CHAPTER-III PANCHAYATI RAJ – A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE (original) (raw)
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The Mutiny of 1857 made the British realise that the 1. Quoted in Constitutional History of India by Punnaiah, K»V.-p. 95. 2. Cowell-History of the Constitution of it he Courts and legislative authority in India, p. 95. 1. Banerjee, A..C.-Indian Constitutional Documents. Vol.11, p. 99-2. S.N. Banerjea appreciated the right of asking questions in his address to the Congress session at Poona in 1895. Congress Presidential Speeches (1885-1917) Edited by Natesan-p. 195. 3. Para. 69, M/C Report. k. The proceedings of the Council show that the financial statement was given in a greater detail than before the 1892 Reforms. 1. Proceedings of the BttaBtta I&affiaaffiaafc&gP (jfeaaiggfo, 10th March, 1905. 26 victory for the Swarajists in the Central as well as provincial legislatures With the i+8-strong Swarajists headed "by Motilal and Patel and some outstanding Independents like Jinnah and Rangachar1ar, the centre of gravity of Indian politics shifted to the Central Legislature in 1921+ The immediate role of the Swarajists was to set forth the political grievances ^ Their main role was to keep up the spirit of resistance to foreign rule at the time when the nonco-operation had collapsed and nationalist politics was at 2 a low ebb It was also felt by the nationalists that certain good things could he achieved through the legislatures ^ On his election as the President of the Assembly, V J Patel openly admitted on the floor of the House that the working of the Reforms convinced him to give up non-cooperation and enter the legislatures He outlined a number of achievements "by his predecessor Sir Frederick Whyte ^ The Swarajists were for all practical purposes the legislative wing of the Indian National Congress Their political actions inside the Central Assembly-such as rejection of Budget and censures 1 See Chapter IX 2 Nanda, BR-The Nehrus-p 3U1 3 See Chapter VI for discussion of the beneficial measures which could be achived through the legislatures h LA Deb^t 1925 (Simla) pp 2U-25 r 27 of Government-always got utmost publicity m the country outside Public opinion outside was fully "aware of the limitations of the new legislatures, "but they seemed to be deeply impressed by the force with which the political demonstrations Were made Summing tip the Swarajists achievements in the Second Assembly, the daily Hindu wrote 'It has to its credit solid achievements m the direction of asserting and in some cases at any rate, receiving recognition of the rights of the subjects It was this Assembly, again, that repeatedly rejected by majorities of 63 to 56, the Government Demands for Grants-and subsequently throw out the Finance Bill by 60 votes to 57, acting on the principle of grievances before supply 1 Such reactions of the press confirm how far the Central Legislature was alive to the political mood outside The British T?ress was also watching at this stage with great interest, what was happening in the Central Legislatun The Times, for example, came out with editorial comments on all major events in the Central Assembly The years from 192k to 1926 offered an excellent opportunity to the Government to take a forward step in constitutional development of the country for the Swarajists would have been ready to cooperate with the Government A response to the demand for a Round Table Conference in 1 The Hindu. September 9, 1926 28 1921+ would have strengthened the hands of those politicians who wanted to use constitutional methods for the political emancipation of the country Motilal Nehru's amendment demanding a Round Table Conference in February 1924 was far more conciliatory than had been expected of the Swarajist leader 1 He SaicLt 'We have come here to do something which we have not been doing so far Sir, we have come here to offer our cooperation , non-co-operators as we are, if you will care to cooperate with us, if ypu don't,we shall, like men, stand-upon their rights, continue to be non-co-operators' The reasons for not responding to the Swarajists demands to the Assembly are yet to be fully revealed Some would blame Lord Reading, the then Viceroy for the lack of creative imagination to initiate a constructive movement ^ It is revealed in his biography that the constitutional debate in 1924 was taken seriously by him ^ He wrote to Lord Oliver, the Secretary of State for India explaining the need for some 'cautious move' forward to 'offer some inducement for good will and co-operation' ^ Lord Oliver seemed to be reluctant to concede any wider scheme of reforms ^ At this stage there 1 The Times. February 9, 1921+ See also Chapter IX 2 LA Debate 1921+-p 370 (8th February, 1924) 3 Spear, P-India A Modern History. Pr365 4 Rufus Isaacs. First Marquess of Reading by his son the Marquess of Reading, p 295 5 Ibid 6 Ibid, p 296 fix the exchange ratio of Rupees It was a matter of national importance and the Swarajists came "back to the Assembly to adopt a motion postponing further consideratior of the Bill till the next session 1 There were some important developments at this stage which brought defection among the Swarajists The mam point of controversy was the utility of the Legislatures Lajpat Rai resigned from the Swaraj* Party as a protest against its policy of 'walk-out' from the Legislatures since he held that it was more harmful to the Hindus than any 2 other class or community He further argued that the 'walk-out' of UO to 50 Swarajists m the Assembly deprived only h or 6 Muslim constituencies of the services of their representatives, while in the case of the Hindus it had deprived the latter of about 6 or 7 times that number ^ The dissident group came to be known as the Responsive Co-operators who later formed an Independent Congress Party with a Central Board consisting of Pandit Malaviya, Lajpat Rai and Raja Narendra Nath for conducting election*! In the autumn of 1926, the position of the Swarajists 1 The Congress leaders were forced to change their mind and go back to the Central Assembly under the pressure of the Bombay businessmen Vide 4*J Coatman's article ' India on the eve of laftigg&aa&g&l Autonomy in the Asiatic Review, April-, 1938 2 The Hindu. September 2, 1926 3 Ibid k The Hindu. September 16 and September 23, 1926 5i Tho Tjmaa ^prt^or. ? T IQPS. 31 was very unhappy. There was some feeling that they would disappear at the coming elections."*" The communal harmony achieved "by the Khilafatists and Gandhi's followers in 1920 and 1921 did not last long. The Hindus in general were doubtful of the extraterritorial patriotism that the Khilafat agitation implied. 2 There was a sort of rebellion in Malabar by the Muslim Khilafatists who were better known as Moplahs. The rebels defied law f and order and terrorised the public. It is said that the-Hindus'were forcibly converted to Islam. This offended tLe Hindu opinion and several resolutions were moved in the Central and provincial legislatures calling upon the Government to restore law and order in Malabar. It was not too difficult for the Government to bring the situation under control but the incident contributed to the Hindu-'s Muslim discord especially in South India. In 1923, there were several riots in the Punjab and Bengal. One of the worst riots took place In Eohat where the entire Hindu population fled away in terror.^ Such communal riots killing the Hindus as well as Muslims continued to increase in number and intensity in various places the climax being reached in 1926 in Calcutta where 1+0 riots took place in that year killing 197 and injuring 1,600 persons.^ Prom 1. The Times. September 2, 1926. 2-r India in 1923 2l±, p.21+8. %. DurraniK.K.-The Meaning of Pakistan-p. 110. §.v/lndjain 1923-2U, p. ^8 5? Report of the Indian Statutory Commission ^SS^m0 1930, nara.277. 32 1923 to 1927, nearly k5Q persona Were killed and 5,000 injured in various communal riots The communal tension outside had also its impact on the proceedings of the Central Legislature Prom the late 1920's the number of questions asked "by the Hindu and Muslim members eliciting information about communal riots was increasing By the end of 1926, the Hindu-Muslim bitterness was worse The Committee appointed under (Sandhi's chairmanship in January 192$ to inquire into the communal questions _ 2' did not produce any good result Earlier in 192i+, a scurrilous pamphlet called 'Rangilla Rasul' (debauched prophet) written by a Hindu author created bitterness in Lahore as it was directed against Prophet Muhammad The matter was discussed in the legislatures and eventually the Central Legislature passed an enactment in 1926 in order to stop such publications inciting religious bitterness One hd>rnble incident in 1926 was the murder of Swami Shraddhanand, the leader of the Arya Samaj by a Muslim fanatic It should be noted here that the 'Arya SaniajJ' was one of the leading Hindu communal organisations which started a ' shuddi', and 'sangathan' (reconversion to Hinduism of those who had become Muslim or Christian) movement. At this stage, the Muslims also retaliated 1 Lai Bahadur-The Muslim League, p 163 2 Chintamani, C Y-Indian Politics since Mutiny-p 1U0 3 Vide L A Deb*..to Proceedings on the 20th, 2l+th and 25th August, 1926 with 'Tablid.' and ' Tarizim' movement to keep the Muslims on the right track Two very outstanding leaders of the Assembly-Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya and Lala Lajpat Rai were directly associated with the activities of * Arya Samaj' They looked upon the legislatures as the principal arena for serving the Hindu interests and, therefore, their followers never seriously thought of "boycotting the legislatures The 1926 elections were dominated by the P intense commujial feeling Pandit Malaviya and Lajpat Rai constantly harped upon Hindu interests as opposed ta •z Huhammedan interests J Religious fervour was 1 roused at the elections ^ The difference between Hindu and Muslim groupings in the newly elected Legislatures was "sharp in 1927 In the Central Legislature a Hindu communal...