Last week, the Maharashtra government announced that they would set up a system reserving 4.5% of government jobs and seats in higher educational institutions for Muslims. If it goes through, and another proposed reservation of 16% for Marathas is implemented, 73% of government jobs and educational spots in Maharashtra will be set aside for reserved categories of various kinds.
Yet Muslim activists and groups have already raised objections.
“Our [Muslims’] share won’t even be 5%, but we’ll be cursed more than the rest of the 73%,” said Faridbhai Batatawala, a prominent social worker in Mumbai.
Muslims across the board have denounced the move by the government, an alliance of the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party, as a cynical pre-election sop. Assembly elections are scheduled for October, and it is commonly believed that the ruling alliance, which has been in power for fifteen years, will be voted out of power.
Other Muslims have opposed the reservation on principle, citing the Congress-NCP government’s indifference to the community through its 15-year reign, its questionable legality, and the effectiveness of the measure. Finally, there is concern about the reaction the reservation could provoke among majoritarian groups.
Not All Muslims
Batatawala points that many Muslim communities, such as Qureishis, Ansaris, Ghanchis and many others already get reservation, as part of the Other Backward Classes categorisation. “Who is going to fill those reserved seats in colleges? Our boys don’t want to study; they want to make easy money. Our girls face a serious problem getting educated husbands, and that’s not because colleges are not admitting Muslim boys. How come our girls get into college?”
The government has cited the Mehmood-ur-Rahman committee (set up in 2008 to study the condition of Muslims in the state) to justify its decision. The committee, quoting the Sachar Committee’s figure of 4.4% representation of Muslims in government jobs, has recommended 8% reservation for the community. Muslims comprise 10.6 % of the state’s population, though the Maharashtra government has made clear they will not extend the reservation to all Muslim communities.
On Monday, the Indian Express reported that the Maharashtra government has tweaked the proposal, removing ‘Muslims’ from the name of the category so that the reservation can be used to specifically identify and serve backward Muslim communities. This will also allow the reservation to withstand legal scrutiny, a government source said.
A Political Football
Some observers argue this is a desperate pre-election ploy, because the government has yet to table the Mehmood-ur-Rahman committee’s report, which was submitted last October. Last month, the Movement for Peace and Justice (MPJ) managed to get a copy through a Right-to-Information request.
“Let the government first table the report, so that people know the condition of Muslims in the state,” says S Iliyas, who works towards raising awareness within the community of government welfare schemes. “Like the Sachar Committee findings, this report demonstrates that religious discrimination is one of the causes of Muslim backwardness. Till the government releases the report, its proposals are mere opportunism. We don’t want them. We don’t want to be made into a political football.’’
Batatawala acknowledges that reservation would force the government to employ Muslims, but he wonders at what level they will be employed. “They will be resented as well, by their colleagues and by the public, the way SCs [Scheduled Castes] are.”
The Mehmood-ur Rahman Committee also recommends the enactment of an anti-discrimination law, which would criminalise discrimination on the grounds of religion. “Such a law would benefit everyone,’’ says Iliyas. “Why didn’t the government prepare a draft?’’
Wakf Land Grab
If the government was really concerned about Muslims, said Batatawala, they would hand back Wakf lands to the community. Wakf are charitable trusts and revenue from the land is meant to be used for the betterment of Muslim communities. In India, the land is controlled by a government-run institution known as the Central Wakf Board. A number of controversies have arisen over the years about the illegal sale and leasing of Wakf land.
In Maharashtra, “60% of the 93,000 acres of Wakf land that belong to the community has been grabbed by powerful people,” said Batatawala. Former Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh’s brother built a mall on Wakf land in Aurangabad. A Minority Affairs Ministry report revealed that the land, worth Rs 60 crore, was sold for Rs 8 crore.
“If they were to give us even a percentage of this land,” Batatwala continued, “we could build our own institutions. But the government refuses to even give us Ismail Yusuf College in Mumbai, which was built by a Muslim for the community.” Handing over the college is one of the recommendations of the Mehmood-ur Rahman Committee.
“I suspect the government’s sincerity,’’ says Asad-bin-Saif, another activist who worked closely with Asghar Ali Engineer. “Where are the government jobs? The New Economic Policy [the liberalisation reforms of 1991] has shifted jobs to the private sector, where reservations don’t exist. If it was sincere, the government would have implemented the Sachar Committee’s recommendation of an Equal Opportunities Commission, on the lines of Lyndon Johnson’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. That not only ameliorated the lot of Blacks, but also ensured them self-respect. Such a commission would neutralise the discrimination we – or any other community – face.’’
Asad is afraid the reservations announcement will bring about what he terms reverse polarisation. “We just saw this in Uttar Pradesh during the general elections, where the Muslim vote was wiped out, negated,” he said. “The Congress knows this decision won’t stand up in court. It’s simply hoodwinking us, assuming that the TINA [There Is No Alternative] factor will make Muslims vote for it. It treats us like clients, not citizens. Take the case of Pune’s Mohsin Shaikh. He was educated, employed, but finally, killed only because he looked Muslim. The government didn’t protect him. It doesn’t give us security when we need it, but flaunts its concern for us by such pre-election announcements, knowing the allegations of appeasement that will follow. We need to start acknowledging that just because it’s the Congress, doesn’t mean it’s secular.”
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Yet Muslim activists and groups have already raised objections.
“Our [Muslims’] share won’t even be 5%, but we’ll be cursed more than the rest of the 73%,” said Faridbhai Batatawala, a prominent social worker in Mumbai.
Muslims across the board have denounced the move by the government, an alliance of the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party, as a cynical pre-election sop. Assembly elections are scheduled for October, and it is commonly believed that the ruling alliance, which has been in power for fifteen years, will be voted out of power.
Other Muslims have opposed the reservation on principle, citing the Congress-NCP government’s indifference to the community through its 15-year reign, its questionable legality, and the effectiveness of the measure. Finally, there is concern about the reaction the reservation could provoke among majoritarian groups.
Not All Muslims
Batatawala points that many Muslim communities, such as Qureishis, Ansaris, Ghanchis and many others already get reservation, as part of the Other Backward Classes categorisation. “Who is going to fill those reserved seats in colleges? Our boys don’t want to study; they want to make easy money. Our girls face a serious problem getting educated husbands, and that’s not because colleges are not admitting Muslim boys. How come our girls get into college?”
The government has cited the Mehmood-ur-Rahman committee (set up in 2008 to study the condition of Muslims in the state) to justify its decision. The committee, quoting the Sachar Committee’s figure of 4.4% representation of Muslims in government jobs, has recommended 8% reservation for the community. Muslims comprise 10.6 % of the state’s population, though the Maharashtra government has made clear they will not extend the reservation to all Muslim communities.
On Monday, the Indian Express reported that the Maharashtra government has tweaked the proposal, removing ‘Muslims’ from the name of the category so that the reservation can be used to specifically identify and serve backward Muslim communities. This will also allow the reservation to withstand legal scrutiny, a government source said.
A Political Football
Some observers argue this is a desperate pre-election ploy, because the government has yet to table the Mehmood-ur-Rahman committee’s report, which was submitted last October. Last month, the Movement for Peace and Justice (MPJ) managed to get a copy through a Right-to-Information request.
“Let the government first table the report, so that people know the condition of Muslims in the state,” says S Iliyas, who works towards raising awareness within the community of government welfare schemes. “Like the Sachar Committee findings, this report demonstrates that religious discrimination is one of the causes of Muslim backwardness. Till the government releases the report, its proposals are mere opportunism. We don’t want them. We don’t want to be made into a political football.’’
Batatawala acknowledges that reservation would force the government to employ Muslims, but he wonders at what level they will be employed. “They will be resented as well, by their colleagues and by the public, the way SCs [Scheduled Castes] are.”
The Mehmood-ur Rahman Committee also recommends the enactment of an anti-discrimination law, which would criminalise discrimination on the grounds of religion. “Such a law would benefit everyone,’’ says Iliyas. “Why didn’t the government prepare a draft?’’
Wakf Land Grab
If the government was really concerned about Muslims, said Batatawala, they would hand back Wakf lands to the community. Wakf are charitable trusts and revenue from the land is meant to be used for the betterment of Muslim communities. In India, the land is controlled by a government-run institution known as the Central Wakf Board. A number of controversies have arisen over the years about the illegal sale and leasing of Wakf land.
In Maharashtra, “60% of the 93,000 acres of Wakf land that belong to the community has been grabbed by powerful people,” said Batatawala. Former Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh’s brother built a mall on Wakf land in Aurangabad. A Minority Affairs Ministry report revealed that the land, worth Rs 60 crore, was sold for Rs 8 crore.
“If they were to give us even a percentage of this land,” Batatwala continued, “we could build our own institutions. But the government refuses to even give us Ismail Yusuf College in Mumbai, which was built by a Muslim for the community.” Handing over the college is one of the recommendations of the Mehmood-ur Rahman Committee.
“I suspect the government’s sincerity,’’ says Asad-bin-Saif, another activist who worked closely with Asghar Ali Engineer. “Where are the government jobs? The New Economic Policy [the liberalisation reforms of 1991] has shifted jobs to the private sector, where reservations don’t exist. If it was sincere, the government would have implemented the Sachar Committee’s recommendation of an Equal Opportunities Commission, on the lines of Lyndon Johnson’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. That not only ameliorated the lot of Blacks, but also ensured them self-respect. Such a commission would neutralise the discrimination we – or any other community – face.’’
Asad is afraid the reservations announcement will bring about what he terms reverse polarisation. “We just saw this in Uttar Pradesh during the general elections, where the Muslim vote was wiped out, negated,” he said. “The Congress knows this decision won’t stand up in court. It’s simply hoodwinking us, assuming that the TINA [There Is No Alternative] factor will make Muslims vote for it. It treats us like clients, not citizens. Take the case of Pune’s Mohsin Shaikh. He was educated, employed, but finally, killed only because he looked Muslim. The government didn’t protect him. It doesn’t give us security when we need it, but flaunts its concern for us by such pre-election announcements, knowing the allegations of appeasement that will follow. We need to start acknowledging that just because it’s the Congress, doesn’t mean it’s secular.”
