The Delhi Proposals, Simon Commission, Nehru Report and Jinnah's Fourteen Points, 1927-1929

O Level Pakistan Studies History · The emergence of Pakistan: 1905 to 1939. A short explanation of the idea, the rules to remember, the mistake to avoid, a worked example and practice questions with answers.

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The idea

These years decided whether the Congress and the Muslim League could agree on a future constitution. In the Delhi Proposals of 1927 Jinnah made a bold offer: Muslims would give up separate electorates if certain conditions were met.

Britain then sent the Simon Commission, with no Indian member, to review the 1919 reforms. Most parties boycotted it and Indians tried to write their own constitution. The result, the Nehru Report of 1928, ignored Muslim demands.

When Jinnah's amendments were rejected he called it 'the parting of the ways' and in 1929 set out the Muslim position in his Fourteen Points.

Rules to remember

Common mistake

A common slip is to say the Fourteen Points offered to drop separate electorates. That was the Delhi Proposals of 1927. The Fourteen Points of 1929 demanded that separate electorates stay.

Worked example

A document says Muslims 'will accept joint electorates, provided Sindh is made a separate province'. Is it from the Delhi Proposals, the Nehru Report or the Fourteen Points?

  1. The Nehru Report wanted joint electorates but was not a Muslim offer, and it set no such Muslim condition.
  2. The Fourteen Points asked for Sindh to be separated but kept separate electorates.
  3. Only the Delhi Proposals joined the two: joint electorates accepted in exchange for conditions such as a separate Sindh.

Answer: The Delhi Proposals of 1927.

Practice questions

Try each one, then open the answer.

1. What did the Nehru Report (1928) propose about electorates?

  1. A
    separate electorates for every minority group
  2. B
    one-third of central seats elected by Muslims only
  3. C
    election of members by the provincial assemblies
  4. D
    joint electorates, with separate ones abolished
Show answer

Answer: D. The report dropped separate electorates, going back on the Lucknow Pact of 1916.

2. Why did most Muslim leaders reject the Nehru Report?

  1. A
    it demanded complete independence instead of dominion status
  2. B
    it handed control of the Punjab to the Sikh community
  3. C
    it dropped separate electorates and proposed a strong centre
  4. D
    it made Urdu the only national language of India
Show answer

Answer: C. The report asked for dominion status, rejected one-third Muslim representation and put residuary powers at the centre, leaving Muslims fearing Hindu domination.

3. What were the Hindu Shuddhi and Sangathan movements of the 1920s?

  1. A
    Muslim campaigns for the return of separate electorates
  2. B
    Congress schemes to boycott British cloth and courts
  3. C
    campaigns of reconversion and community organisation
  4. D
    British plans to recruit more soldiers in the Punjab
Show answer

Answer: C. They raised communal tension; Muslims answered with Tabligh and Tanzim, adding to the riots that followed the collapse of Khilafat unity.

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