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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