Extension of communal representation

Lahore, Tuesday, November 4, 1924

THERE is a significant passage in the reply which Sir Malcolm Hailey gave to the address presented to him by a Muslim deputation on Wednesday last, which shows that His Excellency is by no means favourably inclined towards the cry that has recently been raised in the province and elsewhere for the extension of communal representation to all spheres of our corporate life. “It was always hoped,” he said, “that the time would come when the expedient could be dispensed with. I see now a tendency on the part of some to claim that the principle must be accepted as a permanent factor in our Constitution, and must be extended to every sphere of our organised public activities.” This would seem to be clear enough, but His Excellency went on to say: “On the other side, there is a tendency to claim that the expedient has already proved to be undesirable and must at once be cancelled. I do not think that this is a suitable moment to attempt any reconciliation of these diametrically opposite views.” The logic of this particular statement is not quite obvious. If it is a fact that there is a tendency on the part of some, contrary to the hope that had always been entertained regarding the temporary character of the present arrangement, to claim that it must be a permanent part of the Indian Constitution and must be extended to every sphere of our organised public activities, what one would expect is not that this tendency would be allowed to gather strength until the idea of some became the idea of many, but that steps would be taken to check the growth of this tendency.