SIMLA: It is understood that Mr. Jinnah has communicated to the Viceroy the Muslim League Working Committee’s unanimous decision decli­n­ing to submit a panel on the ground that the assurances asked for by the League had not been given … While the strictest secrecy is being maintained regarding the contents of the correspondence between the League President and the Viceroy… lobby talks indicate that the Lea­gue Working Committee had demanded assurances and clarifications on the following three points:-

(1) The right of the Muslim League as the authoritative and representative organisation of the Muslims of India to choose the entire Muslim bloc on the new Executive Council should be recognised.

(2) The League should have a clear indication of the total strength and composition of the new Executive Council and the proportion of representation to be accorded to other minorities in relation to the Muslims.

(3) That the Viceroy should give an assurance that he would overrule the majority decision of the Council in case such a decision is opposed by the Muslim bloc on the ground of adversely affecting the Muslim community.

… [I]t is gathered that the Viceroy said that he could give no such categorical assurance.

Published in Dawn, July 10th, 2020