Nehru Report

The Nehru Report of 1928 was a memorandum from the All Parties Conference in British India to appeal for a new dominion status and a federal set-up of government for the constitution of India. It also proposed for the Joint Electorates with reservation of seats for minorities in the legislatures. It was prepared by a committee chaired by Motilal Nehru, with Jawaharlal Nehru acting as the secretary. There were nine other members in the committee. The final report was signed by Motilal Nehru and Jawaharlal Nehru, Ali Imam, Tej Bahadur Sapru, Madhav Shrihari Aney, Mangal Singh, Shuaib Qureshi, Subhas Chandra Bose, and G. R. Pradhan.

Quotes

• The Nehru Report, representing as it did the highest common denominator among a number of heterogeneous Parties was based on the assumption that the new Indian Constitution would be based on Dominion Status. This was regarded as a climb-down by a radical wing in the Congress led by Subhash Bose and Motilal's own son who founded the "Independence for India League". The Calcutta Congress (December 1928) over which Motilal presided was the scene of a head-on clash between those who were prepared to accept Dominion Status and those who would have nothing short of complete independence. A split was averted by a via media proposed by Gandhiji, according to which if Britain did not concede Dominion Status within a year, the Congress was to demand complete independence and to fight for it, if necessary, by launching civil disobedience.
  • M. K. Singh - Encyclopaedia of Indian War of Independence 1857-1947, Vol. 13. Gandhi Era, Mahatma Gandhi and National Movement

• The Concise History of the Indian National Congress, 1885- 1985 records: Although the Nehru Report was a document which dealt with the crucial issues of contemporary politics with catholicity and vision, its specific proposals failed to win the approval of some significant sections of society in India. Soon after the Report was issued, the leaders of the Congress met in Calcutta in December 1928, to discuss its provisions. The Muslim leaders present at the Calcutta meeting felt that, in view of the plural character of society in India, some of the provisions of the Nehru Report - particularly those recommending a unitary constitution, and the abrogation of communal electorates - would not be acceptable to their constituents. Indeed, in a conference held slightly later, in March 1929, the Muslim leaders presented a radically different prescription for the constitutional future of India. Such leaders envisaged a liberated India as a federal polity, wherein the minorities ,particularly the Muslim community, would protect their interests through the mechanism of separate electorates (Pande 1985: 153-154).
  • Concise History of the Indian National Congress, 1885- 1985 quoted from M. K. Singh - Encyclopaedia of Indian War of Independence 1857-1947, Vol. 13. Gandhi Era, Mahatma Gandhi and National Movement

See also

• Jawaharlal Nehru