New Delhi: “Agar unhone humein nazarandaaz kiya to hum bhi unhein nazron se utharna jaante hain (If they ignore us, we also know how to remove them from our sights).” Former Rajya Sabha MP Ali Anwar Ansari, a well-known Pasmanda voice, is clear about how the most marginalised section of the Muslim community will respond if ‘promises’ are not delivered by political parties in an election year.
And Anwar has a point for holding this extreme view: the community has seen itself being wooed and promised much in the last two years. More specifically, it was after PM Narendra Modi’s signal in Hyderabad in July 2022 that ‘Pasmanda’ became a buzzword in Indian politics.
Modi’s party, the BJP, for example, appointed Pasmandas in several key roles and fielded 395 Muslim candidates in the 2023 Uttar Pradesh urban body polls.
But, Anwar alleges that the prime minister is not taking the concerns of Pasmandas seriously and shedding ‘ghadiyali aansu’ (crocodile tears) for them. “A Muslim country (read, the UAE) is inviting you to inaugurate temples, and what treatment are you giving to Muslims in your own country? Pasmandas are suffering physical harm.”
The All India Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz (AIPMM) founder backs his allegations of neglect through a report based on the Bihar caste survey that was undertaken last year in his home state, Bihar.
“95 percent of the victims of mob lynching and government bulldozer incidents (in the country) belong to marginalised communities. Our demand is for strict laws to be enacted against this,” Anwar told ThePrint at the Constitution Club of India.
Some of the demands of the Pasmanda organisation for such cases include holding collectors and SPs accountable in districts where such incidents occur, providing compensation to the affected families, and offering a government job to one family member.
The findings of the Bihar caste survey and these demands have been put together in a booklet, titled ‘Caste Census 2023 and Pasmanda Muslim’, in Hindi. The plan is to distribute this booklet to all political parties and then demand that they address Pasmanda issues in their Lok Sabha poll manifestos.
Derived from Persian, the word ‘Pasmanda’ refers to the most backwards and oppressed section of the Muslims in India. It is estimated that about 85 percent of Muslims fall in this category, while the remaining section comprises the upper class Ashraf Muslims.
A senior BJP leader asserts that the “findings” of the report are nothing but a bid to create a schism among the Pasmandas. Progressive Muslims want to walk on the path of development which the Modi government is providing to them, the leader says.
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Report findings
Anwar claims that the report can provide an indication of the condition of the Pasmandas nationwide.
Marginalised Muslims in Bihar face worse conditions compared to the general community and non-Muslim backward classes, with minimal representation in government jobs (0.70%), the report says.
Additionally, their situation is dire in both private and unorganized sectors, with significant involvement in labor and scavenging professions. Begging cases also highlight their vulnerable position, with minimal representation in EBC Muslim communities (0.06%) and OBCs (0.07%).
In terms of self-employment, the Pasmandas are at the bottom of the list as the report mentions that the Muslims, particularly the marginalised, have the lowest participation compared to all other social groups.
“From this, it can be easily inferred that the most landless group is from the marginalized community,” the report says.
The same scenario repeats when it comes to employment of Dalit Muslims. Only 0.65% of Dalit Muslims are in government jobs compared to Scheduled Castes (1.13%), Extremely Backward Classes (1%) and Backward Classes (1.75%), according to the AIPMM estimates.
Referring to the Parliament security breach in December, Anwar asserts the three intruders had “alerted” the government about the rising issue of unemployment. “The government needs to address and resolve this matter seriously. Otherwise, youths may turn into rioters or Naxals.”
The report, meanwhile, says out of 29 Congress Muslim MPs, 22 (75.86%) are Ashrafs and 7 (24.13%) are from the marginalised section. Similarly, 9 out of JD (U)’s 11 Muslim MPs are Ashrafs, with the remaining being Dalit Muslims. Six of 9 Muslim MPs (66.66%) in RJD are Ashrafs, while 3 (33.33%) are the marginalised. All the Muslim MPs of BJP and LJP are Ashrafs, it adds.
The Pasmanda group claims that Bihar’s caste-based census lacks crucial socioeconomic data, including property ownership and major income sources, posing challenges for accurate analysis and policy-making.
“Some people, troubled by discrimination, adopt surnames associated with higher castes. They might have also been counted among the higher castes during the Bihar survey,” Anwar says.
His organisation advocates for unity, progress, secularism, and democracy among marginalised communities, emphasizing their integral role beyond mere vote banks. It urges parties to prioritize social and economic justice and not take any section of society for granted.
The Opposition parties should boldly address issues faced by marginalized groups without fear of BJP’s accusations, it advocates. Additionally, they should ensure genuine representation for marginalised Hindu-Muslim communities and artisans, departing from BJP’s “tokenism.”
The organisation also demands a nationwide caste census and SC status to the Dalit Muslims and the Christians.
‘Deficit of trust’
The above-mentioned BJP leader, meanwhile, questioned the timing of the release of the report on Pasmanda Muslims. “Why didn’t they publish any report while there were other governments? They want to divide the society?”
Anwar will not speak on the violence that erupted in Uttarakhand’s Haldwani, the BJP central leader says and adds that Anwar is now “irrelevant”.
But the AIPMM founder-president highlights the significant “lack of trust” among the Pasmanda community about the BJP and emphasises that PM Modi should work towards earning their confidence first.
The outfit is firmly against all types of communal politics, be it of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) or Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), Anwar asserts.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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