MINORITIES WELFARE

Madhav Godbole's Plea to Remedy Neglect of Besieged Minorities

With elections to Parliament in the offing, the so- called secular political parties have, as usual, started wooing the 'minorities' - a misnomer for the Muslims. With a population of 120 million, the Muslims can hardly be called a minority, except in a relative sense of the huge majority being Hindus.

 After the demolition of the Babari Masjid in December 1992, the approaches of political parties and organizations have perceptibly changed. There is a new urgency in the Congress to establish its secular credentials after having failed to protect the disputed structure. Its recent decisions to increase the quota for Haj pilgrims from the next year and to increase the emoluments of Imams indicate the desperation in the party to win back the Muslim support.

Aggressive Posture

 The Muslims themselves are now taking a somewhat aggressive posture on their demands. Syed Ahmed Bukhari, the (Naib) Imam of Jama Masjid, has given a ten-point charter of demands to the Prime Minister (which) include, among others, proportional representation for Muslims in Parliament and state assemblies. The Milli Parliament at its two-day session has demanded separate electoral rolls and constituencies for the Muslims.There is increasing demand for the reservation of seats in educational institutions and jobs for the Muslims. The latest entrant to join this chorus is Union minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. The All India Muslim Personal Law Board has recently demanded (sic) the setting up of darul-qaza (shariat courts) in various cities and towns to protect the shariat from the interference of the civil courts in matters like divorce.

This has justifiably raised serious doubts about the Similar observations were made by the Standing future of secularism, even in the minds of those who are Committee of Parliament on the Ministry of Home not taken in by the ideology of Hindutva-based political Affairs in its 15th of May, 1995. The committee parties and organizations. Perhaps the time has come to underlines the importance of training in behavioural recognise that in genuine secularism, religion is not aspects and human rights for the para military forces to recognized as a criterion to distinguish one citizen from enable them to rise above caste and communal the other. Its three basic features are common citizenship, considerations. fundamental rights and a common civil code... The state has to be clearly neutral between religions. This is not the same thing as sarva dharma samabhav (all religions are to be treated equally).

This by no means implies that the genuine grievances of the Minorities in general, and Muslims in particular, should continue to be neglected year after year as has happened. In this context the first annual report of the National Minorities Commission (NMC) for 1977-78 is revealing. It shows that the apprehensions and fear expressed by the minorities, including the Muslims, are as true today as they were nearly two decades ago.

The report highlighted the lack of employment opportunities and hoped that the government would make serious efforts to solve this pressing problem. This continues to be the main demand of the Muslims even today.

The educational backwardness of the Muslim community was recognized by the Aligarh Muslim University Inquiry Committee in its 1961 report. The Committee emphasized that this was due to their neglect of modern education. The first report of the NMC drew attention to this aspect and urged that action should be taken to provide adequate opportunities to minorities for admissions in colleges, especially professional colleges.

 The two remedies suggested by the NMC in their very first report to address the root cause of communalism are as relevant today (a) discouragement of paramilitary training on a communal basis, and (b) replacement in schools and colleges of text books which tend to instil in young minds feelings of animosity between communities by those which encourage feelings of equality and brotherhood between members of all communities.

 The allegations of partisan attitude of the police have continued over the years. The NMC recommended that "minorities, especially Muslims, should be adequately represented in the services in general", and that "the police force posted in sensitive areas should include persons belonging to the minority communities, especially the Muslims". It was found that the representation of Muslims in the police varied from zero in some states to hardly about five per cent in some others. The representation of the Muslims in the armed constabulary, which is generally deployed to deal with communal situations, was almost negligible. This continues to be a cause for serious concern even today.

Similar observations were made by the Standing Committee of Parliament on the Ministry of Home Affairs in its 15th of May, 1995. The committee underlines the importance of training in behavioral aspects and human rights for the para military forces to enable them to rise above caste and communal considerations.

The increasing militancy among the Muslims is partly a reaction to rising Hindu militancy, particularly in the turbulent period immediately preceding and succeeding demolition of the Babari Masjid. But it can be partly traced to the benign neglect of the basic causes underlying the social, educational and therefore economic backwardness of large cross-sections of the Muslim community. It is time to address these genuine and longstanding grievances rather than indulge in political rhetoric. The Prime Minister's assurance in the Rajya Sabha on July 20, 1978, that "in those cases (relating to the specific grievances of the minority communities) their (NMC's) opinions will be binding on us", remains only on paper, at considerable cost of the social fabric of the country.

(Source: The Times of India, 23 February, 1996)