Indian Dalit Muslims

Who are the Dalit People?

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammad Shahanshah Ansari) — Thu, 24 May 2012 22:49:35 PDT

The Dalit people of India have been the most widely oppressed caste for more than three thousand years. Indian Dalits comprise nearly 1/4 of the total population, a massive 250 million men, women, and children. Dalits are considered the "outcasts" of Indian society - the "untouchables", those the Hindu scriptures call the "unborn" - translated: it would be better if they had never been born.

Dalits are denied access to public wells, public parks, basic medical services, and education. Many restaurants even use drinking glasses reserved only for Dalits. The ruling caste tells them they are Hindu, yet they are denied access to the temples, cannot become temple priests, and are even prohibited from reading the Hindu scriptures. Seventy percent of Dalits live below the poverty line. Dalit women are widely exploited and are considered the "Dalits of the Dalits".

The caste system is an integral part of Indian society dating back to the time of the Aryan invaders to India. The Hindu religion sanctioned the caste system. Caste is considered worse than racism by the Dalits. Dalits across the nation, however, have experienced an awakening and are now demanding equal human rights and dignity. They believe that turning to an ideology of personal and spiritual freedom and acceptance, and getting an education are the keys to finding liberation. On November 4, 2001, the Dalit community gathered in New Delhi to express their cry for freedom. On that day, Indian leaders of faith stood in solidarity with the Dalits in their quest of liberation. This has led to the formation of Dalit Freedom Network International with the commitment to help the oppressed Dalits of India.

CULTURE & CASTE

The caste system has been in place for more than 3,000 years. Each caste is historically linked to an occupation and represents a strict hierarchy of society and status, into which people are born and can never change their caste-identity. At the top of the caste system are the Brahmins, who are the priests and arbiters of what is right and wrong in matters of religion and society. Next come the Kshatriyas, who are soldiers and administrators. The Vaisyas are the artisan and commercial class, and finally, the Sudras who are the peasant and slave class. These four castes are said to have come from Brahma's mouth (Brahmin), arms (Kshatriyas), thighs (Vaisyas) and feet (Sudras).

Beneath the four main castes is a fifth group, the Scheduled Caste who are not considered a caste. They are the untouchables, the Dalits, which means "crushed", "downtrodden", "broken".

A Dalit is not considered to be part of the human society, but something, which is beyond that. The Dalits perform the most menial and degrading jobs. Sometimes Dalits perform important jobs, but this is mostly not socially recognized.

In India there are approximately 250 million Dalits who do not have access to enough food, health care, housing and clothing. They also have limited access to education and employment. Officially everyone in India has the same rights and duties, but the practice is different. Education will help provide the opportunity to change the future -- and transform a child's life now and forever.

Source:

http://www.dalitfreedom.net/about/about-us-2.aspx

Periyar's Hindutva

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammad Shahanshah Ansari) — Thu, 24 May 2012 21:29:23 PDT

By Avikumar,

There is need today to re-examine the ideas of E.V.Ramsamy (1879-1973), who came to be known as 'Periyar' (the Great Man) after he dropped his caste surname 'Naicker'. This has to be done for two reasons. Mayawati, who lost her chief ministership in 1995 after she launched the Periyar Mela, is again harping on Periyar today. In Tamil Nadu, the relationship between the Hindutva BJP and the Dravidian parties is getting stronger by the day.

In such a context, intellectuals who write about Tamil society and polity in the English-language media continue to posit Periyar as an important anti-Hindutva voice. If that were to be true, how/ and why is it that we see Dravidian parties like the DMK, AIADMK and MDMK vying with each other to be seen in the company of BJP? Also, why is it that these Dravidian formations brazenly attempt to implement an agenda over which even states ruled by the BJP would hesitate?

POTA, which has become a dreaded national law today, was something the DMK introduced in Tamil Nadu when in power in 1998. Since the then president K.R.Narayanan refused to give assent, it could not be implemented. The DMK government also introduced a GO (on September 19, 2000) that clamped down against Dalit Christians who sought to convert to Hinduism, with the sole purpose of denying such converts the benefits of reservation.

These were acts that even BJP-ruled states of that period did not dare think of. On its part, the AIADMK beginning with its Annadaanam scheme (free lunch in Hindu temples) in March 2002 till the Prohibition of Forcible Conversion of Religion Act of October 2002 has made clear the kind of agenda it espouses. MDMK's Vaiko, a keen advocate of the very POTA that has landed him in jail, provides us comic relief in this Dravidian drama.

Are these actions of the Dravidian parties to be viewed as merely a result of opportunistic politics? Or is there an inherent tendency in Dravidian politics towards such actions? Moreover, in the 30-plus years of Dravidian parties' rule, the manner in which the dalits of Tamil Nadu have been affected in terms of education, employment opportunities, their right to land and other sociopolitical indicators, has been elaborated in the Bhopal Document (January 2002). In such a context, there's a need to reexamine Mayawati's propagation of Periyar.

Ambedkar had always propounded that the problems of the untouchables are the same as the problems of the minorities. According to him, what is termed as the majority in India is only a religious-communal majority and not a political majority. Political majority is something that can change with time. However, communal majority, since it is based on birth, is unchanging – reason why Ambedkar argued that winning a political majority in an election is not the same as winning the confidence of the people.

In Indian democracy, governments that are established because they win an electoral majority must rule because they have a political majority and not because of a communal majority, according to Ambedkar. He believed that since the Hindus form a communal majority, there should be a check on their influence and authority. He elaborated this idea with reference to the Central Assembly that was functional then. In this, the Hindus who comprised 54.68 per cent of the population must have only 40 per cent representation, the Muslims who were 28.5 per cent should have a representation of 32 per cent; Christians who were 1.16 per cent should have 3 per cent; and the Sikhs who were 1.49 per cent should have a 4 per cent representation, he said.

Ambedkar, for whom the conspiracy of the communal majority was acceptable neither in principle nor could be justified in practice, felt that the communal majority could have at best a relative majority in representation but never an absolute one. Towards this end, he stressed the need for some protective measures in the Constitution. (This was stated by Ambedkar in a meeting organised by the Scheduled Caste Federation in Bombay on May 6, 1945.)

Today, we realise the significance of Ambedkar's warning even more than we could or did before. But how did Periyar view the question of minorities and the rights to due to them?

When we read Periyar's article under the head 'Minority Community', we suspect that it could have been written by a Hindutvawadi (see 'Periyar EVR Sinthanaigal' Vol. 1, page 46; all subsequent references to Periyar are from Vol. 1, Vol. 2 and Vol. 3 of this work edited by Anaimuthu). Says Periyar:

"Under any definition of nationality, in any nation, if people who are a minority in terms of population, in terms of religion or in terms of culture, control power and wield authority, it will be disastrous for the wellbeing and development of that nation. The brahmins and their womenfolk who constitute 3 per cent of our population, without contributing one bit for common societal good, and by commanding us 'Stay away, don't come in contact with me', are leading a luxurious life. The Muslims, who comprise 6 per cent of the population, without doing any coolie work or labour that involves the flexing of bodies, do not let our gaze fall on their women even if these women belong to families that beg for a living, are also enjoying a good life in this country."

"If these be their religious dharma and their religious practice, in whose nation? Amidst which people? Whose religious dharma? Whose religious practice? And who is being insulted by this?

"The products of such minority-appeasing privileges will be 'betrayal' and 'blatant betrayal'. And this is already happening. In our country, selfish irresponsible people who work against the society's interests use these minorities as a support base and can stoop to do anything. We feared the brahmin, and yielded extra space for the Muslims. We are facing the consequences today. It's like that old proverb: fearing the dung, we have stepped on shit.

"Why did the Muslims betray? The Muslims must give a satisfactory explanation to the people," wrote Periyar in 1962. But even in 1954 his position was similar. He referred to Tamil Nadu's Christians and Muslims as 'non-Tamils':

"In Tamil Nadu's entire population it seems the brahmins are 2.75 per cent, the Christians 4 per cent, the Muslims about 5 per cent, the Malayalis 8 per cent, those from Karnataka are it seems 5 per cent – if we combine these, it emerges that the non-Tamils in Tamil Nadu constitute 25 per cent of the population. However, in employment these non-Tamils hold 75 per cent of the top posts. Not just that, the reason why the Tamils are suffering is because the brahmins, Christians, Muslims and others claim themselves to be Tamil."

Periyarists will point out that Periyar had advocated conversion to Islam. "Islam offers a good cure for humiliation and oppression," he had said. But he had explained this: "I am not defending Islam. Nor am I propagating it. This is the truth, the only truth. I have no greater love, friendship, trust or cooperation with or for Muslims than I have for you." In another instance, he asked: "If Sahibs [meaning Muslims] get proportionate representation, and the Scheduled Castes get representation in jobs and education, and if the rest of the slots are monopolised by brahmins, O Sudra, what will be your fate and future?" As a counter-shock, Periyar had suggested conversion to Islam.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the bases of the electoral alliances of today's Dravidian parties can be found in Periyar. The spread of an anti-dalit mentality and the reasons for the backwardness of dalits in the last three decades can be traced back to Periyar.

It is true that Periyar was in touch with Ambedkar. It is equally true that Periyar had spoken in praise of Ambedkar. However, we must examine the reasons for this. Tamil Nadu had witnessed the dawn of modern dalit consciousness even before the arrival of Ambedkar. The dalits here had been politically mobilised by leaders such as Iyothee Thass (1845-1914), Rettaimalai Srinivasan (1860-1945, who attended the Round Table Conference with Ambedkar) and M.C.Rajah (1883-1947).

Though Iyothee Thass died before Periyar entered the political scene, the dalits had become a political and intellectual force to reckon with much before the non-brahmin, non-dalit bloc had found its political moorings. Periyar's praise for Ambedkar was motivated by his keenness to belittle Tamil Nadu's dalit leaders. After this purpose was served, he was quick to talk of Ambedkar as "a north Indian who succumbed to the Congress".

Tamil Nadu's untouchable leaders had paid special attention to dalit education. They also fought for jobs in the government sector. Periyar ridiculed this. "Asking the government for jobs, education, duties, huts and housing; and seeking from the Mirasdars two extra measures of paddy will not help in anyway," says Periyar. "Can fighting for all this be intelligent or honourable," he wonders.

The dalit leaders who raised these issues were derided by Periyar. "Whoever your leaders be, they parade you – as lame, diseased, blind, leprous – for money; and even without buying milk to feed you, nor applying any balm on your wounds, they further emaciate you, and display your condition to others to earn more money," says Periyar to the untouchables.

In his public life Periyar was never involved in any direct struggle for the untouchables. Even the Vaikkom struggle (in Kerala, 1924), which the Periyarists praise, was not something initiated by Periyar. The backward caste Ezhavas of Travancore, with the support of reformer Narayana Guru, had initiated this struggle. Periyar was just one among those who participated in the Vaikkom struggle. However, "It is because of our struggle and efforts that today the oppressed are able to walk with their heads held high. We are the ones who showed them the path to progress in the field of education. We were the first to fight for the entry of dalits into temples and streets," claimed Periyar in 1956.

Says Ambedkar: "Every society consists of groups. But it must be recognised that the mutual relations of the groups are not the same everywhere. In one society groups may be only non-social in their attitude towards one another. But in another they may be anti-social." (What Congress and Gandhi Have Done to the Untouchables, p.193). The attitude of the caste hindus towards dalits is anti-social. Therefore, the interactions between them are likely to be mechanical and non-social. In such a setup, individuals will be able to use one another for selfish ends. In such a society, there will not be commonality in thought, nor harmony in intention, nor will there be unity in action. This is demonstrated by Periyar's attitude.

Periyar was someone who was jealous of the constitutional safeguards that were given to the dalits. Having repeatedly spoken of dalits as a people who don't have a history, who don't have a political movement, who don't have leaders, Periyar even made them believe this. Having used the dalits to serve his political ends, he asked them: 'Of what use are you to us?'

Periyar worked solely for the cause of the non-brahmin, non-religious minority, non-dalit backward and upper castes. He deployed the concept of 'majority' for this purpose. There's only one difference between the majoritarianism that the hindutvawadis propound and that of Periyar's: that is, over the exclusion of brahmins from this majority.

Dravidian parties allying with the BJP even as they praise Periyar is no different from Mayawati's praise for Periyar even as she rules in alliance with the BJP. There's always a scope in Periyar's ideas for such possibilities. This is Periyarism.

avikumar is a Pondicherry-based writer. The article was written on 1 March 2003 and was translated from the Tamil by S. Anand. A drastically cut version of this appeared in the edit page of The Indian Express titled Questioning Periyar's legacy dated 12 March 2003.

Source: http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?225056

The Political Misfortunes of Muslim

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammad Shahanshah Ansari) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 01:36:54 PST

By Maulana Wahiduddin Khan

Indian Muslims, comprising so large a segment of the population that they can top the polls in any one of a hundred constituencies, are in a position to tip the political balance of the entire country

Yet, paradoxically, it is the Muslim community, more than any other, which is suffering from political deprivation. Individually certain Muslims have managed, as a matter of chance, to secure an insignificant number of political posts, but the Muslim community as a whole enjoys no political pre-eminence on the national scene. Nor does it, at the international level, have any share in establishing political relations with Muslim countries. Even in so relatively small a country as Sri Lanka, the Muslim minority has greater political standing than its Indian counterpart.

It is common for Muslim writers and speakers to lay the blame for this at the door of the Hindus. But this view is entirely without foundation. In this world, by the very law laid down by God, gain and loss are not external but internal in their origins. Any explanation seeking to hold other responsible for our deprivation must be rejected prima facie, since it in no way accords with the law of nature.If the truth be told, it is the incompetence of Muslim leaders which has given rise to this unfortunate situation. And Muslims, in actual fact, are now being made to pay for the crass inaptitude of leaders who launched movements based on shallow politics instead of creating among their followers a balanced political awareness—something for which there was a crying need.

If you go around any Indian city during the elections, you will find greater fervor for the elections in Muslim localities than in Hindu conclaves. This is a symbolic indication of the error which has led Muslims into their present state of political neglect. Misguided by incompetent leaders, they have come to feel that in simply empathizing with the national election fever, they are making an adequate contribution to the political scenario. They have stopped short of understanding that taking a real part in politics means full participation in the political processes of the country.

Muslims may display great zeal for sehri (food taken before dawn during the fasting of Ramadan) and iftar (the breaking of a fast in the evening after fasting all day during Ramadan), and for sermonizing on loudspeakers during the month of Ramadan, but they cannot be credited with taqwa (piety) if throughout the year they have not lead pious lives. Similarly, the mere display of enthusiasm for election activities on a few specified days will not bring them any significant political position in the country. They must realize that, for this, they must engage themselves fully and unremittingly in constructive national activity.

From 1947 till today, I have attended innumerable meetings without coming across any notable Muslim gathering which had been convened specifically to discuss the problems of the Indian nation. National issues simply do not figure on Muslim agendas. At Muslim meetings, communal issues, or more often, communal grudges are the favorite subjects of discussion. It would seem that national issues are of no concern to Muslims. I have often found, moreover, that Muslim speakers, invited to Hindu gatherings, give vent even there to the grudges of the Muslim community against the Hindus. This makes it abundantly obvious that Muslims have in no way identified themselves with the political mainstream of the country.

Muslims need seriously to consider the necessity to make their community an integral factor in the political system. For a start, their mode of entry into it could be an indirect one. For instance, Muslims could launch the publication of such newspapers as would be read throughout the country; they could play an effective role in trade unions and other such institutions which have a considerable influence on politics. But there is no significant Muslim presence in these organizations. And Muslim newspapers, if they are worth the name, are little better than communal complaint bulletins, bearing no relation to national journalism. So as trade unionism is concerned, Muslims are barely aware of it as a concept. And so on.

Over the last fifty years, under the guidance of self-styled Muslim leaders, what Muslims have largely done in the name of political activity is vote Congress. Yet, throughout this period they have never felt the need to become part of the administrative structure of the Congress Party. Now, frustrated with the Congress, they tread the path of negative voting. At present, any party claiming to oppose Congress policies can have the Muslim vote for the asking.

To my way of thinking, if Muslims want to have what is politically their due, they should first of all establish their own viability vis-à-vis mainstream politics. Only then will they be in a position to chalk out any real election program and secure benefits which at the moment seem beyond their reach.

For this to become a reality, Muslims must develop a strong journalistic network which is decidedly national in character. This will establish the bona fides of their patriotism and provide an acceptable base from which to project a positive Muslim identity with a wholesome political stance. However, a brand of Muslim journalism which is genuinely national in character cannot come into existence simply by calling some publication a ‘national newspaper’ and placing it on the news stands. In order to launch and sustain such a venture, Muslims will be obliged to enter the field of industry. For, in the world of today, industry is the institution which ‘feeds’ the national press. So long as Muslims have no appreciable share in large scale industry, they will not bring into existence any journalism worth the name.

But it is not just the lack of their own nationwide press that helps to perpetuate the Muslims’ political under-representation. Even journalistic opportunities in the existing national press are not availed of by them because of their own backwardness. Major national issues may be regularly thrashed out in the national dailies, but whenever there is a Muslim contribution, it may be taken for granted that it is about some narrow communal issue and takes the form of a demand or a protest. Letters and articles by Muslims (and I have seen this in several major national dailies), far from urging Muslim participation in national political processes, are mere expressions of Muslim reactions against others in restricted local sphere.

Muslims need to be roused to a proper political awareness. They must be led to understand that politics, far from being just another name for reaction or negative voting, is actually the science and art of government. They must realize that inflicting defeat on one party in order to make another party victorious is only one aspect of politics. And it is nothing more than a kind of political somersault. If such somersaults have not improved the Muslims’ situation in the past, they are even less likely to do so in the future.

Muslims will have to make their presence felt—in a positive sense—in the political environment of the country, they will have to participate actively in the ongoing political processes. And they will have to prove at the national level that such participation on their part is of vital significance. For instance they can provide an important link in establishing good relations between India and West Asian Muslim countries, and they can play a useful role in securing different kinds of contributions from Muslim countries to the Indian State, etc.

It is regrettable that present circumstances and current attitudes rule out hopes of any such activity. For instance, whenever our Muslim leaders, both religious and secular, visit Muslim or Arab countries, they present a negative picture of India, projecting it as an anti-Muslim country. Due to this unwise approach, it is not possible to secure the kind of contribution from Muslim countries which would significantly enhance the religion to reach the point of agree status of Indian Muslims. If Muslims, on the other hand, were to play a positive international role—which is certainly possible—they would see a sudden and radical improvement in their image throughout the country. No longer would they be regarded as liabilities, but as national and political assets. The day this happens will mark the beginning of a brighter future for Muslims all over India.

There is no doubt that India offers every possibility for the construction of a great political future for Muslims. But the secret of securing such a future lies not in the ability to make or break political parties at election time, but in the reform of the community at the political level and in an increased political awareness. The secret, in fact, is not external to the Muslims but within them.At present, everywhere among the educated classes of Muslims, discussions of the national Muslim agenda are going on. Meetings are being held. A whole spate of articles is appearing in the Hindi and English press. Books on the subject are being published. But nowhere do Muslims figure in their activities. They are almost entirely isolated from the whole issue.

The Muslim role in politics is the subject of much oratory and features regularly in the press. But the founding of a political party on the basis of a single community is more likely than not to exacerbate Muslim problems. The need of the hour is for Muslims to join national political parties and, by becoming part of their organizational structure, make themselves effective at the stage where political decisions are taken.

At present, Muslims in this country are viewed as a group with a grievance. Nowhere do they assume the stature of political entities, either in intellectual discussions or in practical activities. The best way for Muslims to resolve this identity crises would be to throw themselves wholeheartedly into the political processes of the country. I am certain that, in filling this great vacuum, they would become a political asset to the country—to the point where, one day, one of their numbers might ultimately become the nation’s prime minister.one country and one country alone; that cably linked with the progress of ully accomplished, we must rid ourselves of our obsess.

More castes in Central OBCs list

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammad Shahanshah Ansari) — Thu, 24 May 2012 21:29:01 PDT

Cabinet nods for inclusion of more castes in Central OBCs list

New Delhi: Union Cabinet today approved an amendment in the Central list of Other Backward Classes (OBCs), to include some more castes and communities the list. The decision was taken on consideration of the advice by National Commission for Backward Classes.

The newly included castes/communities in the Central list of OBCs would avail the benefits of reservation in Central Government services and posts as well as in the Central education institutions, thus contributing to the goal of equity and inclusiveness.

The National Commission for Backward Classes had earlier advised the Union Government to amend the Central list of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) for the states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal and Union Territories(UTs) of Andaman & Nicobar Islands & Puducherry.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment is about to make amendments in the Central lists of OBCs with respect to these States and UTs.

[Courtesy: www.twocircles.net ]

Social Politics vs Party Politics

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammad Shahanshah Ansari) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 00:31:15 PST

By Ashok Yadav

There are two kinds of sub-altern politics being played out in India. One is Social Politics and the other is Party Politics. As I have gathered from years of activism, sub-altern politics is a sum total of unlimited number of activities pursued by differently oriented but commonly concerned persons directed towards advancement of society from inferior to superior stage of social organization. There are two groups of activists. The one group consists of activists engaged in raising and agitating issues which are fundamental and basic to our society. For example, these activists are spreading awareness among the people for eradication of superstitions, for overcoming mental slavery of religious dogmas and priestly classes, for fighting against caste discrimination, for proper and strict implementation of reservation policies, for promotion of brotherhood among much differentiated lower caste groups along caste lines etc. This group is of the view that society is fundamental from which all politics should emanate. That is to say that social issues should also be the issues of politics, that political mobilization should be conducted around these issues and that once political power is achieved; it should be harnessed to further the social agenda. These activists are practitioners of what I have preferred to call Social Politics. Arjak Sangh, BAMCEF, Triveni Sangh and scores of such organizations of dalit and backward castes may be cited as examples of outfits engaged in Social Politics. The other group consists of activists engaged in different political parties as foot soldiers of their party bosses whose sole aim is how to reach their party boss to the chair of different political posts.

These activists are practitioners of Party Politics. Their primary target is how to win elections and become part of the government. They do not employ social issues to win elections as they are of opinion that social issues will not win them elections. They mobilize people along their caste identities by propping up different caste faces and raking up emotive issues to exploit the caste sentiments. Like directors of the run of the mill Bollywood cinema they have reduced the art and science of politics to the formula based politics which can be illustrated by an example. In the last Bihar assembly elections (2010) Laloo Prasad and Ram Vilas Paswan calculated that their castemen would automatically vote for them which would fetch them roughly sixteen-seventeen percent votes. They further reckoned that hurt by Allahabad High Court Judgment in Ayodhya Babri Masjid case the Muslim would vote for them which would again add some ten percent votes. Laloo then mulled that if he raked up the issue of ten percent reservation to the upper caste people, the upper caste would split and cause harm to the prospects of NDA. Then he went extra miles to rope in a Rajput leader of Saran Division. Laloo calculated that by aligning with him he would cause Rajputs to vote for his alliance. On the other hand Nitish cajoled his erstwhile detractor Upendra Kushwaha to return to his fold by offering him Rajya Sabha seat so as to lure the Kushwahas to vote for NDA. It is another matter that the Kushwaha of Bihar voted for Nitish even though Upendra did not canvass for his party during the assembly elections. Not only this, Nitish paid a visit to the kin of a gaoled Rajput politician in a move to counter Laloo’s attempts to woo Rajput votes. It is well known that Mayawati’s BSP never raises any public issue for the sake of mobilization of its support base. BSP entirely depends on caste sentiments of the voters and tries different caste combinations to win elections. Mulayam’s SP computed the loss and gain of aligning with Kalyan Singh; whether the gain of Lodh votes would more than compensate the loss of Muslim votes. In the same way Karunanidhi’s DMK makes alliances with different caste organizations. For the sake of Muslim vote Karunanidhi takes special care to align with the Congress. All the above cited politicians believe in social engineering rather than in social justice, depending on caste equations rather than on the issues affecting the sub-altern society.

The social politicians are radical while the party politicians are status quoits. The party politicians come into power in the name of doing everything possible for ameliorating the plight of the people belonging to the support base. In their party manifesto they promise to fulfill those issues which are of broadest nature, not specifically concerned with the core social base. Even these promises are rather election time public relation exercises. However, on assuming power, they do every compromise to pander to the ego of elite media and to cling onto the power by hook or crook. Consequently the party politician in power loses people’s support and has to relinquish power. Laloo Yadav is a living example of a party politician, who was once darling of the people, losing the people’s support and making way for Nitish Kumar, another party politician from the OBC group.

The party politicians know it very well that their survival and growth in politics could not have been possible without the sustained ground work done by social activists. They are actually political parasites who reap the harvest of the sustained ground work of the social activists and numerous people movements. Even then they maintain safe distance from social issues and movements. We may again cite the example of Laloo Yadav to show how party politicians benefit from social issues and movements. When Laloo Yadav became the Chief Minister of Bihar in March, 1990, no one knew how long would he survive in his post as in the past no backward caste Chief Minister had been allowed to complete his tenure by the upper caste forces. With the announcement for implementation of Mandal report in September, 1990, a social revolution was set in motion. Laloo Yadav, a product of JP movement, which had not much to do with social justice, suddenly became champion of social justice. Mandal brought windfall in the political fortune of Laloo. He challenged the upper caste hegemony and their arrogance and, thereby, ignited the hitherto suppressed anger of the dalit and backward castes against caste atrocities, discrimination and domination. The point to note is that he did this from the position of power that too when Mandal had presented him the opportunity. The Mandal momentum sustained him in power for the next fifteen years though after 1995 he had practically abdicated Mandal agenda. V P Singh had announced for implementation of only one recommendation of Mandal Report. Never in his innumerable rallies and public meetings Laloo raised the demand for implementation of all of Mandal recommendations and also as the person in power he could not implement none of those recommendations which were in domain of state government. History tested his commitment to Mandal agenda when during his tenure as Railway Minister in the UPA-I government the ghost of Mandal visited again to haunt the country this time courtesy Arjun Singh. Laloo kept mum when Mandal II was implemented in haphazard manner. Neither he nor his party raised any voice against obstacles put in by the vested interests in the way of implementation of OBC reservation in central government run educational institutes of higher learning. In fact none of the OBC party politicians barring a few exceptions has agitated for proper implementation of OBC reservation in job and education despite the fact that all of them would have been political non-entity but for the Mandal they are holding respectable positions here and there. In 2010 some seven thousands seats meant for the OBC were converted into general seats by the colleges of Delhi University. None of the OBC politicians, who have otherwise immensely benefitted from Mandal, have spoken against this day light robbery of OBC seats. The OBC party politicians have failed to appreciate the historical experience that it is basically the struggle for reservation policy and their eventual implementation [e.g. 1978(OBC Reservation in Bihar), 1990 (Mandal-I) and 2005(Mandal-II)] that have kept alive the backward caste politics in India. Assault on reservation policy from different sides (conversion of reserved seats into general seats and sending general list reserved candidates in reserved list, telecast of anti-reservation TV serial Armaano Ka Balidaan-Aarakshan on NDTV Imagine and movie like Aarakshan) are actually assaults on bahujan politics. The sub-altern party politicians actually believe in power for the sake of power and not for the betterment of the society they belong to. Power for the sake of power and politics for the sake of politics have become their motto. They join politics as people join government jobs. First, they aim to become MLA and MP. After becoming MP or MLA they aspire to become minister just as a government employee having served a number of years desires to be promoted to the next higher grade. A minister desires to become chief minister and a chief minister desires to become prime minister. They lead people not as a leader but as the Pied Piper of Hamelin. They seek to inspire or rather say influence people less by their thoughts and actions and more by glamour of power.

Party politicians are often degenerated social politicians which is exemplified by none other than Kanshi Ram who is credited for having written a new chapter in dalit politics. Kanshi Ram began his political career from BAMCEF, an organization of SC-ST-OBC employees of government and public sector. Kanshi Ram and his friends formed BAMCEF to arouse social-political consciousness of educated class of SC-ST-OBC people and to raise an elite army of organic intellectuals dedicated to the cause of social transformation. He then formed another social organization DS-4 in order to attract common sub-altern masses as BAMCEF was restricted to educated class. DS-4 was then transformed into a political party by the name of Bahujan Samaj Party. He could have proceeded on his political journey by maintaining organic relations with BAMCEF and DS-4. However, he cut all umbilical cords with social issues by distancing himself from BAMCEF and DS-4. He emerged as a political leader in blind pursuit of power by striking different caste combinations. His boldness coupled with total vacuum in dalit politics since the days of Dr Ambedkar more than compensated his otherwise sterile political agenda. Kanshi Ram thrived on simplistic, vulgar and context less interpretation of Dr Ambedkar’s dictum that political power is the master key. The entire life, struggle and works of Dr Ambedkar suggest that politics must flow from society, more specifically, from social problems, challenges and issues, that the social issues should be the soul of political agenda, that all political mobilizations and agitations should be organized around social issues. Dr Ambedkar exemplified it foremost when he as Law Minister agitated hard for passing of Hindu Code Bill in the Parliament and when he did not succeed owing to stiff resistance from conservative Hindus he did not hesitate in relinquishing the power. Philistinism of Kanshi Ram and his disdain for actual legacy of Dr Ambedkar became rampant when in an interview he openly declared that whereas Dr Ambedkar collected books he collected people. In fact almost all sub-altern party politicians are philistines and hard core pragmatist and detest the great legacy of social justice principles and practices as it put burdens and responsibilities on them for which they have not trained themselves.

For garnering votes and planning political strategy, the party politicians occasionally turn to the social politicians. The social politicians often work as intellectual workers and advisors of the party politicians. Resourceless as the social politicians are they bank upon the party politicians to get their agenda fulfilled, to whatsoever extent possible. However, the party politician would receive only which is politically expedient for him or her. Exploiting their resourcelessness the party politician often strikes a deal with the social politician according to which the latter is given a seat in this or that house. In the bargain the latter has to compromise his agenda. Ali Anwar built up pasmanda movement from scratch in the post-Mandal phase. He supported Nitish led NDA in November, 2005 assembly elections which took away the power from the hands of Laloo and elevated Nitish to the post of chief minister of Bihar. After coming into power Nitish sent Ali Anwar to Rajya Sabha. But in the process Ali Anwar had to heavily compromise his agenda. When he was in dire straits he could still publish a magazine called ‘Pasmanda Awaz’ i.e. The Voice of Pasmanda. However, when he became an MP and had resources to run the magazine he chose to close it. Not only that he also had to canvass in favour of BJP candidate Shahnawaz Hussain in the by-election for Bhagalpur Lok Sabha constituency much against his declared policy that secularism was an article of faith for the pasmanda movement. We also have the example of Prem Kumar Mani, the noted Hindi short story writer and social justice intellectual. Mani played a pivotal role in bringing most backward caste people including pasmanda muslims in JD (U) fold in 2005 Bihar assembly elections. He was later awarded with membership of Bihar Legislative Council. He started Jan Vikalp, a monthly Hindi magazine, dedicated to the cause of progressive and sub-altern politics, which he preferred to shut down after publishing twelve issues. The party politicians are wary of social politicians because of their intellect and commitment and finding the first opportunity the former do not hesitate in clipping the wings of the latter.

The crisis of sub-altern politics and their politicians (Laloo, Mulayam, Mayawati, Karunanidhi, Sharad Yadav, Nitish etc) lies is this dichotomy of social politics and party politics. The party politicians have simply refused to acknowledge that political energy is generated by social movements by tapping which they can sustain their politics on a long term basis that will benefit both, the people and the politics. All the above cited politicians are struggling to keep their mass base intact. They are resorting to all sorts of compromises which go against the very philosophy of sub-altern politics landing their politics and people in deep trouble.

[The writer is social justice activist and writer. He is attached with All India Federation of Backward Classes (OBC) Employees Welfare Associations headquartered at Chennai. He can be contacted on ashokyadav2007@gmail.com)

Divide OBCs into subgroups

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammad Shahanshah Ansari) — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 19:13:48 PST

Divide OBCs into subgroups, says govt panel

By Subodh Ghildiyal, TNN | Nov 11, 2011

NEW DELHI: A government panel wants the Centre to initiate legal measures to split the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) into subgroups based on their socio-economic status, in what is the first show of official intent to categorize the monolith group.

The panel has suggested that the mass of thousands of backward castes presently part of an umbrella OBC list be divided into distinct categories of "backward" and "most backward".

The landmark initiative, with implications for OBC mobilization and apportioning of reservation benefits, may gather momentum from next year if the government accepts it as a policy objective.

The government's plans may invite resistance from the dominant sections since it will shrink their share in the 27% reservation pie to a fraction proportionate to their share of the total OBC population.

The government's plan to divide the OBCs will be a boon for the weaker "backwards" who are far more numerous but are unable to compete with the well-off backwards for quota benefits because of their education handicap.

The 'quota within OBC quota' thinking is in line with the views of National Commission for Backward Classes, as reported by TOI on May 27. The sub-categorization of OBCs will change the way quota politics has been run since the advent of Mandal commission which introduced job reservation for OBCs in central bodies. The Mandal policy turned OBCs into a crucial political force, forcing a churn in the upper caste-dominated politics. However, the OBC monolith has started disintegrating because of the resentment among the Most BackwardClasses (MBCs) over the domination of the "creamy layer". The last few years have seen them emerge from the shadow of Yadavs and Kurmis to be a factor in the electoral success ofMayawati and Nitish Kumar.

While the sub-division is already in force in many states, successive regimes at the Centre have avoided following suit for fear of backlash from the dominant groups. It is to be seen if the UPA will keep the recommendation of the Planning Commission's subgroup on 'empowerment of OBCs' as part of its policy objective for the new plan period.

NCBC chairman M N Rao had told TOI that the treatment of OBCs as a monolith had led to iniquitous distribution of quota benefits with dominant groups monopolizing the fruit of reservation. Advocating sub-division, he said, "A stonecutter and a goldsmith cannot be lumped together and asked to compete for a job." A preliminary discussion had earlier taken place between the commission and the social justice ministry.

MBCs have long complained that with their lower level of education, they are unable to compete with the strong backward castes. They have argued that weaker castes be asked to compete only against each other to ensure a levelplaying field for quota benefits. Significantly, the Congress-a late comer to OBC politics-has taken baby steps to court the MBCs. Unable to effectively woo the dominant groups, the party is trying to reach out to MBCs in the upcoming UP polls with a spike in party tickets for their members.

Reservation In Private Sector

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammad Shahanshah Ansari) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 16:04:04 PST

Reservation In Private Sector: A Legitimate Demand

By Rahul Kumar Balley

DrAmbedkar on reservation has categorically stated “ Reservation is neither a policy matter , a political gimmick nor a matter of charity .It is a constitutional obligation .

Every social history in the society has background .Reservation has its own background when people into High and Low on the basis of their birth and not on the basis of merit were divided by the law book of Brahmins i.e Manusmriti .

According to Manusmriti low caste people were not allowed to have access to the education, a primary step to rise in life .Having no access to the education majority of them remain uneducated as a result of which they could not participate in the legislature ,the executive and the judiciary .Non availability of educated people from these low caste people gave opportunity to the upper caste Brahmins to monopolise the 3 arms of the government and subsequently laid greedy paws at the treasure of the country after departure of the British government from the Indian soil.

Brahmin dominated political parties and religious bodies are harping on doling out reservation on the economic criteria to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes but forgotten that their own books and religious leaders prescribed such division of people on the basis of caste . It is a lethal strategy by the Hindu organisations throughout the country and prepare the mind of one & all to bring about changes in the constitution to maintain pathetic status quo of the so called Scheduled castes & Scheduled Tribes .

Britishers left the culture of inequality and suppression which the governing class after partition of the county adopted with hatred in hearts and untouchability in minds against the so called Scheduled castes & Scheduled Tribes .Common untouchability practises such as :segregation in housing ,schools & cremation grounds ;de facto prohibition of caste marriage ;limitation or prohibit of access to public places such as water taps ,health care & education ;restriction on occupation ;assignment of the most mental ,dirty & dangerous jobs as defined by the caste hierarchy ;de facto prohibition of access of land ;bloody & brutal killing ,parading naked Dalits women everyday particularly in rural areas of the country . Most of the law enforcing agencies in the states are controlled under the supervision of the upper caste officials who do not want to lend a sympathetic ears to the suffering Dalits . Nothing has stopped in India against SCs & STs even after independence despite of constitutional safeguards but terminology of atrocities changed like honour killing ,stone to death, house burning so & so on .

The respective governments at the centre have failed in upholding the constitutional obligation for the betterment of the weaker sections of the society in letter and spirit since most of the governments are financed and run by the majority of the upper caste Brahmins at the centre .

Congress is squarely answerable since they rule the states with maximum Dalit population for almost first 40 years of Indian democracy .The litany of the matter is that from M.K. Gandhi to Rahul Gandhi paid lip service to the Dalits without having done anything substantial to improve the worsening condition of the weaker section of the society .After the death of Dr Ambedkar in 1956 ,not a single government has made sincere and honest efforts to ameliorate the ever pathetic conditions of the Dalits . It shows that political parties run by the upper caste Brahmins at the centre are least concerned about the welfare of the Dalits .It is pity to know that most of the welfare schemes for SCs & STs floated by the central government are financially crunched or die its own death in the government files .

Similarly ,t he "National Agenda for Governance," the election manifesto for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which came to power in the February 1998 elections, outlines a program of action for the "upliftment" of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. It promises to take steps to establish "a civilised, humane and just civil order... which does not discriminate on the grounds of caste, religion, class, colour, race or sex"; ensures the "economic and educational development of the minorities"; safeguards the interests of scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and backward classes by "appropriate legal, executive and societal efforts and by large scale education and empowerment"; provides "legal protection to existing percentages of reservation in educational institutions at the State level"; and removes "the last vestiges of untouchabilit y." However, to date, the state government ruled by BJP has done little to fulfill its promises to Dalits. Currently seven states ruled by BJP ,the atrocities on minority communities have been increasing day & night .

Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes commission report says that A large number of cases which deserve to be registered under Protection of Civil Rights Act or the SCs & STs (Prevention of Atrocities) Act are not actually registered under these Acts, either due to ignorance of law or under pressure from the interested parties. Investigations in even those limited number of cases is often earned out in a slipshod manner and with considerable delay.”

Source: National Human Rights Commission Report on the Prevention and Atrocities against Scheduled Castes

A large chunk of the key posts in the police department are held by the upper caste Brahmins in all states of the country . It is but natural that their tendency towards the Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes will remain repressive because of prevalence of negative mind set Corruption is a major issue that affects the lives of the Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes . Siphining of funds through the state agencies earmarked for the welfare of the so called SCs & STs is common affair .Illiteracy rate among SCs & STs is on the rise despite of several educational schemes at the district level launched by the respect states mainly because of deep rooted corruption .The central government has to bring about change in the existing system and should also ensure strict supervision & monitoring of the optimal uasage of funds earmarked for the welfare of the SCs & STs by state legislatures & their committees .

The political scenario in India has drastically changed subsequently the degree of insensitivity on the part of the upper caste Brahmins to the underprivileged class has increased manifold in the last few decades The powerful words like socialism or secularism are replaced by privatisation ,globalisation & liberalisation .Shrinking of government jobs and faster disinvestment policies of the government of India in ONGC,SAIL,HINDUSTAN COPPER(HCL)& NATIONAL BUILDING OF CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION has already hit hard the Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes .Skyrocketing privatisation with Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in major industry in India will further block the chances of getting jobs for the Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes subsequently more exploitation and segregation . On the educational front the situation is getting worse day by day . In the process of globalisation, many foreign universities are invading the educational spheres through hitherto unfamiliar strategic alliances with non-descript commercial agencies, of course at hefty dollar equivalent prices. Many elite institutions like IIMs, IITs, and suddenly facing fund crunch had to raise their fee structure and other prices many fold. They were already beyond the reach of Dalits.

On the hand the PSUs for global free market regime, the PSUs were allowed/encouraged to have strategic alliances with private companies from India and abroad. As such, over the last five years, many profit making PSUs have formed the joint venture companies (JVC). These JVCs are strategically structured as not to fall in the ambit of the PSU-framework. The typical equity stake for the PSU and private could be 49:51. There appears to be a great deal of receptivity for this scheme in the government circles. There are no policy barriers on the business to be pursued by these JVCs. Such joint venture companies will watch the interest of the rich people only.

During the brief government of BJP at the centre state owned enterprises were sold to the private business houses ( for an extremely low price ) which has no place for Dalits .Privatisation in india is a great challenge for the Dalits

Economic backwardness of the Dalits will make them helpless to acquire new skills to compete in the private sector .`Poverty is not just low GDP ;it is dying babies ,starving children and oppression of women & the downtrodden (Easterly William ,2001) English as a medium of language & e-learning techniques has become altogether a stumbling block for the Dalits particularly in the rural areas of the country .

In metro cities ,the hiring rate of the Scheduled castes & Scheduled Tribes by the Multi National Companies (MNCs) is almost negligible because of lack of technical skills and passable English . Above that educational coaching institutes funded by government of India for imparting free computer skill training to the SCs & STs are not upto the mark .It should be noted computers installed at such educational coaching institutions hardly work or upgraded as per the industry requirement subsequently making them unfit for the globalised market Survey revealed that in modern private enterprises (including IT) applicants with a typical Muslim or Dalits name had a lower chance of success than those with the same qualified & an upper caste Hindu name because of no access to intellectual technological & financial resources at their disposal.

Liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation have eroded opportunities for SC/ST and marginalised people to retain the gains already achieved, what to talk about pacing with time and space. The demand by All India confederation of SCs & STs organisations and National Justice party President Dr Udit Raj for reservation in private sector is a legitimate demand .The government of India should implement reservation in private sectors to open up job opportunities for the SCs/STs .All scheduled castes & Scheduled Tribes organisations should educate the poor Dalits about the harmful effects of privatisation on their daily life ;organise & mobilise the people throughout the country to raise voice and agitate for pressing the demand for reservation in private sectors before it becomes too late to mend the ways .

Rahul Kumar Balley, Director , Buddha Education Foundation, New Delhi

( Courtesy: Countercurrents.org )

The Real Goal Of The Anna Movement?

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammad Shahanshah Ansari) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 07:14:47 PST

What Is The Real Goal Of The Anna Movement?

By Rohini Hensman

Many people including members of Team Anna have expressed reservations about the way in which their campaign has been developing, and some have even resigned. This raises questions about the real aim of the leadership around Anna. Is it really what it is proclaimed to be?

Is the aim to get the Jan Lokpal Bill passed by parliament?

Team Anna has repeatedly stated that they have just a one-point agenda: to get the Jan Lokpal Bill (JLB) passed. According to a detailed report, [1] the bill is actually the brain-child of Arvind Kejriwal, who joined the National Campaign for People’s Right to Information (NCPRI) when it was working on the Right to Information (RTI) Bill, and was later delegated, along with others, to draft a Lokpal Bill. However, he parted company with the rest of the team when they did not agree with him that the judiciary should come under the scrutiny of the Lokpal. As Justice A.P. Shah explains, the NCPRI feels that corruption in the judiciary should be dealt with by a strengthened Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill. [2] Kejriwal was unconvinced, and went on to draft the bill with inputs from Prashant and Shanti Bhushan. He also succeeded in getting the full support of anti-corruption campaigner Anna Hazare.

Since the bill is so crucial to the campaign, it is worth asking: what are the chances that it could actually become law? Most people who support the bill have not read it, and those who have taken the trouble to do so find it deeply flawed. One legal expert who attended consultations about the bill and, along with others, made criticisms of it that were apparently not heeded, felt the flaws were so glaring that the movement could not possibly be about the bill. The Lokpal takes over functions of the legislature (parliament) and judiciary, thus violating the basic structure of the separation of powers which is fundamental to the constitution of a liberal democracy. This structure cannot completely prevent the abuse of power, but it does put in place certain checks and balances, and thus creates obstacles to the seizure of absolute power by any state institution. Abuse of power by the Jan Lokpal would be almost inevitable, given that it would have the power to determine, arbitrarily, a punishment for corruption between 6 months and life imprisonment. Thus even if the JLB were to be passed by parliament, it would almost certainly be struck down as unconstitutional because it violates the principle of the separation of powers. Even if it were not struck down, it would by no means end corruption, because ‘You are creating an institution that becomes impervious to being challenged for corruption or for abuse of power.’ [3]

In other places, the drafting is extremely vague. For example, the establishment of Lokayuktas is mentioned only in the last two-and-a-half lines, where the bill merely says that the provisions would be same as for the setting up of the Lokpal! But the main criticism of the bill, according to Usha Ramanathan, is the nature of the power it would establish: ‘RTI said every one of us can take our destiny into our hands to the extent that we are able to find the energies. Lokpal says, “You become a subject of mine, I will protect you from corruption.” So if the Lokpal doesn’t succeed, I can’t do anything for myself. That’s the fundamental difference. If you do not democratise control over corruption, you cannot control corruption.’ (see[3]).

The demand that the JLB should be passed by parliament unchanged cannot, then, be a serious one, given the draconian nature of the bill and its lack of constitutionality on one hand, and its sloppy drafting on the other. It could gain so much traction at least in part because the vast majority of its supporters did not read it. If the real goal had been to pass the bill in parliament, it would have been drafted with greater care.

Is the goal a broader democratic transformation?

The fact that electoral reform, with the incorporation of the right to reject and recall candidates, was proposed by Team Anna soon after Hazare called off his fast at the end of August suggested that the team might be planning to campaign on a range of democratic rights issues. Promising to send representatives to Manipur to find out whether it was worthwhile for the team to support Irom Sharmila’s struggle strengthened this impression.

One of the first indications that this would be an illusion came in NDTV’s ‘We the People’ edition on ‘Gandhigiri in the Age of Violence’ on 2 October. During the discussion, ex-police officer Kiran Bedi said categorically, ‘I can’t believe the Indian army would kill an Indian for the sake of killing.’ Coming in the wake of revelations in the mass media that this is precisely what has been taking place, and has resulted in thousands of unmarked graves in Kashmir, [4] Bedi’s public defence of the impunity granted by the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) brings into question her commitment to fundamental rights. When Sajjad Lone commented that ‘All the killings that the army has done are not of militants,’ she conceded, ‘Could be! I’ve done encounters too. When I go for an encounter, I have to take it on, and I can go wrong and I can go right.’ The issue of human rights is nowhere on her radar, nor the idea that the root cause of corruption is excessive power and the freedom to abuse it with impunity.

However, the most dramatic proof that the team could not work together on broader issues surfaced on 12 October, when Prashant Bhushan was assaulted by members of the Bhagat Singh Kranti Sena (BSKS) and Sri Ram Sene in his chambers at the Supreme Court, in the full glare of TV cameras that had come to film an interview with him. [5] A visibly shocked and shaken Bhushan afterwards told reporters that they attacked him because he had advocated a plebiscite in Kashmir, and said that if the majority wanted to separate from India, they should be allowed to do so. The organisations too claimed the attack, and explained it in the same way. Everyone condemned the assault, but Anna’s condemnation was curiously lukewarm, because he added that the attackers ‘should not have taken the law into their own hands. They should have taken recourse to the law.’ The implication - that he agreed with the politics of the attackers but not with their methods, and that possibly the sedition law should have been used against Bhushan - was made clearer subsequently, when he proclaimed that Kashmir was an integral part of India, and he was ready to die or go to war with Pakistan to keep it so. His suggestion that the core group would have to discuss whether Bhushan would be allowed to stay on in the group [6] was quickly withdrawn, but not quickly enough to avoid giving the impression that he considered airing such views a serious offence.

Shanti Bhushan stood by his son, but other members of the team hastened to distance themselves from Prashant Bhushan’s views on Kashmir. Once again, despite the backdrop of revelations about ghastly human rights violations in Kashmir, they did not mention state atrocities. One may disagree with Bhushan that a plebiscite would guarantee the democratic rights of all Kashmiris - if 51 percent want to join Pakistan and 49 percent do not, what happens to the democratic rights of the 49 percent? - but at least he recognises that the people of Kashmir have democratic rights. Yet with the exception of Shanti Bhushan, no one else in Team Anna spoke up in his defence. Even more disturbing was the fact that it was he, the victim of violence, whose continued membership in the campaign was questioned, whereas there was no suggestion that the perpetrators of the violence - who were also part of India Against Corruption and had put up pictures of themselves at Tihar jail demonstrating for Anna Hazare - should not be part of the campaign. Indeed, no one else in Team Anna acknowledged that photographs of BSKS leader Tejinder Pal Singh Bagga with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and L.K.Advani can be found on the internet, showing clearly where his political affiliation lies. [7]

With such serious differences on the issue of fundamental rights, it is clear that the Anna movement could not campaign on a broader democratic transformation without falling apart. This cannot therefore be its goal.

Is the aim to curb corruption?

Curbing corruption was certainly the goal of a large part of the movement, including members of its leadership. This section would consider the campaign of August 2011 a success if it resulted in the government passing a strong Lokpal Bill (not necessarily the JLB) in the winter session of parliament, along with supplementary anti-corruption legislation. However, the decision by Kejriwal, Hazare and others to campaign against Congress in the parliamentary by-election in Hisar in September - before the government had had a chance to pass a Lokpal Bill - made it clear that another section of the leadership had a different goal. As Hartosh Singh Bal comments, according to Kejriwal, ‘“Except the Congress, give your vote to any of the other 44 candidates in the fray. Do not worry excessively that there are corrupt individuals among the candidates. If they win, the Lokpal Bill will send them to jail” ~ 10 October 2011. Let us try and understand Kejriwal’s logic (if it can be termed that)—as long as the Congress is kept out, it does not matter that corrupt politicians are elected to Parliament. In fact, to take this argument to its logical conclusion, Kejriwal seems to suggest that if enough corrupt non-Congress politicians are elected, they will pass a Lokpal Bill that will ensure they are sent to jail.’ [8]

Justice Santosh Hegde immediately condemned the move, pointing out that Congress had not been given time to pass the Lokpal Bill, that the other two candidates in the fray were not above board, and that if Kejriwal and Anna felt compelled to campaign in elections, they should simply campaign for the best candidate and not against any particular party. [9] Two more prominent activists, P.V.Rajagopal and Rajinder Singh, decided to quit the core committee, objecting to the political turn taken by the campaign and complaining that they had not been consulted about it. [10] Indeed, given that the main beneficiary of a campaign against Congress would be the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which had as many or more corruption-tainted ministers as Congress, it would be correct to say that this was a party political campaign rather than a campaign against corruption.

However, the most persuasive evidence that the aim of the campaign is not to curb corruption comes from what might be called ‘the inflated travel bill scam’. On 20 October, the Indian Express broke the story that Kiran Bedi had routinely been travelling on discount airfares but charging her hosts full fare or even business class fares. [11] Her first line of defence was that she was doing this with the knowledge and consent of her hosts, thus ‘saving’ money and passing it on to her NGO, India Vision Foundation (IVF). [12] But it subsequently emerged that not only did her hosts not consent to her inflated travel bills, but some were indignant when they discovered, for example, that she was trying to get them to pay twice over for the same journey, and charging business class fares on a flight that did not have business class. [13] Former Chief Justice S.J.Verma commented that claiming reimbursement of money you have not spent is unacceptable, but Bedi’s justification for doing so was even more upsetting: if you pick a person’s pocket and give the money to someone else, does that mean you haven’t committed the offence of pickpocketing? [14]

Apparently sensing that passing off profits as reimbursement was not merely unethical but might be illegal, the trustees of IVF instructed her to return the extra money and refrain from inflating her travel bills in future. Bedi made this announcement, but botched it by saying that her travel agent Anil Bal, who was also a founder-member of IVF, would return the money. Bal objected strongly to the insinuation that he was responsible for the inflated bills, and to the ‘bizarre’ order that he return the excess money, saying that he had no transactions with Bedi’s hosts. He said he was returning the money in the IVF account forthwith, and resigned both from being a trustee of IVF and from being their travel agent. [15] Meanwhile Kejriwal, who had taken two years’ paid study leave from his job in the Income Tax Department on the strength of a Rs 9-lakh bond that he would return and work for them for three years, but had instead gone on to work for his NGO Parivartan, (see [1]), was trying (unsuccessfully) to evade payment of the bond. [16]

If Bedi’s and Kejriwal’s rants against ‘the corrupt’ had not been so strident, if the JLB had concentrated on big-ticket corruption instead of aiming to prosecute every clerk or linesman who took Rs 50 extra to do the work they were required to do, these deviations from the straight and narrow path might have been considered trivial, but in the circumstances, they made Bedi and Kejriwal appear hypocritical. To make matters worse, instead of distancing himself from Bedi, as he had from Bhushan, Anna defended her and instead blamed a ‘gang of four’ in the government for the debacle! [17] It was clear from the start that the real root of corruption - unaccountable power and impunity - were not the target of the campaign, but these recent developments demonstrate that for some of its leaders, it is not even about curbing corruption in the narrower sense of financial irregularities. If that were the aim, the first requirement would be to ensure that members of Anna’s own team had nothing to hide.

Is the goal regime change?

All the evidence suggests that the real goal of these members of Team Anna is regime change, and that, too, not in the weak sense of a change of government, but in the much stronger sense of constitutional change.

The campaign in Hisar was only one of many instances in which Congress was targeted; Anna blamed the government for the story of Bedi’s inflated travel bills instead of giving credit to the Indian Express for its exposé; and Kejriwal insinuated that Congress was responsible even for the assault on Prashant Bhushan, despite manifest evidence that it was launched by right-wing activists close to the BJP. Meanwhile, the BJP has escaped criticism despite the fact that one of its chief ministers (Karnataka) was in jail for corruption, a second (Uttarakhand) had to be dismissed due to corruption charges, and a third (Gujarat) failed to appoint a Lokayukta for seven years and then opposed the Lokayukta chosen by the Chief Justice, wanting instead to appoint a person who was subservient to him. Kejriwal and Bedi said that ‘RSS people’ were welcome to join their movement as Indians, [18] even as it emerged that Yedyurappa allocated about Rs 50 crore worth of land that had been reserved for other purposes to six RSS-affiliated organisations and seven leaders from an RSS background at throwaway prices while 350,000 genuine applicants waited in the queue! [19] It is hard to escape the impression that the campaign is aimed at bringing down the UPA government and installing a BJP-led government, which is precisely why Rajinder Singh resigned, saying that Team Anna had departed from its original objective and had become involved in ‘power brokering’. [20]

However, it is not just Congress that is cast as the enemy, but also constitutional democracy. Interviewed about why he was insisting that his own bill be passed without discussion or debate in parliament, Anna was simply unable to grasp why discussion or debate was needed; so far as he was concerned, he wanted the bill passed, and therefore it should be passed. This was how he ruled his village, and this was how he wanted to rule the country. Put beside his contempt for the electorate and elections, one gets a strong impression of hostility towards parliamentary democracy. When Kejriwal was asked by Karan Thapar (in ‘Devil’s Advocate’, CNN-IBN on 9 October), whether Anna was above parliament, Kejriwal replied immediately that he was. Then, for good measure, he added, ‘Every citizen is above parliament.’ But if every citizen is above parliament, why have parliament at all?

Add to all this the fact that the JLB makes parliament subservient to an unelected panel of guardians, and the relentless targeting of MPs by Bedi in her ghunghat act at the Ramlila grounds, and the sentiments expressed by these members of Team Anna are not so different from Mussolini’s statement that parliament ‘is a plague-boil that poisons the blood of the country.’ In an essay on ‘Ur-fascism’, Umberto Eco had predicted that “In our future there looms qualitative TV or Internet populism, in which a selected group of citizens can be presented and accepted as the ‘voice of the people’…As a result of its qualitative populism , Ur-Fascism has to oppose ‘rotten’ parliamentary governments...Every time a politician casts doubt on the legitimacy of a parliament because it no longer represents the ‘voices of the people’, there is a suspicion of Ur-fascism.” [21] In this context, demands for the right to reject and recall candidates, which Chief Election Commissioner S.Y.Qureshi has said would destabilise the country, [22] appear to be an attempt to make parliamentary democracy so expensive and unstable that it collapses.

The Sangh Parivar has always wanted to overthrow the present constitution, and would also cheer on Anna’s declaration that he would be willing to go to war with Pakistan and fight to the death to ensure that Kashmir remains an integral part of India (regardless of what Kashmiris might want). Anna’s vision of a society ordered by caste hierarchy coincides with theirs. As Jyotirmaya Sharma observes perceptively, ‘Hazare is the leader of “banal Hindutva”… What Hazare is knowingly or unknowingly doing is to become the informal recruitment centre for the harder versions of Hindutva. By making “banal Hindutva” honourable, Hazare has begun the process of making the harder versions of Hindutva more acceptable and legitimate. The collateral damage…will be Indian democracy.’ [23]

This does not mean that there is no rivalry between Anna and the Sangh Parivar. Hazare has been unhappy with the RSS for trying to steal his thunder with their claims to have mobilised people for his movement, while the RSS has objected to the involvement of minorities in the anti-corruption movement. But they need each other. It is clear to the RSS that the issue of a Ram temple no longer has popular resonance, and Advani’s yatra has fallen flat because everybody knows that the BJP is mired in corruption; they need Anna’s clean image to win them votes. On the other side, Anna does not have the cadre to mobilise crowds, nor does he have a party machine that can win elections and instal him as the head of a Jan Lokpal. They have to work together, and they do. It was clear from the beginning that their agendas converged, and we can now identify the precise point at which their goals meet: the Indian version of a fascist state, a Hindu Rashtra, with a Jan Lokpal that will incorporate members of Team Anna: ‘the viewpoint that Anna and by extension Kejriwal represent is the same simplistic and ill-thought-out rightwing nationalism of the Sangh which has no space for the Constitution or the liberal values it embodies…Through the twentieth century, this combination—a claim to efficient governance, a mythic father or motherland, a contempt for a certain section of people—has been the mark of fascism.’ [24]

Averting the danger of fascism

In this situation, the government has the primary responsibility to counteract the danger represented by both the Anna movement and the Sangh Parivar. If it enacts a strong Lokpal Bill and supplementary legislation, people like Justice Hegde, whose only interest in the movement is to curb corruption, would be satisfied. But not Hazare, Kejriwal, Bedi and others, whose agenda is regime change and might campaign against Congress on the pretext that the bill that has been passed is not their Jan Lokpal Bill. Counteracting this would require Congress spokespersons involved in public debates on the issue to come out with a critique of the JLB, drawing on what has been said by members of the NCPRI, legal scholars like Usha Ramanathan, and others.

However, even this is not enough. Any government committed to secularism has to act far more decisively to clamp down on the perpetrators of communal pogroms and Hindutva terrorist attacks, and especially to root out elements in the police, intelligence agencies, investigative agencies, bureaucracy, and army (Lt. Col. Purohit cannot be an exception) who are complicit in these attacks. Both terrorist violence and infiltration of the state apparatus are typical of the ways in which fascism ensconces itself, and unless action is taken now, it could be too late. In this context, the passing of the Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence Bill is a priority that the UPA simply has not taken seriously enough. If certain groups in society do not enjoy equal protection of the law, special measures are required to ensure that they do so. Of course the BJP will cry foul, but surely those within Congress who have been pushing for the bill have enough intellectual resources at their disposal to distinguish between Hinduism and Hindutva, and to point out that this is not the first time that legislation to protect vulnerable sections of the population has been passed?

However, the struggle against fascism cannot possibly be won if it is left to the government alone; members of civil society too have to be involved, and those on the Left have a special responsibility in this regard. This brings us to a disturbing question: what are people like Prashant Bhushan and Medha Patkar doing in a team that includes such right-wing elements? Conventional wisdom would have it that they are there to push the movement to the Left, but it does not seem to have moved an inch in that direction. Part of the answer lies in the authoritarianism that is an integral part of the politics of a large part of the Left. For example, Bhushan advocates plebiscites as a means of achieving a ‘participatory democracy’ that is more advanced than the representative democracy embodied in parliament, but does he know that Hitler carried out six plebiscites between 1933 and 1938? A plebiscite on the Lokpal Bill would in fact be less democratic than the process of public consultation that has taken place and a debate in parliament.

This is only one instance of a more general malady afflicting a section of the Left: a kind of political dyslexia that renders them incapable of distinguishing left from right. Thus instead of pushing the government to present and enact the Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence Bill speedily, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) effectively gangs up with the Right to sabotage it by raising spurious objections; insisting, for example, that it should cover only victims of communal violence and not victims of other forms of targeted violence. How would victims of communal violence lose if the bill covers other victims of targeted violence? And who but the perpetrators of violence would gain if the bill fails to be passed? Which side are they on? Prashant Bhushan is even more confused. In an interview with Rajdeep Sardesai, he referred to the ‘fascist mindset’ of the people who had assaulted him, and suggested that ‘the leaders of such organisations who propagate violence, who propagate this kind of fascist thinking,’ should be booked, and their organisations banned; yet when Sardesai asked him if such people could be part of his anti-corruption campaign, he replied, ‘Yeah, they can be part of the anti-corruption campaign,’ but should not be allowed to share the platform. [25] It does not occur to him to ask why fascist elements who are by no means uncorrupt should be joining his campaign in large numbers. In both these cases, the CPI(M) and Bhushan are so intent on opposing the centre that they end up in a position that is right of centre.

If the campaign for the JLB is genuinely opposing corruption, it will end if and when the government passes a strong Lokpal Bill and supplementary anti-corruption legislation. One can only wait and see.

References

[1] http://www.caravanmagazine.in/Story.aspx?Storyid=1050&StoryStyle=FullStory

[2] http://lokpaldissent.wordpress.com/2011/08/30/lok-pal-bill-an-alternate-view-videos-of-ncpri-press-conference-of-20-august-2011-new-delhi/

[3] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tukI3MX7rvU

[4] http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Time-to-face-the-ugly-truth/articleshow/10404086.cms

[5] http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Prashant-Bhushan-tried-to-break-India-I-broke-his-head/articleshow/10333319.cms

[6] http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/prashant-bhushan-kashmir-remark-anna-hazare/1/154852.html

[7] http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-operation-bhushan-accuseds-family-bears-the-brunt/20111015.htm

[8] http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/nation/nonsense

[9]http://www.indiatvnews.com/news/India/Santosh_Hegde_Says_Team_Anna_s_Campaign_In_Hisar_Was_Not-11399.html

[10] http://www.firstpost.com/politics/anna-tryst-with-politics-two-core-committee-members-quit-110649.html

[11] http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Kiran-Lokpal-Bedi-buys-discount-air-tickets-gets-hosts-to-pay-full-fare/862515/

[12] http://www.8pmnews.com/news/headlines/kiran-bedi-explains-the-controversy-over-her-business-class-tickets

[13] http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Raipur-hosts-put-foot-down-told-Kiran-Bedi-cant-pay-you-twice-for-same-flight/863124/

[14] http://news.outlookindia.com/items.aspx?artid=739288

[15 http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2570806.ece?homepage=true

[16] http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/income-tax-departments-deadline-to-kejriwal-for-depositing-rs-9-5-lakh-ends-today-144426

[17] http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-10-24/india/30315959_1_anna-hazare-kiran-bedi-joint-committee

[18] http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2582370.ece

[19] http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/karnataka-land-scam-b.-s.-yeddyurappa-rss-bjp/1/158133.html

[20] http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/jaipur/Hazare-has-deviated-from-his-objective-Rajinder-Singh/Article1-762035.aspx

[21] http://kafila.org/2011/08/24/reading-ur-fascism-in-our-times/

[22] http://www.aajkikhabar.com/en/news/686685/686685.html

[23] http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/anna-hazare-hindutva-rss-vhp-bjp/1/155206.html

[24] http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/voices/why-the-sangh-loves-anna

[25] http://ibnlive.in.com/news/bhushan-stands-by-his-kashmir-plebiscite-remark/192758-3.html

Rohini Hensman is a writer and researcher active in workers' rights, women's rights, anti-communal and anti-war movements. Rohini can be reached at: rohinihensman@yahoo.co.uk

[Courtesy Countercurrents.org ]

Caste system still present in society

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammad Shahanshah Ansari) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 02:00:57 PST

Caste system weaken but still present in society, says social scientist

PATNA - ‘The role of caste may be somewhat weakened since 1981, but remains present. An increase in the relative importance of caste in school enrolment is particularly noticeable, as is its determination as a factor explaining labour force participation, essentially of women’ says Dr Gerry Rodgers, eminent social scientist while presenting his paper titled ‘ The Changing role of caste and class in Bihar’s rural economy’ here at AN Sinha Institute of Social Science.

Former Director of International Labour Organisation (ILO), said ‘there are two major changes observed among the upper caste consisting Brahman, Rajput, Bhumiyar and Kayasth i.e. a decline in the Landlord class and rise of the non-agriculture class. A few household slipped down to scale of poor peasants. Whereas all the middle agricultural castes found mostly in the different peasant categories (like big, small and middle class of peasant). None of these groups has diversified into non-agricultural works to anything like the extent of the forward castes’

Dr. Rodger, who had jointly studied 36 villages in Bihar with late Prof. Pradhan Hari Prasad in 1980, later in 1998 and 2009 over this issue. After that, he unfolded the social dynamics behind the non-coincidence between caste and class and brought in the third force, namely land ownership upon which the class is built. Dr Rodgers finally established his arguments objectively through a multivariate analysis regressing four independent variables of Female Labour Force Participation Ratio, School enrolment, traditional debt and agricultural technology on caste and class and land ownership and compared it with 1980 studies.

Dr Rodger could foresee the collapse of semi feudalism with the disappearance of tied labour and increasing share of poor and middle peasant class but with a rider that such transformation has been slow, and that class and caste still hang over the destiny of rural Bihar.

His paper also revealed some other important analysis. Due to declining of zamindari system after independence, the upper caste gained especially Bhumiyar, gained through the process of sanskrtization, whereas the middle caste especially, gained through administrative re-ordering during colonialization, especially Kurmi. Today, the position of particular castes is changing for other reason. The influence and access of upper caste over the available opportunity in the village may continue to dictate but it has less impact on outside village. It is on declining trend.

Dr Rodgers, alongwith Prof Alakh Sharma who also assisted Late Prof Pradhan in 1980, was trying to understand the process of transformation in rural Bihar. In rural Bihar class is built on control over resources, and the primary resource is land. The Indian economy as a whole is creating new opportunities, but they are in Delhi, Punjab, Gujarat and elsewhere, and until quite recently not in Bihar. The result has been large scale migration of Bihari workers across the whole of the north India and beyond. These opportunities have sounded the death-knell of semi-feudal mechanisms of control. Attached labour has disappeared, and tenancy and indebtedness no longer seem to be part of a systematic pattern of exploitation.

Muslims were split in two groups. A minority group of large peasants (previously landlords) and poor-middle peasants. Whereas Schedule castes have moved out of bonded or attached laborers, but most of them have ended up as landless casual laborer in 2009.

The patterns of landholding by caste shows that Yadavs have been moving up, Brahmins and Kurmis have been moving down, while the other including Bhumiars and rajputs have been broadly maintaining their position.

The two day national seminar was organized under the theme ‘A century of transformation of Bihar and road ahead’. There were 41 participants presenting their papers covering the sub-themes, namely-Emergence of bihar; Structural transformation of Bihar; Labour, Employment and Poverty in Bihar; Education and Development in Bihar; Flood water management and irrigation in Bihar; Urbanisation and social development in Bihar.

Some eminent personality including Dr DN Gautam, Prof Ramashray Singh, Prof Gangadhar Jha, Sri Dinesh Mishra and Sri BG Verghese chaired the different sessions and expressed their thoughts on the given subjects.

(Courtesy: http://www.newzfirst.com)

Why reservation is necessary

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammad Shahanshah Ansari) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 04:46:53 PST

WITH a rapid scaling down of our tiny public sector due to privatisation and increasing withdrawal of the state under the impact of liberalisation, serious concern has been expressed about the fate of the present public sector reservation policy. Because of indirect and backdoor de-reservation, there is a growing demand for some sort of affirmative action policy for the private sector which so far has remained outside the purview of any kind of anti-discriminatory measure and in which more than 90% of dalit and adivasi workforce is engaged. The issue found a place in the election manifesto of political parties and in the Common Minimum Programme of the present government. Drawing from theoretical and empirical literature on the issue of economic discrimination, I will try to provide reasons for a reservation policy for the private sector as a remedy against discrimination in labour, capital and other markets and indicate general guidelines for framing such a policy.

Discrimination on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, national or social origin exists in many nations under diverse social, economic and political systems. In order to correct the imbalance in terms of access to capital assets, employment, education, political participation and other spheres, countries have turned to practices of reservation, affirmative action, positive action or equal opportunity policies for these discriminated sub-groups in addition to general pro-poor policies. A great majority of these policies and programmes of intervention operate in respect to sub-group populations identified by ethnic, racial, religious or gender characteristics. The examples are not only from the West (USA, UK, Northern Ireland and Yugoslavia) but also from Latin American countries like Brazil, Bolivia, Peru; African countries like Nigeria, Sudan, South Africa and countries like Malaysia, Pakistan, China, Japan and India from Asia. It is surprising that while the affirmative action policy in many of these countries was, to begin with, used for both private and public sector, the India state never thought of bringing the private sector under the purview of a reservation policy – even though it is the fact of discrimination in the private domain that led us to accept the reservation policy for the public sector.

Why are governments in developing and developed countries concerned about exclusion and discrimination? Why do they develop policies against such practices? Is discrimination only an issue of equity or does it also involve economic costs to the society? Are the costs it imposes on the society more social and political than economic? The insights from mainstream economic theory indicate that economic, particularly market, discrimination has multiple consequences; it hampers economic growth, induces income inequality and creates potential for inter-group conflict by denying equal opportunity to discriminated groups (Birdsall and Sabot 1991). Therefore, remedies against discrimination – legal, affirmative action or compensatory in nature are required both for equity and economic growth. I will argue that we need a reservation policy for private sector in India for reasons of equity as well as economic growth.

Let us first discuss the case for reservation from the point of view of economic growth. All standard theories of economic discrimination predict adverse consequences of market discrimination on economic growth through their detrimental consequences on profits, wages and efficiency in the allocation of labour. They suggest that economic discrimination will slow down growth by reducing efficiency due to sub-optimal allocation of labour among firms and economy, by reducing job commitment and effort of workers who perceive themselves to be victims of discrimination and, by reducing the magnitude of investment in human capital by discriminated groups, returns on this investment. (Birdsall and Sabot 1991).

The consequences of discrimination on inequality are far more evident and therefore justification for reservation/affirmative action policy from equity consideration is clear. Denial of access to resources, employment, education and common facilities that others have, it impoverishes the lives of individuals from excluded groups and is a clear denial of certain basic human rights. The concern about discrimination thus is an issue not only for equity but also for economic growth.

Ambedkar pioneered the reservation policy as early as the 1920s, mainly on the basis of widespread and ubiquitous discriminatory and exclusionary character of Hindu society with devastating consequences, particularly for former untouchables. The caste system's characteristic feature of fixed and compulsory occupation (or property rights) with concomitant fixed economic rights for each caste, implies 'exclusion' of one caste from undertaking the occupations of other castes. Exclusion and discrimination is in fact internal to the economics and sociology of the caste system and its natural outcome. In terms of consequences, the economic theories of the caste system clearly predict negative outcomes of caste and untouchability based market discrimination for economic growth and income distribution (Akerlof 1976, Scoville 1984, Lal 1991, and Ambedkar 1987).

Fixed occupations essentially involve restrictions on mobility of labour and capital across caste groups, leading to an imperfect market situation and a fragmentation of economic activities. Akerlof-Scoville-Lal's theoretical model thus predicts that given the segmented and imperfect character of the labour market, the economic outcome of the caste economy is lower than posited in the model of perfectly competitive markets.

Ambedkar added that efficiency and productivity of labour is adversely affected by multiple disincentives involved in customary rules of castes. The economic pursuit in a caste system is not based on individual choice, sentiment and preference, in so far as it involves an attempt to allocate a task to an individual in advance, selected not on the basis of training or capacity but on the social status of parents. The social and individual efficiency requires us to develop the capacity of an individual to the point of competency to choose and make one's own career. This is missing in the overall scheme of the caste system.

Further, some of these occupations are considered polluting or impure and therefore socially degrading. The social stigma of impurity and pollution reduces the social status of persons engaged in them and thus lowers the economic incentives. 'What efficiency can there be in a system under which neither men's hearts nor their minds are in their work?' (Ambedkar, 1936). As an economic organisation caste is therefore a harmful institution, in as much as it involves the subordination of man's natural powers and inclination to the exigencies of social rules.

The consequences are particularly pronounced in terms of income distribution, employment and poverty experienced by the excluded/discriminated groups. Since property rights under the caste system are assigned unequally across castes, income distribution is generally skewed along caste lines. The unequal and hierarchical assignment of occupation and property rights among castes implies that although every caste, except those at the top of the caste order, suffers to various degrees from an unequal division of social and economic rights, the former untouchables, who are located at the bottom of the caste hierarchy, suffer most as they face 'exclusion and discrimination' from access to all economic rights, including right to property, except manual labour or service to the castes above them.

Beside the general negative impact on income distribution, labour immobility across occupation also adversely impacts employment. Ambedkar (and Akerlof in a different context, 1980) argued that by restricting mobility of labour across caste occupation and thereby not permitting readjustment of employment, caste becomes a direct cause of 'voluntary unemployment' among high caste persons and 'involuntary unemployment' among the low caste persons. A high caste Hindu would generally prefer to be voluntarily unemployed for some time than to take up an occupation not assigned to his caste. On the other hand, for low caste untouchables the restrictions to take other caste's occupation compels them to remain involuntarily unemployed.

Thus, judged by the standard criterion of economic efficiency, the caste system as an economic organisation lacks all elements required to fulfil the conditions for optimum economic outcome. The caste and untouchability based economic discrimination have serious consequences on economic development, income distribution, right to individual development and equal right to employment, all of which cumulatively have poverty-inducing consequences, particularly for the low caste untouchable.

Reducing economic discrimination thus becomes essential because it is likely to increase economic growth, provide equal access to discriminated groups, reduce inequality between groups and minimise the potential for conflict which inequality between groups may give rise to. What are the remedies against market discrimination? Conclusions regarding the consequences of market discrimination on economic growth and income distribution are derived from mainstream economic theory. The same theory also predicts that in highly competitive markets, discrimination will prove to be a transitory phenomenon as there are costs associated with discrimination to the firm/employer which result in lowering profits. Firms\employers who discriminate, face the ultimate sanction imposed by the markets. This theoretical perspective thus posits the resultant erosion of profits as a self-correcting dimension of discrimination.

The free market solution is not, however, a practical remedy as, discrimination might persist, particularly in the labour market, over long periods with or without prevalence of a free market situation. First, not all markets are highly competitive. The persistence over decades of labour market discrimination in high income countries attests to that. Indeed, in developing countries, employers have significant monopoly power to discriminate at will. Second, even if competition exists in all markets, is not a sufficient condition for the elimination of discrimination if all employers are discriminators.

These two theoretical viewpoints have obvious policy implications. Those who believe that discrimination is indeed self-correcting argue for strengthening competitive market mechanisms. But if discrimination continues to persist despite competitive market process (which in reality is the case) or for other reasons mentioned above, market interventionist policies will be necessary.

'The analytical stance of the mainstream neoclassical economists is characterized as methodological individualism and it presumes that economic institutions are structured such that society-wide outcomes result from an aggregation of individual behaviours. It presumed that if individuals act on the basis of pecuniary self-interest then market dynamics dictate equal treatment for equal individuals regardless of inscriptive characteristics such as race. Consequently, observed group inequality is attributed to familial, educational, or other background differences among individuals who are unevenly distributed between social groups. The causes of a dissimilar distribution of individuals between social groups may be genetic, cultural, historical, or some combination thereof. The differences in cultural attributes include the value families and neighbourhoods place on education, attitudes, and work habits. The historical refers primarily to the impact of past discrimination on current inequality.

'In contrast, economists who may be classified as methodological structuralists do not accept this interpretation. Structuralism as an analytical method holds that aggregate outcomes are not the result of a simple summation of individual behaviours, but rather arise from the constraints and incentives imposed by organizational and social hierarchies. In this view, individual behaviour achieves its importance within the context of group formation, cooperation, and conflict. Economic and political outcomes are thus a function of the hegemony exercised by dominant groups, the resistance offered by subordinate groups, and the institutions that mediate their relationship. Discrimination, in this view, is an inherent feature of the economic system. Competition is either not powerful enough to offset the group dynamics of identity and interest, or it actually operates so as to sustain discriminatory behaviour. Discrimination is due to the dynamics of group identification, competition, and conflict rather than irrational, individual attitudes. Market mechanisms, far from being relied upon to eliminate discrimination of their own accord, must be scrutinized and pressured to further the goal of equality of opportunity' (Shulmen and Darily 1989).

The policy implications of this view on persistence of discrimination are obvious. Since the markets will continue to operate in an imperfect manner, discrimination will persist. It will also persist even if market forces are competitive in nature under certain conditions mentioned above as a normal phenomena; it therefore calls for intervention in the form of an affirmative action policy and other measures as safeguards against discrimination.

The customary regulatory framework of the institution of the caste system and untouchability, on which mainstream theoretical formulations are based, has now undergone significant change. After the adoption of the Constitution in 1950, in theory at least caste-based customary rules and norms governing occupation, property rights, employment and wages, and education were formally replaced by an egalitarian legal framework of property rights under which the 'low castes' now have equal access to all occupations, education and other spheres. However, despite these provisions and the impact of other factors, the caste system continues to function in the private domain of economy in modified and changing forms and therefore safeguards are required against market and non-market discrimination.

The corporate sector, however, has by and large opposed affirmative action of any sort on grounds that it does not discriminate in hiring practices. It has further argued that a reservation policy of the type used in the public sector in India will reduce competitiveness and efficiency. It is clear from the earlier discussion that this argument is neither based on economic theory nor on empirical evidence about the working of labour and other markets. While the corporate sector advances the agenda of liberalisation based on support from mainstream economic theories, it refuses to accept lessons from the economic theory of discrimination. In particular it refuses to recognize the need for market intervention in the form of affirmative action to overcome market imperfections caused by caste based discrimination and to induce market competitiveness.

Empirical studies on the working of labour and other markets, and social needs like education, housing and health services, provide evidence of the persistence of market discrimination, particularly of former untouchables, and its end result in the form of lack of access to fixed capital assets, employment, human development and culmination in high poverty and deprivation among them. (Action Aid study 2005, Thorat 1999, reports of the SC/ST Commission). The studies also bring out the exclusionary and discriminatory working of private industrial labour markets (Papola 2004).

So the claim of the corporate sector that it follows fair and competitive hiring practices is not borne out by facts. More than 60% of recruitment in organised industrial sector is through informal modes of recruitment which are exclusionary in their outcome. Affirmative action is thus necessary for promoting competitiveness and economic growth, if not for the goal of equal opportunity. An efficiency conscious corporate sector cannot avoid the lessons from the theories which they use as justification for pushing the liberalisation agenda.

How and in what forms we need to extend the existing public sector reservation policy for discriminated groups in the private sector is, however, as crucial. There is the huge experience of our own public sector reservation policy. The Indian state could also learn from the measures used against discrimination in private sector of other countries in the world. Drawing on both Indian and international experience, I wish to spell out the possible elements of reservation or affirmative action policy for the private sector in India.

In designing remedies against discrimination we need to clearly distinguish between legal, equal access and other positive measures. These aspects relate to (a) the type of economic sector or market for which the legal and affirmative action measures are developed and (b) the type of method or procedures used in their application for the private and public sector.

First, with respect to the economic spheres or markets, countries such as USA, Northern Ireland, South Africa and Malaysia have mainly developed policies for religious, racial and ethnic minority groups. Broadly speaking, in these countries multiple economic and social spheres are covered under the orbit of legal and affirmative action measures which include labour, agricultural land, capital, product and consumer goods markets and also the transactions in supply of social goods, such as education, housing and the transactions undertaken by the government with private minority businesses. The specific economic spheres covered vary from country to country.

In countries like USA and Northern Ireland, where the non-agriculture sector constitutes more than 90% of the workforce, the focus is mainly on affirmative action policies for the labour market, both in public and private sectors. In some countries like USA, besides the labour market, legal and affirmative action measures also cover education, housing, and government contracts for construction and purchase of goods from minority businesses. In developing countries like Malaysia and South Africa where a substantial portion of population is engaged in the agriculture sector, and minority groups suffer from poor access to land and capital in addition to the labour market, the affirmative action measures are also extended to agriculture land and capital market in addition to affirmative action policies for basic social needs like education and housing.

A second aspect relates to methods and procedures used to operationalise the safeguards against discrimination. Countries have used at least three kinds of procedures or methods. First is the legal protection against discrimination in the form of Equal Employment Opportunity Laws (EEOL).

These laws prohibit any private or public employers from discriminating against workers or persons based on group identities like religion, gender, colour, ethnicity, national and social origin and provide legal safeguards to discriminated groups in the event of discrimination in employment and other spheres of economic activities. Article VII of the Civil Act which established Equal Employment Opportunity as law (EEOL) (Executive Order 11246) in USA, and Fair Employment Act in Northern Ireland, are some examples.

A second strategy relates to affirmative and positive actions of various type. In principle, affirmative action can be distinguished from other anti-discrimination measures requiring proactive steps to ensure fair participation of discriminated groups (in employment and other spheres like education, housing, government contracts etc), in contrast to laws that only prevent employers from taking steps that disadvantage minorities in the labour market and other spheres. Given the limitations of EEOL in ensuring fair participation of discriminated groups, they are supplemented by affirmation action and positive measures, which attempt to ensure a fair share to discriminated groups.

The principles (and methods) applied to judge 'fair or just participation' in employment, educational admission, political participation or government contract and other spheres vary among the countries. Generally speaking, the population share of minority groups constitutes the basis to judge fair participation or access. In some cases just participation is viewed in term of fixed quotas (similar to India), in other cases it is expressed in term of racial/religious minority (population or labour force) balance, and 'appropriate candidate pool' with numerical goals and timetables without quotas. Further, these fixed goals or targets are made legally mandatory or compulsory in some cases while in others they are pursued with an element of voluntary action on the part of firms. In both cases, however, some sort of enforcement machinery is designated to monitor goals and targets. The office of Federal Contact Compliance in USA and FAIR Employment Agency in Northern Ireland are some examples.

A third strategy is 'reparation or compensation'. Reparations and compensation are defined as payment for an acknowledged grievous social injustice to a group (Darity 1997). It is necessary to recognize that different affirmative action policies are generally deployed as a measure and safeguard against 'present discrimination'. This has its limitations in overcoming the effects of discrimination and exclusion suffered by a community in the past for long periods of time. The Equal Opportunity Act and affirmative action programmes of various kinds which intend to provide legal protection and ensure just participation in the present are inadequate to compensate for wrongs done in the past, resulting in complicit resourcelessness. Therefore, some countries have used selective compensation as a method to pay and empower excluded and discriminated groups as a one time settlement.

An overview of the strategies against economic and social discrimination used by different countries indicates three remedies – namely equal (employment) opportunity laws, reservation/affirmative action measures and reparation and compensation, either together or in combination. Adoption of some or all of these remedies against discrimination inflicted on low caste untouchables and other groups in the private sector in India will be conditioned by the nature of economic and social discrimination.

In my view the reservation policy for the private sector, namely agriculture, private industry and service sector, and cooperative sector where more then 90% of SC and ST are engaged should by guided by three principles. It should be applicable to multiple spheres, fixed quotas with some kind of monitoring mechanism and, depending on the nature of discrimination, using all three instruments – legal, fair access and compensation – in combination.

It is necessary that the government enact an equal opportunity law to provide legal safeguards against discrimination for various markets, namely capital, agriculture land, employment, product and consumer goods, education, housing, health and others. The legal safeguards should then be supplemented by more positive and reservation/affirmative actions to improve their effective access to private employment, agricultural land, capital, production and consumer goods, and private education.

Since these reservation/affirmative action policies address the issue of present discrimination, they do not generally help to compensate for historical exclusion. This can be addressed within the framework of reparation or compensation measures. The former untouchables are a potential case for reparation or compensation due to denial of property rights and other rights and injustice for long periods in history, which is reflected in their overwhelming presence as wage labour, insignificant share in business and low literacy and educational levels.

References

George Akerlof (1976), 'The Economic of Caste and of Rat Race and Other Woeful Tales', Quarterly Journal of Economics, XC.4, November 1976.

George Akerlof (1980), 'The Theory of Social Customs, of Which Unemployment May Be One Consequence', Quarterly Journal of Economics, XCIV.4, June 1980.

B.R. Ambedkar (first published 1987), 'Philosophy of Hinduism', 'The Hindu Social Order – Its Essential Features', The Hindu Social Order – Its Unique Features', Vasant Moon (ed.) Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Writings and Speeches, Vol.3, pp. 1-94.

Biswjit Banerjee and J.B. Knight (1985), 'Caste Discrimination in the Indian Urban Labour Market', Journal of Developing Economics, ?????.

Faridah Jamaluding, 'A Study of the Malaysian Economy: The New Economic Policy (1971-2000) and National Development Policy (1991-2000)', Journal of Social Science and History, Fall 1988.

Deepak Lal (1984), Hindu Equilibrium: Cultural Stability and Economic Stagnation, Vol. I, Clarendon Press, Oxford.

Nancy Birdsall and Richard Sabot (1991), 'Unfair Advantage – Labour Market Discrimination in Developing Countries', World Bank Studies, ???????.

T.S. Papola ( 2004), 'Social Exclusion and Hiring Practices by Private Industrial Sector', Paper presented a Seminar on Remedies Against Discrimination in the Context of Reservation in the Private Sector, IIDS, Delhi, August 2004.

James G.L. Scoville (1996), 'Labour Market Underpinnings of a Caste Economy – Failing the Caste Theorem', The American Journal of Economics and Sociology 55(4), October 1996.

Amartya Sen (2000), 'Social Exclusion: Concept, Application, and Scrutiny', ADB Working Paper.

S.K. Thorat (1999), 'Caste and Labour Market Discrimination' (with R.S. Deshpande), Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Conference Issue, November.

S.K. Thorat (1996), 'Ambedkar on Economics of Hindu Social Order: Understanding Its Orthodoxy and Legacy' in Walter Fernandes (ed.), The Emerging Dalit Identity, Indian Social Institute, Delhi.

William Darity Jr. and Steven Shulman (1989), Question of Discrimination – Racial Inequality in the U.S. Labour Market, Wesleyan University Press, Middletown, Connecticut.

[First published in Seminar magazine in May, 2005].

( Courtesy http://roundtableindia.co.in)

Campaign for Pasmanda Revolution

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammad Shahanshah Ansari) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 04:25:53 PST

[This document elucidates the political programme of the Shoshit Samaj Dal, which is working chiefly to promote the cause of social justice, with specific emphasis on representation for the pasmanda sections, dalits and backward castes, among Muslims- Round Table India]

Translation by Khalid Anis Ansari

Shoshit Samaj Dal

Campaign for Pasmanda Revolution

Everyone utters what is written in the gospels, I utter what I see with my eyes!!!

~Baba Kabir

If we have to put an end to communalism, the idea of two-nation theory should be buried. RSS and Jana Sangh are the largest banner bearers of Jinnah's two-nation theory in this country. So I have been emphasising on the matter that all parties, functioning on communal ground, should be legally banned whether these are RSS, Jana Sangh, Jamaat-e-Islami or Muslim League. But I do not think that mere legal ban on communal parties will solve the problem....a country-wide movement is needed along with ban on communal parties.

~Fakhr-e-Qaum Abdul Qaiyum Ansari

Ninety out of hundred are the oppressed, Ninety is our share,

The rule of ten over ninety will have to go, will have to go!!!

~Amar Shaheed Jagdeo Prasad Kushwaha

1. Shoshit Samaj Dal (SSD) has a glorious history of incessant struggle against savarna (upper caste) capitalism. In this respect SSD has openly protested against poverty which is associated with capitalism and the humiliation of lower castes which can be attributed to the caste system in India.

2. SSD is sensitive to the problems faced by the pasmanda society. The pasmanda movement has forcefully articulated that the Indian Muslim society too is dominated by the savarna/ashraf Muslims along the lines of Hindu society and that they treat the pasmanda (dalit and backward) Muslims with utter contempt.

3. Muslim society too is marked by inequality and discrimination on the lines of caste (biradaris). While on the one hand the ashraf Muslims (Syeds, Sheikhs, Mughals, Pathans, etc.) consider themselves superior to other Muslims, on the other hand castes like kunjra (vegetable sellers),dhunia (cotton carders), kalal (alcohol distillers), julaha (weavers), etc., have ceased to be innocuous caste names but have turned into derogatory swearwords in Muslim society.

4. Apart from this widespread feeling of humiliation faced by pasmanda muslims the ashraf Muslims have cornered all the share of pasmanda muslims in the name of minority politics. Although pasmanda muslims constitute about 85% of Indian Muslim population but as far as their share in power is concerned—whether it is judiciary, executive and the legislature, or the community institutions run in the name of Muslims—it is almost negligible. In striking contrast, the ashraf Muslims, who constitute merely 15% of Muslim population, are able to secure adequate representation for themselves. Even in sectors like education, health, employment, etc., the condition of ashrafs is far better than the pasmanda muslims.

5. Similarly, if we take the case of political representation, then out of 7,500 members from the first to fourteenth Lok Sabha (lower house of the Parliament) only about 400 members belonged to the Muslim community. Out of these 400 Muslim members about 340 have been ashraf Muslims and only 60 have belonged to the pasmanda community. If the population of Muslims in India is 13.4% (Census 2001) then the population of ashraf Muslims is about 2.1% (15% of Muslim population) and the population of pasmanda muslims turns out to be 11.4% (85% of Muslim population). Hence, the representation of ashraf Muslims in Lok Sabha works out to be 4.5% that is way beyond their population percentage of 2.1%. Even here they are not only adequately represented but rather are doubly represented. On the contrary the representation of pasmanda muslims with a population of 11.4% has been about 0.8% (less than 1 percent) in Lok Sabha. It is quite clear which section of Muslims is benefitting from Muslim/Minority politics!!!

6. It can be stated reasonably that the savarna section of Muslims is not a deprived group but rather is a powerful group which serves its interests at the expense of the pasmanda sections.

7. It is evident enough that in all the religious communities in India it is the upper castes which monopolize all power. All the religious institutions are controlled and dominated by savarna Hindus-Muslims-Sikhs-Christians. That is why the politics of solidarity on religious lines is the politics of upper castes. Consequently, the benefits of the discourse of communalism ultimately accrue to upper caste sections of all religions. ‘All Muslims are one!’ or ‘Say with pride that we are Hindus!’ are slogans of savarna Muslim-Hindu sections. The politics of religious unity has never benefitted dalit-bahujan-pasmanda sections and they are living in a fool’s paradise if they think it ever will.

8. That is why we believe that the fundamental identity of Indians is caste and not religion, and, moreover, there is no single caste in India with significantly large numbers that it can claim itself to be the majority community. In India there are about 3000 castes out of which only 15-20 caste groups have managed to monopolize all power and dominate the society. It is interesting that all these 3000 castes are clearly minority communities. The hegemonic castes cut across religions and have scripted the game of communalism to serve their interests. We have therefore reached the conclusion that just like Hindu politics does not benefit the dalit-bahujans, similarly Muslim politics will never benefit the pasmanda sections.

9. The politics around religious identity by dividing the subordinated castes on religious lines only goes on to secure the interests of the upper castes of all religions. That is why the politics of religious identity will have to be rejected and by relaxing the unity on religious lines a broader unity of lower castes across religious groups will have to be worked out.

10. The demand of reservations for all Muslims is a faulty one as not all Muslim groups can be said to be deprived and excluded. Since the savarna Hindus cannot be granted reservations, similarly the ashraf Muslims too cannot be brought within the ambit of reservations. Only dalit and backward Muslims can be granted reservations.

11. The slogan of SSD is dalit-pichda ek saman, Hindu ho ya Musalman!!! (All dalit-backwards are alike, whether they are Hindu or Muslim). It is only by fomenting the unity between dalits-backward communities, across religious affiliations, that an environment in favor of genuine secularism, democracy and social justice can be created.

12. That is why SSD declares that it will field all its Muslim candidates, in large numbers, from pasmanda communities only. In doing so it will take cognizance of internal balance of all castes within the pasmanda block.

Shoshit Samaj Dal promises that on gaining power it will:

a) Implement reservations for Most Backward Classes (MBCs) within OBC quota in Uttar Pradesh in accordance with Karpoori Thakur Formula being followed in the state of Bihar. Moreover, it will club all pasmanda muslim castes with similarly placed Hindu backward castes in the MBC list.

b) Pressurize the Central Government to include dalit Muslims/Christians in the SC list by scrapping the Presidential Order, 1950 (Para 3).

c) Increase the overall quota by taking the necessary steps to terminate the arbitrary Supreme Court ceiling of 50% for reservations.

d) Craft policies and pay adequate attention to the negative aftereffects of globalization and neo-liberal policies on the pasmanda crafts-persons/artisans/laborers/peasants and small-scale industries belonging to pasmanda communities.

Released by Akhilesh Katiyar, President (Working), Shoshit Samaj Dal; Ph: 91-9871744002

Ruining Innocent Lives

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammad Shahanshah Ansari) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 03:50:23 PST

Ruining Innocent Lives: Guilt of Investigation agencies

By Ram Puniyani

Nine youth accused in Malegaon blast case of 2006 have been granted bail by the MCOCA court. (Nov 6 2011). These Muslim youth were arrested after the bomb exploded on the Shab-e-Barat, killing several people. Immediately after that the Anti Terrorist Sqaud, arrested nine Muslim youth, there was really no evidence worth its name against them. Still police which is, motivated more by biases than by professionalism, arrested these Muslims youth. The investigation agencies have firmly believed all through that all terrorists are Muslims. Human rights workers tried to reason with the top police authorities that how can Muslim youth conspire to kill their own kin. In other quarters the way the virus of Islamophobia and anti Muslim sentiments has gripped a large section in society including the police authorities, have strong biases against Muslims. The investigation for authorities so far had become an easy job, after every blast, catch hold of few Muslim youth put them behind bars and then try to generate the evidence, if possible.

Similar things happened in Mecca Masjid blast when the authorities arrested nearly 25 Muslim youth after the blast in the mosque. That time even the National Commission for Minorities minced no words and concluded that the case against Muslim youths, who were detained in the immediate aftermath of the 2007 Mecca Masjid blasts, has been fabricated.

The Godhra train burning investigation is also mired in much deeper misconception, where nothing could be proved against the alleged Chief conspirator, Maulana Haji Umarji. Despite that, other Muslim youth were given the sentence. All these investigations show a clear pattern that the biases of the investigation authorities overtake their professional training. This was also one of the lazy way of going about things as arresting Muslims after such an episode is passé’ in public opinion and in the media in particular. Barring a small section of media others hardly played their role of raising doubts about the methods of investigating authorities.

In the blasts in Nanded (April 2006) two Bajrang dal activists died while making the bombs. They were making the bombs in the house of one Mr. Rajkondawar, a RSS worker. It had all the clear evidence of the Hindutva terror gang undertaking such terrorist operations. But Mahrashtra ATS stubbornly ignored the basic point and protected the real guilty of the crime. It took the like of Hemant Karkare to impeccably unearth the evidence linking the Malegaon blast of 2008 with Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Swami Dayanand Pandey and other RSS associates, to meticulously demonstrate that the real cause of terror attacks in these places from Nanded, Modassa, Parbhani, Jalna, Aurangabad, Ajmer and Samjhauta blast lies somewhere else. It is unfortunate that the police officer of such an integrity was killed in the Mumbai terror attack on 26/11 2008.

What was happening so far was that since police was merrily botching up the investigation, the real culprits were becoming bolder and they went on committing one after the other acts of terror. There is a long list of RSS affiliates, against whom there is a strong ground to allege them. Of course, RSS true to its character was quick to say that those involved in acts of terror, had already ‘left’ the RSS. The matters really could not be hidden after the confession of Swami Aseemanand, which was reported first by the gutsy magazine Tehelka. Swami Aseemanand, an RSS worker, who was working for VHP in Dangs, organizing Shabri Kumbh in the presence of top RSS top brass, confessed in presence of a magistrate. This confession as per the law can be treated as an evidence in the court. He spilled the beans and confessed his role in Mecca masjid and other blasts and also named his colleagues in the crime. This forced the agencies to do the course correction in some ways. Aseemanand has named senior RSS leader Indresh Kumar, the murdered RSS pracharak Sunil Joshi, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and senior RSS pracharaks Sandeep Dange and Ramji Kalsangra, among others, as being key conspirators in the terror blast.

The result of this fortunately is that in Malegaon blast accused after 5 years of their suffering and loss of youthful years in jails, have been granted the bails. This raises multiple questions as far as our society and nation are concerned. First is, do we deserve such a biased investigation agencies who, episode after episode, keep repeating the same method despite the lack of proper evidence. The heavy reliance of agencies on the role of SIMI, a banned organization and some vague groups with Muslim names has been the favorite line of investigation of the authorities. How can this trend be reversed? The biases in the minds of authorities are also a reflection of ‘social common sense’ prevalent in the society. This ‘social common sense’ has been manufactured by communal forces and media has disseminated it further. Despite the Harmony Programs by Government, despite the Home ministry’s lip service to prop up National Foundation for communal harmony, not many awareness programs have been consistently followed or taken up seriously.

The state has enough resources to ensure that police academies, the officers training institutes and college-universities are made the conduit to disseminate the values of plural traditions, the synthesis of religions in the form of Bhakti and Sufi traditions, the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi on communal harmony. A lot is possible to give a prop to the values of harmony which underlie the India’s freedom movement and are inherent in Indian Constitution. There are many a NGOs and individuals who are trying to do this work, but definitely their reach is very limited. This promotion of culture of amity and celebration of diversity by the state is a must at this juncture.

The second point of serious concern is what does state and society do when the lives of innocents are ruined by the callous attitude of investigation authorities. There have demands that these youth should be adequately compensated and their amount of compensation should be recovered from the salaries of the police officers who are blinded by their prejudices and push aside professionalism to give a free play to their biases in arresting these youth. A suitable rehabilitation program, scholarship, assistance to rebuild the life has to be the responsibility of the state in these matters. State must come forward to undo the severe harm it has inflicted on these innocent youth.

Schools, Muslims and RTE act

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammad Shahanshah Ansari) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 12:18:41 PST

Discrimination-free schools, Muslims and RTE act

By Nadim Nikhat,

[This paper is based on lecture delivered by the author in National Seminar on “Right to Education Act and Its Implementation” organized by Al-Ameen College of Education, Bangalore]

Introduction:

Children being non-essential or a weak constituency and have no ‘ballet value’ for the policy makers. They themselves are a non-actor, leaving behind a very little room to negotiate for them in an indirect and representative democracy. Though. Children are always at the receiving end despite the fact that they are the only claims holder or beneficiary of fundamental right to elementary education. This is perhaps one of the reasons why it took 60 years to legislate on this basic guarantee to elementary education.

It makes the task of evolving a democratic and inclusive education system in general and schools in particular, a very difficult task. Children’s cause are quite often looked from the point of approach of parents, families, caste, tribes, community and society at large.

Families, caste, tribes, communities and society, generally are carriers of ethos, values, mores and culture etc. but truly not the only carrier. These values are necessarily not always in sync with the constitutional ethos and are usually patriarchal, feudal, castist and communal/religious and are based on inclusion and exclusion, hence largely discriminatory in nature.

Therefore, in order to make institution of schools democratic, participative and inclusive and free from discrimination, these institutions including the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI) should have to be made democratic, participative and inclusive and free from discrimination. Education and/or school is both means and end to achieve equity but education alone and itself cannot emancipate but simultaneously education has to be emancipated from the discriminatory ethos perpetuated by these institutions.

In other words an active citizenship will transform the institution of education in to an active, inclusive and discrimination free institution and an active, inclusive and discrimination free institution of education will progressively develop an active citizenship. This will not happen in isolation.

Many reports and studies such as Justice Rajindar Sachar Commission’s Report and the Position Paper on SC and ST and Girl’s education by National Curriculum Framework, NCERT, have shown than SC, ST, Religious Minorities and girl child are subjected to discriminatory and exclusionary practices in elementary schools by teachers and children from dominant caste and religion groups, which leads to low enrollment, high crop out rates amongst children from these communities and class. These reports have expressed an imminent need to make schools more inclusive, in line with the principles of equality enshrined and guaranteed under the Constitution of India.

India has enacted a progressive legislation called the Right of Children to free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 (RTE Act) to universalize elementary education irrespective of caste, class, gender and religious identities. Till now, nine states namely, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Orissa, Rajasthan and Sikkimhave passed their Rulesand six Union Territories namelyAndaman Nikobar,Chandigarh, Dadar Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Lakshadweep and Pondicherry have adopted Central Government’s Model Rule. Even after one and half years, twenty states including Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat,Haryana, J&K, Jharkhand, Karnataka,Kerala, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttrakhand and West Bengal have not passed their State Rules.

RTE Act intends to promote and provide discrimination free schools and empowers the community and local self-governance bodies to play key role in monitoring and redressing discrimination in schools.

Minority Perspective

The poor representation of Muslimminority children at pre-primary as well as primary levels was emphasized by Justice Rajindar Sachar Commission Report. It was also noted about the discrimination faced by Muslim children in accessing anganwadis and primary schools.

Read the complete article here:

http://twocircles.net/2011nov09/discriminationfree_schools_muslims_and_rte_act.html

Sponsor poor children's education

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammad Shahanshah Ansari) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 11:38:03 PST

Muslim clerics to the community: Sponsor poor children's education

By Faisal Fareed,

Lucknow: Owing to high level of illiteracy in the community, Muslims were given a call for educating at least one child other than their own, during the sermon of Eid-ul-Azha namaz at Aishbagh Eidgah in Lucknow on Monday.

"Muslims should come forward and sponsor the education expenses of at least one child from the community. The community lags behind in education which is the key to success," said Imam, Maulana Khalid Rasheed Farangi Mahli during the sermon.

Mahli also appealed to the devotees for extending generous help to the community in setting up educational institutions. He asked the community to ensure polio vaccination for every child for the eradication of the disease from the country. He also touched the reservation issue and demanded that Muslims be given reservation in educational institutions and government and demanded their inclusion in SC list.

Large congregation of muslims were seen at Aishbagh Eidgah, Tile Wali Masjid and Asafi Masjid to offer namaz. At Tile Wali Masjid, Imam Maulana Qari Syed Shah Fazlul Rehman Waizi Nadwi led the prayers. Waizi also mentioned importance of education in his sermon.

"Muslims should realise the importance of education and make it mandatory that their children get quality education. It would be a great service if they also help in education of other muslim children," said Waizi.

At Asafi Masjid, Maulana Syed Kalbe Jawwad Naqvi led the prayers and exhorted the devotees for shunning social evils from the society.

(Courtesy: TwoCircles.net )

आखिर पसमांदा अधिकार महाधरना क्यों?

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammad Shahanshah Ansari) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 06:01:24 PST

शोषित समाज दल एवं अर्जक सिविल सोसाइटी की ओर से

संयुक्त “पसमांदा अधिकार महाधरना” का आयोजन

दिनांक: 26 नवम्बर, 2011, शनिवार, 11 AM-04 PM

स्थान: झूलेलाल पार्क, लखनऊ (उत्तर प्रदेश)

उत्तर प्रदेश के अर्जक समाज [दलित-महादलित-पिछड़ा-अति पिछड़ा(पसमांदा समेत)-आदिवासी] से आने वाले मतदाताओं के नाम

आज जब बसपा, सपा और कांग्रेस एक सुर में सभी मुसलमानों को आरक्षण देने की बात कर रहे हैं तो बाईबल की एक पंक्ति सहसा ही याद आती है: भगवन, उन्हें माफ कर दो, वे नहीं जानते वे क्या कर रहे हैं? ‘भगवन’ उन्हें माफ कर सकता है किन्तु अर्जक अवाम जिनके वोट से इनकी राजनीति की गाड़ी चलती है क्या इन्हें माफ कर देंगे जब इन्हें पता चलेगा कि सभी मुस्लिमों को आरक्षण इनके लिए किस तरह घाटा का सौदा है. और यदि किसी तरह गुमराह होकर जनता इन्हें अगले चुनाव में सत्ता सौंप भी देती है तो क्या इतिहास इन्हें बख्स देगा? सपा और बसपा तो सभी मुसलमानों को आरक्षण देने की बात कर रहे हैं किन्तु कांग्रेस, जिसका ‘बांटो और राज करो’ में पुराना प्रशिक्षण है, सभी मुसलमानों को आरक्षण के साथ एक और विकल्प पर विचार कर रही है जो यह है कि सत्ताईस प्रतिशत ओबीसी आरक्षण के अंदर ओबीसी मुसलमानों को अलग से छः, सात या आठ प्रतिशत आरक्षण देने का. ये दोनों विकल्प किस तरह सामाजिक न्याय, लोकतंत्र और धर्मनिरपेक्षता के लिए घातक है इसे आप तक पहुँचाने के लिए शोषित समाज दल यह पर्चा प्रस्तुत कर रहा है.

मुस्लिम समुदाय की सभी पिछड़ी जातियाँ राज्य में पिछड़ी जातियों की सूची और केन्द्र में ओबीसी लिस्ट में शामिल हैं. ऐसे में सहज सवाल उठता है कि सभी मुसलमानों को आरक्षण का मुद्दा क्यों और किसके लिए उठ रहा है? जिस तरह हिंदू समाज में सवर्ण जातियाँ आरक्षण की लिस्ट से बाहर है उसी तरह मुस्लिम समाज की सवर्ण जातियाँ भी आरक्षण की श्रेणी से बाहर है. इसलिए सभी मुसलमानों को आरक्षण देने का अर्थ होता है सवर्ण मुसलमानों को आरक्षण देना. वस्तुतः, सभी मुसलमानों को आरक्षण सवर्ण मुसलमानों को पिछले दरवाज़े से आरक्षण देने का एक शातिराना चाल है.

क्या सवर्ण मुसलमान आरक्षण दिए जाने के लायक हैं? यदि राज्य पिछड़ा वर्ग आयोग और मंडल आयोग ने सवर्ण या अशराफ़ मुसलमानों को आरक्षण की लिस्ट से बाहर रखा तो इसका कोई तो वजह रहा होगा! हमारे देश में शारीरिक श्रम करने वाली पिछड़ी जातियों को आरक्षण इसलिए दिया गया है कि पूरा का पूरा पिछड़ा जमात सामाजिक और शैक्षणिक रूप से पिछड़ा हुआ है और सरकारी नौकरियों और शिक्षा में उनकी भागीदारी उनकी जनसंख्या के अनुपात में बहुत कम है. ऊंची जातियों की स्थिति इसके उलट होने के चलते उन्हें आरक्षण की श्रेणी से बाहर रखा गया है. जिस तरह पिछड़ी जातियों से तात्पर्य हिंदू और मुस्लिम दोनों समुदायों की पिछड़ी जातियों से है, उसी तरह अगड़ी या ऊंची जातियों से तात्पर्य हिंदू और मुस्लिम दोनों समुदायों की ऊंची जातियों से है.

सभी मुसलमानों को आरक्षण पिछड़े मुसलमानों के हितों पर जितना बड़ा चोट है, उससे भी बड़ा चोट टेढ़े तरीके से सम्पूर्ण आरक्षण नीति पर है जो कि सामाजिक न्याय और परिवर्तन के संघर्ष का आधार है. कुलीनवंशी मुसलमान आरक्षण का सारा लाभ उठा ले जायेंगे और पिछड़ी जाति के हमारे मुसलमान भाई और बहन जिन्होंने अपने को पसमांदा नाम दिया है हाथ मलते रह जायेंगे. जब अभिजात मुसलमान आरक्षण की श्रेणी में आयेंगे तो अभिजात हिंदुओं को भी आरक्षण मिलने का रास्ता खुलेगा, तब आरक्षण नीति की क्या दुर्गति होगी यह सहज कल्पना की जा सकती है.

ओबीसी मुसलमानों को कुल सत्ताईस प्रतिशत ओबीसी आरक्षण में अलग से आरक्षण की बात करना भी इसी तरह का कुचक्र है. यह उनकी भलाई नहीं बल्कि उनको नुकसान पहुँचाने के लिए किया जा रहा है. मंडल आयोग के लागू होने के बाद पूरे देश भर में सभी धर्मों के मानने वाले पिछड़ों में एकता का निर्माण हुआ है और “दलित पिछड़ा एक समान, हिंदू हो या मुसलमान” का नारा बुलंद हो रहा है जो “फूट डालो, राज करो” में विश्वास करने वालों को नहीं पच रहा है. इसके अलावा इनकी एक चाल यह भी है कि पहले ओबीसी मुसलमानों को अलग से आरक्षण दो, फिर अगड़े मुसलमानों को ओबीसी घोषित कर उन्हें आरक्षण की श्रेणी में ले आओ. इसकी एक बानगी बिहार में देखने को मिली है जहाँ अगड़ी मलिक मुस्लिम जाति को पिछड़ी जातियों के लिस्ट में ले आया गया है और इसके लिए अशराफों की ओर से मुख्य मंत्री नीतीश कुमार को धन्यवाद ज्ञापित किया गया और उनसे आग्रह किया गया कि बाकी के तीन अशराफ़ जातियों-शेख, सैयद और पठान- को भी पिछड़ों की लिस्ट में शामिल किया जाए. हम धर्म के आधार पर आरक्षण की श्रेणी में विभाजन का विरोध करते हैं. यह एक सांप्रदायिक सोच है. इससे सांप्रदायिक ताकतों को बाबरी मस्जिद से भी बड़ा मुद्दा मिल जाएगा. सांप्रदायिक दलों के ओबीसी नेताओं के लिए तो यह एक वरदान ही होगा.

मुस्लिम ओबीसी को अलग से आरक्षण देने के स्थान पर हम अति पिछड़ी जातियों (जिनमें हिंदू और मुस्लिम सभी कारीगर जातियाँ आ जायेंगी) को राज्य और केन्द्र दोनों जगह बिहार के कर्पूरी फार्मूला के अनुसार अलग श्रेणी बनाने के पक्ष में हैं. यह मुस्लिम ओबीसी को अलग से आरक्षण देने की खतरनाक नीति का सबसे उत्तम काट है जिसका आधार सामाजिक न्याय के महान नेता कर्पूरी ठाकुर जी ने ही तैयार किया था. इससे सामाजिक न्याय की लड़ाई में एक संतुलन और पिछड़ी-अति पिछड़ी जातियों में और भी ज्यादा एकता की ठोस जमीन तैयार हो पायेगी.

शोषित समाज दल धर्म की एकता की जगह जातियों की एकता (दलित पिछड़ा एक समान, हिंदू हो या मुसलमान) को तरजीह देता है क्यों कि इतिहास ने साबित कर दिया है कि धर्म की एकता के नारे पर इस देश में साम्प्रदायिक एकता को हासिल नहीं किया जा सका है. हम चाहते हैं कि हिंदू और मुस्लिम सवर्ण भी नारा लगाएं-अगड़ा-अगड़ा एक समान, हिंदू हो या मुसलमान. तभी इस देश से सांप्रदायिकता की विदाई और सेक्यूलर मुद्दों पर राजनीति संभव हो सकती है

सभी मुसलमानों को आरक्षण और मुस्लिम ओबीसी को अलग से आरक्षण देने जैसे सामाजिक न्याय, लोकतंत्र और धर्मनिरपेक्षता विरोधी मुद्दों के खिलाफ जनमानस तैयार करने के लिए शोषित समाज दल ने आगामी 26नवम्बर,2011, शनिवार को दिन के ग्यारह बजे से अपराह्न चार बजे तक लखनऊ के झूलेलाल पार्क में“पसमांदा अधिकार महाधरना” का आयोजन किया है जिसमें ज्यादा से ज्यादा संख्या में भागीदारी के लिए हम आप से अनुरोध करते हैं.

[Drafted by Research & Policy Unit, SSD and Released by Akhilesh Katiyar, Working National President, Vinod Maurya, State President and Hashim Pasmanda, Vice President (Uttar Pradesh), SSD; Ph: 91-9455805768]

Challenges before Madrasa education

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammad Shahanshah Ansari) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 12:02:16 PST

By Tanvir Salim,

One important factor of the educational backwardness of Muslims in India is the system of Madrasa education, which has its own advantages and disadvantages. Most of the students of socially, economically and educationally backward sections of the Muslim community begin their education from these madrasas and maktabs, where education is relatively cheap and in some cases free. The students and teachers of these madrasas also get an euphoric feeling that they are performing their religious duties by learning Quran by heart, no matter whether they understand it or not.

It is sad that these madrasa education system doesn't not follow the message of Islam, which clearly states that one can go to China for seeking knowledge. They tend to stay local and avoid peeping to the outside world for knowledge. It is unfortunate that they limit the scope of learning and acquiring knowledge only to the religious education and that is why their knowledge about Science, Art, Engineering, Business, and Administration and even of humanities is generally poor. Madrasa people, who can recite Quran by heart, mostly remain ignorant, of not only of the modern education but also of the essence of the Quran.

Madrasa education is organized sect wise. The network is organized throughout India on these lines. It mostly depends on the contribution from the followers of their sect in different states of India and abroad. The persons going throughout the country and around the world for fund collection are called “safeer” which means ambassador. All contributions from India and abroad are generally not accounted for. These safeers generally get commissions on these collections, from a minimum of 25% up to 50%. The contributions received from India and abroad are mostly from Zakat fund, and hence they have to follow the restrictions in the use of these funds as per the norms of the Zakat. Most of the funds collected by these safeers from abroad violate the norms of Foreign Contributions Regulating Act (FRCA). Generally, these contributions may not be utilized for modern education as per the Zakat norms.

The need of the hour is to reform the madrasa education system to the extent it is possible. But the strong network of sectarian ulemas (religious cleric) will not allow major reform in the setup. So the well-wishers of Muslim cause should find some way out without disturbing the madrasa setup. One of the ways out is to organize one or two year’s refresher courses for the students coming out of madrasas.

I hear that in the earlier days, there was a system of special class for the students, who come to school after passing “Urdu” or “Hindi” Middle school. These students were generally admitted to the Class VI which they call “special class”. A network of special classes should be organized by the organizations of Muslims in India and abroad. To encourage and attract the students from madrasas, arrangement of hostels should also be made.

Students of madrasas who learn Quran by heart are generally more intelligent than the general students, and if opportunities are provided to them, they may be able to compete with not only their Muslim brethren, but the students in general also. But to arrange the special classes for madrasa students, is not an easy task. Forward looking organizations should come forward in organizing at least a center at the district level, or at least ten in Uttar Pradesh (UP) begin with. This way the madrasa students will get a head start and will be able to move forward in their quest for knowledge

Muslims need quotas more than SC/STs

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammad Shahanshah Ansari) — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 11:51:40 PDT

By Kancha Ilaiah,

A debate is likely to be triggered by the Union minister for minority affairs, Mr Salman Khurshid’s proposal for reservations for Muslims in Central institutions of education and employment. Though the Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission and the Minority Commission in their reports recommended 10 per cent reservations for Muslims based on their social and educational backwardness, so far the Indian state has not taken any steps in that direction.

In this context, we must appreciate the minister for taking the initiative. Though certain sections would say that this proposal is being made keeping the Uttar Pradesh elections in mind, it is still an issue that needs to be dealt with. Several commissions — the Gopal Singh Commission, the Ranganath Mishra Commission and the Sachar Committee — have examined the socio-economic conditions of Muslims and come to the conclusion that the condition of Indian Muslims is as bad as that of people from other weaker sections.

In terms of employment, their position is, in fact, worse than that of SC/STs. According to a white paper prepared by the All-India Milli Council (AIMC) and presented to former prime minister, Mr I.K. Gujral, in 1998, there were only 116 Muslims out of a total of 3,883 administrative service officers (2.98 per cent), 45 out of 1,433 police service officers (3.14 per cent) and 57 out of 2,159 foreign service officers (2.64 per cent). In other words, in the Central government, Muslims constituted 1.6 per cent of all class I officers, 3.9 per cent of all class II officers and 4.4 per cent of the technical supervisory staff. The situation has not changed even now.

The Sachar Committee concluded that in 12 states where the Muslim share in total population is 15.4 per cent, their representation in government jobs is only 5.7 per cent. In police, administrative and diplomatic services their representation varies from 1.6 to 3.4 per cent. Other studies have shown that Muslims are poorly represented in judiciary and military and are almost absent in intelligence agencies such as the RAW and the NSG because they are mistrusted.

These statistics and the assessment of various commissions and committees go to show that there is a need for affirmative action for Muslims, especially in the spheres of education and employment, where they are worse off than some of the historically backward castes within the fold of Hinduism. But how did this happen? Muslims as a community study the Quran, then how and why did such a religious community remain backward in literacy rate and education?

According to the 2001 census, the Muslim literacy rate is 60 per cent against 75.5 per cent of Hindus. The Christian literacy rate is 90.3 per cent, the Sikh literacy rate is 70.4 per cent, for Buddhists it is 73 per cent and Jains’ literacy rate is the highest, at 95 per cent.

We can understand the Jains having the highest literacy rate because the community constitutes mostly the Baniyas who live by trade. All the Jains, therefore, at least make their children literate. Obviously, the Hindu literacy rate includes the literacy rate among the SCs, which is 54.69 per cent, and the STs, whose literacy rate is just 47.10 per cent. Overall the Hindu literacy rate has grown quite well, as against that of the Muslims. The phenomenal rise of SC, ST and OBC literacy rate in the recent past is because of the hope of getting jobs through the instrument of reservation.

If one goes by the evolutionary history of Islam, there is clear evidence that it was a religion that brought a revolution in the sphere of reading and writing in the Arab world. Then why does such rampant educational backwardness exists among Indian Muslims? Why are people who read the Holy Book illiterate? One reason could be that most of the Muslims in India are converts from lower and untouchable castes.

Unlike a poor Dalit, a poor Muslim lives without the hope of a job. The Muslim poor are not so worried about their education because there are no job opportunities for them. Though the Muslim population is more urbanised than the SC, ST and OBC population, their educational awareness is confined to reading of the Quran, whereas the SC, ST and OBCs are more worried about their children not getting English education. The failure, therefore, is of both their religious leadership and the political leadership.

After the September 11 attacks, the lives of Muslims became more insulated. Even in elite English-medium schools Muslim children face discrimination and suspicion. In many non-Muslim middle-class and upper-middle class colonies they do not even get a house on rent nor can they buy one. Untouchability has come to them in another form — through religion, not caste.

An all-India reservation debate alone can open up their closed mind in relation to education, or, at least, create a churning among the Muslim intelligentsia. But reservation for Muslims should not be pitted against the OBC 27 per cent quota. The debate must also look at the 50 per cent cap that the Supreme Court of India imposed on the national reservation formula but did not explain the reason and logic behind it.

[Kancha Ilaiah is director for the study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy, Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad. This article first published in the Deccan Chronicle.]

WHO SHOULD BE NEXT A.M.U. V.C.?

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammad Shahanshah Ansari) — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 11:33:32 PDT

The A.M.U. has become once again the hot-bed of talking, as to who should be or going to be next Vice-Chancellor of A.M.U.

At the time of selection of Prof. P.K. Abdul Aziz, there was hardly any hue and cry and his selection was very smooth and there was hardly any controversy. The day he landed in A.M.U. Campus, however, from the very day, there happen to be serious corruption charges against him. I think, by now, we might have learnt some lessons from past experiences and observations and some new steps should be taken while selecting new V.C.

Scrutiny of Credentials:-

All those candidates, whose names are likely to be considered, their credentials must be thoroughly scrutinized, put on board to be seen by each and everyone and selection should be very transparent, open and in full glare of each one.

Conduct, Character and Integrity :-

The conduct and Character and integrity of candidate should be impeccable and who has unblemish track record, his past antecedents should be unimpeachable.

Deep roots in Aligarh :-

A candidate who has deep roots in Aligarh, i.e. belongs to Aligarh, or having his kith & kin, family members as staff in Aligarh preferably his credential should not be considered, reason being that he may get influenced/swayed/ may succumbed to pressure.

An Adiminstrator par Excellence :-

Any one, whose name is being considered for V.C. –ship, should be an able administrator who should not succumb to any pressure. He should be quite relatively young, dynaminc and who can work under adverse situation especially when University is in-turmoil and big crises.

He should not be an oldy and retired one because they generally stick to his chair and also succumb to pressure and don’t ready to relinquish post of V.C.-ship, howsoever he proves himself an utter failure. Such person (V.C.) makes many compromises just to keep himself in chair (Post) at the cost of community and A.M.U. interest.

Community interest Supreme :-

While picking/selecting a candidate, the A.M.U. Administration must see/peruse all the details/information about the prospective candidates, whether he should be able to look after the interest of students, community, A.M.U.- movement and of course, he should carry forward the Sir Syed mission- furtherance of Education among the Muslims Community.

Avoid Careerist/ Self Promoters :-

Since we have experience and found that, by and large, candidate (V.C.) use A.M.U. as plateform or stepping stone for promoting his cause/interest and thereby damaging the students and community interests. This is true, atleast for the last three decades, we have seen it.

Transparent Appointment :-

Appointment of V.C. of A.M.U. should be done transparently and in a participatory manner, he should not belong to a group or group of any other A.M.U. clans, so as to minimized the chances of the wrong sorts of person getting in or appointed as V.C. of A.M.U.

Finally, I would like to conclude that while selecting of V.C. the selection process should be open, transparent and accountable, which will decide the future fate of community for the next five years and hence A.M.U. V.C. should be one who should protect the interest of the student, A.M.U. community and play frontal role, so far as imparting of education among Muslim Community concerned.

मुस्लिम आरक्षण की वकालत गलत

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammad Shahanshah Ansari) — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 04:48:01 PDT

गाजीपुर: एसएसपी इण्टर कालेज नूरूद्दीनपुरा में सोमवार को आल इण्डिया पसमांदा मुस्लिम महाज की ओर से विचार गोष्ठी का आयोजन हुआ। गोष्ठी में पसमांदा मुस्लिम हितों के बारे में चर्चा हुई।

मुख्य वक्ता हाशिम पसमांदा ने कहा कि कुछ मुस्लिम नेता और कुछ सियायी पार्टियां असंवैधानिक मुस्लिम आरक्षण की बात कर रही है। महाज की यह मंशा है कि जिस तरह बिहार में कर्पूरी ठाकुर फार्मूला लागू है उस तरह पूरे प्रदेश में लागू हो। उन्होंने कहा कि 341 पर लगी मजहबी पाबंदी हटनी चाहिए ताकि दलित मुस्लिमों, दलित ईसाइयों को शिडयूल कास्ट का दर्जा मिल सके। इस दौरान भोजपुरी कवि विनय राय बबुरंग ने शासक वर्ग की नीतियों पर अपनी कविता के माध्यम से तीखे प्रहार किये। गोष्ठी में फैय्याज शाह, कमर अहमद अंसारी, इरफान सलमानी, अमरनाथ यादव, डा.नकीम, नफीस अहमद, अब्दुल रहमान, अब्दुल रशीद, आदिल अंसारी, डा.अल्तमश, नेहाल अंसारी, डा.जमशेद अकरम, मु.बेलाल अल्वी आदि मौजूद रहे।

URL:

http://in.jagran.yahoo.com/news/local/uttarpradesh/4_1_8104774_1.html

यूसुफ़ अंसारी ला रहे है न्यूज चैनल और अखबार

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammad Shahanshah Ansari) — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 14:50:01 PDT

आरिफ खान मंसूरी

समाचार4मीडिया.कॉम

वरिष्ठ टीवी पत्रकार यूसुफ़ अंसारी जल्द ही एक न्यूज़ चैनल लाने की तैयारी कर रहे हैं। चैनल अभी लाइसेंसिंग की प्रक्रिया से गुज़र रहा है। अगले दो-तीन महीने में इसे लाइसेंस मिलने की उम्मीद है। और इस चैनल को यूपी विधानसभा चुनाव से पहले लॉन्च कर दिया जायेगा। शुरुआत में चैनल यूपी, उत्तराखंड और दिल्ली एनसीआर में दिखाई देगा फिर इसे नेशनल चैनल का रूप दिया जायेगा। और साथ ही प्रबंधन की हिंदी और उर्दू दैनिक अखबार और एक हिंदी पाक्षिक मैगजीन लाने की भी योजना है।

चैनल और अखबार के लिए तैयारियां शुरू कर दी गई हैं। और इसका ऑफिस नोएडा में ही बनाया जा रहा है। लाइसेंस मिलते ही चैनल और अखबार के लिए टीम गठित की जाएंगी।

चैनल का कंटेंट मुख्यत: राजनीतिक खबरों पर आधारित होगा। हिंदी और उर्दू दोनों अखबार शुरू में वेस्टर्न यूपी में लॉन्च किये जायेंगे और उसके बाद इसका विस्तार दूसरी जगहों पर किया जायेगा।

यूसुफ अंसारी ज़ी न्यूज के साथ एक दशक से ज्यादा समय तक जुड़े रहे जहां पर उन्होंने कई महत्वपूर्ण पदों पर काम किया है। उसके बाद उन्होंने चैनल वन न्यूज चैनल का मैनेजिंग एडिटर का पद संभाला लेकिन व्यक्तिगत कारणों की वजह से उन्होंने वहां से इस्तीफा दे दिया और हाल ही में इन्होंने सलाम इंडिया न्यूज़ मीडिया प्रा. लि. नाम से कंपनी बनाई है और www.salaamindialive.tv नाम से एक न्यूज़ पोर्टल शुरू किया है। अभी वो इस पोर्टल के विस्तार की तैयारी भी कर रहे हैं।

यूसुफ़ अंसारी को मुंबई में बाबा साहेब भीमराव अंबेडकर पुरस्कार और बेहतरीन राजनीतिक रिपोर्टिंग के लिए राजीव गांधी एक्सीलेंस अवार्ड दिया जा चुका है। उन्हें राष्ट्रीय एकता पुरस्कार के साथ ही देश विदेश मे दो दर्ज़न से ज़्यादा अवार्ड मिल चुके हैं।

नोट: समाचार4मीडिया देश के प्रतिष्ठित और नं.1 मीडिया पोर्टल एक्सचेंज4मीडिया का नया उपक्रम है। समाचार4मीडिया.कॉम में हम आपकी राय और सुझावों की कद्र करते हैं। आप अपनी राय, सुझाव और ख़बरें हमें samachar4media@exchange4media.com पर भेज सकते हैं या 09899147504/ 09911612929 पर संपर्क कर सकते हैं।

क़य्यूम अंसारी को सच्ची श्रद्धांजिली

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammad Shahanshah Ansari) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 06:04:21 PST

अलग पार्टी ही क़य्यूम अंसारी को सच्ची श्रद्धांजिली

मोहम्मद आसिफ़, संवाददाता, सलाम इंडिया न्यूज़ ब्यूरो

पसमांदा मुसलमानों की सामाजिक आर्थिक और शैक्षिक हालत में सुधार के लिए उन्हें सत्ता में हिस्सेदारी मिले बग़ैर मुमकिन नहीं है। ये बात पसमादां बिरादरी के सामाजिक और राजनीतिक कार्यकर्ताओं ने बाबा-ए-क़ौम अब्दुल क़य्यूम अंसारी की 106 वें जन्मदिन के मौके पर कही। दिल्ली के गांधी पीस फाउंडेशन में बाबा-ए-क़ौम अब्दुल क़य्यूम अंसारी और देश की राजनीति में पसमांदा मुसलमानों को आगे लान के उनके प्रयासों को याद करने के लिए हुए एक कार्यक्रम में देश भर से आए अंसारी व अन्य पसमांदा बिरादरी के लोगों ने एक सुर में कहा कि ग़रीब पसमांदा मुसलमानों को सत्ता में हिस्सेदारी दिलाने का जो फार्मूला अब्दुल क़य्युम अंसारी ने बताया था उस पर अमल करने का वक़्त आ गया है।

इस मौक़े में कार्यक्रम में मुख्य अतिथि के हैसियत से शामिल हुए जाने माने पत्रकार लेखक और राजनीतिक विश्लेषक यूसुफ़ अंसारी ने कहा कि पसमांदा मुसलमानों की रहनुमाई में सत्ता की दावेदारी की पहल ही अब्दुल क़य्यूम अंसारी को सच्ची ख़िराजे अक़ीदत होगी। उन्होंने कहा 1946 में अब्दुल क़य्यूम अंसारी ने जिन्ना का पाकिस्तान नीति की खुली मुख़ालफत करके ऑल इंडिया मोमिन कांफ्रेस के झंडे के नीचे विधान सभा की 6 सीटे जीत कर जिन्ना को करारा जवाब दिया था। लेकिन अफ़सोस कि आज़ादी के बाद उनके इस योगदान को भुला दिया गया। उन्होंने कहा कि उत्तर प्रदेश के 2012 विधान सभा चुनाव में अगर अब्दुल क़य्युम अंसारी की तर्ज पर एक सार्थक राजनीतिक पहल हो जाए तो सूबे के सियासी हालात बदल सकते है। उन्होंने कहा कि सिर्फ़ इसी से मुसलमानों के पसमांदा तबक़े को सत्ता में वाजिब हिस्सेदारी मिल सकती है और उनके विकास के रास्ते खुल सकते हैं। कांशीराम ने कर दिखाया है हमे भी कर दिखाना है।

सम्मेलन में आए पसमांदा विषय पर जाने माने रिसर्च स्कॉलर ख़ालिद अनीस अंसारी ने ज़ोर दे कर कहा देश की सिसायत में मज़बूत मौजूदगी दर्ज करा कर ही पसमांदा बिरादरियों की सियासी और समाजिक हालत को बदला जा सकता है। इसका कोई अन्य विकल्प नहीं है। हमें सिर्फ़ पसमांदा क़यादत के पीछे अपन वोट को एकजुच करने के बारे में सोचना चाहिए। उन्होंने समाज के सरमायादार लोगों से राजनीतिक पार्टी बनाने और उसे चलाने के लिए दिल खोल कर चंदा देने की अपील भी की।

पसमांदा फ्रंट के राष्ट्रीय संयोजक श्री शमीम अंसारी ने कहा कि डा.अय्यूब ने पीस पार्टी बना कर उत्तर प्रदेश में तमाम राजनीतिक दलों की नींद उड़ा दी है। उन्होंने कहा कि देश की आज़ादी के वक़्त जो हौसला अब्दुल क़य्युम अंसारी ने दिखाया था वही हौसला डा.अय्यूब ने दिखाया है। उन्होंने कहा कि सारे मुसलमान दूसरी पार्टियों में रहकर एक टिकट के लिए इन पार्टियों के नेताओं के आगे गिड़गिड़ाते हैं। आज डॉ. अय्यूब के सामने तमाम दल गठबंधन के लिए गिड़गिड़ा रहे हैं।

मुंबई से आए फ़ाज़िल अंसारी ने कहा कि अब्दुल क़य्युम अंसारी के सपनों को साकार करने के लिए हमें ठोस एजेंडे के साथ आगे बढ़ना होगा। ठोस एजेंडे के बग़ैर न सत्ता में हिस्सेदारी मिल सकती है और ना ही समाजिक हालात बदलेंगे। मुंबई से ही आए सिराज अंसारी ने देश भर में मुस्लिम ख़ास कर पसमांदा मुसलमानों के नौजवानों को यूपीएससी की तैयारी करने की सलाह दी। उन्होंने कहा कि वो देश भर में आईएएस और आईपीएस आफिसर की फ़ौज खड़ा करना चाहते हैं ताकि पसमांदा मुसलमान भी प्रशासन में ना सिर्फ अपनी मौजूदगी दर्ज कराएं बल्कि प्रशासन चलाने में योगदान भी दें।

मुज़फ़्फरनगर के कैराना से आए वहां के चेयरमैन अब्दुल अज़ीज़ अंसारी ने भी सिसायत के मैदान में मज़बूती से खड़े रहने और डटे रहने पर ज़ोर दिया। उन्होंने कहा कि मैदान मे डटकर खड़े रहन वालों को ही समाज मे इज़्ज़त मिलती है।

कार्यक्रम की अध्यक्षता कर रहे अनुसूचित जाति आयोग में ओबीसी के राष्ट्रीय संयोजक डा.ताजुद्दीन अंसारी ने मोमिन कांफ्रेस के अलग-अलग धड़ों को एक जुट करने की ज़रुरत जताई। उन्होंने कहा कि अक्तूबर-नवंबर के महीने में वो मोमिन कांफ्रेंस के सभी गुटों की मीटिंग बुला कर सब को एक मंच पर लाने की कोशिश करेंगे। एक जुटता से ही अब्दुल क़य्युम अंसारी का सपना पूरा हो सकता है। ऑल इंडिय़िन कांफ्रेस के सभी धड़ों को एकजुट करने की कोशिशों मे जुटे मौलाना जुनैद बनारसी ने भी इस मौक़े पर इसके सभी के बीच एक की ज़रूरत जताई।

इस मौक़े पर अब्दुल क़य्यूम अंसारी पर “सदा-ए-अंसारी” अख़बाकर के विषेषांक का भी विमोचतन हुआ। कार्यक्रम के आयोजक और “सदा-ए-अंसारी” साप्ताहिक अख़बार के संपादक अंसारी अतहर हुसैन ने देश भर से आए सभी लोगों का शुक्रिया अदा किया। उन्होंने कहा कि उनका एक मात्र सपना दिल्ली में मोमिन भवन बनाना है। ताकि दिल्ली से बाहर से आने वाले पसमांदा बिरादरी के लोग इस देखकर फ़ख़्र महसूस करें। इसके लिए उन्होंने सभी से इस सपने को साकार सकरने के लिए मदद की अपील की।

http://salaamindialive.tv/news.php?news_id=305

अब्दुल अय्युम अंसारी का मना जन्मदिन

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammad Shahanshah Ansari) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 11:19:59 PST

बाबाये कौम अब्दुल अय्युम अंसारी का मना जन्मदिन

गाजीपुर: आल इंडिया पसमांदा मुस्लिम महाज की ओर से शुक्रवार को परमवीर चक्र विजेता वीर अब्दुल वीर हमीद इदरीसी एवं पसमांदा कौमों के प्रेरणा स्रोत बाबाये कौम अब्दुल अय्युम अंसारी का जन्मदिवस हर्षोल्लास से मनाया गया।

इस मौके पर जिलाध्यक्ष फैजान अहमद शाह ने कहा कि चाहे अंग्रेजों के खिलाफ स्वतंत्रता आंदोलन रहा हो या आजादी के बाद पड़ोसी मुल्कों से लड़ाई का मैदान। उसमें बढ़-चढ़कर मेहनतकश पसमांदा कौमों के लोगों ने भी जान जोखिम में डालकर अपनी देशभक्ति और साहस का परिचय दिया है। उनमें कय्युम अंसारी एवं अब्दुल हमीद का नाम आता है। अब्दुल कय्युम अंसारी जमींदारी व्यवस्था और देश के बंटवारे के खिलाफ थे। उनकी समझ थी कि अगर धर्म के आधार पर देश का बंटवारा हुआ तो इसके परिणाम भयानक होंगे, जो आज सच साबित हो रहा है। दूरी तरफ जब अमेरिकी टैंक भारत सीमा में हिन्दुस्तान-पाकिस्तान युद्ध में बेखौफ घुसने की कोशिश कर रहे थे। पसमांदा समाज के बेटे ने अपनी जान की बाजी लगाकर अमेरिकी टैंकों को ध्वस्त किया और भारत की शान को रखी। उन्होंने कहा कि हिन्दु-मुस्लिम तमाम पसमांदा तबकों को शिक्षित करना आज की जरूरत है। अंत में हास्य व्यंग के भोजपुरी रचनाकार विनय राय बबुरंग ने अपनी कविताओं से प्रोत्साहित किया। इस अवसर पर एकबाल कुरैशी, खुर्शेद अली, इन्तेखाब आलम, नेहाल अंसारी, एकराम सलमानी, वकील, अजीत सिंह, रामचन्द्र राम, बबलू, कमर अहमद अंसारी, अब्दुल रहमान राईन आदि उपस्थित रहे.

http://in.jagran.yahoo.com/news/local/uttarpradesh/4_1_7948443.html

SC to decide on admission norms for OBCs

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammad Shahanshah Ansari) — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 22:42:26 PDT

SC to decide on admission norms for OBCs tomorrow

10% Relaxation On Cutoffs Or Eligibility Marks?

By Dhananjay Mahapatra TNN

New Delhi: The Supreme Court will on Friday decide the criteria for admitting OBC students into central

institutions like Delhi University and Jawaharlal Nehru University under the 27% quota provision. A vacation bench of Justices P Sathasivam and A K Patnaik will address the ambiguity — should the cutoff for OBCs be 10% less than the cutoff marks for general category or should it be 10% less than the eligibility marks for general students?

While cutoffs for general students are high in most institutes, the eligibility criteria for general candidates is just 50% marks.

OBC candidates who score more than 40% are considered for admission under the Central Educational Institutes (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006.

IIT etiquette camp for SC/ST entrants

Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students admitted to IIT-Delhi will undergo a “self-enrichment programme” to pick up etiquette and tech-savviness to adapt to campus life – a move parents and experts say will lead to segregation even before they enter the classroom. P 15 Debate on relief for OBCs in cutoff or eligibility criteria

New Delhi: The apex court will on Friday decide the criteria for admitting OBC students in central institutions.

Citing a constitution bench judgment, senior advocate Indu Malhotra on Wednesday argued that the criteria was to be 10% less than the last cutoff mark for general category candidates. She said JNU was flouting this norm by admitting students who had scored 10% less than the eligibility criteria for general category.

Senior advocate A Mariarputham and counsel Sanjay Parikh argued that if the cutoff criteria is followed, no OBC candidate would get admission and the seats would have to be offered to general students category – defeating the purpose of the reservations. Under the 2006 Act, the central educational institutes were asked to increase their seats to accommodate OBC candidates without reducing the intake of general category candidates.

In the 2008 judgment in Ashoka Thakur case, the apex court had upheld the constitutional validity of 27% quota for OBC candidates but had warned against dilution of merit. Two judges – Justices Arijit Pasayat and C K Thakker – had recommended lowering the eligibility criteria for OBC candidates by 5% marks, while Justice Dalveer Bhandari was in favour of reducing it by 10% from the cutoff prescribed for general category.

A constitution bench in 2009 attempted to clarify the air, saying it should be fixed at 10% less than the cutoff prescribed for general candidates. But it appears the confusion between the cutoff and eligibility criteria continues to persist.

The argument of OBC candidates is that the central educational institution cannot shut the doors of admission to OBCs by resorting to the last cutoff of admitted general category candidates, which would make most backward class students ineligible for higher studies.

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=Q0FQLzIwMTEvMDYvMzAjQXIwMDEwNA%3D%3D

Forbesganj and Anti Pasmanda Rhetorics

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammad Shahanshah Ansari) — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 22:13:53 PDT

Forbesganj and Anti Pasmanda Rhetorics: Some Questions

By MOHAMMAD SAJJAD

How do we look at the Forbesganj Killings:

1. Pro-Corporate, anti-peasant killings by the state?,

2. Anti Muslim killings by the NDA regime of Bihar?,

3. Anti Pasmanda killings by the government led by a backward caste Nitish Kumar?

Some of the informed middle class of Muslims have reacted against the issue in a manner as if the upper caste Muslims don't need to speak against it because the third of the above questions has been given greatest possible attention. Probably because of this, those who demanded/ asked Ali Anwar Ansari of the JD-U and the Pasmanda Mahaz, to resign, they did not direct the same question to Parween Amanullah (Minister in Nitish Cabinet), daughter of Syed Shahbuddin of the Muslim Indiafame. They expressed no outrage against the silence (or at best ritualistic lip service) of the organizations like the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, Imarat-e-Shariah, All India Muslim Majlis Mashaweraat, All India Milli Council, Jamiatul Ulema-e-Hind, Jamaat-e-Islami-e-Hind, Idara-e-Shariah....

They did not lament the ilks of Fatmi, Jabir Husain, Mehboob Ali Qaisar, Dr Shakil Ahmad, Maulana Asrraul Haq Qasmi. None of them have visited Forbesganj.

Is it because there is no election in Bihar in near future?

May be Ali Anwar Ansari is silent in order to get a personal favour from Nitish for the second term in the Rajya Sabha, but why are the people who will stand benefitted from speaking against the NDA regime of Bihar, are silent?

Most of the upper caste Muslims (including my close relatives and friends; such relatives and friends are using filthiest possible languages against one opportunist leader Ali Anwar Ansari and they are calling me on phone, flooding my mailbox,....) have started re-singing the eulogy of Laloo. They conveniently forget the fact that in 1996, at Bethani Tola (Bhojpur), Muslims of Churihar caste were killed and Laloo's govt remained as callous as Nitish in Forbesganj. But none of these admirers of Laloo condemned it. They don't even remember it now. Incidentally, the then DM of Bhojpur was Mr Amir Subhani. Incidentally again, one of the killed was a child named Amir; he was named so by his parents inspired with the IAS topper Amir Subhani. If I am not wrong, none of the Urdu dailies wrote against the Bethani Tola massacre with this perspective. None of these outspoken middle class of upper caste Muslims spoke against the silence. They were enjoying (or hoping to enjoy) various favours like VC-ship, Chairman-ship, besides the positions of MLA, MLC, MP, Ministership,....And the rest were deriving/ expecting vicarious pleasure from the good offices of more fortunate favourites of Laloo.

I think (and hope) the Forbesganj killings of 3 June 2011 have exposed and therefore should redefine the various facets of the "Muslim" politics.

Let some good come out of the evil of selective flogging of an opportunist Pasmanda leader.

And I keep my first of the above three question un-elaborated, quite purposefully.

(The Writer is Asstt. Professor at Centre of Advanced Study in History, Aligarh Muslim University, India)

Forbesganj and anti Pasmanda Rhetoric

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammad Shahanshah Ansari) — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 04:33:17 PDT

By: Mohammad Sajjad

More discomforting is the fact that none of us ask the non Pasmanda Muslim leaders to speak on Forbesganj, we only flog Ali Anwar Ansari who is presumably silent to extract the personal favour of yet another term in the Rajya Sabha. Why are those Muslim leaders silent who can win back the Muslims by speaking loud&tough against the NDA regime of Bihar? I must name some of them:Fatmi, Jabir of RJD; Qasmi, Shakil, Mehbub Qaisar of Congress, and of course the ilks of Salman Khurshid? Is it because there is no election in Bihar in recent future? Why are the AMUTA and JTA silent? Or is it because the Ashraf don't feel like speaking for Pasmanda? By the way the Pasmanda leaders like Noor Hasan Azad and his team have visited Forbesganj and have spoken unambiguously. And Rahul Gandhi will visit only Bhatta Parsaul as elections are ahead in UP.