The Nehru Report and Muslim Rights — Page 29
[ 29 ] Ill. -SEPARATE ELECTORATE. Over the third demand the Muslim opinion has differ ed. The Lahore League is not prepared to give up separate electorates so long as mutual confidence has not been restored between the two communities, and the Mussalmans themselves are not willing to dispense with the system. In the opinion of the Calcutta League however, there was no objection to the Muslims' dispens ing with separate electorates provided that Sindh was constituted into a separate province, and Reforms were extended to the N. W. F. . Provinces, and Baluchistan. Of these two demands neither has been accepted by the Nehru--Report. The Nehru Committee admits as well that according to the League council decision, this was the irreducible minimum demand of the Moslem community. The resolution of the Calcutta League also points to the same intention. The resolution runs :-'' The Muslims will not abandon this right unless and until Sindh is con stituted into a separate and autonomous province, and Reforms are introduced in the N. W. F. Provinces, and Baluchistan. ·, But the Nehru Committee accepts only one of the three demands, viz. , extension of Reforms to the N. W. F. Provinces. The question of the separation of Sindh is hedged in with various conditions and limita. . tions, and the question of Baluchistan again is dealt with in very ambiguous terms. The Report says:-'' As regards non-Moslem minorities the only provinces which deserve consideration are the N. W. F. Provinces and Baluchistan. '' The words indicate that the compilers of the Report had in mind that the question of the right� of the Hindus in Baluchistan will crop up. Yet, still further on page 124, while discussing communal representation under Article 7 it says :-" The N. W. F. Provinces, and