In August 1924, Punjab’s chief secretary wrote gratifyingly of ‘the speed’ with which the Montford Scheme’s working had ‘drive[n] the two main communities into open dissension’ and ‘urban and rural interests’ into ‘antagonism’.5 The chief secretary’s appraisal was spectacularly confirmed by Lajpat Rai, by this time a member of the Central Assembly. Writing a series of articles in the Tribune (November and December 1924), Rai argued that since Punjabi Muslims were unwilling to grant weightage to Hindus and Sikhs, Punjab should be partitioned into Muslim-majority and Hindu-majority portions. (He
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