by Arif Mohammed Khan
(The Times of India
20 Nov, 2006)
The release of the Sachar committee report has prompted many including the prime minister to express concern over the dismal presence of Muslims in public services and call for some corrective action.
One of the suggestions made is to make provisions for reservation on the lines of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.
I wonder if those who are advocating reservation for Muslims in services are aware of the fact that Muslim groups are already covered under reservation as scheduled tribes.
In addition, since 1991, Other Backward Communities covered under Mandal commission constitute about 70 per cent of the Muslim population. In fact, benefit of reservation is available to almost the entire Muslim population except the creamy layer.
The figures produced by Sachar committee, however, prove that despite reservation available to almost 70 per cent of the Muslim population things have not improved and Muslim presence in public services is far from satisfactory.
Now envisage a scenario where notwithstanding the constitutional bar against reservation on the basis of religion, Muslims are recognised as backward and benefit of reservation is extended to them as one community.
This will mean inclusion of the creamy layer which in the first instance will go against the Supreme Court ruling and then will make things even more difficult for the really needy among Muslims.
They would have to compete with the Muslim creamy layer when today they find it hard to contend with depressed sections of other religious denominations for jobs and education.
The problem of Muslim backwardness and under-representation in public services goes back to colonial times. In 1878, Syed Ahmed Khan had said, "Muslims had derived least benefit from European sciences and literature".
In 1882, appearing before the Education Commission of the Central Legislative Council, he presented voluminous evidence to show almost negligible Muslim presence among the graduates of Calcutta University. According to his memo there was no Muslim among postgraduates in law.
Among the bachelors and licentiates of law there were eight out of 705 and five out 235 Muslims respectively. Likewise in engineering and medicine there was not a single Muslim graduate. In MA courses there were five Muslims out of 326 and in BA there were only 30 out of 1,343.
The memo pointed out that based on the population covered by Calcutta University the number of Muslim graduates should have been 1,262 whereas there were actually just 57. On the basis of these figures Syed Ahmed pleaded not for job reservation but government help in initiating programmes for their educational betterment.
It is worth noting that this memorandum was presented just 24 years after the formal collapse of uninterrupted Muslim rule for almost 800 years.
Before presenting these figures to the commission it was pointed out that in 1824 when government decided to start a Sanskrit College in Calcutta, Hindu leaders met under the leader-ship of Rammohun Roy and demanded that they did not want a Sanskrit college but wanted English colleges.
In contrast, in 1835, when Muslims came to know that government intended to start English teaching in all schools, they submitted an application signed by 8,000 moulvis of Calcutta to stop it.
Muslims vehemently opposed the new system of education believing that the philosophy and logic taught in English was at variance with the tenets of Islam. They looked upon the study of English as little less than embracing of Christianity.
Later, at the time of starting a committee for diffusion of knowledge among Muslims, Syed Ahmed said, "It was a matter of deep regret that Muslims considered their religion which was so great and enlightened, weak enough to be endangered by the study of western literature and science".
If after 1857 the clergy's opposition to English and modern education pushed Muslims into backwardness, after 1937 the politics of Partition created a negative environment that hampered an effective and meaningful participation of Muslims in national life.
Maulana Azad on October 23, 1947 warned, "There is no use recounting the events of past seven years, nor will it serve any good.
Yet, it must be stated that the debacle of Indian Muslims is the result of colossal blunders committed by Muslim League's misguided leadership. Now that Indian politics has taken a new direction, there is no place in it for Muslim League".
Those who are suggesting reservation of jobs do not realise that the remedy suggested will prove worse than the disease. The remedy lies in compulsory universal education for every Indian child including Muslims.
Modern education will help in not only correcting the present imbalances but will liberate Muslims from obscurantist clergy and communal politics. But political parties in power feel no compunction in using Muslim clergy for mobilising political support at the time of elections.
They will use the Sachar committee report only to heighten the sense of insecurity and deprivation among Muslims and then expect the community's backing during elections.
The writer is a former Union minister.
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