The Nehru Report and Muslim Rights — Page 97
CH AP T E R YIU. Demand for' Three New Muslim Provinces. DETAILED STUDY-( Continued ). {t, HE second demand of the Muslims relates to the formation of three new Muslim provinces, firstly. by extension of the Refo1ms to the N. W. F. Provinces and Baluchistan, and secondly, by the constitution of Sindh into a separate independent province. The Nehru Committee recommends extension of the Reforms to the N. W. F. Provinces. Its references to Baluchistan, however, are aJnbiguous. From some parts of the Report, it appears that the province has been re commended for a separate Government, while elsewhere, where the question of representation has been dis cussed, no mention has been made of Baluchistan. Whether the omission was unintentional or intentional cannot be ascertained. To forget to mention a whole province is indeed strange on the pa1 t of a committee that sat specially to decide grave political issues. In the matter of Sindh, the Nehru-Report lays down that it shall be constituted into a separate province pro vided, (i) that its financial condition is such as to enable the province to undertake its burden, or the people under take to bear the financial charges cons!dered adequate by the Nehru Committee, (ii) that no new difficulty arises which may be found insurmountable, and (iii) that they also hint ( though they have tried to conceal it ), that the con stitution of Sindh into a separate province does not neces sarily mean that it shall be a fully independent province. They write :-· • We might add that the separation of an area and the formation of a new province does not neces-·