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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
TELEC.O. 882/11
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE. LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
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Governor and 34 elected Members, 23 of the 34 were to represent territorial con- stituencies. There were to be three European Urban, Rural, and Commercial Members, 2 Members for the Burghers, 2 for the Indians, 3 for the Muslim com- The minority com- munity, and 1 for the Ceylon Tamils in the Western Province. munities, apart from the fact that special communal electorates had been created for them, were also incorporated in the general territorial electorate.
5. Up to the time of the inauguration of the present Constitution, it was felt by all bodies that a system of communal representation was necessary for the smooth working of the government of the Island.
The various deputations that presented themselves before the Donoughmore Commission were insistent in their demands for communal representation, and even the Ceylon National Congress, though opposed to communal representation on prin- ciple, admitted the necessity for the retention of the then existing communal elec-
torates.
His Grace the Duke of Devonshire in his despatch of the 11th January, 1923, to Sir William Manning, the then Governor, stated:-
"I am in accord with the opinion expressed by you that in view of the existing conditions and of the grouping of population in the Colony, representa- tion must for an indefinite period be, in fact, communal whatever the arrange- ment of the constituencies may be, and that if all elected members were in form returned by territorial constituencies they would, none the less, be in sub- stance communal representatives. It appears to me to be clearly established that in Ceylon the organization of Society is communal, and that if this fact is not clearly expressed one of the essential considerations on which my decision must be based might be obscured.
"It is also clear that the principle is generally accepted in Ceylon that the time has not come for the creation of a system under which all elected members of the Legislative Council should be returned by territorial constituencies. Under such a system, communities which, besides being considerable in number, play an important part in the political, economic, and social life of the Colony would run serious danger of either not being represented at all or of being most inadequately represented."
Again in his despatch of the 22nd January, 1924, His Grace stated:-
"So long as the several communities in Ceylon remain convinced, as they appear now to be, of the divergency of their interests in many important matters so long must some provision be made for the maintenance of communal repre- sentation in the Legislative Council."
6. These, then, were the views regarding the communal question entertained, and rightly entertained, both by the Government and by the different communities in the Island up to the advent of the Donoughmore Commission. Since then there has been no alteration in the circumstances to warrant a change of viewpoint. But in spite of this the Donoughmore Commission recommended the total abolition of the communal representative system on the score that that system tended to perpetuate and increase racial animosity, and that its retention would not be conducive to the best interests of the body politic.
On the contrary, Your Lordship's Memorialists beg to submit, as long as the system of communal representation was adhered to, the fears and suspicions of the minority communities were allayed, and the machinery of government ran smoothly. The abolition of this salutary system by a Legislative Act has resulted in the rousing up and intensifying of communal rancour. Ünder a constitution which provided for communal representation the welfare of the country would not be prejudiced, and testimony is borne to this fact in the report of the Governor, who, speaking of the Constitution of 1910 which had provided for communal representation, said that it was a harmonious and efficient instrument for giving effect to the measures neces- sary for the good government and progress of Ceylon.
The Muslim community yields to none in its desire to promote the best interests and welfare of this country. The retention of communal representation will in no way jeopardize the country's cause. Communal feeling itself would naturally die out if opportunities are given to representatives of different communities to meet together on terms of equal fellowship in the guidance of the affairs of this country. The sinking. of racial prejudices must necessarily be the outcome of concerted action directed towards the common object, the prosperity and welfare of the country.
7. Under the present system of election on a territorial basis such opportunities are denied to the Muslim community. Scattered as they are all over the Island, in no electoral district do the Muslims form a majority.
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The case of the Muslims under these circumstances is clearly and truthfully portrayed in the despatch on the new Constitution sent to the Secretary of State by Sir Herbert Stanley, the last Governor. He states :—
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The abolition of communal representation, however, is the proposal which has caused the greatest local difficulty. The Singhalese are very ready to accept it, but they are the one community which has gained nothing and might be liable to lose something by the retention of communal representatives in a territorially
elected council.
To the Muslims and the Burghers communal representation presents itself almost as their only assured safeguard against the risk of political submersion. Probably, though not certainly, one of the new constituencies in the Eastern Province would contain a clear majority of Muslim voters. These would be Ceylon Moors. Elsewhere the Muslims, whether Ceylon Moors or Ceylon Malays, must expect, in view of their geographical distribution, to be outnumbered by the other communities.
**But nobody can be in a position to give a binding pledge that in any constituency communal sentiment might not turn the scale, and to the extent of that uncertainty, therefore, the electoral prospects of Muslims, Burghers, and Europeans must necessarily be hazardous.
The possibility remains that, except in the one probable Muslim con- stituency in the Eastern Province, Muslims, Burghers and Europeans might find themselves unable to enter the State Council, otherwise than through the avenue of nomination by the Governor. That is a contingency to which the Europeans are prepared to resign themselves, but the thought of it is distressing to both Muslims and Burghers. Ceylon is their only home, and it would be hard indeed if they and their descendants were to be denied reasonable hope of a political career in their own country. They would see in the Governor's nomination, even if its exercise in their favour could be guaranteed, a palliative rather than a remedy. As Ceylonese they would not wish to be differentiated from other Ceylonese Members of Council, and perhaps to be handicapped in an eventual ambition for political office by any questioning of the representative quality of their membership.
"I should have been very glad, however, if some means of reassuring them could have been devised.
I am fully conscious of the strength of the
feeling against abolition, and I do not regard that feeling as factitious or negligible."
8. The worst fears entertained by the Governor as to the intensifying of com- munal feeling by the wide extension of the franchise have been realized during the course of the last General Elections which were fought on a purely communal basis. If a Muslim has succeeded in obtaining a place in the Eastern Province, as the Governor surmised might happen, it is due to the fact that the majority of voters who had registered their votes were Muslims in a constituency when actually in point of view of population the non-Muslims were in a majority. In the only other con- stituency which a Muslim contested, and in which Muslims command a great deal of influence the communal feeling was so greatly intensified among the newly enfraz- chised that in spite of the personal popularity of the Muslim candidate in that elec- torate, and in spite of the fact that he had been regarded as a man who had identified himself with all movements conducive to the best interests of the country as a whole, he was defeated by the candidate whose community formed the majority in that electorate.
9. The position of the Muslims, therefore, is very hazardous. A community numbering 350,000 approximately, one of the richest in point of view of vested interest, which by its energy and enterprise has contributed so largely to the material prosperity of this country, is threatened with political extinction. Its peculiar interests would be left unguarded. That such interests exist cannot be denied. Its social customs, so different from those of other communities and its religious laws could be best appreciated and explained only by Muslims. The body of Muslim law itself, hased as it is partly on the customs of the people, is in a state of flux, and necessitates the presence of Muslim Members in council for the purpose of elucidation and codification.
10. The grant of universal suffrage postulates equal opportunities to all classes and communities. Your Memorialists feel that such opportunities would be denied to the Muslim community by the absence of provisions to ensure its representation by Muslim Members. Had the Muslims been concentrated in one part of the Island