The Nehru Report and Muslim Rights — Page 163
[ 163 ] is evident that without their proper enforcement the laws serve no useful purpose. To attain this end two means are generally adopted :-( 1) That the minority should be given its due share in all the services ; and (2) that there should be some final appellate authority to which appeals might be preferred in case of difference. The Muslim community has been continuously urging the first demand, but the plea of efficiency has been in variably adopted to keep them out of their rights. The pretext is however altogether without foundation. The Muslims are not at all inefficient. They are only falsely stigmatised as such. Instances are not wanting of <t Muslim subordinate being found deserving of every kind of preferment unde1· a European officer, but the moment he comes to be placed under a Hindu officer he is found to be incompetent. Such instances conclusively prove that there is no doubt about the capacity of the Muslim officers, but that there is a plot to suppress their merits, and attempts to poison the minds of the European officers a�ainst the Muslims by frequent report of inefficiency. The fact is evident, that the Hindus, being in the office from a longer t!me and in larger numbers and occupying the higher posts, find opportunities to prejudice the European officers against Muslim subordinates easily enough. As a consequence some Europeans also have been led to believe that Muslims are really inefficient, while as a matter of fact an examination of the past records of their services might easily show that most of the persons now condemned as inefficient, possessed a brilliant record previous to their coming under a Hindu officer. It is, however, much to be regretted that eve11 European officers are apt to rely on hearsays, and do not take the trouble to investigate the truth before passing a condemnation upon a whole nation.