The Nehru’s Report
A seven-member committee comprised Motilal Nehru (Head), Tej Bahadur Sapru, Subhas Bose, M. S Aney, Mangal Singh, Ali Imam, Shuaib Qureshi, and G. R Pradhan, which was completed in August 1928 and known as the Nehru Report, named after its chief architect Motilal Nehru. The All-Party Convention in Calcutta in December 1928 did not approve the report due to objections from some communalist leaders of the Muslim League and others. The recommendations of the Nehru Committee were unanimous, except for “complete independence” as the basis of the constitution, which was limited to British India with dominant status and recommended the following:
- India should receive dominant status with the parliamentary form of government;
- Joint electorates instead of separate electorates with reservation of seats for Muslims wherever they were in a minority;
- Demanded the language-based provinces;
- The Counselled central government is headed by Governor-general and would act on the recommendation of the council accountable to the parliament;
- The proper right to vote for all adult voters and equal rights for men and ladies;
- Full protection to culture and spiritual interest of Muslims;
As can be seen, the Delhi proposals adopted by Congress were not included in the report, prompting the Muslim League to honor its request to reserve seats for Muslims, particularly in Muslim-majority provinces and the central legislature. Jinnah proposed the changes to review the report.
Nehru’s Report – Gulf Between Congress and Muslim League
The Nehru Report proceeded with the primary aim of assigning Dominion status to India, situated under the British Commonwealth. The major components of the Nehru Report would include:
- Bills of Rights
- Assignment of Equal Rights to men and women as citizens
- Formation of a federal form of government with the help of residuary powers within the hands of center
- Proposal for the development of a Supreme Court.
In order to broaden and review the British Raj and the Government of India Act, of 1919 a seven-member Statutory Commission was set up by the British government to examine the issue of further constitutional reform. The two mainstream parties, Congress and the Muslim League, countered the commission in their own way and received full public support when the commission landed in Bombay, through rallies, boycotts, and hartals. The Indians were challenged to draft a constitution that was acceptable to all Indians, all parties, and all provinces. The challenge was taken seriously and the All-Party Conference took place, with all parties, including Congress and the Muslim League, working enthusiastically and collectively to finalize the recommendations of the report popularly known as the Nehru Report.
The Nehru Report
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