INDIAN MOHAMMEDANS AND LORD MORLEY'S REFORMS.
[To THE EDITOR Or THE SPECTATOR."]
Sum,—The last sentence of the interesting article on this subject which appeared in your iesue of January 30th runs :
" The British people must take into account the true facts, and all the facts." Unfortunately not all the facts lately supplied to the British people are true, while many important facts have been suppressed.
The All-India Moslem League and his Highness Aga Khan still speak of Indian Mohammedans as a race. Two years ago you were good euough to publish a letter in which I showed from the Census that there were Mohammedans in every country in India and of almost every race. In a sense there is a Mohammedan community. Mohammedans in India have a common religion (not so common as is generally supposed). They have nothing else in common.
The All-India Moslem League professes to represent Moham- medan political opheion. The British people must not take this literally. Most Mohannuedans have no political opinions. The few who have generally share the various opinions of the mass of the people among whom they live. Syud Ameer All naively fears that Hindus will elect Mohammedans whose opinions are those of a minority of his co-religionists.
You yourself say the Mohammedans represent "the conquest before last." But, as I showed in my letter above referred to, the Mohammedans of to-day are mostly the descendants of conquered converts.
Is there necessarily any question of Mohammedans versus Hindus in India P Mr. S. M. Mitre in a recent number of the Pall Mall Gazette shows how amicably matters between the two creeds are arranged in the Nizam's dominions, where the people are Hindu and the Government is Mohammedan. In the native State of Kashmir a Hindu Government rules over a Mohammedan people. Under the Moguls Hindus occupied positions in which they ruled over Mohammedans. We have continued the precedent set us by the Moguls, not without success.
But the climax of misrepresentation is reached when the Mohammedans are represented as belonging to the martial races of India. Theta are Mohammedan Rajpirts and Juts, and the Pathans are almost all Mohammedarse ; but there are twenty-seven millions of Mohammedan Bengali, a most unmartial people. Generally it was the less martial races who attorned to Mohammedanism. Among that curiously martial race of Southern India, the Mahrattas, there are few Molisenmedans. Lately the Bombay Mohammedans have claimed that the "gatekeepers of India" are of their per- suasion. It would be more correct to say that the gate- breakers are Mohammedans and the gatekeepers Hindus and Sikhs.
We inn great danger if we ignore caste and race preju- dices, whether Hindu or Mohammedan. We run great danger if we put aside representatives of Indian opinion, whether Hindu or Mohammedan, in favour of representatives of non-Indian opiniou, whether Hindu or Mohammedan. With so many race difficulties on our hands, we need not. foster religious difficulties.—I am, Sir, &c.,
OLD LIBERAL.
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