National Muslim strategy: We need to change the gear
Dr Syed Zafar Mahmood
In the holy Quran (17.70) God says that on each human being He has
bestowed equal dignity. Elsewhere (49.13) He reveals that, for the sake
of facilitating mutual cognitive and interactive convenience, He has
apportioned the humanity into nations and tribes. That way, both
individual and group existence has been accorded divine recognition and
patronage. From several other verses spanning about a dozen chapters we
can discern God's message of expediency, wisdom, and constancy being the
sine qua non for both individual and societal purposefulness and
prosperity. While saying all of this, God's addressees include the
entire humanity - extending to all classes of human race. Let's explore
how best we can use this triple divine mandate for rectifying the social
discrimination against the scheduled castes and 'other backward classes'
and, taking them along, unitedly restore justice and fairplay to the
disadvantaged Muslim and Christian communities in India.
The recent 65 years of Indian history since Independence in 1947
unambiguously evidences that Muslims are extremely backward and lag
behind the followers of all other religions in every field of progress.
This has become particularly conspicuous since the documented reports of
Sachar Committee and Mishra Commission appeared in the public domain.
These reports also bring to the fore the following factors behind such
backwardness: (1) Since 1950 Muslims & Christians have been excluded,
through a central executive order defining Scheduled Castes, from 15% of
the membership of parliament and state assemblies, government offices
and educational institutions. (2) Most of those electoral constituencies
which have substantial Muslim population even though Scheduled Castes (SCs)
are non-existent or numerically insignificant there have been earmarked
for SCs. (3) Anti-Muslim prejudice is deeply ingrained as a part of the
national sentiment. And, (4) Successive ruling establishments consider
it enough to handpick a few Muslims and sprinkle them over some
innocuous government positions without caring to restore ground level
rights and justice, institutionally, to the larger Muslim population.
As a concomitant instrumentality thereof, for the last 65 years -
through well planned designs permeating the entire political spectrum -
the Muslim community has been kept entangled in clouds of uncertainty
and apprehension viz-a-viz it's very existence. The so called secular
dispensation seeks Muslim votes against guaranteeing the community's
protection and security. On the other hand, the Rightist extremists
reach out to the teeming innocent and often under-educated non-Muslim
voters against preempting (though actually non-existent) 'risks of
Muslim onslaught jeopardizing the Hindu identity'. In the process,
dubbing Indian Muslim nationals as foreigners or terrorists has become a
politico-bureaucratic fashion. Imprisoning Muslim youth for long years,
releasing them for want of evidence and found not-guilty and then
forgetting about the heinous injustice and excesses committed against
them has become a national culture. Showing down Muslims in the school
text books has taken the shape of an undercurrent epidemic. And,
ironically, successive non-Muslim generations grow to adulthood in the
midst of such sub-conscious parochial ethos.
Thus, the Muslim community's cup of forbearance overflows while facing,
negotiating and maneuvering such planned, repeated attacks on its
national identity, dignity and internal solidarity. This takes its toll
of the Muslim consciousness, seriously deflecting it's required focus
from the community's progress and advancement. In this way, some forces
have successfully intruded the Muslim side of the playground largely
limiting the community to playing a defensive game.
We, the Muslims and Christians of the twenty first century India, have a
huge responsibility to bear upon our shoulders. We need to take
institutional initiatives to metamorphose the negative currents into
positive projects. For that, we need to adequately strategize.
Even in 2013 and even under Right to Information Act the Central
Government is unwilling to disclose the details of what all transpired
in its files behind inserting the infamous Para 3 in the President's
Scheduled Castes Order of 1950. Secondly, through its long inaction, the
Government has practically refused to heed the Sachar Committee, freshly
appoint the delimitation commission and, through it, get the electoral
constituencies with substantial Muslim population de-reserved freeing
them from the unjust, illegal and irrational knotty tangle and, thus
unhook them from the SC grapnel. Thirdly, the Government has not yet
withdrawn it's anti-Muslim notification of 2010 to fill 1400 additional
positions of Indian Police Service through a limited competitive
examination. And the list goes on.
On the national politico-electoral chessboard, we the Muslims and
Christians of India, have been innocuously moving as Pedestrians for the
last 65 years. We must definitely shun the faintest intention to garner
a century at this slow progress. As Indian socio-political entities we
have miserably failed and got severely insulted and humiliated landing
in the depth of retrograde abyss. We have no right to pre-fiddle with
the social life of our upcoming generations. Now is the right time to
change the gear of the communities' strategy. Instead of remaining as
Pedestrians on the national chessboard, we must gird up and empower
ourselves like the Queen which can move several squares in different
directions.
In 1950 our constitution surely mandated reservation for the non-Muslim,
non-Christian dalit citizenry of the nation and later for 42% of the
population being 'other backward classes'. That undoubtedly resulted in
some educational and economic upgradation of this valuable segment of
the national population. However, there is not even an iota of
improvement in its inter-segmental social status. The SCs and OBCs are
still languishing in the same centuries old lowest unenviable echelons
of the society. They are even now suffering from the mental torture and
genuine complex of frustration, deprivation, exclusion, and social
regression. They are continuously stuck at the bottom of the societal
milieu. In the social hierarchy consciousness of non-SCs and non-OBCs
there is not even a single degree of pro-SC/OBC orientation. For
bringing about that transformation, tens of millions of people will have
to say goodbye to their thousands of years old social culture that is
deeply ingrained in their religious literature and traditions. The
entire pro-SC constitutional structure of 1950 and the later
modifications thereto failed to bring about necessary changes in the
people's minds. For this purpose our entire constitution and the statute
book could not function as a kaleidoscope of sorts.
To fill up such painful vacuum like the one created in the psyche of the
SCs, STs & OBCs and to apply a soothing ointment to their injured sense
of general habitual belittlement, fourteen centuries ago descended from
the cave of Hira, a Messiah known as the Mercy to Mankind (pbuh). He
gave to the humanity the ultimate panacea to soothen up the wounded
hearts and to benevolently fill up the hurting psychic gaps. He
announced the abolition of slavery. Equality was proclaimed to be the
pivot of social interaction. Then, why can't we bring about a revolution
and cheer up our fellow citizens ? For that why shouldn't we use our
gifted panacea ? Why shouldn't we try to make the prediction of Allama
Iqbal come true:
Nikal ke sahra se jisne Romaan ki sultanat ko palat diya tha,
Suna hai ye qudsiyon se mainey wo sher phir hoshyaar hoga.
The angelic voices say that the lion that emerged from the deserts and
overturned the Roman Empire would re-energize itself.
We will have to properly comprehend and appreciate the basic Islamic
exhortation and will have to actually put it into practice. I have
talked in detail to the Scheduled Castes leader Mr Udit Raj about this
important issue. To my pleasure, he told me that he fully agrees with
the Justice Mishra Commission and Sachar Committee that the abominable
Para 3 should be excluded from the President's Scheduled Castes Order of
1950 and the conditionality of specific religious allegiance must be
deleted from the definition of the scheduled castes. He has also given
his views in writing. Then why shouldn't we Muslins apply the eternal
prophetic alchemy to eradicate the 65 years old religious bias. I am
also talking to Christian and ST leaders regarding this. They too are on
the same wavelength as Muslims about the religion-based deprivation that
has been going on for 65 years and they wholeheartedly support this
campaign. If Para 3 is deleted from the executive order of 1950, then
the Muslim & Christian barbers, blacksmiths and cobblers will have the
same constitutional consideration and rights which are enjoyed by
Hindu/Sikh/Buddhist barbers, blacksmiths and cobblers etc for the last
65 years. That means, they will have the right to contest and be elected
on the reserved seats of parliament, assemblies, district/taluqa
parishads, panchayat samitis and gram panchayats. They will have the
right to the reserved posts for inclusion in the bureaucracy for which
selections are annually made through the Civil Services examinations of
the UPSC. They will be entitled for the reserved seats in the quest for
admission in the educational institutions.
For this, we, the Muslims of India, will have to simply become better
and true Muslims. We will have to transform our hindsight for a heartful
appreciation of the worldy phenomena preparing ourselves to meet the
Lord on the day of judgment with a sound heart and be eternally
rewarded. In that light, we will have to do our best for the human
uplift. Fully and enthusiastically implementing the prophetic mandate
given to us in the context of promoting total human equality, we have to
extend our hands of love to all specifically including our SC and OBC
brethren, assuage their feelings hurt for centuries and lovingly restore
their dignity like every other human being's. That way, we can proceed
hand in hand. Then our combined electoral strength (even as per Census)
can mount up several fold giving us wider edge at the hustings. Thus, we
have to value the SCs, STs & OBCs, embrace and respect them, and jointly
strategize with them going by what God has commanded us in the holy
Quran.
The author is President, Zakat Foundation of India. Email:
info@zakatindia.org
