The Nehru Report and Muslim Rights — Page 81
[ 81 ] that the Hindu-Muslim relations are not to#day what they ought to be, and also that communal prejudices have been influencing both the parties. Take up, for an instance, Government employment. It is a veritable Hindu mono. . poly throughout, to the prejudice of the rights of the Muslims. A Muslim. v. tho somehow or other chances to enter an office, finds tiis Hindu colleagues bent upon his removal. Recently, a Muslim �ember of the Bengal Legislative Council, put it very nicely that he wondered why a Muslim grows incompetent as soon as he is placed under a Hindu officer, while he grows efficient if placed under an Englishman. We have hundreds of such in stances also in the Punjab of capable Muslims, whose sterling worth had been recognised by English officers, suddenly turning grossly iricompetent as soon as placed under Hindu seniors. S01ne Hindus explain it away by saying that these are the tactics of Englishmen to keep the two communities hostile to each other. This does not, however, appeal to me. The point that has to be considered is whether the Hindus or the Englishmen stand to benefit by these so-called tactics. ,If the former are the gainers, then it is foolish to impute motives to the Englishmen. And moreover, does it stand to reason that for this purpose the Englishmen should make only the Hindus their tools and never persuade the Muslims to run down the Hindu subordinates and expel them from offices? Yet a third point is that, none of the many Government officials who subsequently became national leaders, ever admitted that he had ever been asked to run down his Muslim subordinates and to patronise the Hindus. The communal prejudice has outgrown all proportions and there are facts in my possession to show how Hindu officers have openly asked their Muslim subordinates whether they would tender their resignations voluntarily