The Raj’s answer to the scheme’s abuse was the Colonisation Bill of 1906, which empowered the provincial government to enforce its conditions of tenure in colony lands by summary or executive process, i.e. without initiating proceedings in civil courts. An uproar resulted. Throughout 1907, the Bill was assailed in a number of meetings held in the colonies and in Punjab’s journals, including the Tribune and the Zamindar of Lahore. Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus seemed united in their criticism.
