The Bogey Of Muslim Reservation

The Bogey Of Muslim Reservation

Posted in Dalit / Trivals, Dalit Movement, Dalit Situation, Dalit/OBC Reservation in Private Sectors on May 5, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

SACHAR COMMITTEE REPORT

There have been demands for the entire Muslim community to be categorized as a backward class, ignoring the internal differences among Muslims — exactly what the report probes by looking at the question of caste, which has long being dismissed by elite Muslims.

Arshad Alam

One of the important ways in which democracy is measured has to do with ways in which democratic societies treat their minorities. The democratic index of any society therefore, should not only encapsulate legal protection of minority rights but should also enable those conditions that facilitate the participation of minorities in public life. The Sachar Committee Report is one such document, which highlights that the Indian state has not kept its promise to its largest minority, the Muslims.

This is certainly not the only or the first instance when the Indian state has been reminded of dereliction of its duty towards Muslims. The Gopal Singh Committee Report, 1983, and the findings of the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) from 1990s onwards have been grim reminders of the educational and economic conditions of Indian Muslims. Only time will tell if the Sachar Report will meet the same shelved fate as the Gopal Singh Report did.

However, given the enormous interest that this report generated in both the media and the public at large, one hopes that some policy decisions will be made on the basis of the report once the new government is sworn in. We saw some action through the PM’s fifteen-point program for minorities, the establishment of Ministry of Minority Affairs and talk of separate budgetary allocations for Muslims. Without sounding cynical, one hopes that such newfound sensitivity of the government outlasts the election results.

However, it is disconcerting to note that much of the debate since the publication of the Report has made the case that ‘Muslims as a whole’ are a marginalized community. In other words, the debate about the ‘Muslim condition in India’ has neglected the state of internal differences among the Indian Muslims. As a result, the debate on Sachar Committee has been silent about internal inequality among Muslims and consequently about the unequal access of various Muslim castes and classes to the state’s resources.

This debate has been adequately matched by a demand for Muslim reservation by a section of Muslim leadership. They argue that the data provided by the Sachar Report qualifies the entire Muslim community to be categorized as a backward class. It follows from this argument that, as has been the practice for ameliorating the socio-economic conditions of backward classes, a certain percentage be earmarked for Muslims in the state’s resources. Largely coming from upper caste Muslims, this demand is hardly new. Similar demands have been heard before even in the 1990s. The publication of the Sachar Committee Report has seen renewed articulation of these demands.

What is, however, different now is that the considerable media interest that the Report generated has created favourable conditions for widespread, and often sympathetic, dissemination of such a Muslim demand for a separate quota. Also the demand during the 1990s did not have any sound empirical study to back up the assertion of Muslim backwardness. Today, those who demand Muslim reservations have something to wave in their hands. They claim that Sachar Report has only confirmed what they had known for long.

A closer look at the Sachar Report, however, tells another story altogether. In fact the Sachar Report is one of the few documents which has brought out the internal differences within the Indian Muslims in much detail. The data presented in the Report resists any attempt to homogenize the Muslims as one backward mass of people. Rather, it points out that sociologically Muslims are varied and that there are layers of marginalisation within the Muslim society.

One of the important dimensions along which Sachar Report probes the internal differences among Muslims is by looking at the question of caste, which has long being dismissed by elite Muslims as alien to Muslims despite increasing sociological evidence to the contrary. It is interesting to look at the findings of Sachar Committee on caste differences among Muslims and what it means to their location in the economic and educational sector.

The Report distinguishes four caste groups within the Indian Muslims:

* Those claiming foreign descent such as the Saiyyids, Sheikhs, Pathans and Mughals
* Those Muslims who are converts from the high caste Hindus
* The middle caste converts whose occupation are considered ritually clean and
* The converts from the erstwhile untouchable castes.

The Report then collapses these four divisions in two categories:

* The Ashrafs and
* The Ajlafs.

Ashrafs, which means ‘noble’, includes all Muslims who claim to be of foreign descent. It also includes converts from high caste Hindus. They are the upper caste Muslims in India.

The second category of Ajlafs, meaning degraded, comprises of ‘ritually clean’ occupational groups and low caste Hindu converts to Islam. They are the low Muslim castes of Ansaris, Butchers, etc and primarily make up the bulk of Muslim OBCs.

(It must be mentioned here that the Report, following the Census of 1901, also talks of another Muslim category called Arjal (which means of no use), who are coverts to Islam from ex-untouchable castes but still continue to follow ‘unclean’ occupations. However, for the purpose of analysis and also because the population of Arjal Muslims is very low, the Report clubs it together with the Ajlafs.)

Chapter X of the Sachar Report gives the position of Muslim OBCs and compares its socio-economic profile with that of the upper caste Muslims or General Muslims. Let us look at some of the comparative findings:

Education: The literacy rate of Muslim OBC is 62 percent, which compares unfavourably with General Muslims at 66 percent and Hindu OBC at 65 percent. Thus there are more number of illiterates within the Muslim OBC category as compared to the other two. Similarly General Muslims by far outnumber Muslim OBCs in terms of access to higher education.

Employment and Economy: 9.2 percent Muslim OBCs are unemployed as compared 7.7 percent of General Muslims and 7.5 percent Hindu OBCs, thus making it the highest category in terms of unemployment. In both rural and urban areas, unemployment rate is highest for Muslim OBC. In terms of their respective shares in formal sector, the Muslim OBCs are at a mere 3.4 percent, while General Muslim are at 6percent in rural areas. For the urban areas the figures read 3.5 percent and 7 percent respectively. The marginalized situation of Muslim OBCs is also reflected in the fact that a much smaller proportion of worker in this category are engaged in regular wage/salaried jobs, especially in the urban areas. Thus while only 20.4 percent Muslim OBCs are employed in regular wage/salaried jobs, the figures for General Muslims are 31.2 percent and it is 36.4 percent for Hindu OBCs. It is noteworthy that Muslim OBC employees receive salaries that are significantly lower than General Muslims and Hindu OBC. The Report also points out that Muslim OBCs are poorer than General Muslims and that their monthly per capita expenditure is the least among all the three categories. Moreover, within the Muslims, a larger percentage of Muslim OBCs fall in the low-income category as compared to General Muslims.

Representation: In public employment, except for central security agencies, Muslim OBCs lag behind General Muslims and Hindu OBCs. Thus in Railways there are 4.5 percent General Muslims as compared to mere 0.4 percent Muslim OBCs. In Central Public Sector Undertakings, Muslim OBCs similarly have a meager presence of 0.6 percent while General Muslims comprise 2.7 percent of the workforce. And in universities, in both teaching and non-teaching staff the General Muslims are far ahead than OBC Muslims. Poor representation of Muslims in public employment has been touted as one of the main reasons for demanding Muslim reservation. It is important to recognize, however, that Muslim OBCs are much more marginalized than the General Muslims. Moreover, as the Report itself points out, it is not just Muslims, but even Hindu OBCs are under-represented, although it rightly points out that Muslim OBCs are nearly absent from the higher echelons of public services.

The above facts culled from the Report makes it amply clear that there are different levels of marginalization within the Muslim community. Muslim OBCs are much more marginalized as compared to General Muslims as well Hindu OBCs. But the extent of Muslim OBC deprivation is perhaps not fully captured by the Sachar Report due to its own methodological limitations. According to the Report, based on 61st round of NSS survey, Muslim OBCs account for 41 percent of the total Muslim population while General Muslims are 51 percent. However, this cannot be considered accurate since the Report itself makes it clear the above calculation is based on self reporting data and hence is contingent upon a number of factors, more importantly on the self perception of the respondent. It is for this reason that the percentage of OBCs has fluctuated from 32 percent in 1999-2000 to the present level of 41 percent in 2004.

There are some genuine problems with this figure of 41 percent. For one it is nearly 10 percent short of the Mandal Commission estimate. Moreover, if one looks closely at the tables provided by the Sachar Report, it is clear that in two states having considerable Muslim population — Bengal and Assam — the OBC Muslim population is only 3 percent of the states’ total Muslim population. This is simply inconceivable. Let’s take the case of Bengal as an example. Studies have shown that Muslim presence in this region has been a result of conversions from low caste Hindus. Over a period of time, the process of Ashrafization, akin to Sanskritization among Hindus, has seen many of these low Muslim castes taking on caste titles of upper Muslim castes. The most common group to which Ashrafizing low Muslim castes joined was the Sheikhs, making this social category very numerous and fluid. Thus in the Census of 1872, the total Muslim population of Bengal was 17.6 million, out of which only 232,189 were returned as Sheikhs. However, by 1901, out of a total Muslim population of over 21.5 million, 19.5 million were returned as Sheikhs! Partly due to the way the upper caste Muslims have been defined in the Sachar Report, the caste of Sheikhs has been included among the category called General Muslims. This means that numerous low caste Muslims are treated in the Report as belonging to upper caste or General Muslim category. It is for this reason that OBC Muslims in Bengal constitute only 3 percent of Muslim population while in reality they would constitute the overwhelming majority of Muslim population in Bengal.

And this is not the case in Bengal alone. Sociological common sense regards that lower caste Muslims or the Ajlafs constitute roughly 75-80 percent of the total Muslim population in India, an estimate which is also backed by various OBC organizations

Now with this ratio in mind, if we revisit the data provided by the Sachar Report, it becomes clear that the deprivation levels of Muslim OBCs far exceed that compiled by Sachar Report. Thus with this ratio in mind, poverty, unemployment, etc will be more acute for the lower caste Muslims. And this is just one aspect of the problem. The other is that the category of General Muslims will not appear as under-represented and deprived as it is made out to be by some Muslim intellectuals and politicians. If one computes the Ajlaf-Ashraf distribution at the ratio of 80:20 percent, then the Ashrafs/General Muslims would roughly comprise 4.5 percent of the population of the country. And it becomes amply clear that in terms of representation in public sector etc., they are not as marginalized as they appear at first sight in the Report. The real story of Sachar Report then is not that Muslims as a whole are marginalized but that OBC Muslims are the most deprived and under-represented category when compared to Hindu OBCs and General Muslims.

Ironically enough then, the Report which is one of the few documents which brings out internal caste differentiation among Indian Muslims, is being cited to bolster claims of Muslim reservation. Primarily driven by the Ashraf elite, such a demand of Muslim reservation rests on bogus claims that hardly get substantiated through the data present in the Sachar Report. If the demand of Muslim reservation is met due to political exigencies, then a handful of well-placed Muslims will corner all the benefits to the detriment of Muslim OBCs. Moreover, there is a real danger that the gains that have accrued to certain OBC Muslim castes through their inclusion in the Mandal Commission list will be nullified in the long run.

The question then is: What can be done to ameliorate the conditions of low caste Muslims? It is a canard spread by the elite Muslims that being classified as OBCs hasn’t helped the lower caste Muslims at all. On the contrary, it is only through their inclusion in the OBC category that we are able to see even the marginal presence of Ajlaf Muslims in public representation. But there is a need to strengthen this process. The Sachar Report makes it amply clear that it is very difficult for Muslim OBCs to compete with their Hindu counterparts. According to their own estimates, Muslim OBCs comprise 15 percent of the total OBC population (although the percentage is much higher) of the country, which is nowhere reflected in terms of their representation. There is therefore an urgent need to think of strategies that may lead to the betterment of socio-economic conditions of the most deprived section of Muslims.

In terms of existing policy framework, two things can be done. The first is to do away with the existing anomalies in the OBC lists both at the Central and the state levels. According to the Sachar Report, there are a number of Muslim castes, which have not been included in the central list. For example in Madhya Pradesh, 10 Muslim castes have not been included in the Central OBC list, in Bihar 17 such castes have not been included and so on. Moreover, there are also various low Muslim castes whose names do not figure either in the central or the state list. In Gujarat, for example, the People of India project found 85 Muslim communities out of which 76 were non-Ashrafs. However, in the Central list only 22 have been included while in the state list only 27 groups are included. Similarly in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh there are a number of Ajlaf groups who have been left out of the purview of affirmative action. Inclusion of such groups will go a long way in ameliorating the present pitiable condition of Muslim OBCs.

The second measure, which should be pursued simultaneously with the first, should consider bi-furcating the Central OBC list into OBC and MBC (Most Backward Classes) category, as is the practice in many states like Bihar. After empirically verifying the extent of deprivation of particular Muslim castes within the overall OBC quota, they can be placed in the MBC list, thus giving them a more level playing field.

http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20090417&fname=arshad&sid=1&pn=4

Courtesy:
Mr Khalid Anis Ansari

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Join Hands for Dalit Muslims Movement

Posted in Dalit / Trivals, Dalit and World, Dalit Movement, Dalit Muslims, Dalit Situation,Dalit/OBC Reservation in Private Sectors on May 2, 2009 | 3 Comments »

Dear IDMV Members,

I would like to request you all to work on and help me out with the following matters:

1. We are trying to make a complete directory of contacts of those associated with Dalit /OBC Muslims issues for which we are looking for certain contact details as listed below, of Dalit/OBC Muslims writers, NGOs, Social workers working on Dalit cause specially Dalit Muslims :

i) Complete Mailing Address
ii) Telephone / mobile numbers
iii) Fax No.
iv) E-mail ids/ website Address

2) It will be appreciated if you can take effort in providing us with the details about several Books, Magazine and other Literature dealing with Dalit Muslims problems and the contact details of such writers and publications.

The idea is to have a collective source of all sorts of information that pertains to Dalit and poverty struck people with more emphasis on Dalit and Backward section of Muslim society so that the same resources can be circulated among us to share views, ideas, news and other information on a constructive day to day basis.

3) We created this blog www.dalitmuslims.com to stand as a voice against the atrocities of Upper caste and negligence of government towards the forgotten and secluded part of Muslim society.

Let us profusely and openhandedly contribute to this blog on all the cruelty and extremity carried on Dalit Muslims and the violation of Human rights and fundamental rights and discrimination meted out to poor and Dalit/OBC Muslims.

4) With all respect to everyone’s experience and intelligence, we would like to have your suggestions to evolve a common agenda (manifesto) for forming common policy and strategies for a much needed all round upliftment of Dalit Muslims.

5) Let us join our hands to work and strive for unity among all Dalits irrespective of their religion for a better and a more visible result.

Let us ensure that Dalit/Poverty stricken people of either caste, religion etc. are not exploited/ used and abused by the upper caste especially ruling caste people.

6) Political empowerment for Dalit Muslims/OBC Muslims is need of the hour. And for that to happen we have to ensure their representation in various Commission, Govt. Organization, and Various Muslim Organization.
Secular parties should be approached to give tickets to them so that their voices can be heard on a stronger note in the corridor of power. Emphasis should be given on due representation of Dalit Muslim in all respect and in all walk of life.

7) We have to together work hard and strive persistently for getting reservation for Dalit Muslim/ OBC Muslim separately. The Centre as well as State Govt. should be forced to amend constitution and pass legislation.

A clear and strong stand should be followed on the Reservation issue. Neither we should be confused and misguided nor should others be made to believe the false argument of Unity among Muslim against reservation for Dalits. It should be clear that the foundation of Unity does not exist at all when a major chunk of people suffer from socio-economic, educational and political backwardness. These issues are sensitive and should not be compromised on.

8) Reservation shall not be a long struggle, as it was till now provided all Dalit Muslim/OBC Muslim writers come on common platform accompanied by other Dalit (Hindu/ Buddhist/Christians) writers as all Dalits sail in the same boat of suffering and discrimination. So far the efforts and service of Dalit writers/ OBC writers have been very appreciative but we need to increase the pace.

9) There is an urgent need to form a Body forum to make sure that Dalit muslims/ OBC Muslims’ rights are not violated or ignored either by Society (upper caste) or by Governmental machinery. Dalit Muslim should have a Forum/platform to ventilate their grievance very loudly and effectively.

10) Since we are working for a noble cause which shall continue for ages together to attain completeness, let us also work for communal harmony, terrorism & left-wing extremism and all sort of violence as it’s our nation and us in the end to be affected by these entire disturbances.

11) We have to work hard to force all state Governments and Central Governments for formulating policies concerning Reservation to all Dalits, extended to all Dalits irrespective of their religious obligation. Hence, Dalit Muslim and Dalit Christian are included in the list too.

12) Reminding the State on a consistent basis on all the basic and fundamental rights denied to unfortunate Dalits like:

(1) Education
(2) Health
(3) Employment
(4) Right to live a dignified life.

All the faulty and favored policy for ruling/ upper caste should be disclosed in order to secure Dalis rights. Dalits have been marginalized by systematic discrimination and elimination. A great conspiracy has been done against all Dalit to deny justice to them.

13)We have to ensure happenings of programmes and policy on part of the Central as well as State Govt. for social and economic developments of Dalit Muslim / OBC Muslims. Which include their

(1) Education
(2) Health
(3) Livelihood
(4) Poverty alleviation
(5) Housing and other basic amenities by honestly implementing Govt. policy/ Plan meant for Dalit.

14) We have to really work hard for getting due representation of Dalit Muslim/ OBC Muslim in Police, Para-military force and Armed force and above all administration.

This will be a great help to nation, as this will strengthen our social fabric and as well as will act as an exercise towards building confidence among minorities.

15) We have to strive hard for forcing political parties to make comprehensive plan for implementation of recommendations of Sachar Committee and Shri Rangnath Mishra Commission report without any further delay. As we all know nothing concrete has been done so far by Govt. as far as these two committees reports are concerned.

16) We have to develop certain devices and mechanism to act as Watch-Dog on recruitment for jobs in all sort of organizations and subsequently end discrimination in this matter. Private Companies / Enterprises should be approached to provide due share to backward classes. An eye should also be kept on disbursement of various economic schemes to reach Dalit Muslim which is lacking so far.

17) Certain special plans should be chalked out to end educational backwardness of the Dalit Muslim/ OBC Muslim in particular and minority community in general.

18) There is a need to initiate a drive against all negative ‘ism’. Nepotism is one of the menaces to be fought especially in politics & Govt. job. They have to be fought for the benefit of all. We should device ways and means for this; your valuable suggestions in this regard will be very helpful.

19) We can take up corruption at large, as it is so rampant and pervasive in our society. Opinion is to be mobilized to take black money and money in foreign banks.

20) At present, in this socio-economic & political scenario, we have to inspire and motivate Dalit Muslim to believe that the panacea is hard work and good education. We have to forget and give up crying on our unending limitations like poverty and illiteracy rather we have to grab every possible opportunity or create them, if needed in order to survive in this struggle for a better life. At all cost, we must have access to good education, health and Rozghar. These all might be difficult to achieve given the high price of living and cunning manipulation of the system to favour upper / ruling caste but the faith should always go on.

Last, but not the least, we are grateful to all those who are campaigning for the cause of Dalits and poverty ridden people and especially Dalit Muslims. We appreciate all such individual efforts and look forward to unite them in a single strong collective force.

We are even grateful to Mr. Yoginder Sikand, Mr. V.T. Rajshekhar (Chief Editor) D.V. Banglore, Mr. Khalid Anis Ansari, Mr. Ashok Yadav, Mr. Irshadul Haque, Prof. Imtiaz Ahmad, Mr. Tanvir Salim, Mr. Kasheef (Editor – TwoCircles.net), Prof. Ram Puniani, Mr. Arun Khote, Mr. Masood Ahmed Falahi, Mr. Altaf Ahmed, Adv. Irfan Engg., Dr. A.A. Enggineer and many-many other who have already contributed generously to this blog and we are very sure this missionary zeal to fight injustice will continue in future, may be with a more strong and fast pace.

Thanks & Best Regards, 
Mohammad Shahanshah Ansari
Indian Dalit Muslims Voice
Jeddah, Saudi
E-mail: shahanshah.java.@gmail.com
http://www.dalitmuslims.com

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Dalits must Agitate for Reservation in Private Sector

Posted in Dalit - Muslim Unity, Dalit Movement, Dalit/OBC Reservation in Private Sectorson April 29, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

The great social scientist and Dalit activist, Gail Omvedt had written a letter to the Kannada Brahmin capitalist N.R.Naryana Murthy to introduce reservations for Dalits in his company Infosys. India’s so called wealth creating companies like Infosys, Wipro and Tata Consultancy are owned, controlled and run by Brahmins and upper castes. Narayan Murthy did not even have the decency to reply to Gail Omvedt and tore the letter and threw it in the dustbin. This is not new for people like us in Dalit Nation. We have innumerable instances of Brahmins running over us Dalits. This Brahmin from Mysore is no exception and works under the rules set by his Jati Dharma which is another name for Manudharma.

The Dalits are poorly represented in the private sector institutes in India. The Dalits and OBCs could get Government jobs due to the reservation policy of Ambedkar. The wily Brahmin prime minister Narasimha Rao commissioned the upper caste Khatri Sikh Manmohan Singh as the finance minister in 1991. Manmohan Singh, current Prime Minister of India created the liberalization and globalization policy of India to protect Manudharma which is Hindu caste system and destroy the socialistic ideals of Babasaheb Ambedkar.

The Brahmins and Banias capitalized from the liberalization policy. They worked through the American multinationals to get subsidized land and tax exemption for their industries. The Mittals, Ambanis and Tatas made huge amounts of money using the resources of our land. What did the Bahujans gain from this. Absolutely nothing.

The IT industry is the darling of the Brahmins. The Brahmins and Jews cheated the world by claiming that in year 2000 all the computers will shut down. They created the Y2K problem. Using this Y2k myth they made a lot of money and set up bodyshopping in India. Body Shopping is like slave trade where the companies send engineers to work in American and European multinationals. It is a kind of prostitution and Vaidiks are very good in this as they even converted their temples into Brothels (Read our article – Devadasis were degraded Buddhist Nuns). The companies like Infosys, Wipro, Tata Consultancy, Satyam Computers are body shopping firms. They slave for American capitalists. They do not have any software product owned and created by them. But still these upper caste people claim that India is a software superpower. In Dalit Nation we have always said that slaves can never be superpowers. These software slaves are not emperors but just coolies. But they are darlings of Manuwadi media. They even wanted this wily Narayan Murthy to become the president of India. President for what. To sell the country to multinationals and turn it into a brothel.

The private sectors has indeed become the agraharam of Brahmins and upper caste. Companies like Reliance, Tata and Infosys cheat the government and make profit in millions. They have no concern for the starving masses of India. It is high time that we Dalits start to work towards introducing reservation in private sector. These private sector exploiters should be taught a lesson. The Dalits and Bahujans should teach them a lesson. The Tatas have been shown the way in Singur. Mayavathi has protested against Reliance retail chain which will disenfarnchise several Dalits who sell vegetables for a living. When are we going to agitate against these companies like Infosys and Wipro.

Our only hope is to get Mayavathi as the Prime Minister in the next election to implement reservations for Dalits in the private sector. It should be mandatory to reserve 26% for Dalits, 27% for OBCs and 13% for Muslims. We need to bring in more regulation in the private sector as they are dens of exploitation and corruption. When Dalits try to apply jobs in these companies the HR people will screen by the names and do not even allow them to be interviewed. Gail Omvedt who has done a very good study on Brahmin deception has mentioned that in Poona computer engineers are synonymous with Brahmins. If it is a Muslim they would not even allow them inside their five star campuses. If you want to see Manudharma in action visit any of these five star campuses of Softwatre companies.

We in Dalit Nation pledge to support Gail Omvedt in her struggle against the upper caste capitalists. We want to make a clear statement that she is not alone and she has the whole Dalit Nation behind her. Together we will unite the Dalits, OBCs, Muslims and Christians and eradicate the untouchability of the Bahujans in these private sector firms.

Courtesy:
Dalit Nation Blog