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Religious ‘Secular’ Cauldron: PYARE MUSLMAAN, MUJHE VOTE DO!, by Poonam I Kaushish, 24 Dec, 2011 Print E-mail

Political Diary

New Delhi, 24 December 2011


Religious ‘Secular’ Cauldron

PYARE MUSLMAAN, MUJHE VOTE DO!

By Poonam I Kaushish

 

From cricket match-fixing to political bench-fixing is India’s latest cause célèbre’. How else should one react to the Congress googly courtesy RJD’s sassy Lalu Yadav on the much-awaited and controversial Lokpal Bill tabled in the Lok Sabha on Thursday last. Wherein, instead of bowling out corruption, the Constitution 116 Amendment Bill kicked up a ‘secular’ maelstrom on an innocuous clause: Reservation for minorities (read Muslim) alongside SCs, STs, OBCs and women in the Lokpal panel. In one stroke the ‘so-called secularist’ merrily wrecked the Bill successfully converting it into majority vs. minority slugfest. So much for fighting sleaze!

 

It all started when Lalu raised the ‘secular spectrum’ with Congress’s Sonia Gandhi prior to the House convening at 11 am. Fearing this could lead to electoral costs in the forthcoming UP elections, the Congress President reportedly gave a go-ahead. Thus, the RJD Chief not only forced two adjournments but also a ‘coarse correction’ with a corrigendum correcting the ‘minority’ omission and the Bill finally being tabled in the House at 3.30 pm. Communal bhai-chara was seemingly back on track. But as the adage goes, there is many a slip between the cup and lip given the Bill’s long chequered history.

 

But this was not the end. In a hurriedly convened meeting later in the evening the Cabinet approved 4.5% job and university quota for minorities within the 27% OBC bracket from January 2012. Whereby, Muslims can claim 4.5 out of every 100 Government jobs and university seats. Further, realizing that its "minority" rubric in the Lokpal panel and jobs could be legally challenged on the grounds that the Constitution bars a “religious quota”, the Centre couched it by stating it would mean “representation” and not “appointment”.

 

Importantly, reservation per se goes against Article 15(1) of the Indian Constitution. It not only divides the people but also violates the doctrine of secularism that grants equal rights to all citizens irrespective of their religion. Pertinently, the Centre is banking on the 1990 Supreme Court judgment in the Indira Sawhney case, where the Court held that there was “no Constitutional or legal bar” to a State categorising “backward classes as backward and more backward”. Already, 9 States have introduced the sub-quota.

 

Raising important questions: What has inclusion of Muslims in the Lokpal body got to do with fighting corruption? Is religion going to override merit in Constitutional bodies, jobs and universities? When does minorityism supercede equality assured by our Constitution? How does it better the lot of the Muslim masses if a few get jobs? Are religious quotas good for maintaining the country’s social fabric? Is a Muslim identity distinct from that of an Indian?

 

None can deny that the Government has a special responsibility to help uplift the minorities. The problem arises when our netagan in their quest for votes recklessly label the minorities, as backward or dalits for availing the quotas. Knowing full well that Islam does not accept any casteism and therefore no Islamic country provides reservations to the poor among the Muslims by labelling them dalits or backwards

 

Besides, backward Muslims, who form the bulk of the community, have already been included in the list of OBCs, entitled for reservations on the basis of their socio-economic condition. Which is within the Constitutional framework. Karnataka has done precisely that as there is no empirical evidence or data or population figures.

Sadly, given the level of dishonesty and in keeping with their vote-bank philosophy of making quotas and queues the perfect fodder for the electoral milch cow, our netas have made the Muslim vote bank the tour de force of Indian politics. It’s all about pyare Mussalman mujhe vote do!

By converting two Muslim quotas in half a day the Congress has set the tone for the poll battle royale in UP. Given that Muslims constitute 18% of the population and could tilt the electoral scales in around 130 out of 403 Assembly seats, it appears the Party has targeted primarily at the sizeable heartland Muslim vote-bank, and particularly at the over two dozen caste groups recognised as backward Muslims in the State. A critical election which could be the trend setter for the 2014 Lok Sabha.

True, Muslims, like Hispanic and Afro-Americans in the US, lag behind in socio-economic development. Data collated by Sachar and others show that socio-economic indicators for Muslims were below those for OBCs in many cases. (Recall also that most well-to-do Muslims, barring their lowest rung, left for Pakistan in 1947, a fact overlooked by Sachar) About 59% were illiterate, only 10% went to school and a mere 8% opted for higher education. Worse, even as they were vastly under-represented in official jobs, they were grossly over-represented in India’s prison population.

 

But, an economic criteria, rather than religious identity, should form the basis of a reservation policy. One way forward would be introducing a deprivation index wherein points are awarded for disadvantages based on caste, community, gender, type of schooling and family background. Which would take into account different indicators of inequality among the needy from religious and ethnic minorities for affirmative action.

Tragically, in its quest for regaining Muslim votes for political gain, have our netagan realized the ramifications of their actions? It would not only further divide the aam aadmi on creed lines but is also short-sighted and antithetical to any hope of narrowing India’s burgeoning divide between the haves and have-nots.

It could make the Muslim leadership to go more communal and dictate the national agenda. The next step would be to demand reservation for Muslims in Parliament and State Assemblies which in turn could further fuel the evil of separatism. A panel headed by academician Amitabh Kundu is in place to remove anomalies in the representation of Muslims in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies.

Alas, no one remembers Ambedkar’s wise words of caution against appeasement and the hidden monsters behind it. Said he, “Reservation too should be done away with because it becomes a hindrance to development.” All in all, our leaders must not ignore the grim lessons of history or we may condemn ourselves in repeating history. Already, the BJP has warned it could lead to a “civil war” among different communities.

Remember, a nation is primarily a “fusion of minds and hearts” and secondarily a geographical entity. Time now for our petty power-at-all cost polity to think beyond vote-bank politics and look at the long-term implications. How long will we allow this vote-bank politics to continue to play havoc? ---- INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

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