Saiyid Hamid On Muslim and Dalit Relations

V.T. Rajshekar, Editor of Dalit Voice's thesis that the deprived sections of India's population should come together and strive jointly for securing the rights that have been denied to them is unexceptionable. However, except for a vague wish, nothing specific has been suggested ...

Rajshekar has referred to the efforts made by him to draw Muslims closer to Dalits ... He never had any authority to negotiate on behalf of the Dalits ... There has been no instance of any important Dalit political leader having ever tried seriously to forge unity between the two communities ... Apart from looking back wistfully at missed opportunities of Dalit-Muslim unity, Rajshekar does not unfold a plan on which that unity could be based. He has not outlined any steps to bring the two communities closer together and work out a joint plan of action in social, educational and political spheres .. Rajshekar will be doing a real service if he were to prepare a plan for bridging the distance on the basis of common interest. This plan should be approved by the political leadership of Dalits. Once this has been done, concrete steps can be taken in order to forge the desired unity ... What is required are specific proposals from the top leadership of the Dalit community .. We would suggest that a proper plan for forging a unity in areas where it is feasible may be worked out so that it is ripe for the attention of the political leadership.

We would, however, like to caution (Rajshekar) on two points: firstly, the diatribe against "Muslim elite" had better been eschewed, for Muslims might construe it as yet another attempt to drive a wedge between different parts of the community; secondly, the tone so far as it relates to the people whom Rajshekar chooses to call Vaidic should be less strident ... The objective should not be an attack on the high caste Hindus but a joint effort to secure through constitutional means the rights that have been denied to Dalits as well as Muslims ... and (to) strive to seek "empowerment" ... The strategy would not lie in mounting a provocative frontal attack on the sections that have power and authority but in building up public opinion ...

... What is needed is understanding between different sections and not an onslaught. (Source: The Nation and the World, 16 August, 1999)

Shahabuddin's Comments

Letter to The Nation and the World, 18 Aug., 99

I appreciate the timely note of caution which you have sounded in your editorial of 16 August,1999 of which I hope, Mr. V.T. Rajshekar shall take serious note.

Mr. Rajshekar has never clarified the term Dalit. If Muslims are also Dalits, the concept of Dalit-Muslim unity is meaningless. But Dalits is the term adopted by the SC's (the Achhuts) to substitute Gandhiji 's term Harijan which sounded somewhat patronising.

Thus Dalits have moved on to organise themselves in the form of political parties of which they form the core and which they control. The notable examples are the RPI and the BSP. Alternatively they joined hands with the OBC's (the Shudras) in parties such as the Janata Party and its various offshoots. The Muslims have no political organisation, not even a non-political community organisation (like the Yadav Mahasabha) to speak for them. Secondly, the SCs enjoy reservation in legislature which gives them a share of political power. The Muslims enjoy no such reservation. This means that in election after election, in State after State, few Muslim candidates are fielded and the community remains under-represented in the legislature. Muslims have been condemned to remain electors, without becoming legislators and, therefore, a factor in the political game.

The basic pre-condition for consolidation of Dalit-Muslim unity of action is reservation in legislatures for the Muslim and the establishment of either a non-political Muslim organisation to speak and to enter into agreement on behalf of the Muslim community or a secular political party of which the Muslims forms the core and which has the Muslims in the driver's seat.

In the absence of these two basic conditions, Muslims will not be an equal partner in the common struggle or share the results in equitable measure. They shall only play second fiddle to the Achhuts as they have so far successively to the High Caste Hindus and then to the Shudras.

Thus, while the concept the Dalit-Muslim unity is beyond question, to convert it from a concept to a program of action and the basis for a united struggle, the Muslims and the Achhuts have to enter into an agreement on equal terms through their representative organisations.

Shahabuddin's Letter to Rajshekar

The Dalit Voice, 16 August, 1999

I have always shared your view that any suppressed group will get its due place in the power structure only when it becomes conscious of its identity and of its strength and adopts the path of struggle.

I feel that the constitutional terms like BC, SC, ST or OBC are socially and politically vague and confusing terms which serve to suppress the realities of the caste system, to deny the existence of various groups and sub-groups among the Shudras, the Achhuts and the Adivasis.

Today these groups are not only finding themselves and discovering their pan-Indian spread across the administrative divide.

There is also no doubt that the Muslim community as a religious minority is sailing in the same boat as the other suppressed and deprived groups and all of them must struggle unitedly.

A problem arises partly from the fact that at one level as a Muslim group the entire community is a target of Hindu communalism and therefore of hostile discrimination at every level and at another level, the community consists of many sub-communities which have analogues, functionally speaking in the various sub-castes of the Shudras and the Achhuts.

The Muslims face a dilemma whether they should wage their struggle for equality and justice collectively as a religious minority or separately as extensions of various Hindu sub-castes.

The dilemma has become further accentuated by the fact that because of upward social mobility and sanskritisation some Shudra sub-castes have taken up the standard of Hindutva and emerged as essentially Hindu communities, whether it is Yadavs, Koeris, Kurmis, Chamars, Dusadhs or Pallars or Vanniyars or Madigas or Malas.

Should the Muslim Community consciously disintegrate itself and join hands with corresponding Hindu sub-caste groups? It is doubtful in the prevalent climate of communal hostility that they would receive their due share. Moreover it may be asked to pay a religious price for it. The Muslim community whether as a community or as a combination of various sub-communities is anxious to avoid religious assimilation and cultural submergence irrespective of whether, how and when they receive their just dues.

The answer to this dilemma lies in the entire Muslim community being treated as a Backward Class with a quota, with inbuili Muslim sub-quotas for various Sub-communities. Alternatively, there should be a Muslim Sub-quota within the OBCs quota for the Muslim BCs, which would cover nearly 80-90% of the community. In any case, the Muslims have no hope of getting this due within the OBC quota just as the MBC's cannot within the OBC/SC or ST quotas.

The organisational coordination can be achieved only if there is a representative Muslim body, not being a politici party, which would press the Muslim concern with all political parties or a Muslim political party which would form an alliance or come to understanding with a party like the BSP or the RJD or RPI.

I request you to apply your mind to this problem so that the Dalit-Muslim unity that both of us dream of can be built on solid foundations of mutual trust.

Rajshekar's Editorial Reply

This is our reply to Syed Shahabuddin who has raised a serious question - the "dilemma facing the Muslim community" ...

Backward Muslims tell us that they are suffering because the elite Muslims have blinded them in the name of Islam ... Comprising not even 5% of the community (they) are taking away all the cake in the name of Muslims. On another side they are suppressing the revolutionary aspects of Koran ("Spirit of Islam"), drugging and doping the Muslim masses so that the suffering but angry Muslims do not go out of control and revolt against the Aryan ruling class ...

If Dalit-Muslim unity is the panacea for all out ills, why no elite Muslim has come forward to support us? ...The "Aryan Muslims" are not ready to confront the Aryan rulers because it is in the name of Muslims they are getting all the benefits and the funds that flow from Muslim countries.

... Aryan rulers of India have no complaint against these fair-skinned "Aryan Muslims" who have the dark- skinned Dravidian SC/ST/BC original inhabitants. And the "Aryan Muslims" also hate the dark-skinned Muslim masses. The racial divide is visible.

The Muslim ruling class is opposed to Dalit-Muslim unity. Its fear is that if the Backward Muslims unite with their blood relations (SC/ST/BCs) it will get isolated and Islam will get divided. This. "fear" is deliberately voiced to once again frighten and then hoodwink the ... innocent Muslim masses who alone keep Islam alive in India. However, the truth is the "Aryan Muslims" fear that the Dalit-Muslim unity will spell doom to India's upper case Aryan rule ... The dividing line is becoming clearer ... The identity of every segment -whether it is SC/ST/BC or Muslim/Christian/Sikh - is well maintained and getting strengthened.

... The Koran fully sanctions preservation of identity The "Aryan Muslims" are trying to destroy this identity in the name of "Muslim unity" and Islam ...

... Dalits did not divide Islam or Muslims. It is the "Aryan Muslims" by keeping the distance from BC Muslims who have caused this division ... The elite Muslims are not interested in Islam but in maintaining their hegemony over Muslim masses and Islam. (Source: The Dalit Voice, 1-15 October, 1999)

Shahabuddin's Rejoinder to Rajshekar 22 September, 1999

I have just gone through your editorial in the Dalit Voice of 1-15 October 1999. You begin by saying that this is your reply to my letter. I have read my letter again which you have kindly published. But I find nothing in your editorial which can be construed as a response to the points I raised and the suggestions I made.

On the face of it, you are not prepared to grant, even the Backward Muslims, a separate sub-quota in the overall distribution of the resources of the State within a united framework of the Shudras, the Achhuts, the Adivasi and the Backward Muslims. How do you ensure that the Backward Muslims will not be shortchanged in this combination, if they work for and bring this combination to power?

Secondly, from my personal knowledge, I can tell you that the dividing line between the so-called Muslim elite and the Backward Muslims is not absolute, the Muslim elite today includes many Backward Muslims and a vast majority of the so-called 'elite' are economically no better off than the Backward Muslims.

I do not see why you go on instigating the Backward Muslims against the so-called Muslim elite. In a democratic process, the elite, being 10% of the community, do not matter and the Backward Muslims can take over the political leadership of the Muslim community, as they have already in some spheres.

I do not appreciate your emphasis on dividing the Muslim community which is a Backward Class, while in the case of the Shudras (OBC), the Achhuts (SC) and the Adivasi (ST), you never exclude their 'elite'. In fact, the BSP which you support has prospered on the support of the SC elite.