On the Sachar Committee Report and the Separate Political Party for Muslims

Shot to the limelight during the Shah Bano Case and later as the convener of the Babari Masjid Coordination Committee, Syed Shahabuddin is a retired bureaucrat and a seasoned politician. Here are excerpts from an interview in which he spoke on his disenchantment with the Congress, the Sachar Committee, issue of reservation and the possibility of a separate political party for the Muslims.

Q: Why did you join the Congress?

A: I felt before the 2004 Parliament Elections that there were only two blocs in the field: first, the Congress and its allies and last, the BJP and its allies. The media gave the impression that the communal forces would win over the elections again. I had the intuition that the Congress needed my help to defeat the communal players. To me, the biggest success of the 2004 General elections was the debacle of the BJP and its company.

(http://www.milligazette.com/Archives/2004/16-30Apr04-Print-Edition

/1604200450.htm)

Q: You have been anti-Congress throughout your political career. Were you sure at the time of joining the Congress that it had changed its approach towards the Muslims?

A: On the basis of my experience in politics which I joined 25 years ago, I can say that no political party is sincere to the Muslim community. That is why it was futile to hold any single political party responsible for the plights of the community. Joining the Congress was the only option before me if I had to use my influences in the election. So, responding to the need of the hour, I joined it on April 14, 2004 to help it in its marathon against the BJP.

Q: Then, why did you leave the Congress so early?

A: I had not stricken any deal with it. Though I was informally asked to be the Governor of any state, I declined the offer as I did not want to be caged. I met Sonia Gandhi and offered my services in actualizing her dream project of revitalization of the party so that it would scale those heights of the popularity which earlier used to be its hallmark. Despite her promise, she did not use my clout and expertise at occasions when I definitely would have been helpful. When it was elections in Bihar, I wrote to her that as I was from the state, you could use me there in improving the situation of the party. I was deeply hurt as my suggestions continued to fall on deaf ears. The general perception about me changed and people started talking to me as a Congresswalla while the reality was that I had no say in the party affairs. This had proved detrimental to my public image. So, I submitted to Mrs. Sonia Gandhi my resignation letter in which I mentioned that for last three years I had been in the Congress but it did not utilize my experience and influence as a politician and that was why I wanted to terminate my association with it.

(http://arabnews.com/?page=4&section=0&article=96106&d=12&m=5&y=2007&pix=

world.jpg&category=World)

Q: Is the Congress really serious in its repeated promises to do something concrete for the Muslim community? What is your reading in the light of your three-year long association with the Congress?

A: When the UPA released its manifesto, I became very optimistic that the Congress which was leading the coalition would definitely do something. I demanded that the PM’s 15 point programme should be resumed. To my wonder, it took two and half years to fulfill this demand. I worked hard on the Communal Riots Bill. (http://www.milligazette.com/dailyupdate/2007/200706164_Communal_Crimes_Bill_2005

_rejected_India.htm)I was also instrumental in constituting the Ministry of Minority Affairs. I asked the PM that there should be a Minority Welfare Committee to help the Ministry function better. Committees of this sort are already there for the SCs/STs. The purpose of the committee will be to debate small but important issues which generally do not get discussed in the Parliament and the summary/report of these debates could be presented in the Parliament. Every ministry has a Parliamentary committee as well as a standing committee but the Ministry of Minority Affairs does not have any of them.

Q: You seem to be dissatisfied with the Sachar Committee Report?

A: You know Syed Hamid was also on the Sachar Committee. He told me that there were two parts of the Report: in the first part they have tried to diagnose the problem. This part clearly says that Muslims are as backward as the SCs/STs. In fact, they are more backward than the Hindu OBCs. It is the diagnosis of the problem but what is the solution. It does not get any mention in the Report. If the nature of the problem of the Muslim community bears resemblance to that of the SCs/STs, the solution, according to the Constitution, ethics and democracy, should be the same. The solution to the problems of the Muslims is the reservation. It is said that there is no room for such a reservation. Contrary to that, I have on several occasions proved that there is the scope for the same within the parameters of the Constitution. So, it is at this point that the limitation of the Sachar Committee Report becomes obvious. Though it acknowledges the backwardness of the Muslims, it did not pluck the courage to state that the solution to this backwardness according to the Article 15(4) is first to recognize them as a backward class and then to allocate them reservation in proportion to their population.

Q: What were the reasons, according to you, that the Sachar Committee did not suggest any solution in its report?

A: Definitely, there was pressure from the government. You must have remembered that when the Sachar Report was submitted, it was received well in the political circles. A special programme was organized in the PM office where the Report was submitted. In contrast, there is deafening silence on the Justice Rangnath Mishra Commission Report which has been recently submitted. The latter also reiterates the same point that Muslims are backward. This report, going a step ahead, suggests the solution that the minorities should get 15% reservation and as the Muslims constitute the two-third of the total population of the minorities, they should get 10% reservation. But the situation is that if you go to the Ministry of the Minority Affairs and ask for the Justice Rangnath Mishra Report, you are not going to get it. It has been locked. Even I could not get it. I do not hesitate in saying that whenever a Muslim issue comes up, this government shudders from the fear of the Hindu backlash.

Q: So, the UPA government did not do anything for amelioration of the Muslim situation?

A: Yes, this is true. There are three reports in three years: the revised version of the PM’s 15 point programme, the Sachar Report and the Rangnath Mishra Report. Now we have to think whether we will continue to be pampered by words only or will such a government ever come to the power which will ask the opposition that we are not giving Muslims more than they deserve and thus not doing any injustice to you but we are bound by the Constitution to dispense justice.

Q: The government has identified 90 districts to initiate action on the Sachar Committee Report. How do you look at the move?

A: This is a great fraud. It has been declared that Muslims will get privileges in those districts where they constitute a sizeable chunk of the population. My point is that if the population of 100 such districts put together where the Muslims are at the best of their population, they do not exceed the 30 percent of the total Muslim population in the country. The same has been said regarding the bank credit in 1983 and Muslims, as we know, did not get its benefits. My question is: well, you are doing something for the 30 percent of the Muslims but what about the rest of 70 percent? With amazing shrewdness, 70 percent of the Muslims have been left helpless in the throes of the times and the future will show what good the government will do to the rest of the 30 percent.

Q: But it has already been suggested that Muslims will get 15 percent share in different schemes of every district?

A: This too is a great fraud. This way the Muslim share will be limited to only 15 percent in districts where they are more than 15 percent of the total population on the one hand and the rest of them will remain deprived while, on the other, it will be said about the districts where Muslims are less than 15 percent that there is none to benefit from schemes. The proper method is that the Muslim share should be in proportion to their population, irrespective of the level the scheme is implemented and the allocated money should be spent according to this proportion. I have seen that no Muslim has got anything under the Indira Awas Yojna in a village where they constitute 80 percent of the total population. The government does not want to give anything to the Muslims due to the political compulsions, on the one hand, and it does not intend to do so in most of the cases, on the other. Even the Sangh Parivar can be convinced if the demand is reasonable.

Q: How the Muslims can get their share in the power structure?

A: I don’t know but its roots lie in the political autonomy (khud-ikhtiyari). No political party is ready to share the power with you. If you have any doubt, look at West Bengal where Muslims are in the most backward lots. We do not get equal share because we do not have any share in the government. Today the Muslim community is very angry with the Muslim MPs and MLAs because the former knows that they got ticket in its name, it made them win and now they have forgotten it.

Q: Then what is the way out?

A: I am not in favour of floating any Muslim political party. Muslim party can perform in some districts like in Kerala or in one city like in Hyderabad but it can not work in at the state level. We should adopt the strategy which led Laloo, Mulayam and Mayawati to the corridors of the power. Their politics revolves around the caste and is attractive enough to bring other castes under their banner. Their parties are castist in their nature though they pretend to be secular and are open to all. Like these naqabposh parties (parties with hidden agendas), Muslims should also establish secular Muslim party. This is only way out for the Muslims.

Q: Was your Insaf Party not an experiment to actualize the same?

A: Yes, it was but that experiment did not succeed. The reason is that there is a right time for every work. First, there should be proper lobbying and field-work. I established the party just on the basis of a theoretical framework but Muslims said: which kind of party is it which has neither stars and moon nor slogan of ‘Allahu Akbar’. Moreover, its meetings do not start with the recitation of the Qur’an. But what they could not understand was like Laloo and Mulayam, it was we who would be on the driving seat and the rest of the wagon would have seats for others. If 18 percent Muslims agree to board on such a wagon, every party will start visiting their doors.

(Note: The interview was oringinally published in Nai Duniya, Urdu weekly, Delhi, 11-17 June, 2007).

“Deserted Muslim woman entitled to maintenance under Cr.PC.”

New Delhi: A Muslim woman deserted by her husband is entitled to maintenance from him under Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code (Cr. PC) notwithstanding the provisions of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986, enacted in the wake of the Shah Bano judgment.

In the Mohd. Ahmad Khan vs. Shah Bano Begam case, the Supreme Court had held that “if a divorced woman is able to maintain herself, the husband’s liability ceases with the expiry of the period of `iddat’ (three menstrual courses after the date of divorce, that is, roughly three months), but if she is unable to maintain herself after the period, she is entitled to have recourse to Section 125 Cr.PC.”

This decision led to a controversy and to dilute the judgment in the Shah Bano case, the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986, was passed.

In the present case, Iqbal Bano of Aligarh deserted by her husband claimed maintenance under Section 125 Cr.PC. In 1994, the trial court directed the husband to pay Rs. 450 a month as maintenance. On a revision petition in 2001, the Allahabad High Court accepted the husband’s contention that as he had divorced his wife by pronouncing triple talak, the claim for maintenance must be made only under the 1986 Act and not under Section 125. The present appeal by Iqbal Bano is against this verdict.

She contended that there was no bar on a Muslim woman filing a petition under Section 125 Cr.P.C.

The 1986 Act would apply only to a divorced woman and since her husband had not divorced her in a proper manner, she could claim maintenance under Section 125.

A Bench consisting of Justices Arijit Pasayat and D.K. Jain agreed with her contention and set aside the High Court judgment. It directed the Allahabad High Court to have a fresh look into the maintenance claim.

The Bench, quoting an earlier Constitution Bench decision upholding the validity of the 1986 law, made a distinction between the provisions of the 1986 Act and Section 125 Cr.PC.

It said: “Under the 1986 Act the husband has two separate and distinct obligations, viz. to a make a reasonable and fair provision for his divorced wife [for her residence, food, clothes and other articles], and to provide maintenance for her. Though it may look ironical that the enactment intended to reverse the decision in the Shah Bano case it actually codifies the very rationale contained therein.”

It said a deserted Muslim woman could still avail herself of the provisions of Section 125 to claim maintenance from her husband and the 1986 law would not be a bar.

As the case had been pending for nearly two decades, the Bench asked the High Court to dispose of the appellant’s application within six months.

[http://www.hindu.com/2007/06/10/stories/2007061000251100.htm].

Computers for 26 Madrasas

“…Though the madrasas were intended for imparting religious and philosophical education, they were now turning to modern education to ensure better life for their students. Madrasas had been officially recognised as service organisations, he said, adding that the Government was ready to give grants for introducing modern education such as computers, English, mathematics and sciences, if they desired…”

For the full story, visit:

[http://www.hindu.com/2007/06/10/stories/2007061003090600.htm]

Observations on the madrasa education and the salafism

Excerpts from an interview by Yogi Sikand with Arshad Amanullah on madrasas and their role in Islamic education:

Q: There has been some talk about the need for introducing social science teaching in the madrasa syllabus. How do you respond to this proposal?

A: I think it is very important. Madrasa students, as well as most of the ‘ulama, simply do not think in the parameters of the social sciences. They seem to imagine that if you internalise the Qur’an and the teachings of your maslak all your personal and social problems will be automatically solved. And then, to make matters even more complicated, there is a certain trend among many ‘ulama to attribute all the problems of the Muslims to what they insist is a Zionist-Hindu-Christian conspiracy, without carefully analysing the real roots of the problems, and thereby absolving Muslims of any responsibility in the matter.

This approach of looking at all questions and offering solutions simply in terms of theology and jurisprudence, divorced from empirical social realities, is also reflected in the writings of many ‘ulama. Thus, for instance, some Indian Ahl-i Hadith scholars are translating and publishing the fatwas of Saudi Arabian ‘ulama and seeking to impose their views on us, although we live in a very different context, which calls for different responses on a range of issues. Blindly following the fatwas of a certain scholar just because he is Saudi is silly.

Q: You mention the moderates among the Ahl-i Hadith being somewhat sidelined by hardcore elements. Is it really possible to make such a distinction?

A: Yes, indeed. In the Jami‘a Salafiya, for instance, we had some teachers who were rather liberal and others who were really hardcore. There were some teachers who were very conservative, most of whom had studied in universities in Saudi Arabia. On the other hand, the rector of the madrasa, Dr. Muqtada Hasan Azhari, was a moderate, in the tradition of the Egyptian Salafis such as Muhammad Abduh. He received an award from the President of India for his services to the Arabic language, and he has also been involved in dialogue efforts with Hindus and Christians. I recall a small incident that took place when I was a student in the madrasa. Just across the madrasa is a graveyard belonging to the Barelvi sect. One day some Barelvis were lighting candles on some graves and some students of our madrasa began pelting them with stones, shouting out that this practice was an ‘unlawful innovation’ (bid‘at). When Dr. Azhari came to know about this he scolded the students, and told them that even if they believed that the practice was un-Islamic, throwing stones was not the way to make their point. He told them that they should seek to convince the Barelvis through dialogue rather than through violence or extremism, or else their efforts would be counterproductive. I think this principle ought to govern relations between the different Muslim maslaks and between Muslims and others as well.

For the full interview:

[http://www.thesouthasian.org/archives/2005/madrassa_reforms_

in_india.html]

What is Deoband?

“The name of Deoband came to represent a distinct style, a maslak, of Indian Islam that emphasized the diffusion of scripturalist practices and the cultivation of an inner spiritual life. By roughly 1880 there were over a dozen Deobandi schools, by the end of the century, at least three times that many, some in places as distant as Chittagong, Madras, and Peshawar. Deoband had pioneered a non-governmental style of formal organization for madrasa education in India. Thanks to that structure, the school succeeded in training a large number of ‘ulama’ in its reformist ideology and in establishing a network of ancillary schools further disseminating that teaching. Deoband thus offers a striking and successful example of the bureaucratization of traditional religious institutions that has made them effective in the modern world”.

[Metcalf, D. Barbara (2004), Islamic Contestations: Essays on Muslims in India and Pakistan, p51, Oxford University Press, New Delhi].

Issue of the employment of the madrasa graduates

 

“Madrasas must seriously address the issue of the employment of their graduates, because obviously there are not enough job opportunities for them as imams or madrasa teachers. Some madrasas have facilities for training their students in such skills as calligraphy, watch-repairing and book-binding. It is not to denigrate the trades but clearly these are dying out now, and what we need is new skills or trades to be taught, such as computer applications, journalism and so on. That indeed is happening in several madrasas and even Deoband has now opened a computer-training centre.

That is all to the good, and the process needs to be further encouraged. After all , the aim of the madrasa has never been, and nor should it ever be, simply to churn out only religious professionals, people who depend for their livelihood on transmitting or using religious knowledge”.

[Mazhari, Waris (2005), Reforming Madrasa Education, in, Madrasas in India: Trying To Be Relevant edited by Akhtarul Wasey, p41,Global Media Publications, New Delhi.]

Ending the duality of the educational system

“It must be accepted that though most madaris have included formal subjects in their curriculum, only a few teach them with the required seriousness. The need of the hour, however, is that all madaris, specially the big ones, give the formal subjects the attention they deserve. What needs to be realized further is that by including formal subjects, madaris have taken the right step for ending the duality that exists in our educational system since the British introduced Western philosophy and method of education in the country”.

[Danish, Ishtiyaque (Ed), (2005), Muslims in India: Perceptions & Misperceptions, p121, Global Media Publications, New Delhi.]

The backdoor journalism

“Though madrasa magazines also constitute a sizeable portion of the Muslim media, they, due to sheer lack of professionalism in this domain, do not exert any influence on the community and the nation. Editors of these magazines, who generally happen to be a madrasa teacher, dispense a range of other responsibilities. Apart from teaching six to seven periods everyday, he has to deliver the Friday sermon every week, and also, address other gatherings. The work-load forces him to write editorials in the class-rooms, resulting in the deterioration of the quality of the write-up. Likewise, essays of these madrasa magazines reflect the absence of the contemporary colours. Maulana Sultan Ahmed Islahi, a veteran Muslim theologian, terms this genre of the journalism as the Backdoor Journalism”.

[ Amanullah, Arshad, (2003), Media Aur Musalman: Azadi Ke Baad, p 146, Al Kitab International, New Delhi.]