Topic: Pasmanda Muslims

As someone who has spent years speaking about caste, hierarchy, and inequality within Muslim societies, I cannot ignore the pattern anymore.

Affirmative action exists for Indian Muslims, but it must be restructured to address the hierarchy within the community. It is Pasmanda Muslims who sit at the bottom.

The Constitution is not just meant to protetct religious autonomy and the collective religious right of a community; it is also supposed to protect the fundamental rights of every individual, regardless of their religion or background.

The real problem lies in the widespread urge to take pride in the conquests of ancient rulers. Pasmanda Muslims must acknowledge that they have no connection to invaders of the past.

Affirmative action in India has always been a secular project. The argument against Muslim quota ignores three key questions.

Mukhtar Ansari, Atiq Ahmed, Mohammad Shahabuddin did not rise to power on their own accord; rather, they were nurtured and supported by political parties serving their interests.

As a Pasmanda Muslim woman, being addressed as a significant voting bloc by a political party carries profound implications.

Ashraaf leaders seem indifferent to the concerns of Pasmanda Muslims. Instead, they exploit this marginalised group for electoral gains, trapping them in a narrative of perpetual victimhood.

Muslims—both Pasmandas and upper ‘castes’—want political representation at the national level, seats in universities, and govt job quotas. But they have different ideas on how to get it.

From blaming ‘lower’ caste Ansaris for the 1857 revolt to not allowing them into AMU, the university's founder Syed Ahmed Khan has, on many occasions, discriminated against Pasmandas.