The Nehru Report and Muslim Rights — Page 139
are not particularly interested in then1: for they take part in something. only ,vhen their interest is at stake. If they take part in District Board elections it is invari ably for the sake of some fr:ends. The Hindus are interested in the l\lunicipalities and also in the Councils, because the l\ lunicipalities are concerned with trade and so are the Councils. There is also the element of prestige. The Hindus see in these bodies the opportunity for the fulfilment of their hopes, viz. , that of reviving Hindu cul ture. "y. . l e cannot, therefore, safely draw our conclusions from the results of the District Board elections. There is before us the parallel of the British Parliament, and Local Boroughs. We may see that the country may at one time send one party to power in the parliament, and the opposite party to boroughs and municipal com mittees. Those conversant with politics are therefore agreed, that we cannot judge the results of the one from the figures of the other. I fail to understand how the Nehru Committee and our Punjab Councillors have as sumed the two bodies to be similar in character and have thus judged the result of the one from the figures of the other. But apart from the arguments of reason and the con siderations of politics, if we study the figures themselves. it looks clear that the result of these elections is due more to the indifference of the Hindus than to the clerver ness of the Muslims. The figures show that all the extra seats, the Mussalmans ,¥on, were wrested from the Hindus and not from the Sikhs. If their adroitness had been the real factor in the game they could have wrested seats from the Sikhs also. But from the figures it is clear that only the Hindus lost as many as 46} seats. As against their loss the increase of the Muslims and the Sikhs was 46 and ¼ respectively. Clearly both the Muslims and the Sikhs have encroached upon the rights of the Hindus