New delhi,February 14:Mere mention of “Muslim reservation” raises hackles, but was deemed a necessity in the earliest days of the Republic before being scuttled by politicians who refused to recognise the social divisions in and economic problems of the community
Just two days into India’s career as a modern, independent nation, on August 28, 1947, a Bill was passed in the Constituent Assembly to ensure political reservation for the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Muslims. They were both classified as ‘minorities’ and the Constituent Assembly passed the Bill guaranteeing proportionate reservations in the legislative houses.
The next day, some members smartly introduced an Amendment claiming that since the SCs were Hindus, they could not be described as ‘minorities’. Maulana Syed Fazlul Hasan Hasrat Mohani (1875-1951), the eminent freedom fighter and a member of Constituent Assembly, objected to the use of word ‘minority’ for Muslims alone. He said: “I refuse to accept Muslims to be a minority. Are we not calling a minority to refer only to Muslims?” Maulana was not allowed to speak further on the subject as the Bill was already discussed and passed. But unlike other members, he never signed it since he perceived this as an act of ‘hypocrisy’ to discriminate against Muslims.
An obvious question that must punch our minds today in the context of the Andhra Pradesh High Court ruling and the Communist government of West Bengal’s duplicitous ‘reservation’ policy is why this gimmick is still biting after 63 years? The reply is astonishing, rather horrible. In 1949, the word ‘Muslim’ was removed from the list of reservation beneficiaries. While the SCs, who were technically members of the majority ‘Hindu community’, were given the benefits of reservation, the Muslims were forced to live on the margins of the Indian economy with the ‘minority’ tag.
Clearly, the Muslim political leadership allowed itself to be outsmarted by the Brahmins. While talking to this author on the recent high-voltage debate on ‘Muslim reservation’, Maulana Badruddin Ajmal, Lok Sabha member and president All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), pointed out that the demand for minority reservation has been as old as independent India’. He said that the Jamiat Ulama-i Hind has been pushing for it every now and then. He recalled being present at a national convention of Jamiat (Jalsa-e A’am) in Mumbai’s Azad Maidan in 1973 in which Maulana Syed As’ad Madni (1928-2006) strongly came against the central government and passed a unanimous resolution which read: “Muslims should avail reservation exactly as SC-STs had constitutionally got.”
Being a Muslim is akin to a parastical existence. You are always an ‘issue’ in this country. A Muslim has to endure extra scrutiny while getting a PAN card or a driving license. The Justice Rajendra Sachar Committee report is an official document in line with the Gopal Commission’s findings. It is an eye-opener on the pathetic educational, economic and overall social conditions of Muslims nationwide. Following the Sachar report, the Justice Ranganath Mishra Report has conceded the need for 15 per cent reservation for minorities in education and employment, of which 10 per cent should be for Muslims alone.
The Andhra Pradesh development has a backdrop to it. The Congress, to dislodge Chandrababu Naidu’s Telegu Desam (TDP) from power ahead of the 2004 election, promised 5 per cent reservations to Muslims in education and jobs. After coming to power, the YS Rajasekhara Reddy government passed a wishy-washy Bill which was struck down by the courts in 2005. The AP government then referred the matter to the Backward Classes Commission, which recommended reservation for 15 economically and socially backward ‘castes’ of Muslims. In July 2007, the AP government passed a legislation providing 4 per cent reservation to the identified ‘castes’ under BC-E category.
The Muslims appreciated the 4 per cent Bill. Six of the seven successful candidates in AP Public Service Commission Group I Examination in 2009 were beneficiaries of this quota, while only one candidate, Ayesha Khan, was successful in the general category. It was the best ever performance by Muslims in the Group I category in AP. However, a seven-member Constitutional bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court struck down this legislation on three different grounds while hearing Writ Petition Nos.15267, 15268, 15269, 15270, 15330, 16562, 17086,18494, 25852 of 2007 and 17679 of 2008 on February 8, 2010. I am not surprised that the legal department of the Congress-led AP government failed twice to identify the lacunae. I believe the Congress, which largely wrote the Constitution of India in the first place, made an ‘honest’ mistake in understanding the complications.
Many may not buy my argument but why can’t it be an alternative version? At the time of drafting of the second legislation itself, some experts had questioned the very existence of 15 ‘castes’ within the Muslims as Islam does not endorse casteism.
A new twist in the reservation gimmick was given on February 8 by the CPI(M) government in West Bengal. It has decided to accept the recommendations of the Ranganath Mishra Commission, racing to be the first state in the country to put it into action. It has decided to reserve 10 per cent of state government jobs only for backward Muslims, but no seats in educational institutions. Should we believe that the Communists know the Indian Constitution well and their action would sail through the Indian courts in the coming days?Of late, the discussion on ‘minority reservation’ is getting momentum and is gradually shaping into a national movement. In every state, political and apolitical Muslim organisations (NGOs) are raising their voices on the need for reservation for Muslims. On January 10, more than hundred such NGOs demanded that the Congress-led Maharashtra government should legislate 15 per cent reservation for all minorities following the Justice Ranganath recommendation at a felicitation programme to all Muslim MLAs, MLCs and Ministers at grand Hajj House, Mumbai.Former Lok Sabha MP Syed Shahabuddin and eminent scholar Dr Zafarul Islam Khan are leading the National Movement for Muslim Reservation (NMMR), which convened a successful national meet of reservation activists in Delhi on February 10, and demanded exclusive 15 per cent reservation for all minorities, including Christians. The Popular Front of India (PFI), a political grouping, and the Jamiat Ulama-i Hind are campaigning for 20 per cent reservation on the streets of West Bengal.
Prof. MH Jawahirullah’s nascent political party, Manidaneya Makkal Katchi, is agitating for 15 per cent reservation for minorities in the southern states. On February 14, the All India United Democratic Front is organising a mass gathering at New Bongaigaon, Assam to push for reservations along with their outstanding demand for national residential certificates for genuine citizens of India which would go a long way in resolving the issue of illegal migration in the north-east region.
Inclusive reservation for all minorities is urgent for horizontal development. Let’s not forget that reservations began on the basis of religion in the first place. An individual enjoys SC status if he is a Hindu or Buddhist — his religion is the deciding factor. Muslims and Christians do not get this benefit. When an SC converts to another religion, he is deprived of SC benefits. Hence, the Andhra Pradesh High Court’s argument sounds jarring.
It is unfortunate that nothing is achievable in a democracy without united agitations. Muslims must not struck by the intra-division stuff as ashrafs, ajlafs and arzals or OBCs and Ansari debate. Else, it will be an erroneous and force the tragedies of history to recur if political gimmick of ‘minority reservation’ are allowed to continue.
M Burhanuddin Qasmi
The writer is Director, Markazul Ma’arif and Editor, Eastern Crescent and may be contacted at manager@markazulmaarif.org