Social Exclusion3

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Social Exclusion: State and Muslims in India

By: Zaheer Ali**

Introduction:

The oft-repeated assertions that have been reiterated in the country for the last twodecades are: 'India is among the five largest economies of the world;' 'Indian software

engineers are the mainstay of the silicon valley of the US;' 'India is shining;" 'India's space

programme is firmly in place;" and of course, 'India is now a proud member of the nuclearclub.' These assertions are no doubt true. However, they hardly tell the real story of socio-

economic conditions of about 75 percent of Indians who have been systematically excluded

from the professed development indices reflected in the aforementioned assertions. One may

realise the colossal number of Indians who are socially excluded when it is explained inconcrete terms that the victims of social exclusion in India are more than the combined

population of Europe and Indonesia (which is the fourth most populous country in the world).The figure is not based on any speculation of an opposition leader but is calculated on thebasis of the government-sponsored Ajit Sen Gupta Report that has revealed in 2007 that 77

percent Indians cannot even earn Rupees 20 per day. It goes without saying that a person

who cannot even earn Rupees 20 per day is obviously incapable of having access to most

state resources and is also outside almost all centres of power. It is also a well known fact thatmost victims of social exclusion in India are Dalits, Adivasis and religious minorities, in

particular, the Muslims.

This paper attempts to comprehend the notion of social exclusion including its mostobnoxious dimension i.e. state complicity in mass murder of religious minorities and then

relate it to determine the extent of social exclusion of the Muslims. Though Muslim constitutethe largest religious minority in India, they have been systematically kept out of the spheresof socio-economic, educational and political spheres of power. Like Dalits and Adivasis, an

overwhelming majority of Muslims too are subjected to intra-community social exclusion

along with the social exclusion including pogroms that are put through by the State. The

overall backwardness of the Muslims is a matter of common knowledge, however, for thesake of authenticity the data compiled by the Gopal Singh Commission and the findings of

the Sachar Committee are used to bring into focus the severity of social exclusion of

Muslims. Lastly, a few suggestions have also been made to improve the lot of the Muslimsthat may help India to develop into truly secular democracy.

The Notion of Social Exclusion:

Though common people have been facing the end results of social exclusion in almostall societies for centuries, the term 'social exclusion' itself has entered the lexicon of social

sciences quite recently. The term came to be used in place of certain other terms that were

popularly in use to describe the deliberate and methodical socio-economic dispossession ofthe people by the socio-political elite. For instance, terms such as 'marginalisation' or

'deprivation' were usually used to mean the state of disempowerment of the people. These

terms are still used but currently most academicians prefer the expression social exclusion


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for, in view of some scholars, it encompasses all the dimensions of the social and political

processes through which the common people are thoroughly marginalisedor deprived.

The term 'social exclusion' first made its appearance in 1970s in France to denote thesegment of society that did not have the protection of social insurance

1. Obviously, that

segment comprised the most deprived people of the French society. Thereafter, the term got

wider currency in entire Europe and North America. On account of various studies the termsocial exclusion can be broadly defined as a social and political process wherein the targetedpeople are comprehensively denied ownership, access and control over resources; they are

deprived of the rights over productive resources of their labour; they are denied educational,

economic, political, healthcare and housing opportunities; they are denied state protection intimes of eruption of sectarian, caste or racial violence and, as a rule, the police and military

discriminate against them and occasionally massacre them; they are, more often than not, also

deprived of their right to freedom of religion as well as other constitutional and human rights.

The bases on which a group of people are targeted for social exclusion may vary fromcountry to country, however, they are usually identified as race, in case of India caste,

religion, region, language, gender (including gays and lesbians), disability and so on.

Besides social, cultural and psychological consequences of social exclusion the mostconspicuous corollary of it is poverty of the socially excluded group. The most common

strategy of social exclusion all over the world is to deny the economic opportunities to the

targeted group to weaken it materially and by a stretched out and sustained process demolish

its productive capacity. A materially weakened group automatically lags behind in education,housing, healthcare and cultural spaces. Consequently, the victims of social exclusion cannot

benefit even in an economy that is growing. In a growing economy the people with skills and

even unskilled labourers cannot be completely excluded for their services remain pivotal forsustaining the economic growth. They are allowed to participate in the economic process but

on extremely unfair terms. A cursory glance at the history of capitalist economies and its

current manifestation--global capitalism--can vouch for the deprived position of the working

classes across the world. The main thrust of global capitalism is to facilitate the transfer ofgoods and capital of developed nations to the under-developed and developing countries by

taking apart the tariff and trade barriers, reduce the wages, trim down the number of employs

by way of automation and do away with the labour laws. This entire stratagem is known bythe euphemism of economic reforms. Sadly, the current ruling clique of 'socialist' India is a

passionate partner of the global capitalists!

While scrutinising the concept of social exclusion Amartya Sen first raised quite a fewqueries such as, "Does it contribute to our understanding of the nature of poverty? Does it help in

identifying causes of poverty that may be otherwise neglected? Does it enrich thinking on policy

and social action in alleviating poverty? How would our understanding of poverty be any

different if we were to ignore the literature of social exclusion altogether? How would thepolicies chosen be any different?"

2 In his opinion answers to these posers are of prime

importance for the proper 'evaluation and assessment' of the notion of social exclusion. Having

thoroughly examined the vast literature on social exclusion, Sen concludes that it is not the

'novelty' of the notion that makes its significant but it certainly helps understand the hithertounfamiliar dimension of poverty and deprivation. He observes: "Seen in its proper context, the

idea of social exclusion has much to offer, andthe new literature has already brought out many

important connectionsthat had been neglected in earlier studies of poverty and deprivation."3


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In the Indian context social exclusion is as old as the downfall of the Indus valley

civilisation and the socio-political ascendancy of the Aryan invaders. Though social exclusion

is a global phenomenon, India is perhaps the only country where it is religiously sanctified. Thehierarchical stratification of Hindu society with the notion of the 'polluted' groups of

'untouchables' is the worst form of social exclusion practiced with brazen religious legitimacy

for centuries in the Indian subcontinent. The use of the expression 'Indian subcontinent' isintentional because caste based social exclusion is all pervading in the countries of South Asia,be it Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal or Sri Lanka. The interesting point to be noted is that though

varna system is purportedly an essential part of Hinduism, it has made its inroads in socio-

cultural practices of non-Hindu religions such as Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism as well as thenon-Indian religions like Christianity and Islam. Therefore, in the countries of South Asia in

general, and India in particular, social exclusion is not merely an attitudinal phenomenon at

individual level but it is integral to the social structure. As a scholar underscores, "This is not a

situation where a particular individual ill-treats another person; instead, the social processitself is discriminatory in its principles and practice. Thus, social segregation is an

institutionalised form of social distancing expressed in physical separation.4

The occurrences of social exclusion of Dalits and Adivasis are far more pronounced andhave been steadily perpetuated for centuries. Nevertheless, the Hindu upper castes have also

been pursuing discriminatory practices with regard to the believers of the foreign faiths like

Christianity and Islam since the times they came into contact with them. The political

expediency compelled the Hindu upper castes to establish a working relationship with theMughals and the British because they were the ones who wheedled out the maximum benefits

by way of being part of the Mughal durbarsand the British bureaucracy. Despite being the

vital part of all the establishments, most members of the Hindu upper castes had alwaysfollowed a policy of strict social segregation concerning, in particular, the mlechchasi.e. the

Muslims.

Myth of Muslim Domination:

The first point that must be brought into focus at present is that the cataloging of

Indian history into Hindu period, Muslim period and the Modern age was deviously done by theBritish historians as it was very much a part of their imperialism's overall policy of divide and

rule. The stratagem worked as the Hindu Right jumped at to portray a rosy picture of the so-

called Hindu period when Indians were not only prosperous but they also enjoyed the loftyvalues such as liberty, equality, justice and human rights that were embedded in the ancient

political institutions. This veritable Hindu paradise was overrun by barbaric marauders, the

Muslim invaders who looted the wealth of the country, demolished temples, polluted Hindu holy

places and forced the peace-loving, unsullied Hindus to embrace Islam. This, more or less, is thetone and tenor of most written claptrap that goes by the name of history produced by the Hindu

Right. For instance, a prominent historian such as R. C. Majumdar is also guilty of carrying

forward the prejudices and canards against the rulers who happened to identify themselves as

Muslims. According to Irfan Habib, To him (Majumdar) the entire period c. 1200 onwards wasone of foreign rule; Muslims were alien to Indian (Hindu) culture; the Hindus oppressed and

humiliated, wished nothing better than to slaughter the Mlechchas (Muslims); the British

regime was a successor more civilised than Muslim rule; yet real opposition to the British came


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from the Hindus, not Muslims, even in 1857; and finally the national movements course was

throughout distorted by concessions made to Muslims by Gandhiji5

The period between 1200 and 1857, purportedly the Muslim periodwas in reality aphase during which various monarchs, who happened to be Muslims, ruled over large parts of

India, in particular North India. To call this phase of Indian history a period of 'Muslim

domination' is a delusory exercise. The 'Muslim' ruling elite, like any other ruling elite, had noempathy or sympathy for the teeming masses who were rampantly exploited by the landholdersand their vassals. Most Muslims during the so-called Muslim period were part of the masses

and, therefore, had to face similar social exclusion as was practiced with the Hindu masses. It is

also a well-recorded fact that an overwhelming majority of the Indian Muslims comprisesconverts from the Hindu lower castes. Consequently, despite embracing an ostensible casteless

faith, they could neither dispose of the social stigma nor run off social exclusion. Thus, the

period of Muslim domination is just a myth.

Intra-community Social Exclusion Among Muslims:

Thus, the Islamic jurisprudence that is in force in the Indian subcontinent distinctlyupholds social ranking of Muslim groups taking into account birth and descent and the

consequent social hierarchy that prevails is nothing but caste system.6It is true that the gravity of

caste distinctions among Indian Muslims is not exactly similar to that of the Hindu caste system

because of the absence of the concept of untouchability among the Muslims. Yet, besides birthand descent, occupation too helps determine the social ranking of a group in the hierarchical

social order of Indian Muslims. This is exactly similar to that of Hindu varna system.7 The

Islamic scholars are divided in accounting for the reasons of social exclusion based on casteamong Muslims of the Indian subcontinent. A group of scholars opines that it is the corollary of

the Hindu caste system and that the Muslims of India living for centuries in a caste-ridden

society have acquired the social practices of the Hindus. This is a flawed explanation because it

camouflages two historical facts; a) social ranking of Muslim groups was firmly established inIslam immediately after the death of the Prophet and it was further strengthened by most schools

of Islamic jurisprudence; b) the bulk of the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent comprise the

local converts. Another group of scholars recognises that most Muslims of the Indiansubcontinent are, in fact, Hindu converts to Islam and that despite embracing a new religion they

have retained their social practices; caste system is one of those practices. The reasoning of the

second group is congruent with historical facts. It also explains why most Muslim castes orbiradarisare as endogamous as Hindu castes.

The contemporary scholars who have devoted themselves to study social exclusion

among the Indian Muslims usually divide the community into two broader hierarchical castes

viz. the ashraf,8 those who trace their origin to Arabia, Iran, Central Asia or Afghanistan,

comprise ostensibly the superior castes and ajlaf,9supposedly the inferior castes. In the ashraf

category the sub-castes such as Syed, Sheikh, Pathan and Mughal are included while the

category of ajlaf can further be divided into non-polluted and polluted castes. The non-polluted

caste group usually referred to as ajlaf is consisted of the converts whose occupations are rituallyclean such as halwai, barhai, julaha, lohar, darzi, nai, teli etc. For the polluted castes that include

sub-castes such as kalal, mahigir (also known as machchera in some regions) and kasai (kassab),

bhangi, chamar etc. another term arzal 10

is used. It must be underlined, however, that thesecategories are not the inventions of modern social anthropologists but the Muslim community,


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like most religious communities, has always been hierarchical. Over and above the clannish

hierarchy of the Arab peninsula, the Muslim community in India got further stratified on ethnic

and occupational lines. The early Muslim immigrants from foreign lands who were of fairercomplexion than the native converts and the upper caste Hindu converts were responsible for the

caste hierarchy. The immigrants were obviously occupying high official posts, military jobs and

academic positions whereas most native converts continued with their ancestral occupationswhich were considered lowly and despicable. Thus, the Muslims of foreign origin and a smallsection of upper caste Hindu converts got to be considered superior, ashraf, than the native

converts, ajlafand arzal.

The caste-system among Indian Muslims got the official sanction in the thirteenth centuryitself during the reign of Muhammad bin Tughlaq. A source that is widely cited by almost all the

scholars dealing with the issue of caste based social exclusion among Muslims is Fatawa-i-

Jahandariby Ziaddin Barni, an historian, who most probably stratified the Indian Muslims into

ashraf and ajlaf for the first time. Fatawa-i-Jahandari may be described as a mishmash ofChanakyas Arthashastra and Manusmriti. Barni was vehemently opposed to the notion of

egalitarianism and in order to justify his hierarchical structure of the Muslim community he even

misinterpreted a Quranic verse viz.:

O mankind! Lo! We have created you male and female, and have made you

nations and tribes that ye may know one another. Lo! The noblest of you, in the

sight of Allah, is the best in conduct. Lo! Allah is knower. Aware.11

Firstly, the verse is not Muslim-specific. It is addressed to the entire humanity. Secondly,

the noblest persons in the eyes of the Almighty are those whose conduct is best and not thosewho are born in the so-called noble families. Most commentators of the Quran endorse that the

best conduct of a person has a direct correlation with her/his piety. So, one whose behaviour and

manners are pious is noble in the eyes of Allah. Barni, nevertheless, interprets the verse on the

basis of his skewed logic that a lowly-born and the one who is engaged in a lowly occupation isby nature incapable of pious conduct and, therefore, he should always be placed at a low social

status. In order to keep the ajlaf permanently at the lowest rung of the social ladder, Barni

recommends that the low caste Muslims should be denied access to education. His advice to theSultan in this regard goes like this:

Teachers of every kind are to be sternly ordered not to thrust precious stonesdown the throats of dogs or to put collars of gold round the necks of pigs and

bears-that is, to the mean, the ignoble and the worthless, to shopkeepers and to

the low-born; they are to teach nothing more than the rules about prayer, fasting,

religious charity and the hajj pilgrimage, along with some chapters of the Qur'anand some doctrines of the faith, without which their religion cannot be correct

and valid prayers are not possible. But they are to be taught nothing else, lest it

bring honour to their mean souls They are not to be taught reading and

writing, for plenty of disorders arise owing to the skill of the low born inknowledge. The disorder into which all affairs of the religion and the state are

thrown is due to the acts and words of the low born, who have become skilled.

For, on account of their skill, they become governors (wali), revenue-collectors('amils), auditors (mutassarif), officers (farman deh) and rulers (farman rawa). If


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teachers are disobedient, and it is discovered at the time of investigation that they

have imparted knowledge or taught letters or writing to the low born, inevitably

the punishment for their disobedience will be meted out to them.12

Subsequently, the ulema, the elite and even some Sufis supported the caste based social

exclusion among Muslims on a dubious notion known as kufu, an Arabic term which literallymeans equal or comparable. According to this concept, social interaction, in particular,matrimonial relations, must be established between the Muslims of the same kufu i.e. those who

enjoy equal or comparable social status. As a scholar, Masood Alam Falahi, has pointed out in

his well-researched work13

that most of the revered ulema of the subcontinent seem to haveagreed upon the notion of kufu that legitimises social exclusion among Muslims. Falahi, on

account of authentic evidences, informs that prominent religious scholars such as Shah

Waliullah, Mufti Muhammad Shafi Deobandi, Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi, Maulana Syed

Mehmood Madani, Maulana Qari Muhammad Tayyab Siddiqui Qasmi et al have supported theconcept of kufu that consequently perpetuates caste stratification and social exclusion among

Muslims. Maulana Ahmad Raza Khan Barelwi, as indicated by Falahi, respected Syeds so much

that he declared that though Sheikh, Mughal and Pathan were part of ashraf they could not bekufu of Syeds. Thus, Syeds came to acquire the similar highest and sacrosanct position among

the Muslims that the Brahmans are supposed to enjoy among the Hindus.

Not that only ulema supported the notion of kufu but even the modern socialreformers

such as Sir Syed too had worked only for the uplift of the ashraf. Falahi cites an excerpt of alecture of Sir Syed that he delivered while laying down the foundation of Madarsa-e-Anjuman-e-

Islamiain Bareli. The school was to cater to the educational needs of the children of ajlaf. Sir

Syed believed that it was not necessary to teach English education to the children of low-casteMuslims but suggested: It is better and in the interests of the community that they are engaged

in the old form of studyIt appears appropriate if you teach them some writing and math. They

should also be taught small tracts on everyday affairs and through which basic beliefs and

practices of Islamic faith.14

It is shocking to note that even after the passage of six hundredyears the opinions of the Muslim elite on the issue of education remained exactly the same as Sir

Syed appeared to be just parroting the views of Ziauddin Barni!

The concept of kufu, in no way, can be justified on the basis of the Quran but in actualpractice it is supported by influential ulema of the subcontinent. In the view of a scholar,

"Despite its egalitarian principles, Islam in South Asia historically has been unable to avoid the

impact of class and caste inequalities.15

Consequently, caste stratification persists among IndianMuslims. It is, however, argued that the caste differences and practices of social exclusion

among Muslims are not as discriminating and domineering as they are among the Hindus. This

contention is probably the offshoot of the display of egalitarianism within the precincts of a

mosque where all Muslims, irrespective of caste and economic differences, can pray side by side.Once they are outside the mosque they reclaim their respective social positions and interact

accordingly. The ashraf, by and large, mete out similar abhorrent and hateful treatment to the

lower caste Muslims as the Hindu upper castes keep up with Dalits and Adivasis. In fact, in the

opinion of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, the social evils among the Muslims are worse than those seenin Hindu society.

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As per an estimate ajlaf and arzal constitute 75 % of the Muslim population in

India.17

Nevertheless, the mainstream historical accounts of Indian Muslims do not reflect theirlives, aspirations, sentiments or agonies; they merely portray the lives and actions of the ashraf.


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Political history from the conquest of Sind by Muhammad bin Qasim to the last Mughal

emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, is evidently dominated by the adventures and achievements of the

rulers whose foreign origin automatically puts them in the category of ashraf. The economicorder that emerged during the medieval period was so exploitative that the common people that

included an overwhelming majority of the Muslims were practically reduced to the level of

slaves. Additionally, thezamindars, in order to maintain their so-called cultural superiority intactwould not even allow the Muslim landless peasants to christen their progenies with properMuslim names; instead the zamindars themselves would name them as Kallan, Jumman,

Buddan, Baban, Pathro, Bhiku, Raheeman, Shareefan, Sausan etc. What is true about medieval

history is also largely true about the ancient and modern histories of India. If truth be told, we arestill waiting for our own Howard Zinn to write a peoples history of India.

Similarly, the substantially large body of theological literature that has been produced in

India has been written by and for the protection of the interests of the ashraf. It has already been

pointed out that almost all the leading religious scholars of India have overtly or covertlysupported the concept of kufu. The confrontation with the western civilization and the loss of

political power kicked the ashrafout from their palatial dwellings wherein they were ensconced

leading a life of opulence at the cost of the labour of the toiling masses. In response, first theythought of regaining political power from the British by force that resulted in the disastrous

adventurisms of Syed Ahmad Barelwis Wahabi movement and the uprising of 1857. Though

the common people were used as cannon fodder on both occasions, the leaders were from the

category of the ashraf and the purpose was to regain the lost glory of the upper castes. Likewise,the so-called socio-educational reform movement among the Muslims launched by Sir Syed, the

Aligarh Tahreek, essentially catered to the needs and aspirations of the upper caste Muslims.

In the beginning of the twentieth century, the ashraf, encouraged by the oblique supportof the British masters established the Muslim League that institutionalised communalism in

Indian politics. It was not accidental that the Muslim League remained an insignificant political

force in the Muslim dominated provinces of Punjab, Bengal, Sind and North Western Frontier

Province. It was the ashraf of U. P. and after 1932, when Muhammad Ali Jinnah becameproactive in the affairs of the Muslim League, the Muslim businessmen of the province of

Bombay, lent the crucial support to the Muslim separatist movement.

Indian State and Social Exclusion of Muslims:

It is pointless to discuss social exclusion of the Muslim during the British rule because,depending on the exigencies of the circumstances, the colonial masters kept shifting their

favoritism to Hindu or Muslim elites. Their constant policy, however, had always been social

exclusion of Indians. The Muslims in India have been facing blatant social exclusion since

independence because in the popular perception they were responsible for the partition of thecountry. A passing reference is already made above that the movement for Pakistan was

essentially elitist which was initiated and sustained by the ashrafof U. P. and Muslim business

class of the Bombay province. It was not the preferred political alternative in the provinces

where Muslims constituted the majority. The common Muslims, therefore, had nothing to dowith the separatist movement that was carried on by a political organisation of nawabs,

zamindars and businessmen, which the Muslim League was in reality. It must also be

underscored that on accomplishment of their political purpose, a large number of Muslim ashrafhad migrated to Pakistan for they had the means and the motive. The overwhelming majority of


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population broke out, aided and abetted by its regulars. On learning something of them the

figurehead Muslim Congressman in Delhi, Maulana Azad, then Minister of Education, prevailed

on Nehru to let a team investigate. It reported that a conservative estimate between 27,000 and40,000 Muslims had been slaughtered in the space of a few weeks after the Indian takeover."

21

The Nehru Government, of course, never admitted the occurrence of massacre. What was

scandalous that Nehru brazenly announced that Indian victory in Hyderabad was achievedwithout a single communal incident! The famous historian William Dalrymple in his book, TheAge of Kali, informs that the Sunderlal Report has been leaked and published abroad, and

"estimates that as many as 200,000 Hyderabadi Muslims were slaughtered."22

It was the largest

and the most gruesome pogrom against the Muslims in independent India.Thereafter, the second mass murder of the Muslims took place during the spell of Meerut

riots of 1987. On 22nd May 1987, 29 personnel of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC),

picked 42 young Muslim men from Hashimpura, a locality of Meerut, took them to the a

secluded place near Murad Nagar in Ghaziabad district and killed them in cold blood. Their deadbodies were thrown in the canals. The case was registered when the dead bodies were seen

floating in the canals. Thereafter, only 16 PAC personnel surrendered and were immediately

released on bail. The case was transferred to the Supreme Court in 2002 where it is still pending,which makes it one of the oldest cases before the apex court. As per the information sought

through an RTI application on 24th May 2007, none of the accused was ever suspended and their

complicity in the heinous pogrom was not even mentioned in the annual confidential reports.

The crux of the matter is that the State apparatus, irrespective of the political party inpower, has always been pursuing an anti-Muslim policy and whenever it suits the political

stratagem of the ruling clique it does not hesitate to slaughter a few thousand Muslims. What

could be the worse mode of social exclusion than massacre of a targeted group. In addition to the

physical decimation, the Muslims are subjected to the worst kind of economic exclusion. Thepolicy of excluding Muslims from public services started by Patel and willingly continued by

Nehru, his daughter and the successive governments is firmly in place. Besides, government

services other economic opportunities have also been denied to the Muslims because even thenationalised banks callously reject loan applications of the business-inclined sections of the

community. The cruel joke, however, is that the Congress never loses any opportunity to project

itself as the defender of Muslim interests and the Hindu Right, in particular, the BJP accusesCongress of pursuing a policy of Muslim appeasement!

The reality is that the Muslim representation in government services is abysmally low.

Though the socially committed members of the community have launched various projects

during the last two decades to prepare the educated youths for the competitive examination, theaverage percentage of successful Muslim candidates was never allowed to go beyond 3.5%. The

people engaged in helping the young Muslims prepare for the civil services allege that the

blanket policy of the Union Government and also of many State Government is not to recruit

more than 3% Muslims in government services. Their allegation seems to be correct if weconsider the following table

22 that gives a picture of Muslim representation in civil services

during the last ten years:

Result Declared No. of Successful Candidates Muslim Candidates % of total No.

May 2003 284 9 3.1


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May 2004 413 13 3.2

May 2005 422 13 3.1

May 2006 425 12 2.8

May 2007 448 17 3.8

May 2008 734 27 3.67

May 2009 791 32 4.04

May 2010 875 21 2.4May 2011 920 31 3.36

May 2012 910 30 3.29

The situation is even worse in the military. It is obvious that the reason for under-

representation of the Muslims lies in the partition of the country. However, the purportedlysecular State of India has done nothing to correct the wrong of the history; on the contrary it

fervently follows a policy to keep the Muslims out of Services. Mahavir Tyagi who was the

Minister of State in Nehru's Council of Minister, "admitted that at the time of partition the

percentage of Muslims in the services was 32 and now it had gone down to two."23

It must alsobe pointed out that when the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, instituted the Sachar Committee

to investigate the social, economic and educational conditions of the Muslims and when theCommittee members sought to know the percentage of the Muslims in the military there was a

hue and cry from the senior army officers who thought that it would communalise the 'secular'Services. Thereafter in February 2007, surprisingly, a lieutenant-general supplied the exact figure

of the Muslims in the army that stood at 29, 093.24

It means even after 60 years of independence

the percentage of the Muslim could not rise more than 2. The prejudice against Muslims by theDefence establishment may be determined "by a press release issued by a defence office in

Jammu five years ago (in 2002). Seeking recruits for the Indian army, the press release said: No

vacancies for Muslims and tradesmen.25

Muslim representation in other elite services is also abysmally low. In the Indian ForeignService they are 1.8 % while in the Indian Police Service the Muslim representation is 4 %. It

goes without saying that in that there is almost a blanket exclusion of Muslims from the top andsupposed to be highly 'sensitive' posts in intelligence agencies such as CBI, IB and RAW.Muslims are also barred from holding significant positions in Space Research Organisation and

National Security Guards. Muslim representation in State Government jobs is even worse in

almost all the States. These facts have always been known to those who ever bothered to probethe issue. However, the official legitimacy to Muslim exclusion from all social, economic and

educational spheres was made available when the findings of the Sachar Commitee were placed

in the public domain in 2006.

It must be pointed out, however, that Sachar Committee was not the first of its kind toprobe Muslim socio-economic and educational exclusion. Its precursor was a high level Gopal

Singh Commission that was appointed on May 10, 1980 with almost similar brief that was

assigned to Sachar Committee. Gopal Singh Commission submitted its report to the Prime

Minister on June 14, 1983. It was neither placed before Parliament nor its findings wereofficially made public. In order to estimate the callousness of the political elite it is appropriate

to mention what Asgar Ali Engineer experienced. "When Shri V. P. Singh became the Prime

Minister and convened a meeting of Muslim leaders and intellectuals," writes Engineer, "I askedhim about implementation of Gopal Singh High Powered Commission report. He, to my shock,

was not even aware of any such report."26

Though the findings of the Gopal Singh Commission

were not officially made public, the data filtered through unofficially. As per the findings of the


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Commission the Muslim representation in the IAS had come down to 3.2 % while the SCs

representation then (1980) was 9.9%. in the IPS the Muslims percentage was reportedly 2.7

while that of the SCs was 9.8. Similarly, in IFS, the Muslim representation was much lesser i.e.3.37 % in comparison with SCs percentage of 16.48.

27Almost a quarter of century later when the

findings of the Sachar Committee came to light the condition of the Muslims in many spheres

got deteriorated even further. Despite Government's claim that it is committed to implement therecommendations of the Sachar Committee, the popular perception among Muslims is that justlike Gopal Singh Report or Rangnathe Mishra Commission

28 report, nothing concrete would

come out of it.

Nevertheless, the findings of Sachar Committee are very significant as they provide usthe severity of social exclusion of Muslims in socio-economic and educational fields. Muslims,

as per the 2001 census constitute 13.4 % of India's population. However, in the field of

education, they lag behind other communities. According to the Committee's findings the

literacy rate for Muslims in 2001 was 59% as against the national average of 65%. Muslimliteracy was also lower than that of the SCs and STs. At the school level 25 % of Muslim

children in the age group of 6-14 either were not enrolled in the schools or dropped out at various

stages of school education. At the undergraduate level only 1 out of 25 and at post-graduate level1 out of 50 happen to be Muslim students. It must be underlined that according to Committee's

findings the major cause of low percentage of Muslims in education particularly at the primary

level is the non-availability of Urdu medium schools in most States. It is obviously a lapse of the

State to uphold a constitutional commitment.In the field of employment the Committee findings revealed that almost 50% Muslim

men in the age-group of 25-45 were self employed and only 18% were in regular employment as

compared to 25% Hindus. As regards government jobs Muslim representation in all states wasmuch lower in comparison to their percentage in population. Consider the following table

29 to

have an idea about Muslim representation in State Government employment in the twelve States

where there proportion in population is considerable.

Sr.

No.

Name of the State % Muslims in Population % Muslims in Employment

1 Andhra Pradesh 9.2 8.8

2 Assam 30.2 11.2

3 Bihar 16.5 7.6

4 Delhi 11.7 3.2

5 Gujarat 9.1 5.6

6 Jharkhand 13.8 6.7

7 Karnataka 12.2 8.5

8 Kerala 24.7 10..4

9 Maharashtra 10.6 4.4

10 Uttar Pradesh 18.5 5.1

11 Tamil Nadu 5.6 3.212 West Bengal 25 4.2

The notable figures are from Andhra Pradesh where Muslim representation in state employment

is closer to their percentage in population. Conversely, the worst figures are from West Bengal

where Muslims constitute one-fourth of the state population but their representation in stateemployment is merely 4.2 %. This is especially reprehensible because the CPI (M), the 'flag-

bearer' of secularism was in power in the State for more than three decades. Though the figures


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for Jammu and Kashmir are not shown in the table, it must be added that the Muslim percentage

of population in that only Muslim majority State is 67 while there representation in state

employment is less than 50%.In the elite All-India Services, the figures reported by the Committee are not very

different from those that were revealed by the Gopal Singh Commission. The Muslim

percentages in the IAS is 3.1, in the IFS it is 1.8 and in the IPS 4. As a rule the Muslimrepresentation in intelligence agencies and Space Research Organisation continues to beabysmally low. In the Railways, which is the largest single state employer in India the Muslim

representation is merely 4.5%. In judiciary the overall Muslim presence of 7.8 per cent in 12

States with high Muslim concentration is almost half of their percentage in country's population.Surprisingly in this category too the Muslim representation in Jammu and Kashmir is 48.3 %.

Social exclusion of Muslims in the banking sector and other financial institutions is

extremely pronounced. The findings of the Sachar Committee reveal the share of Muslims in

'amounts outstanding' is only 4.7 %, which is lower than the figure of other minorities that ispegged at 6.5%. The most loathsome aspect of the banking system that has been reported by the

Committee is that many banks have adopted a policy to mark the areas with Muslim

concentration as 'negative' or 'red' regions which means bank loans are not given to the residentsof the areas who are overwhelmingly Muslims. Almost all the banks, public or private, victimize

Muslims as a rule. Their loan applications are vehemently rejected not for any technical or

procedural reason but only because the applicants are Muslims. As a result of it, a sizable section

of the community that is business-inclined does not get the necessary support to become self-employed. In pursuance of the Prime Minister 15-Point Programme for the uplift of minorities,

the Reserve Bank of India launched the banking and credit facilities for the targeted groups.

However, as per the findings of the Committee these efforts benefited other religious minoritiesmore than the Muslims. The other statistics are similarly appalling. For instance 94.9 per cent of

the Muslims living below poverty line dont get the food-grains. In rural India, 60.2 % of

Muslims dont own land and only 1 % own hand pumps or tube-wells.

Muslim exclusion from the field of politics is equally glaring. In this context we mustrefer to a thorough study by Professor Iqbal A. Ansari30 that provides valuable data about the

exclusion of Muslims from the institutions of political power. According to the study the

percentage of elected Muslim Members of Parliament never reached even 10. With regard to theState Legislatures, in the 12 Legislative Assemblies with considerable Muslim population, the

number of Muslim members fluctuated between 21 and 49. In terms of percentage of the total

membership of the state legislatures it can be translated between 4.3 and 6.6. The reasons forsuch an abysmally low political representation of the Muslims are mainly two. First, the so-

called secular parties have never given tickets to the Muslims in proportion to their population.

Secondly, the first past the post electoral system is innately anti-minority because a political

party in such a system can afford to completely exclude an ethnic or religious minority and stillwin elections as Narendra Modi has proved in Gujarat for the third consecutive time. These are

alarming findings indeed and it is equally true that immediate corrective measures are badly

needed.

Affirmative Action:

It is usually observed that any suggestion for affirmative action to uplift the socio-economic, educational and political status of Muslims in India invariably leads to the issue of


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making reservations available for the community in government jobs and educational institutions

on the lines that have been provided to the SCs and STs. I, personally, have reservation about

providing religion-based reservations. It would gravely erode the secular character of our politythat is already under attack by the Hindu Right. Secondly, the Constitution does not permit such

a measure. In view of the current political scenario a constitutional amendment to make

provision for religion-based reservation is highly unlikely and even if such an amendment iscarried out, it would certainly invite a Hindu backlash and would politically strengthen the HinduRight. What can be done, therefore, is to implement the recommendations of the Rangnath

Mishra Commission report that are about religious minorities and not exclusively about the

Muslims. According to the Commission, the intra-community social exclusion among theMuslims and Christians is a reality. The lower caste Hindus who got converted to Islam or

Christianity centuries ago continue to face similar kind of social exclusion at the hands of the so-

called upper strata of their respective communities as is the case with the SCs and STs. For that

reason, the Commission recommended the conferment of Scheduled Caste status to Muslimarzals and the low caste Christians. Once these segments of the Muslims and Christians are

included in the SC category they would be constitutionally entitled to enjoy benefits of

reservations that are available to the SCs among Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs.Similarly, the recommendations of the Sachar Committee must also be implemented

sincerely. The most important recommendations that need immediate State response are: a)

setting up of an autonomous Assessment and Monitoring Authority (AMA) that should do

regular audit whether the communities concerned are benefitting from various governmentschemes and programmes that are launched for their uplift; b) instituting of an Equal

Opportunities Commission (EOC) to examine the grievances of socially excluded communities

of Indian society; c) exploring the possibility of making available some incentives to a 'DiversityIndex' in the fields of education, government as well as private employments and housing

schemes; d) evolving some kind of 'nomination' procedure for increasing the levels of

inclusiveness in governance; e) in the field of education the Committee's recommendations

include institutionalising evaluation procedure for text-books, alternate admission norms inuniversities and colleges, cost friendly hostel facilities for minority students, state-run education

Urdu medium school for primary education in mother tongue, ensuring appointment of experts

from minority community on interview panels and boards and linking madarsas with highersecondary schools; f) in order to ensure better representation for the Muslims in politics, the

Committee recommended certain measures such as removal of anomalies in Reserved

Constituencies in view of frequent complaints that the territorial constituencies withconcentration of Muslim voters are usually declared reserved for SCs and STs. The Committee

has also observed reported that there were many complaints of Muslims names missing from

electoral rolls. Additionally, it must also be pointed out that we must have a relook at 'first past

the post' electoral system. In view of experts a proportional representation system can betterensure inclusion of minorities in the institutions of political power. Some scholars have also

suggested that a candidate can be declared elected only if he bags at least 25% of minority votes

from his constituency.

The simplest corrective measure to improve the lot of the Muslims is to stick tosecularism as an operative principle of running administration. The bureaucracy in India is

perhaps the most communal section of our society. If the Muslim percentage in employment is

abysmally low, the main culprits are the bureaucrats, many of whom have covert affiliations withthe RSS. By making the recruitment procedure truly transparent we can attract deserving Muslim


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youths to join the public services. Another area that needs reexamination is the financial sector.

The working of the banks and other financial institutions must be carried on strictly on

professional and secular lines. An urgent necessity is to weed out communal elements from thelaw enforcing agencies. The situation at present is so bad that in the eyes of every policeman a

Muslim is a potential terrorist. The irony is that, if there is a blast even in a mosque causing

deaths of Muslims alone, the so-called intelligence agencies and the police get in action to arresthumble, innocent Muslims! The latest trend adopted by the police and other security agencies isto implicate Muslim youths in false cases of terrorism. As a result the hapless young Muslims

arrested on trumped up terrorism charges usually spend years in jails and ultimately many of

them are acquitted by the courts. However, in the course of this sinister process they end up associal and psychological wrecks. They also become unemployable because of the stigma of

spending years behind bars albeit as part of conspiracy of communal minded security officers.

It is this damaging psychological factor that alienates the common Muslims from the

national psyche and forces them to go back in their shells. On that account they fall prey to theintrigues of the wily mullahs and the crooks masquerading as the Muslim leaders. The most

important exigency, it must be reiterated, is to improve the educational status of the Muslims.

The unfortunate reality in India today is that political gangsters who run most of the institutionsof higher and professional education coerce the Union and State governments to finance their

institutions. Obviously, the percentage of institutions that cater to the needs of the Muslims is

negligible. If the UPA government is really sincere about helping Muslims improve their socio-

economic and educational conditions, it should see to it that the enrollment of Muslims childrenin schools increases, their drop-out rate decreases and they must have fair and judicious

opportunities to join institutions of higher and professional education.

__________________________________________________________________________

Notes and References

1. Amartya Sen in his Asian Development Bank's Social Development Paper No. 1, 'Social

Exclusion: Concept, Application and Scrutiny' June 2000, informs:"The term 'socialexclusion' is of relatively recent origin. Ren Lenoir, writing about a quarter of a century

ago, is given credit of authorship of the expression."

2. Ibid.3. Ibid.

4. Prakash Louis' paper, 'Social Exclusion: A Conceptual and Theoretical Framework',

December 2007.

5. Shaheryar Ali's online review of Irfan Habib's 'History an Interpretations:Communalism and Problems of Indian Historiography 3,

http://sherryx.wordpress.com/tag/irfan-habib/

6. For instance, according to the Hanafi School to which most Indian Sunni Muslims adhere

to specifies the rules of precedence of groups thus: (a) an Arab was superior to a non- Arab; (b) amongst Arabs, all Quraishites were of equal social standing in a class by

themselves, and all other Arabs were equal irrespective of their tribes; (c) amongst non-

Arabs, a man by birth the equal of an Arab if both his father and grandfather had beenMuslims before him, but only if he were sufficiently wealthy to provide an adequate
http://sherryx.wordpress.com/2008/10/15/history-and-interpretationscommunalism-and-problems-of-indian-historiography-3/http://sherryx.wordpress.com/2008/10/15/history-and-interpretationscommunalism-and-problems-of-indian-historiography-3/http://sherryx.wordpress.com/2008/10/15/history-and-interpretationscommunalism-and-problems-of-indian-historiography-3/http://sherryx.wordpress.com/2008/10/15/history-and-interpretationscommunalism-and-problems-of-indian-historiography-3/http://sherryx.wordpress.com/2008/10/15/history-and-interpretationscommunalism-and-problems-of-indian-historiography-3/


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mahr(marriage endowment); (d) a learned non-Arab was equal to an ignorant Arab, even

if he was a descendant of Ali, for the worth of learning is greater than the worth of

family; a Muslim kazi or theologian ranked higher than a merchant and a merchanthigher than a tradesman. Quoted in Imtiaz Ahmad(Ed.), Caste and Social Stratificationamong Muslims in India,Manohar, New Delhi, 1978, p. 14.

7. Though clannish affiliation was mainly the determining factor for social ranking in theArab peninsula, interestingly, the word zat,from which are derived Indian terms such asjat and jati, are themselves Arabic. The term zat in Arabic, however, does not mean a

social group but it connotes being, essence/nature of a person, self etc.

8. Singularsharif. Arabic meaning respectable/ superior people.9. Singularjilf. Arabic, meaning boorish, rude, uncivilised people.

10. Singular razil. Arabic, meaning low, mean, vile, despicable, contemptible people.

11. The Meaning of the Glorious Quran, XLIX: 13, translated by Muhammad Marmaduke

Pickthall, Idara Ishaat-e-Diniyat, New Delhi, 2006,, p. 36712. Quoted by Yoginder Sikand in the article Islam and Caste Inequality among Indian

Muslims,www.dalitmuslims.com.See also his book,Islam, Caste and Dalit-Muslim

Relations in India, Global Media Publications, New Delhi, 2004.13. Masood Alam Falahi,Hindustan Mein Zaat-Paat Aur Musalman(Urdu), Al-Qazi, New

Delhi, 2007

14. Ibid.

15.Ayesha Jalal in her book,Democracy and Authoritarianism inSouth Asia.16. Ambedkar, B. R.,Pakistan or the Partition of India, Thackers Publishers.

17. Anwar, Ali, Masawat ki Jung: Pasemanzar: Bihar ka Pasmanda Musalman, (Hindi),

Vani Prakashan, New Delhi, 200117. Guha, Ramchandra,India After Gandhi:The History of the Worlds Largest Democracy, Pan

Macmillan, Picador India, New Delhi, 2007, p. 366

18. Ibid.

19. See Moin Shakir, Muslims in Free India, Kalamkar Prakashan, New Delhi, wherein hequoted

fromLinkissue of November 9, 1969 and Y.B. Chavan's statement in the Lok Sabha reported

in Times of India, November 29, 1969.20. Quoted by Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar in his article, 'Declassify Report on the 1948

Hyderabad Massacre', Sunday Times of India, November 25, 2012.

21 Quoted by Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar, Ibid.22 Source: Syed Zubair Ahmad's online article, 'Blanket State Policy to put Muslims within 3%

in Civil Services', www.twocircles.net

23. Quoted in Moin Shakir, Op. Cit.

24. Arvind Kala's online article, 'Muslims in Army : Hiding what`s Well-known',www.business-standard.com

25. ibid.

26. See Asghar Ali Engineer's online article, "Identity and Social Exclusion: A Muslim

Perspective", www.csss-isla.com/arch27. Dr. Shekh Belal Ahmad's article, "Indian Muslims and Their Social Exclusion", International

Research Journal, July 2010

28. Though the Government of India constituted the National Commission for Religious andLinguistic Minorities (NCRLM) under the chairmanship of Justice Rangnath Mishra in
http://www.dalitmuslims.com/http://www.dalitmuslims.com/http://www.dalitmuslims.com/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayesha_Jalalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Asiahttp://www.business-standard.com/http://www.business-standard.com/http://www.business-standard.com/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Asiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayesha_Jalalhttp://www.dalitmuslims.com/


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October 2004, its constitution was delayed because of which it became functional only in

March 2005. In its report submitted in May 2007, the Commission inter aliarecommended

that lower castes people who embraced Islam or Christianity should be treated as lower castesand be included in the SC list so that they could also get benefit of reservation in employment

and educational institutions.

29. Source : Sachar Committee Report, p. 370.30. Iqbal A, Ansari,Political Representation of Muslims in India 1952-2004, Manak PublicationPvt. Ltd. New Delhi

___________________________________________________________________________

___***The writer is a former professor of Political Science. Currently, he is a human rightsactivist, a political commentator and a freelance journalist. He heads the Centre for

Democracy and Secularism.

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