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PAKISTAN : NATIONAL FRUSTRATION
311
The Poona Pact between the Hindus and the Depressed Classes gave another spurt to the efforts to bring about unity. * During the months of November and December
1932 Muslims and Hindus did their best to come to some agreement. Muslims met in their All-Parties Conferences, Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs met in Unity Conferences. Proposals and counter-proposals were made but nothing came out of these negotiations to replace the Award by a Pact and they were in the end abandoned after the Committee had held 23 sittings.
Just as attempts were made to bring about unity on political questions, attempts were also made to bring about unity on social and religious questions such as:—
(1) Cow slaughter, (2) music before the Mosques and
(3) conversions over which differences existed. The first attempt in this direction was made in 1923 when the Indian National Pact was proposed. It failed. Mr. Gandhi was then in gaol. Mr. Gandhi was released from gaol on the 5th February 1924. Stunned by the destruction of his work for Hindu-Muslim unity, Mr. Gandhi decided to go on a twenty-one days’ fast, holding himself morally responsible for the murderous riots that had taken place between Hindus and Muslims. Advantage was taken of the fast to gather leading Indians of all communities at a Unity Conference,† which was attended also by the Metropolitan of Calcutta. The Conference held prolonged sittings from September
26th to October 2nd, 1924. The members of the Conference pledged themselves to use their utmost endeavours to enforce the principles of freedom of conscience and religion and condemn any deviation from them even under provocation. A Central National Panchayet was appointed with Mr. Gandhi as the chairman. The Conference laid down certain fundamental rights relating to liberty of holding and expressing religious beliefs and following religious practices, sacredness of places of worship, cow slaughter, and music before mosques, with a statement of the limitations they must be subject to. This Unity Conference did not produce peace between the two communities. It only produced a
*For an account of these efforts, see the Indian Quarterly Register, 1932, Vol. II, p. 296 et seq.
† Pattabhi Sitarammaya— History of the Congress, p. 532.