INDIAN REPRESENTATION

Taranaki Daily News, 16 January 1931, Page 7

INDIAN REPRESENTATION

PROGRESS OF CONFERENCE HINDU-MOSLEM AGREEMENT DIFFICULTY WITH SIKHS SPIRIT OF ACCOMMODATION British Wireless. Rugby, Jan. 14. A renewed effort to solve the HinduMoslem problem was made to-day, when in the Minorities Committee, over which the Prime Minister presided, Sir Muhammed Shafi, on behalf of the Moslem delegation, made a proposal which Dr. Moonje, the Hindu leader, described as showing a spirit of accommodation. Sir Muhammed Shafi recalled that in the previous, negotiations certain approaches to. an agreement had been made. It <yas over the, representation in the Punjab and Bengal, where Moslems were •in a majority, that the failure had occurred. He was now authorised by the Moslem delegation to make the offer that Punjab Moslems should have through the communal electorates 49 per cent, of the entire number of seats in the whole House and should have liberty to contest the special constituencies which. it was proposed to create there; that in Bengal Moslems should have through the communal electorates 46 per cent, representation in the whole House and the right to contest the special constituencies there and that in so far as the minority provinces were concerned Moslems should continue to enjoy the weightage they had at present through the separate electorates, a. similar weightage to be given Hindus in Sind and Sikhs in the North-west Frontier province. If at any time two-thirds of the representatives of any community in any provincial legislative council or .1 the central legislative council desired to give up the communal electorates and accept joint electorates, then thereafter a system of joint electorates could come into being in that particular provincial or central legislature as the case might be. MOSLEiMSk FINAL OFFER. The result of the proposal in Bengal would be that Moslems would remain in a permanent minority although they constituted a majority of the population. The special constituencies it was proposed to set up were such that Moslems could hope at the best to secure only one seat —Dacca University— in the Punjab. They might secure iwo of the special constituency seats, in which case they might have a majority of one.

'Sir Muhammed 'Shafi said it was the Moslems’ final offer. They could not possibly agree to any greater sacrifice than it involved. Mr. Srinivasa Sastri said he had listened to the offer wiQt respect. He and his friends believed that the difficulties were capable of settlement, and* indeed had been more or less settled, in regard to the greater part of India; they remained only in Bengal and the Punjab. This offer was one which it seemed might be' accepted by these two provinces. He pointed out that the nonsettlement of the Hindu-Moslem problem imperilled the whole work of the conference.

Mr. Ujjal Singh eaid the Sikhs could in no case have more than 24 per cent, representation in the Punjab council. Sir P. H. Mitter feared that the offer would not lead to, peace in Bengal and for that reason he considered it unacceptable. Mr. Nath Sind, a delegate from the Punjab, pointed out that 32 per cent, of his population would be reduced by the offer to having 27 per cent, representation.

Dr. B. S. Moonje, the Hindu Mahasabha leader, expressed the opinion that if the spirit inspiring the offer was strengthened and continued he thought accommodation was at last within eight. The committee adjourned so that a few representative members on each side should consider the situation privately with Mr. MacDonald present as conciliator, but the meeting failed to reach an agreement. It is understood that the disagreement was reduced to the narrowest possible margin. Actually an agreement was reached between Hindus and Moslems and the delegates, representing both committees, joined in making an appeal to the Sikhs who, however, refused to give way.