MOHAMMEDANS IN INDIA. [To Tam mime. OF TIIR "SPECTATOR:1 SIR,—Your
editorial notes in the Spectator of September 29th on the Times article of the previous Wednesday express the traditional policy of the Government of India,—how strongly it is determined to hold the balance evenly between the various sections of the Indian population, and not to allow an unfair dominance to any one race or creed. The Times article, as well as the articles on Indian affairs which appeared on the same day and on September 11th, appear to support a claim to unfair dominance on the part of the Mohammedans, whose dissatisfaction with their general position, says the Times, has been growing for some time. But though grievances are vaguely alluded to, only two are specified :— (1) That in the matter of honours and decorations Moham- medans have been left out in the cold ; (2) that a Governor who assured them of the goodwill of Government has been allowed to resign.
As regards (1), it is quite true that in the Punjab and Bengal, which contain over forty million out of the sixty-two million Mohammedans of India, people professing this creed do not enjoy as many higher appointments under Government, which lead to honours and decorations, as their numbers would appear to entitle them to. Similarly among the Hindus the lower castes do not rise to the higher appointments. The Goalas, quite a respectable caste, nearly four millions strong in Bengal, claim but one appointment, and that a subordinate one. The semi-Hindu Rajbaugshis and Namasudras are entirely unrepresented in the higher grades. In the United Provinces the Chamars have a strength of nearly six millions, but not a single post in the higher grades of Government service is held by a member of their caste. The Mussulmans of the Punjab and Bengal are mostly converts from low-caste Hindus, and are, like them, very illiterate. It is hardly a matter of com- plaint that the literate classes in India, as elsewhere, monopolise the higher appointments.
In the United Provinces, however, where the Mussulmans number only seven millions, or fourteen per cent. of the popu- lation, they enjoy nearly four times as many high appointments in proportion to their numerical strength as the Hindus. and, if Hindu immigrants from Bengal are excluded, the proportion in their favour is much greater. The reason is that in the United Provinces the Mussulmans are much better educated, and occupy, indeed, a higher position, than in Bengal.
The dissatisfaction of Mussulmans with their position is highly creditable to them, but is hardly a ground for any departure from our traditional policy of impartiality between the various creeds. I see by the last advices that the Namasudrae, a humble caste in Bengal, are also dissatisfied with their position. The Times states that Indian Mohammedans have a common language, Urdu, which is, of course, not the case. They are said to owe their strength of character to their traditions as a ruling race. I suppose that out of sixty-two millions, not five millions, though the Mussulmans habitually married natives, are in any way descended from the Pathan, Afghan, or Moghul invaders. And they are certainly not a race, people, or nation. The Times statement that the Mohammedans count among their numbers the martial people of the North is true to a certain extent. Many Jets and a few Rajputs have been converted, but generally the martial races of the North—Sikhs, Rajputs, Ghoorkas—are non- Mohammedan.
As regards (2), the goodwill of Government towards the Mohammedans has never been in doubt. Government has always encouraged them in their efforts to improve their position. The statement that they resent the resignation of a Governor, who assured them of the goodwill of Government, is a cryptic utter- ance to which I was some time in finding a clue. I think I have now found it. In a farewell address the retiring Lieutenant- Governor, Sir Bampfylde Fuller, is reported to have said :— " When ho came to the province, he was surprised to notice how grossly the interests of the Mohammedans were being neglected. hi the Police Department, in the provincial and subordinate Civil Service, the percentage of Mohammedans was exceedingly low. He did what be could in this matter. The time had come when Mohammedans could no longer keep silence."
So the goodwill of Government means discrimination in favour of a creed in tho bestowal of appointments. No wonder there is unrest among Mohammedans, and a corresponding unrest among Hindus.
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