s o f minorities. Firstly , tha t th e law s sha ll b e p r o pe r l y e nforce d , and secondly , tha t th e law s shall r e m ai n inviolate. To $ecur e th e firs t end , th e Leagu e of N ati on s ha s bee n emp o ,vere d to hea r appeal s o f cases r e l ati n g t o minorities. I n th e even t o f th e minorities m aki n g an y com plain t to the League , it is empowered to a p p o in t a commission t o investigat e th e trut h o f the alleg ation s. Furthe r, the minorities have been given an eff e c ti v e share in the Governmen t i n orde r to enab l e the m t o watch the i r own interest s. I n Czechoslovaki a ,. f o r e x am p le, Rothunians who �ome of the Russian sto c k a n d possess the i r own culture , tongue and religion, have been granted full administrative powers in the i r own p a rt o f the countr y , thou g h they are no doubt subject to t h e --- - -----. *T , h i s is a w e l l -known c a s e i n the Laho r e High Court i n wh ic � Ra 1 pal, t h e auth ? r of a s currilo u s tra c t on �he li f e of the Pr oph e t ? 0 I s lam. was acqu it ted o n the ground th a t the r e w a s no provisi o n 1 l aw to d ea l w i t h s u c h o f fence s.