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
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§ion=0&article=96106&d=12&m=5&y=2007&pix=
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).
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