‘Jo Dalit Musalmaan Arakshan ki baat karega, woh Bharat pe Raj karega’ – (the Muslim Dalit who seeks Reservation will rule India); This was a graffiti inscribed on a wall, right outside the famous Himayun’s Tomb. At first this came across to me as nothing but a political gimmick, rather a pipeline dream being sold to the deprived and the desperate. But on further contemplation and by looking at the despicable economic and political status of Muslims in India, the aforesaid Political Slogan may not be as misplaced as I may have taken it to be in the first place.
The downtrodden state and depravity in which the current Muslim population finds itself has it genesis with the inception of Partition of India of the yester years. The division of the British state of India on communal lines saw mass exodus of communities from each side migrating to one which was deemed by their Political Masters as the land to which they belong, or rather should belong. Needless to say, the state of Pakistan was born with Jinnah as its ‘Father’. With that the seeds for the precarious future of Muslims in India were thus sown by such a rendition.
The most debilitating effect of the Partition was that the intelligentsia and the political cream of Muslims migrated to the newly born Muslim state of Pakistan, thus rendering those Muslims who cannot afford such a migration due to financial latches, without any patronage or effective leadership to represent them and their aspirations and views.
Now, post Partition, having being left without any effective leadership and living as a religious minority in a nation where politics revolves around vote banks and communal appeasement, the Partition caused insecurity among the economically backward and educationally obsolete Muslims in India. The backlash of Partition ensued ‘Ghettoisation’ of the already insecure community, hence dwarfing and stunting its economic and social and to some extent also its political growth.
Pre-partition; Muslims thrived in India as a politically progressive community with scholars like Maulana Azad, Dr. Zakir Hussain and Sir Syed Ahmad to represent them. Many reform and revivalist movements undertaken by Muslims also gave an impetus to the Indian movement for Independence. But there is a stark contrast with respect to the present situation where the literacy rate of Muslims in India is the lowest among all the religious communities. Only 67.6% of Muslims are literate as opposed to the National average of 74%. Also, the growth of literacy among Muslim OBCs has been recorded at a negative 2%.The Muslim community is under-represented in all fields and fora as compared to its numbers in the country, be it the most sought after and coveted Civil Services, Government and Public Sector Undertakings or be it the Private Sector. The Sachar Committee report also pegged the representation of Muslims in the aforementioned sectors at a measly 2.5% in a nation with almost 14% Muslim population. Though 14% is a small comparative percentage, but in a nation of 1.25 Billion people the same 14% corresponds to almost 17 Crore Muslims. Similarly, the representation of Muslims in the Judiciary in India is at a dismal 7.8%, 1.8% in Foreign Services and only 4% in Indian Police Services which is appalling to say the least. Also, the largest employer of the country, the Indian Railways constitutes of only 4.5% Muslim employees. Among other things, the obsolete education system of Muslims is also a reason for its sorry state of affairs; with no reforms taking place to substitute the old system of Madrassa system of education which form the fundamental source of literacy among a large chunk of Muslims, it has ensued lack of instilment of western education and modern ethos among the same. Further, being brought up in a vacuum like environment and being subjected to continual isolation by international leadership and media, the Muslim community has been sub-consciously profiled against.
At a time and place where the only logical solution for the upliftment of Muslims in India would be political reservation by means of guaranteed representation for economically backward Muslims in all Government of India undertakings, many sabotaging elements have made sure that such an idea does not see the light of the day. By using platitudes of secularism and unconstitutionality, politicians have also made sure that such a reform does not take place. However, it may not be farfetched to contemplate the amendment of the Constitution of India to accommodate a provision which would ensure reservation for economically backward religious minorities, but such a thought seems to have eluded our ‘Statesmen’.
The whole idea of positive discrimination towards downtrodden and oppressed classes by way of reservation was to level the playing field for them so that they would be able to compete with their comparatively progressive compatriots. Therefore, today when we find that Muslims in India are grossly backward in terms of economics and education, it would not be an exaggeration to say that reservation is one of, if not the only logical measure that would help towards the cause of Muslims in the country. Given that such an idea was to be a time bound solution at first but Dalit appeasement and vote-bank politics has ensured it being perpetuated ever since. Despite all that, the concept of Muslim reservation has evaded the imaginations of our Leaders. Not only that, the ironic part of it is that during elections, Muslims votes are most sought after and a linchpin for any party to gain a majority, for which promises of all sorts are made.
After all being said and done, Muslims in India are still a community which is economically and socially backward. What can change the vicissitudes of Muslims in this country is that reformative measure including reservation be taken. Reforms always take years to fructify but one should always keep in mind that such reforms are there to right the wrongs of decades. In the end, it would be expedient to say that the only way to redress this daunting and formidable issue is by addressing the root cause of the same by understanding this misunderstood community and giving it a chance to revive its present and rewrite its future. What Muslims in India need right now is a Maulana Azad or a Sir Syed to pilot them.
