The Nehru Report and Muslim Rights — Page 54
l 5 4 J that tim e t h e diversity of re lig i on s was c o nside r e d to be t h e so l e caus e of conflicts , t h e re f er e nce i n th e t r ea ty i s confined t o re ligio n on l y. L a t er on, i t appea red t h a t majoritie s i n order t o crus h min o r it i e s c ou l d inve n t o t h e r mea n s also. F o r instanc e, in th e N e th er l a nds t h e d es truction o f the minor i t y wa s attem p t e d by th e s u ppre s. . sion o f i t s ton gu e. Accordingl y , i n I 8 3 0 a t the ti m e of the establishment of the kin gd o m o f Greec e ; in 185 3 at the tim e o f the s eparatio n of th e I on i an i s l a n d s ; i n 1 8 56 at the time o f s eparatio n of Rll ma n i a ; a n d i n 1878 a t th e Congress o f Berli n, re gard in g S er v i a, M o n t e ne gr o , an d Bulgaria, the need fo r the p r o t e c ti o n of mi nor i t i es w a s reco gnise d and law s were for rn al a t e d t o s a fe g uar d t h e i r interest s. After the Great War wh e n f r e s h c h a n g es to ok p l ace in Europe, specia l undertakin g s w e r e ob ta in ed f r o m Poland, Lithuania , Lativia , E s t h o nia , A u s t ria , Hun g a ry , Rumania, Czechoslovakia , an d Jug os l ov aki a. Ever y e f for t was made in thes e treatie s t o s a f e g uar d t h e r i g h ts of the minorities from cncroach � n e n t b y th e ma j or i t i e s. From the facts narrate d � b ov e. it i s c l e a r th a t t h e question of p rotection of mino r iti e s h as f o rcen t u r i es p as t engaged publi c attention, and n a ti o n s a ll over the wo rld have acknowledged it s im port a nce. A t pr es en t i t i s uni versall y admitted tha t minorities , p a r ti cul a rl y i m p ort ant minorities, req uire s pecia l safeg u ar d s. Th e onl y diff e r ence o f views on the subject , t h at n o w pr e vail s , i s t h a t some nations contend that in th e i r co u n t ry t he r e is no conflict between the ma joriti e s an d t h e mi n o r iti es a n d ' that therefore no discrim i nator y law s s h o uld b e i n t r od u ced there, while others urg e that wh e n s u c h l a ws h a ve been introduced in their countries , the y m ust be a d o p t e d b y all nations. In this connectio n , the follo wing obse r v a • tions of Miss L. P. Mair may he re ad w i t h i n t e r est :-