Evening star., 1932-01-31
BY d. 3. RAMACHANDRA RAO,
M, A. M. ID,

Iu. "a W. D
TT is generally believed in this coun-
try that the Round Table Confer
ence in London failed because Of
/ the lack of unity and coordination
between the Hindu and the Mo-
hammedan. But that was not the only
factor that contributed to the break
down of the negotiations; there were
other far more important causes that
helped to bring about the unhappy re-
suit The way in which the round
table was constituted and the attitude
of the Tory party in England toward
the final solution Of the problem were
more or less responsible for 1t.
Under the British rule in India the
Mohammedans enjoy two great privi-
le-.es % Communal celebrates: they
are elected by their own co-religionist,j
to the provincial and the All-India leg
islative bodies in the country; (2) Pref
e. entail treatment with regard to the
offices, both high and low, held under
the government.
Just before Mr. Gandhi went over to
London the MCslem leaders approached
him and asked him whether he would
help to have their privileges stereotyped
and continued in the future cOnStitu-
ton of India. Mr. Gandhi promised to
consider the proposition as favorably
as he could if they would give him their
minimum terms for cooperation. The
Moslem leaders then met under the
leadership of the Nawab Of Bhopal and
deliberated for several weeks, but they
arrived at no definite conclusions. 1t
transpired that there was a difference
of opinion among them with regard to
the minimum demand.
Two Mohammedan Groups.
There were two groups among the Mo-
hammedanS, the NationalistS and the
Conservatives. The former refused to
bargain with Mr.. Gandhi, as they felt it
to be beneath their dignity to higgle at a
time of national emergency-they would
rather trust their Hindu compatriotS
and hope for the best when India comes
to her own. They were for cooperating
without stipulating any conditions. They
felt convinced that the majority COM
munity would treat them fairly and
Squarely.
AS measure Of compromise they
suggested the principle Of joint elec-
torates for the Moslems of India. But
the Conservatives insisted on the guar
antee of their special privileges before
they would agree to cooperate with the
Hindus. And the Moslems of India
could not come to an agreement among
themselves and face Mr.. Gandhi with
a united demand. Thereupon Mr.. Can
dhi felt helpless and could not move in
the matter definitely the one way or the
other
But, as fates would have it, or as the
government would see to it, there was
only one member Of the Moslem Ma
15rf Il Tol@1
Conference while the rest were drawn
from the Conservative party. Hence
was the voice of the one drowned in
the voice of the many, and the noise
of the Conservatives was construed to
be the voice of the whole Moslem COM
munity of India. There are many
Moslems in India today, young, well
educated, patriotic and aspiring, who
support the Nationalistic aims of the
Mahatma
May I add that the members to the
London Conference were not selected or
elected by the people of India, but were
nominated by the British government.
Difficulty of Agreement.
1t was freely talked about in India
that no real settlement could be ar
rived at the conference when the per-
Sonnel of it was made known several
weeks before it met. Anyway, the world
has come to know one fact, that Mr.
Gandhi could not arrive at an agree
ment with the minorities Hence the
necessary deduction that the interven-
ton of the British government will be
most necessary to make them agree
Mr.. Gandhi knew the situation quite
well. That was why he insisted on the
British government declaring its policy
toward India in the first instance at
the London Conference-to tell India
plainly whether Britain was going to
accept the principle of freedom for her,
and if so to arrive at an understanding
as to what the absolutely necessary
safeguards in the interests of India
were during the period of transition as
the power and responsibility of rule
shifted from the British hands to the
Indian. He was also anxious. sharing
as he did India's apprehensions in this
respect, the shortest time limit should
be fixed as the probable period during
which the complete transference might