How Much Do You Know About the Morley-Minto Reforms of 1909?

Indian Council Act (Morley-Minto Act) 1909: Features and Evaluation

• The Indian Council Act (Morley-Minto Act) 1909 was introduced to widen the scope of legislative councils, placate the demands of moderates in Indian National Congress, and increase the participation of Indians in governance.
• The Act was named after the Secretary of State for Indian Affairs Lord John Morley and the Viceroy Lord Minto.
• The Act amended the Indian Councils Acts of 1861 and 1892.
• The Shimla Deputation led by the Agha Khan demanded separate electorates for Muslims and representation in excess of their numerical strength in view of ‘the value of the contribution’ Muslims were making ‘to the defence of the empire’.
• The Muslim League, initially floated by Nawab Salimullah of Dacca, took over the Shimla Deputation and intended to preach loyalty to the empire and to keep the Muslim intelligentsia away from the Congress.
• The Act considerably increased the size of the legislative councils, both Central and provincial.
• The Act retained official majority in the Central Legislative Council but allowed the provincial legislative councils to have non-official majority.
• The Act introduced a system of communal representation for Muslims by accepting the concept of ‘separate electorate’.
• The Act ‘legalised communalism’ and Lord Minto came to be known as the Father of Communal Electorate.
• The reforms of 1909 aimed at dividing the nationalist ranks by confusing the Moderates and at checking the growth of unity among Indians through the obnoxious instrument of separate electorates.
• The officials and the Muslim leaders often talked of the entire community when they talked of the separate electorates, but in reality, it meant the appeasement of a small section of the Muslim elite only.
• The reforms of 1909 gave to the people of the country a shadow rather than substance and were aimed at maintaining relentless constitutional autocracy.