Notes of Formation of Muslim League 1906

Following are the reasons for the establishment of Muslim league.

1. Indifferent Attitude of the Congress towards Muslims: All India National

Congress was a pre-dominantly Hindu body. Its interests were always at odds ends
to those of the Muslims. By 1906, Muslim leaders were convinced that they must
have their own party which may speak for the community on all important occasions.

2. Educational and Economic Backwardness: Muslims had lagged far behind from
the Hindus in education and economic progress. Educational and economic
conditions could only be up graded by establishing a separate Muslims organization
that could represent the wishes of the Muslims.

3. Urdu-Hindi Controversy: The Urdu-Hindu controversy began with the demand of

Hindus to replace Urdu by Hindi as official language in Deva Nagari Script. Sir
Anthony Macdonal, the then Governor of UP ousted Urdu from public offices.
Congress clearly sided with Hindi and supported the movement against Urdu and
there was no other political party to support Urdu. Thus, the need of formation of a
Muslim political party was felt severely.

4. The Evolution of Minto Marley Reforms: The turning point came in the summer
of 1906 during John Morley’s budget speech, in which he hinted of constitutional
reforms. At that time Muslims did not have a political platform to demand their
share. It was reasserted that they wanted a separate political platform.

5. The Success of Simla Deputation: Minto offered fullest sympathy to the Muslim
demands. The success of Deputation compelled the Muslims to have a separate
political association of their own.

6. To Save Muslim Entity: The belief uttered by sir Syed Ahmed Khan that the
Muslims were somehow a separate entity. The Muslims did not believe that Hindus
and Muslims formed one nation. They were different by religion, history, languages
and civilization. It became essential for Muslims to establish a political party of their
own.

A resolution to form the All India Muslim League was passed by Nawab Salimullah
Khan and was seconded by Hakim Ajmal Khan, Maulana Muhammad Ali and
Moulana Zafar Ali. The resolution was passed by All India Educational Conference
on 30th December 1906. A committee was formed to prepare its draft constitution.
Sir Agha Khan was appointed as President and Syed Hassan Balgrami was appointed
as secretary, while Nawab Mohsim-ul-Mulk and Nawab Viqar-ul-Mulk were made
joint secretaries with six Vice- Presidents, a Central Committee with forty Members
was also constituted. In this way Muslim league was established and become the
sole representative of Muslims.

Knowing the circumstances which led to the formation of Muslim league was not
difficult to make out what it aimed to. However, the Muslim league laid the
following points as its objectives.

 To create among Muslims the feelings of loyalty towards British Government

and to remove misconception and suspicious.
2. To Safeguard the political rights of the Muslims and to bring them into the
notice of the Government.
3. To prevent among the Muslims, the rise of prejudicial feelings against the
other communities of India.

The first session of all India Muslim league was held at Karachi on 29th December,
1907 and was presided over by Adamji Peer Bhai.

It was being felt from the beginning that the All India Muslim League would not
achieve considerable success without winning the British Public opinion to its side.
Therefore, Syed Ameer Ali organized the branch of Muslim league at London. The
inaugural meeting was held on 6th May 1908, at London Caxton Hall. It was
participated by the Muslim and those British people who favoured their view point.

Production Task:

Qa) Describe the aims of the All-India Muslim League.? [4]

M/J 2023

Morley-Minto Reforms is one of the most notable ordinances that have been passed
by the British Parliament so far. It was named after the then Secretary of State for
India, Lord Morley, and the then Viceroy of India, Lord Minto. Both of them
introduced various absolute and supreme modifications in the system.
Morley-Minto Reforms were majorly an amendment to the Indian council acts of
1861 and 1862. It aimed at appeasing the moderates of the congress. Further, it
also aspired to increase the participation of Indians in the legislative council. The
most notable feature of this act is the introduction of the concept of a separate
electorate under this Act.
 Morley-Minto Reforms introduced the concept of elections for the Indians who
could now vote as well, but that too was dependent on the tax that the person pays
to the government. Apart from that, the separate electorate for Muslims created a
feeling of resentment in the Hindus and the people other than that.

What were the main provisions of the Morley-Minto reforms?

 With the Morley-Minto Act, there was an increase in the size of the legislative
councils at both the center and the provincial levels. On one hand, the number of
members that were there in the Central legislative councils changed from 16 to 60.
On the other hand, in the case of provincial councils, the number varied from
province to province.
 Official majority was retained for the Central Legislative Council, but the
provincial councils had only a non-official majority in their work.
 The parts and functions of the legislative councils were enlarged at both the central
and the provincial levels. The council could now ask queries, pass resolutions, ask
additional questions and vote for separate items for the budget of the country.
 Indians were now made associated with the executive councils of the state.
Notably, Satyendra Prasad Sinha was the first Indian who was nominated
and appointed under the Viceroy’s Executive Council as a law member.
 The concept of communal representation was introduced by the British
rulers under this act where they introduced a separate electorate for the
Muslims. In this way, Britishers sowed the seeds of communalism in India
whose fruit we can see as Pakistan today. This is why Lord Minto is referred
to as the Father of Communal Electorate today.
 The Morley-Minto Reforms also paved the direction for the independent
representation of the chamber of commerce, the presidency corporations,
zamindars and universities.

What is the Background of the Indian Council Act of 1909?

The Indian Council Act of 1892 failed to fulfill the necessary intentions of the
Indian National Congress. Queen Victoria too didn’t stand up to the expectations
of the people of India, as her promise of providing an equal chance to the Indians
didn’t go well. Indeed, Indians got an opportunity but it was only of a limited
extent in nature.
It was also noted by the Indian National Congress that various difficulties were
faced by the Indians to enter various governmental posts. So, in the context of this,
the Indian National Congress asked and urged an increase in the number of Indians
in the legislative council and should have a role on how things should work in their
country.

Side by Side, the expansion of the extremists presented dangers for the moderates.
So, reforms were required to placate the moderates. After all, that was going on in
the country, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, on the behalf of INC, visited Lord Morley
and made a plea for the prelude of self-government in the country. Muslims too
visited the then Viceroy of India, Lord Minto, to discuss separate electorates for
the Muslims of India. So, Morley and Minto decided to bring in some reforms in
the country with the help of Morley-Minto Reforms.

Conclusion
Even if there was improvement up to a certain extent in the increased participation
of the Indians in the legislative council, the act still has numerous flaws in it. One
of the most notable is the communal representation, which we can even see in
today’s time as well.

The process of a Separate electorate relieved the Muslims but weakened the Indian
National Movement. As a result, we were able to see the outcomes of this system
with the division of the country based on communal lines. Apart from that,
Morley-Minto Reforms too failed to bring the system of self-government.

Production Task:
Qb)Explain why the Congress Party oppose Morley-Minto Reforms of 1909?(7)
O/N 2021