The Central Legislature in British India, 192147. Mohammad Rashiduzzaman
failed to pay attention to non-official opinion on some vital issues, which later took the shape of outpouring political grievances. In 1875 the Government imposed excise duty on cotton goods produced in India to counterbalance the duty imposed on British-made cotton goods. During the discussion of the budget, this matter was from time to time raised in the Council, but the Government did not take any significant step to redress these grievances. The perceived ineffectiveness of the Indian members was further illustrated by the Government’s policy of large scale imprisonment and deportation during the agitation against the partition of Bengal. The policy of repression continued even after its vehement disapproval in the legislative bodies. Secondly, there were important political developments ← 5 | 6 → outside the Councils which put enormous pressures on the Government to think about remodeling the administration. The Indian National Congress (Congress) outside gradually gained ground as a powerful organization for discussing political grievances. There was a great famine and plague epidemic in Bombay in the 1890’s which killed a large number of people. The alleged inefficiency and negligence of the administration came to be known to the public. During this period, Bal Gangadar Tilak came to prominence as a leader of Hindu orthodoxy and a passionate critic of the Government: there were certain revolutionary crimes in this period, one of them resulting in the killing of Mr. Rand, the Plague Commissioner in 1897.
The Viceroyalty of Lord Curzon (1898–1905) was full of certain controversial events such as the Bengal Partition, the curtailment of the powers of the Calcutta Corporation, the University Reform and the Official Secrets Act which contributed to the country’s political unrest. The division of old Bengal into two provinces roused a storm of protest throughout this period while the terrorist activities of the extremists increased considerably. The agitations against that partition also brought the Congress to the forefront of national politics; most of the anti-partition demonstrations were led by distinguished Congress leaders.21
Lord Minto’s Viceroyalty which began in November 1905 confronted a deep and widespread political discontent. He rapidly recognized the need for further constitutional advance and conciliation in order to satisfy the moderate leaders of the country.22 A Committee under the Chairmanship of Sir Arundel which was as well known as the Arundel Committee was appointed to consider the question of increasing the Indian constituents in the legislative councils.23 In 1906, Lord Minto sent a dispatch to Lord Morley giving his reasons for further constitutional advance and the rationalization he gave could be condensed into one single sentence: the political spirit had reached a stage in India when further space for the country’s political opinion in its government could no longer be resisted.24 The dispatch was followed by a long and voluminous correspondence between the Viceroy and the Secretary of State and, after that, Lord Morley introduced the Indian Councils Bill on February 17th, 1909, which became an Act of the Parliament on May 25 the same year. Obviously, the 1909 Reforms were not intended for the introduction of a parliamentary system; Lord Morley categorically stated in the House of Lords that he would have nothing to do with the reforms if they directly or indirectly led to the establishment of a parliamentary system in India.25 In opening the first session of the Imperial Legislative Council under ← 6 | 7 → the Reforms, Lord Minto said: “We have distinctly maintained that representative government in its western sense is totally inapplicable to the Indian Empire. We have aimed at the reform and enlargement of our councils, but not the creation of Parliaments.”26 To put it in the words of the M/C Report, the Reforms were intended to establish a kind of “constitutional autocracy” blending the principle of absolutism possibly derived from the Mughal Emperors or Hindu Kings with the principle of constitutionalism derived from the British Crown and Parliament.27 Though the Reforms were welcomed on general terms, they fell short of the Congress expectations.28 As far back as in 1889, the Congress demanded that at least half of the members in the Council should be elected.29 Speaking at the Caxton Hall in 1909, Surendra Nath Banerjea said that the Reforms did not come up to the expectations of the Congress in many important matters.30 But some of the most influential leaders in India, for example, Gokhale, set very high hopes on the reforms as they hoped that the authorities would pay greater attention to public opinion in the country.31
The salient features of the 1909 Reforms could be summarized under several heads: Firstly, the legislative councils were enlarged and the Imperial Legislative Council consisted of 60 members (nominated and elected) at the maximum and not more than 28 of them could be government officials. The Governor-General nominated 3 non-officials to represent certain special communities. Secondly, the principle of election which remained implied in the 1892 Reform was embodied in the Indian Councils Act, 1909.32 Thirdly, the power of the Councils was broadened by the authority of moving resolutions and asking supplementary questions. The resolutions were expressed as recommendations to the executive government and the legislative division votes could also be held on the budget and other resolutions on matters of general importance. The right to ask supplementary questions served the purpose of an inquest into the affairs of the government.33 Lastly, it would be fair to say that the Morley-Minto Reforms constituted a decided step forward in the constitutional evolution of British India.34
The most controversial measure introduced by the Morley-Minto Reforms was the separate electorate for the Muslims; in addition to the general unrest in the country, Lord Minto had to face the discontent among the Muslims in India. The main grievance of this community was their inadequate representation in the legislative councils under the 1892 Reforms.35 The Muslims constituted about 23 % of the total population, but the percentage of the “elected” Muslim members from 1893 to 1903 was only 12 %. A similar ← 7 | 8 → anomaly existed also in the Provinces: in Bengal the Muslims constituted nearly 52 % of the population, but only 5·7 % of the elected representatives were Muslims.36 Perhaps it was the failure of the Muslims to get adequate representation in the Councils that caused frustration or distrust about the vast Hindu majority in India. On October 1, 1906, a Muslim deputation under the leadership of Aga Khan met the Viceroy and demanded a separate electorate for the Muslims and ultimately that was granted”37 which raised a vehement criticism by the Hindu leaders of the Congress as well as the Hindu elite of the Indian civil society.
An excellent review of the working of the Morley-Minto Councils given in the M/C Report is summarized under the following heads.38 Firstly, the franchise was exceptionally restricted and as such it failed to give adequate political training to a larger segment of the population. Secondly, the elected members were predominantly lawyers. Thirdly, the official bloc that maintained its characteristic rigidity caused irritation to the non-official Indians. Fourthly, the presence of a very small number of elected members contributed to the “unreality in the proceedings.” Fifthly, the Indian Legislative Council showed an apparent lack of interest in legislative business: over a stretch of eight years, 1910–17, the Council passed 131 laws of which no fewer than 77 or 59 % were passed without any discussion whatsoever. Sixthly, the privilege of asking questions and moving resolutions was more frequently used; while the number of resolutions moved from 1909 to 1917 was 168, only 24 were accepted by the Government. Seventhly, the elected and nominated Indian members developed a certain amount of common outlook on all major issues. Lastly, for the first time the Indians were admitted as members of the Executive Councils at the centre and the provinces.
The chief contribution of the Morley-Minto Councils was the parliamentary experience that the Indian members gathered from the process.39 Evidently, the quality of speeches in the Councils improved; there was less reading of manuscripts prepared earlier without any reference to the actual debates and there was less repetition of points and the non-officials were on the whole precise in their speeches. In the old Councils, members made their speeches sitting, but the Morley-Minto Councils changed the rules requiring the members to stand up to make any speech. Under the Rules of the Imperial Legislative Council (1862–1920), the President could suspend any of the rules and procedures to expedite the passage of a Bill. But this power was less frequently exercised under the 1909 Reforms; by and large more discussion of legislative Bills was possible. The non-official members also showed a great ← 8 | 9 → eagerness to discuss measures of technical importance; however, the legislative record of nearly 59 % of the Bills passed without discussion was unimpressive. But that figure ignored the fact that a lot of discussion was also