No. 8.

N advanced countries and among advanced nations the question of communal repiesentation on legislative assemblies and municipal bodies will hardly arise or meet with popular favour. But in a vast country like India, peopled by different races and nationalities with widely differing customs and manners and peculiar religious beliefs, and with varying degrees of civilisation and culture, the question has to be considered as one of practical necessity. Strong forces, both religious and. social, have long been at work tending to disintegrate the elements of the Indian population. Nevertheless, the stronger forces of a progressive and vitalising civilisation from the West have created in the Indian mind a desire for national existence, and are tending slowly but gradually towards at least the political unification of the Indian peoples. While the Indian nation of the future is thus in the making, care should be taken that national development does not err on the side of undue class or coinmunal development. The too rapid advancement of any one class with political power in hand is not likely to preserve and safeguard the varying interests of different communities. Hence communal representation is a necessary factor in the

first stages of Indian political progress, so that .each community may begin to develop along its own lines, not inconsistent, however, with the new national ideal. The India of to-day belongs not to any particular community, however wealthy or influential or numerically strong it may be, but to all the communities who inhabit the country, such as the Hindus, Moslems, Indian Christians, Buddhists and Parsees. Each community has its peculiar characteristics, and its own problems to solve. Each community has to progress and reach a certain level of efficiency before all the commuLities can realise their common aims and interests under a common suzerainty. As the Indian communities begin to realise their common i: 'erests, they will be moving towards the federal ical, the newest approach to the national ideal suited to Indian conditions. In order to achieve this goal, three essentials are necessary, namely, to continuance of British rule along modern democratic lines, the growth and development of blthy communal progress, and the recognition of common aims and gradual realisation of common interests among the Indian peoples. Whereas in Western countries there are no such marked differences of creed and caste as in India, either

to slacken the speed of national growth or impede national progress, the different religious and social usages in this country, so peculiar to each community, neither favour the growth of a united nation nor promote harmony between the different communities. It is, therefore, not practical politics to ignore the existing differences between man and man in this unhappy land. Under the circumstances communal representation is but a necessary step leading to Indian political development, and the wisdom of the Morley-Minto scheme in recognising and giving effect to this principle of communal representation on Legislative Councils is justifiable at least on the ground of expediency.

There are two ways open to Moslems for representation, namely, nomination by Government and election by mixed electorates or separate electorates. Nomination worked well in its earlier stages and has given place to election. Having failed to secure adequate representation through nomination, Moslems demanded representation by election, and the Morley-Minto reform conceded to them this important privilege. Election by mixed electorates composed of Hindus, Moslems and other classes is not always a blessing to the community. Few instances. there have been where two or three very capable Moslem candidates were returned to Legislative Councils by mixed electorates, and these candidates could not wholly identify themselves with the community. Election by separate electorates will give complete satisfaction to the community. For the representatives in this case will be chosen by the Moslem voters themselves, and they will not only wholly identify themselves with the aims and aspirations of their co-religionists but be able to represent effectively the views and sentiments of their community. When Mussalmans, therefore, seek separate representation through separate electorates even on smaller local bodies, they do so primarily in

their communal interests but ultimately in the larger interests of the whole country. Their demand for such representation is based upon equity and justice, as they rightly claim equal privileges with sister communities. Being an important community whose historic place not only in India but in the civilised world is too well-known, Muhammadans who form about a fourth of the British Indian population are entitled to their full share of representation not only on Legislative Councils but on smaller local bodies, such as Municipalities and District and Taluk Boards. The importance of the community is evident from what His Highness the Aga Khan said in July 1913, while presiding at the annual meeting of the London All-India Moslem League: "The aggregation of 100,000,000 Moslems within the British Empire," said His Highness, "gave her a great moral asset in the beneficent and mighty part she played in the world's affairs. At the same time it imposed great responsibilities upon the Indian Moslems in their capacity as by far the largest and most important section. The more steadfast and strong their loyalty, the more influential they would naturally be in promoting this harmony of interests, and also in moulding British policy." In asking for separate representation the Mussalmans do not claim any special privilege or exclusive right. They ask for it as a matter of necessity and as a deserved right to which they are entitled. It is but a corollary to what has already been conceded to them in Legislative Councils. Moslem opinion throughout the country demands it in the best interests of the community.

It is often imagined that separate Moslem representation is opposed to Hindu interests. How untrue this assumption is can be seen from the cordial way in which both Hindu and Moslem representatives in our Legislative Councils have joined together in carrying out certain measures affecting our common interests. While the con