The Nehru Report and Muslim Rights — Page 17
[ 17 ] IL-SPECIAL REPRESENTATIO. T. In its second demand this Muslim party urges the acceptance of the principle that in apportioning repre sentation to the various communities, the weak minorities should in their respective provinces be allotted seats more than they would be entitled to on the basis of popu lation so as to embrace the various opinions and inter ests ; while in provinces where minorities are strong enough to hold their own, their representation should be restricted to their proportion in the population and thus preclude the possibility of a majority being rendered into a minority. Accordingly in the Punjab and Bengal the representation of each community will be proportionate to its numerical strength, because if the Muslim majority which is only 55 and 54 per cent. respectively, were made to forego some of its seats for the Hindus or the Sikh cs, it is liable to be reduced into a minority, with the result that the Hindu element will preponderate in the admin istration. On the contrary in the U. P. , Behar, Bombay, Madras, and C. P. where the population is predominantly Hindu and minorities form a very small proportion, they should, according to the principle ennunciated above get more seats than they are entitled to by virtue of their numbers, so that their different sections may have oppor tunities for representation. The Hindus by this arrange ment do not lose anything at all, their preponderating majority remaining unaltered. In the same way in the N. W. F. Provinces, Baluchistan and Sindh, where Mussal mans have an overwhelming majority, the Hindus should be given more seats than they are entitled to according to their numerical strength so that all their interests might be fully represented.