Poor Muslims of India & Rajinder Sachar Report - 2

Rajindar Sachar was the Chief Justice of High Court of Delhi

Sach kahte hain Sachar [Right said Sachar]

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Sach kahte hain Sachar

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In March 2005 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appointed a high level committee to prepare a report on the Social, Economic and Educational Status of Indian Muslims. The 7-member committee, headed by Justice Rajinder Sachar (retired) submitted its report to the Prime Minister in November 2006.

The Sachar Committee’s report is an extremely valuable document on the Social, Economic and Educational Status of Indian Muslims for two reasons. Firstly, its findings are a shocking testimony to six decades of institutional neglect and bias that has left the country’s Muslims far behind other Socio-Religious Communities (SRCs) in the areas of education, employment, access to credit, access to social and physical infrastructure and political representation. Thus the Report thoroughly exposes the sangh parivar’s baseless propaganda of “Muslim appeasement”.

Secondly, its recommendations contain the seeds of a major socio-economic transformation of 150 million Indian Muslims. If the recommendations were to be honestly implemented, it can bring dramatic changes in the life of Muslims just as action on the recommendations of the Mandal Commission did for the OBCs.

The Report has made numerous recommendations for urgent governmental action to redress the problem of Muslim backwardness. This is essential not only in the interest of equity and fair play.

It is also in the national interest because no country can hope to progress if it leaves behind 150 million of its population.

Immediate remedial action is essential both in the interests of equity and in the national interest. But the track record of even self-proclaimed secular governments shows that left to themselves they will at best adopt token measures. What is needed therefore is a sustained nationwide Citizens Campaign to force governments at the Centre and in the states to act on the recommendations of the Sachar Committee.

For the campaign to be successful it is important to remember that the problem of educational and economic backwardness and political empowerment of Muslims is not just a Muslim problem.

It must be understood and projected as a national problem. It is therefore of utmost important to ensure that the campaign has the support and participation of all non-communal, secular democratic organisations, groups and individuals. The first step in mass mobilisation for any campaign is the creation of mass awareness about the findings and recommendations of the Sachar Committee.

This pamphlet highlights the findings and recommendations of the Sachar Committee.

Introduction

Myth of Muslim appeasement exposed

Sachar report for Muslims like Mandal report for OBCs Muslim backwardness is a National Problem Citizens Campaign for Implementing Sachar Report Secular, not Muslim, Campaign Mass awareness the first step

Demography

According to the latest (2001) census, the Muslim population was 138 million out of a total population of 1029 million. Percentage wise, Muslims were about 13.4% of the total population, as compared to 80.5% Hindus (including SCs/STs) and 6.1% other minorities (Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists and Jains). Currently the Muslim population is around 150 million. (Pg. 29).

Between 1961-2001, the annual growth rate among Muslims has averaged 2.7%, which is well above the national average population growth of 2.1%. The growth rate for others are:

Hindus and Christians, 2%; Jains, 1.8%; Sikhs and Buddhists, 2.2%. (Pg. 29).

Between 1991 and 2001 there is a clear decline in the growth rate of Muslims in most of the states.(Pg. 30).

Projections for future population growth in India show that by the end of the 21st century India’s total population will stabilise in which the Muslim population would be less than 20% of total). (Pg. 45). Thus the propaganda that the unchecked growth in the Muslim population will result in their overtaking the Hindu population is totally false.

Muslims have the best sex-ratio among all Indians. Over the decades, the Muslim population shows an increasingly better sex ratio compared with other Socio-Religious Communities (SRCs). Similarly, Muslims have the highest child sex ratio of any social group in the country. For instance, the child sex ratio among Muslims was 986 girls per 1,000 boys in the age group 0-5 in 1998-99, significantly higher than the ratio of 931 among SCs/STs, 914 among other Hindus, and 859 among other groups.(Pgs. 33, 34). This is a very significant finding. The fact that the sex ratio among Muslims is improving while it is on a dangerous decline among some sections of the population shows that among Muslims there is far less bias against the girl child.

Muslims have lower levels of infant and under-five mortality rate than all other Socio-Religious Communities (SRCs) in India. Moreover, they have experienced some of the largest declines in infant and under-five mortality rates of all SRCs in India.

This finding is again quite significant since the prevalence of poverty among Muslims would suggest otherwise. Part of the higher population growth rate among Muslims is explained by the lower child mortality rate. (Pg. 36).

While international migration is also responsible for some of the growth in
India’s population, it plays only a minor role.(Pg. 41).

Sach Kehte hain Sachar Muslims For Secular Democracy

Education

The literacy rate among Muslims in 2001 (59.1%) is far below the national average (65.1%). SCs/STs are still the lowest literate group both in urban and rural India. (Pg. 52)

Muslim women with a literacy level of 50% have been able to keep up with women of other communities and are much ahead of SC/ST women in rural India. (Pgs. 53).

With the community’s growing focus on education in recent years, there has been a significant increase in enrolment among Muslims. But initial disparities between Muslims and other SRCs have increased in the period 1953-2001 and there is still a big gap to be covered. (Pg. 57).

Drop-out rate among Muslims is the highest at the level of Primary, Middle and Higher Secondary compared to all the SRCs. Only 17% Muslims above the age of 17 years have completed matriculation as compared to 26% for all SRCs. (Pg. 58).

The major problems for Muslims are at the level of school education. Once the “hurdles” of school education is crossed, the difference across most SRCs in the likelihood of their completing graduation courses narrow down and are at times insignificant. (Pg. 62).

In the premier colleges in the country, only one out of the 25 Under-Graduate students (4%) and one out of 50 Post-Graduate students (2%) was a Muslim.(Pg. 69).

The gap between Muslims and other SRCs increases as the level of education increases. (Pg. 72).

Muslims are grossly underrepresented in the elite Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). Enrolment data for the years 2004-5 and 2005-6 show Muslims were only 1.3% of the total number of students in all the IIM courses. In case of the IITs, out of 27,161 students enrolled in all the courses, only 894 (3.3%) were Muslims. (Pgs. 68-69).

Unemployment rates among Muslim graduates is the highest among SRCs. (Pg. 73).

Only 3% of Muslim children among the school going age go to Madarsas. (Pg. 77).

In view of a large number of children with Urdu as their mother tongue Urdu should be taught as an elective subject up till graduation.(Pg. 83).

The changes in educational patterns across SRCs suggest that SCs and STs have reaped advantage of targeted government and private effort. This reflects the importance of affirmative action. (Pg. 86). Sach Kehte hain Sachar Muslims For Secular Democracy

Economy and Employment

The very low participation of Muslim women compared to all other SRCs in economic activity is one of the important highlights of the Report. While overall about 44 % of women are engaged in economic activity, the figure for Muslim women is 25% overall and as low as 18% in urban areas. This is bound to adversely affect the overall economic status of the community. (Pg. 89).

The percentage of women Muslim workers undertaking work within their own homes is much higher (70%) than for all workers (51%).(Pg. 96).

The other striking feature is that compared to all other SRCs, a far higher percentage of Muslims are engaged in self-employment. This is particularly true in urban areas for women workers. (Pg. 91).

Since a large section of the Muslim workers are engaged in self-employment, skill development and credit related initiatives need to be tailored for such groups.(Pg. 92)

The participation of Muslims in regular jobs in urban areas is quite limited compared to even the traditionally disadvantaged SCs/STs. (Pg. 94).

A significantly larger proportion of Muslim workers are engaged in small proprietary enterprises and their participation in the formal sector employment is significantly less than the national average. (Pg. 91).

Compared to other SRCs, Muslim workers are more vulnerable as they are concentrated in the informal sector characterised by low wages, bad working conditions and little or no social security. (Pg.104).

At the macro level, of the manufacturing sectors which are important for Muslims, wearing apparel, auto-repair and electrical machinery seem to be segments where policy focus can bring in employment related dividends for the Muslim workers. (Pg.101).

The participation of Muslims in the professional and managerial cadre is low. (Pg.104).

Sach Kehte hain Sachar Muslims For Secular Democracy

Access to Credit

Since a much higher percentage of Muslim workers are self-employed, the need for access to credit to them is the greatest. Despite this data shows that they are far behind others in terms of access to credit. (Pg. 136).

Muslims constitute about 12% of all account holders in Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs). While this is close to their share in the total population (13.4%), the share of other minorities is slightly more (8%) than their share in the total population. (Pg. 125).

The notion that Muslims do not participate in banking because of its “un-Islamic” interest-based system is a myth. Specific credit measures can bring about a substantial improvement in the economic status of Muslims. (Pg. 125).


But Muslims’ share in loan accounts is much lower than their population share and their share in loan amounts outstanding is even worse. (Pg. 125).

On an average, the amount outstanding (indicator of loans sanctioned) per account for Muslims is about half that for other minorities and only one-third of ‘Others’. (Pg. 126).

RBI’s efforts to extend banking and credit facilities under the Prime Minister’s 15-point programme has mainly benefited other minorities, marginalizing Muslims. (Pg. 128).

The record of specialized lending institutions such as the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and the National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD) is worse than that of the Scheduled Commercial Banks. (Pgs. 134-135).

During the six years period 2000-01 to 2005-06, of the total amount of Rs. 26,593 crores disbursed by SIDBI, Muslims received a paltry Rs. 124 crores (less than 0.5 %). (Pg. 134).

NABARD has done no better. During the two years 2004-05, 2005-06, Muslims received only 3.2% of the total production credit and 3.9% of investment credit. (Pg. 135).

Some banks have identified a number of Muslim concentration areas as ‘negative geographical zones’ where bank credit and other facilities are not easily provided. (Pg. 136).

Steps must be taken “to specifically direct credit to Muslims, create awareness of various credit schemes and bring transparency in reporting of information”. (Pg. 137). Sach Kehte hain Sachar Muslims For Secular Democracy

Access to Infrastructure

There are clear differentials in the existence, accessibility and utilization of Social (primary and elementary schools, dispensaries etc.) and Physical Infrastructure (electricity, piped water, roads and bus services etc.) facilities across different SRCs. (Pg. 143).

There is a clear and significant inverse association between the proportion of the Muslim population and the availability of educational infrastructure in small villages.(Pg. 143).

Muslim concentration villages are not well served with pucca approach roads and local bus stops, medical and post and telegraph facilities. (Pg. 143).

More than 1,000 Muslim concentration villages in West Bengal and Bihar, and 1943 such villages in UP do not have any educational institution. The situation is worse in smaller villages with a Muslim concentration.(Pg. 143).

The problem for Muslims is compounded by the fact that their population is concentrated in several states that are generally lacking in infrastructural facilities. This effectively implies that a large proportion of the community is without access to basic services.(Pg. 145).

Poverty and Consumption Levels

Muslims face fairly high levels of poverty. On the whole, their condition is only slightly better than that of SCs/STs. When compared to other SRCs, urban Muslims face much higher relative deprivation than Muslims in rural India. (Pg. 153).

The fall in poverty for Muslims has been modest during the decade 1993-94 to 2004-05 in urban areas; whereas the decline in rural areas has been substantial. (Pg. 160).

The economic conditions of Muslims in urban areas have not improved as much as of other SRCs.(Pg. 157).

For the year 2004-05, the all India average Mean per Capita Expenditure (at current prices) for urban areas was Rs. 1,105. In comparative terms the figures were, upper caste Hindus (Rs.1,469), Other Minorities (Rs.1,485), OBC Hindus (Rs.955), Muslims (Rs. 804) and SCs/STs (Rs. 793). Thus, the MPCE of upper caste Hindus was nearly 80% more than that of Muslims and SCs/STs. (Pg. 153).

A substantially larger proprtion of the Muslim households in urban areas are in the less than Rs.500 expenditure bracket. (Pg. 154). Sach Kehte hain Sachar Muslims For Secular Democracy

Government Jobs and Schemes

The Sachar report observes: “In a pluralistic society a reasonable representation of various communities in government sector employment is necessary to enhance participatory governance”. The gross under-representation of Muslims in jobs in the government sector then is a sad comment on the partisan nature of governance in India. (Pg. 163).

The presence of Muslims was found to be only 3% in the IAS, 1.8% in the IFS and 4% in the IPS. (Pg. 165).

Overall, Muslims constituted only 4.9% of candidates who appeared in the written examination of Civil Services in the years 2003 and 2004. (Pg. 166).

Share of Muslims in employment in various departments is abysmally low at all levels… In no state does the representation of Muslims in the government departments match their population share. (Pg. 171).

Muslims have a representation of only 4.5% in Indian Railways. Almost all (98.7%) of them are positioned at lower levels. (Pg. 167).

Share of Muslims in security agencies is around 4%. (Pg. 168).

The presence and participation of Muslims in the Judiciary has been a major point of concern. (Pg. 173).

Representation of Muslims is very low in the Universities and in Banks. (Pg. 169).

In no state does the representation of Muslims in the government departments match their population share. (Pg. 171).

Representation of Muslims in the Education Department is just 6.5% and 7.5% in the Home Department. Overall, the share of Muslims as police constables is only 6%. (Pg. 172).

The representation of Muslims in the Health Department is 4.4% while in the
Transport Department it is 6.5%. (Pg. 173).

Sach Kehte hain Sachar Muslims For Secular Democracy

Government Jobs and Schemes (Cont.)

While 25.2 of West Bengal’s population is Muslim, the state government has provided only 2.1% of government to Muslims. In this respect West Bengal is the worst. Even in Gujarat which has only 9.1% Muslims, 5.4% of them have government jobs. (Pgs. 170-175). Ironically, the CPM is the first party to demand implementation of Sachar’s Report. Share of Muslims in recent recruitments by State Public Service Commissions is 2.1%.

Sachar Committee: “There is a need to ensure a significant presence of Muslims especially in those departments that have mass contact on a day-to-day basis or are involved in sensitive tasks”. (Pg. 175).

Statewise analysis of special government programmes to alleviate poverty showthat in most cases Muslims have not got a fair deal. The share of Muslims as beneficiaries in government programmes in U.P. ranges between 3-14% which is far less than their population share of 24% among the poor. (Pg. 177).

While Muslims constitute 30.7% of the poor (Below Poverty Line, BPL) in Kerala, their share under most government programmes ranges between 5% and 18%. (Pg. 177).

For the Maulana Azad Foundation to be effective the corpus fund needs to be increased to Rs. 1,000 crores (In 2006-07, the Corpus Fund was increased from Rs. 100 to Rs. 200 crore). (Pg. 183).

While Muslims have benefited from the activities of the National Minorities Development Financial Corporation (NMDFC), the total flow of credit from the NMFDC is miniscule compared to the flows through banks and other financial institutions. (pg. 184-185).

One of the reasons for the low efficacy of government programmes in reaching Muslims is the lack of Muslim participation in political processes and governance. (Pg. 187).

Even if the share of Muslims in elected bodies is low they and other underrepresented segments can be involved in the decision making process through innovative mechanisms, like the nomination system in Andhra Pradesh. (Pg. 187). Sach Kehte hain Sachar Muslims For Secular Democracy


OBC Muslims

The Muslim community is internally differentiated, like Hindus. It is socially stratified into three groups – ‘ashraf’, ‘ajlaf’ and ‘arzal’. The ashrafs are those without any social disabilities, ajlaf are akin to OBCs among Hindus while the arzals are the “very lowest castes”, equivalent of SCs among Hindus. (pg. 192).

Because of the Presidential Order (1950), that restricts the SC status only to Hindu groups having “unclean occupations” (Sikhs and neo-Buddhists have since been included under SCs), the Mandal Commission has included both the ajlafs and the arzals under the OBC category. (Pg. 193).

The Sachar Committee has argued it would be most appropriate for them to be included under the SC category, or at least clubbed with the Most Backward Castes (MBCs) category. (Pg. 198).

Presently, there exist three different models for affirmative action (reservation) for Muslims in India. (i) Reservation of seats for the entire Muslim community, excluding the creamy layer (Kerala and Karnataka); (b) reservation on the basis of backward caste/biradari, with almost all Muslim groups included in the category (Tamil Nadu); bifurcation of OBCs into backwards and most backwards (MBCs), with most of the Muslims being placed under the MBC category (Bihar). (Pgs. 196-199).

In most other states and at the Centre, Muslims groups who are included in the OBC list are eligible for reservation benefits. But there are major anomalies between the existing lists. There are many OBC groups, irrespective of religion, that are listed in the state list but the same groups are missing from the Central list. The vice versa is also true. (Pg. 200).

As per the latest National Sample Survey (NSS) that lists people as OBCs Muslim OBCs constitute 40.7% of the total Muslim population. In the total OBC population, Muslim OBCs have a share of 15.7%. (Pg. 203).

Muslim SCs constitute around 1% of the total Muslim population while the Muslim component of ST population is very small. According to 1991 Census, it is only 0.25% of the total ST population, most of them inhabitants of Lakshadweep. (Pg. 205).

The abysmally low representation of Muslim OBCs suggests that the benefits of entitlements meant for the backward classes are yet to reach them. (Pg. 213).

The conditions of Muslims-General are also lower than the Hindu OBCs who
have the benefit of reservations. (Pg. 213).

Sach Kehte hain Sachar Muslims For Secular Democracy

Wakf Boards

There are more than 4.9 lakh registered Wakfs spread over the country but the current annual income from these properties is only about Rs. 163 crores, which amounts to a meagre 2.7 per cent rate of return. (Pg. 219).

The market value of all the Wakf properties at current prices is around Rs.1.2 lakh crores. If these properties are put to efficient and marketable use they can generate at least a minimum 10% annual return which means around Rs.12,000 crores. (Compare this to the The Maulana Azad Foundation which has a corpus of Rs. 200 crore. At 10% rate of return it will only yield Rs. 20 crores annually). (Pg. 219).

Data available with Sachar Committee shows that in cases where Wakf property is efficiently utilized, the return has averaged 20% per annum. (Pg. 219).

The management of the Wakf Boards is unsatisfactory due to inadequate empowerment of the State Wakf Boards and Central Wakf Council. (Pg. 221).

Encroachment by the State, who is the custodian of the Wakf interests, is common. (Pg. 221).

The attitude of the state governments and their agencies has resulted in large scale abrogation of the cherished and charitable objectives of the Wakfs. (Pg. 222).

The importance of stricter monitoring of the Wakf management in general and the vacation of encroachments in particular cannot be overemphasized. (Pg. 224).

Many states have huge amounts that are outstanding but not paid to the Wakf Boards for various reasons. (Pg. 226).

The Delhi Wakf Board has effectively been deprived of the use of its valuable properties, currently estimated at Rs.6,000 crores. (Pg. 228).

It is essential to provide a technical advisory body for development of Wakf properties both at the state and the national levels. (Pg. 228).

It is of utmost importance to provide for at least two women each in the Central Wakf Council and each state Wakf Board.(Pg. 229).

The chairman and members of the state Wakf Board can be selected from a list of eminent persons in each state.(Pg. 229).

Sach Kehte hain Sachar Muslims For Secular Democracy

Recommendations

The Sachar Report has made recommendations at two levels:

One, General Policy Initiatives that cut across different aspects of socio-economic and educational development; Two, Specific Policy Measures that deal with particular issues and/or dimensions (e.g. education, credit, etc).

General Policy Initiatives

1 - Create a National Data Bank (NDB) where all relevant data pertaining to the socio-economic and educational status of different Socio-Religious Communities is maintained. Such data should be computerized and made available on the internet. (Pg. 238).

2 - Set up an autonomous Assessment and Monitoring Authority (AMA) to evaluate the extent of development benefits which accrue to different SRCs through various programmes. (Pg. 239).

3 - Address the widespread perception of discrimination among the Muslim community. Undertake research on the basis of the NDB to examine if discrimination exists. (Pg. 239).

4 - Make legal provisions to eliminate instances of discrimination established through studies. (Pg. 239).

5 - Challenge violations of the constitutional r ights of minorities (guaranteed under the provisions the Fundamental Rights clauses and the special provisions for protecting the rights of minorities in respect of their religion, language and culture) in the courts. (Pg. 239).

6 - Set up an Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC) to look into grievances about denial of equal opportunity or bias or discrimination by the deprived groups. An example of such a policy tool is the UK Race Relations Act, 1976. Existing institutions such as the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) can at best play a limited role in dealing with many complaints arising on a day-to-day basis against non-State agencies. (Pg. 240).

7 - Because of the logic of numbers in a democratic polity, based on the one-man-one-vote principle, minorities in India often lack effective agency and political importance. A carefully conceived ‘nomination’ procedure should be worked out to increase the effective participation of minorities in local governance. (Pg. 239).

8 - End the existing system of delimitation of constituencies whereby areas with Muslim concentration are declared as reserved constituencies for SCs. This effectively disempowers Muslims. Evolve a more rational procedure for delimitation of constituencies. (Pg. 241).

9 - Incentives for shared spaces: There is urgent need for a variety of initiatives to encourage and reward diversity in living, educational and work spaces. While religious diversity could be one core factor, in the field of education and employment, gender should also be a factor. (Pg. 242).

1. Need for Transparency, Accountability

2. Ensure Equal Opportunities, End Discrimination

3. Enhance Muslim Participation in Governance

4. Give Incentives for Diversity

Sach Kehte hain Sachar Muslims For Secular Democracy

Evolve a ‘Diversity Index’ and link government incentives to greater diversity through:

— Incentives in the form of larger grants to those educational institutions that have higher diversity and are able to sustain it. These incentives can apply to both colleges and universities, both in the public and the private sector.

— Incentives to private sector to encourage diversity in the work force. While such initiatives should be part of the corporate social responsibility, some affirmative action may help initiate this process.

— Incentives to builders for housing complexes that have more ‘diverse’ resident populations to promote ‘composite living spaces’ of SRCs.

Encourage the building of parks, libraries and even study spaces in mixed localities and across neighbourhoods so that children belonging to different SRCs can interact and at the same time pursue studies. These can be used by the community or civil society to organize remedial classes, reading rooms and other constructive initiatives. (Pg. 242).

Sensitise state officials and other functionaries about the need to respect and sustain diversity in the development and implementation of programmes or in the provision of services, and the problems associated with social exclusion. (Pg. 243).

1. Free and compulsory education up to the age of 14 is the responsibility of the State. And the fulfillment of this obligation is critical for the improvements in the educational conditions of Muslims, in fact, of all socio-economically deprived children. (Pg. 243).

2. Remove bias from school textbooks: A process of evaluating the content of the school text books needs to be initiated to purge them of explicit and implicit content that may impart inappropriate social values, especially religious intolerance. (Pg. 244).

3. Establish common study rooms: It is absolutely necessary to create local community study centres in poor localities for students so that they can spend a few hours to concentrate on their studies. This is an area in which the government, NGOs and the corporate sector can co-operate. (Pg. 244).

4. Set up High Quality Government Schools in all areas of Muslim concentration. (Pg. 244).

5. Set up Exclusive Schools for Girls should, particularly for the 9-12 standards… Appoint more women teachers in co-education schools. (Pg. 244).

6. Availability of primary education in one’s mother tongue is constitutionally provided for. Provide primary education in Urdu in areas where Urdu speaking population is concentrated. (Pg. 244).

7. Technical Education and Training for Non-matriculates:

i. The pre-entry qualification for admission to ITIs should be reduced to Class VIII. The scope of ITI courses should be expanded to focus on emerging market needs including those of the retail sector. (Pg. 245).

5. Facilitate Creation of Common Public Spaces:

6. Sensitize government servants:

Specific Policy Initiatives

Give Education Top Priority

Recommendations

Sach Kehte hain Sachar Muslims For Secular Democracy

ii. Skill development initiatives of ITIs and polytechnics should focus on sectors which have high growth potential and in which the Muslim population is concentrated. These training initiatives should also focus on areas where the minority population concentrated. (Pg. 245).

iii. The eligibility for such programmes should also be extended to the Madarsa educated children, as they are ineligible to get trained under many current formal technical education streams. (pg. 245).

Long term strategy: The best long term measure to correct this deficit is to increase school completion rates among the Muslims. (Pg. 245).

Medium and short term strategy:

i. The University Grants Commission (UGC) should evolve a system of rewarding with additional funds schools with a diverse student population. This principle should also apply to minority institutions. To ensure that minority institutions remain accessible to the poor from within the community, UGC should reward encourage schools with low fees and merit-cum-means scholarships (partly funded from the additional UGC grants). (Pg. 246).

ii. Evolve an alternate admission criteria to facilitate admissions to the ‘most backward’ amongst all the SRCs in the regular universities and autonomous colleges. The alternate criteria proposed is to allot 60% marks on merit, with the remaining 40% for backwardness (house-hold income, 13%, backward district, 13%, backward class, 14%).(Pg. 246).

: Providing hostel facilities at reasonable costs for students from minorities must be taken up on a priority basis. While this is required for all minority students, such facilities for girls in cities of all sizes are particularly desirable. The taluka headquarters and educational centers would be the best locations for such facilities. Another possibility is to create boarding houses for backward SRCs in taluka headquarters. (Pg. 246).

i. Teacher training should compulsorily include in its curriculum components which introduce the importance of diversity/ plurality within the country and sensitize teachers towards the needs and aspirations of Muslims and other marginalized communities. The implementation of this should be monitored by the National Council of Teacher Education (NCTE). (Pg. 247).

ii. Given the current education levels, the possibility of more Muslims opting for B.Ed course is limited. But more Muslims may be able to participate as para-teachers. An effort should be made to enhance participation of Muslims in this cadre as an interim measure. (Pg. 247).

— Often Urdu schools have teachers who have no knowledge of Urdu. This problem is partly compounded by the fact that posts of Urdu teachers are reserved for the SCs/STs and such candidates are not available. This anomaly needs to be corrected urgently. (Pg. 247).

— High quality Urdu medium schools can be opened in those parts of the country wherever there is demand for them. Ensure that good quality text books are available in Urdu language and the products of these schools are employable.

— Urdu should be introduced as an optional subject in all government and government-aided schools in states having a substantial Urdu speaking population. (Pg. 247).

8. Initiatives for Higher Education:

9. Provide hostels/boarding houses, especially for girls

10. Teacher training programme:

11. Support Urdu language:

Recommendations

Sach Kehte hain Sachar Muslims For Secular Democracy

12. Link Madarsas to Mainstream Education:

Ensure More Access to Credit and Government Schemes

— Work out mechanisms whereby Madarsas can be linked with a higher secondary school board so that students wanting to shift to a regular/mainstream education can do so after having passed from a Madarsa. (Pg. 248).

— Provision of “equivalence” to Madarsa certificates/degrees for subsequent admissions into institutions of higher level of education. (Pg. 248).

— Recognition of the degrees from Madarsas for eligibility in competitive examinations such as the Civil Services, Banks, Defense Services and other such examinations. This should, however, remain within the existing framework of these competitive examinations. (Pg. 248).

— Review and revamp the scheme before expanding the programme of modernization of Madarsas. (Pg. 248)

Lack of access to credit is a particularly serious problem for Muslims as a significantly larger proportion of workers are engaged in self-employment, especially home-based work. Therefore, non-availability of credit can have far-reaching implications for the socio-economic and educational status of the Community.

1. Information regarding the religious background of customers and clients should be maintained by the banks and made available to the RBI. RBI in turn can provide this information to others under the Right to Information Act. . (Pg. 249).

2. Promote and enhance access to Muslims in Priority Sector Advances. Any shortfall in achievement of targeted amount in minority specific programmes should be parked with NMDFC, NABARD and SIDBI and specific programmes should be funded with this amount. (Pg. 249).

3. Give incentives to banks to open more branches in Muslim concentration areas. The RBI’s periodic reports on Priority Sector Advances should also contain data on ‘Sanctions or Disbursements to Minorities’ in the reporting period, along with the ‘amount outstanding’. (Pg. 250).

4. The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) should set aside a fund for training for minorities under its Entrepreneurial Development Programme. Such programmes should not only aim to improve skills of artisans in traditional occupations but also reequip them with modern skills required to face the adverse effects of globalization in their area of artisanship. (Pg. 250).

5. There is a widespread perception that the participation of Muslims in the Self Help Groups (SHGs) and other micro-credit programmes is very limited. National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD) should lay down a policy to enhance the participation of minorities in its micro-credit schemes. (Pg. 250).

6. Detailed analysis of Muslim participation in government employment and other programmes has shown very limited participation in both. It is desirable to have experts drawn from the community on relevant interview panels and Boards. This practice is already in vogue in the case of SCs/STs. (Pg. 250).

7. All 58 districts with more than 25 % Muslim population should be brought under the Prime Minister’s 15-Point Programme for minorities welfare. A special assistance package for the development of these districts should be launched. The same principle might be applied to units taluka/block with similar concentration of Muslims. (Pg. 250).

Recommendations

Sach Kehte hain Sachar Muslims For Secular Democracy

8. There should be transparency in information about minorities in all activities. It should be made mandatory to publish/furnish information in a prescribed format once in three months and also to post the same on the website of the departments and state governments. (Pg. 250).

9. The review of Government programmes suggests that Muslims have not benefited much from them. Detailed data should be collected regularly on the participation of different SRCs in government programmes, both at the state and the Central level. (Pg. 251).

10. Though there are many Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) and Central Plan Schemes (CPS) available for the welfare of SCs, STs and OBCs, such schemes for the welfare of minorities are rare. And the available schemes are inadequately funded. Overall, targeting backward districts and clusters where special artisanal groups exist, will ensure a sharp reduction in disparities of access and attainment. (Pg. 251).

1. Provide financial and other support to initiatives built around occupations where Muslims are concentrated and that have growth potential. These initiatives can take the form of interventions where existing skills of the workers are combined with knowledge of modern management practices, new technology, and emerging market needs. (Pg. 251).

2. Locate ITIs, polytechnics and other institutions that provide skill training to non-matriculates in areas/clusters which have large concentrations of Muslim population. (Pg. 252).

3. Given the precarious conditions of the self-employed persons in the informal sector, especially the home-based workers, it is desirable to have a mandated social security system for such workers. Casual workers in the informal sector should also be able to participate in such schemes. (Pg. 252)
.
4. A more transparent recruitment system will help to build public confidence in the system. It is not being suggested that inclusion of minorities in selection committees will improve the chances that Muslims will get selected, it can surely improve the confidence of Muslim applicants during the selection process. (Pg. 252).

5. It is imperative to increase the employment share of Muslims particularly in departments where there is a great deal of public dealing: the teachers, health workers, police personnel, bank employees etc. (Pg. 252).

6. Encourage employers to endorse their organizations as ‘Equal Opportunity Institutions’ so that applicants from all SRCs may apply. A time bound effort in this direction is desirable. (Pg. 252).

7. When Muslims appear for the prescribed tests and interviews their success rate is appreciable. This applies both to the public and private sector jobs. Introduce simple measures like undertaking a visible recruitment process in areas and districts with high percentage of Muslims, job advertisements in Urdu and vernacular newspapers and other media, or simple messages like ‘women, minority, and backward class candidates are encouraged to apply’ to help create an atmosphere of trust and confidence. (Pg. 252).

8. Ensure at least one Muslim inspector/sub-inspector in the Muslim concentrated Thanas, Muslim health personnel in health units located in such areas, a few Muslim teachers in schools located in such areas and so on. (Pg. 253).

Improve Employment Opportunities

Recommendations

Sach Kehte hain Sachar Muslims For Secular Democracy

Enhance the Efficacy of Infrastructure Provision

Encourage Community Initiatives

1. Evolve a training programme for sensitization of the service staff regarding issues of social exclusion. (Pg. 253).

2. Encourage the setting up of civil society organizations from amongst the Muslim community as well. However, the reach of such organizations is going to be very limited and the responsibility of the State in providing basic health and other infrastructure facilities remains the main hope of all poor, including Muslims. (Pg. 253).

3. Lack of access to crucial infrastructural facilities is another matter of concern for the Muslims.

Access to schools, health care, sanitation facilities, potable water and means of daily transportation are some of the basic facilities one can expect a state to provide for its citizens.

This is in the overall interest of India and not only of Muslims alone. Not providing these basic facilities is a violation of human rights. (Pg. 253).

Partnerships between the government, the community and the private sector maybe quite useful to deal with problems faced by Muslims. Better utilization of Wakf properties can provide partnership opportunities.

It is expected that the recommendations will receive the attention of the Central and the state governments and will be implemented with all the earnestness and the thoroughness that they deserve. The issues relating to disparities across socio-religious communities are of utmost importance to our nation today. (Pg. 254).

Produced by Muslims for Secular Democracy

For copies contact

Courtesy:

Muslims for Secular Democracy (MSD)
Ph: 26608252 email: secularmuslim@gmail.com
website: http://www.mfsd.org/

Asif Khan: 9867797552 Javed Anand: 9870402556 MSD: 022-26602288

"UNQUOTE"

Poor Muslims of India & Rajinder Sachar Report - 1

Community on the margins VENKITESH RAMAKRISHNAN

The Rajinder Sachar Committee finds that the Muslim community in India is deprived and neglected, and makes far-reaching recommendations. MUKHTAR KHAN/AP

JUSTICE RAJINDER SACHAR, who headed the committee.

[Courtesy:http://www.hinduonnet.com/]

HOMELESS MUSLIM WOMEN sleep on the pavement in Srinagar. Incidence of poverty is high amongst the community, especially in urban areas.

[Courtesy: http://www.hinduonnet.com/]

Highlight of the report [Courtesy: http://www.hinduonnet.com/]

HOMELESS MUSLIM WOMEN sleep on the pavement in Srinagar. Incidence of poverty is high amongst the community, especially in urban areas.

ISSUES relating to the social, economic and political status of India's Muslim minority community have been a matter of debate for several decades; quite a few governments have initiated studies on the community and evolved administrative measures on their basis. As early as the 19th century, Monstuart Elphinstone, the legendary British administrator, put it on record that special measures were required to uplift the backward sections of the Muslim community. Studies conducted by the British administration led to the passage of a government Act in 1935 offering Dalit Muslims reservation facilities along with Dalit Hindus. Nearly two and a half decades ago, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi constituted a 10-member high-power panel on Minorities, Scheduled Castes (S.C.s) and Scheduled Tribes (S.T.s) and other weaker sections, headed by Dr. Gopal Singh. In its report submitted on June 14, 1983, the Dr. Gopal Singh Committee maintained that there was a "sense of discrimination prevailing among the minorities" and that it "must be eliminated, root and branch, if we want the minorities to form an
effective part of the mainstream".

Highlight of the report [Courtesy: http://www.hinduonnet.com/]

The examination of the social, economic and educational status of the Muslim community by the seven-member high-level committee headed by Justice Rajinder Sachar, constituted by the Manmohan Singh government, and the publication of its report in November represents, on the face of it, a continuation of the debate on the community. Even so, on account of a variety of factors, the work of the Sachar Committee and its report have greater significance and relevance
than earlier initiatives.

Highlight of the report [Courtesy: http://www.hinduonnet.com/]


To start with, it is the first systematic study of the Muslim community in independent India. Earlier commissions, including the Dr. Gopal Singh Committee, looked into issues relating to the Muslim community along with those relating to other segments of society, such as the S.Cs, S.Ts and other weaker sections. Obviously, the Sachar Committee was expected to have an enhanced focus on the Muslim community and this is reflected in its frame of reference and
examination processes.

Highlight of the report [Courtesy: http://www.hinduonnet.com/]

The processes of the committee were essentially based on three types of issues relating to identity, security and equity, with special emphasis on issues of equity. Within this broad perspective, a wide range of specifics were covered by the committee, such as perceptions about Muslims; the size and distribution of the community's population; indices of the community's income, employment, health, education, poverty, consumption, and standards of living; and the
community's access to social and physical infrastructure. The committee also made a meticulous study of the perpetuation of the caste system in the Muslim community.

The committee collated data from across the country and received detailed oral and written presentations from 13 States that have significant Muslim populations. It also collected data from the Indian Air Force and the Navy on the number of Muslims in these services but did not include the same in the report on a specific request from the Defence Ministry. The marshalling of such substantial data was in marked contrast to the processes of earlier commissions. The report of the Dr. Gopal Singh Committee stated that data were not available in any public office about the benefits accruing to the religious minorities. As such the committee had formulated its observations with data from only 80 districts. The context in which the Sachar Committee undertook its work is significant. The sustained campaign of the Hindutva-oriented Sangh Parivar and its political arm, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accusing secular parties of promoting a policy of "Muslim appeasement" and insinuating that the Muslim community was politically and socially "anti-national" provides this. The Hindutva campaign developed steadily from the mid-1980s, when the Sangh Parivar advanced its Ayodhya Ram Mandir agitation, and has reached a stage today where leaders such as Pravin Togadia of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) castigate all Muslims as global terrorists. Madrassas run by the community were portrayed as "terrorist manufacturing units" as part of this castigation. The very formation of the Sachar Committee, in March 2005, was characterised by these forces as yet another act of Muslim appeasement.


MUNICIPAL CORPORATION SWEEPERS M.D. Jaleel and Ganesh Ram sit before their houses at Ambedkar Colony in Patna. [Courtesy: http://www.hinduonnet.com/]

The committee report has taken note of this context. It points out that Muslims "carry a double burden of being labelled `anti-national' and as being appeased at the same time". The report further states, "While Muslims need to prove on a daily basis that they are not anti-national and terrorists, it is not recognised that the alleged appeasement has not resulted in the desired level of socio-economic development of the community." The single most important result of the committee's detailed exploration is the assertion of the latter fact. On the contrary, the report points out that "the community exhibits deficits and deprivation in practically all dimensions of development" . The report adds that "by and large, Muslims rank somewhat above S.Cs/S.Ts but below Hindu OBCs [Other Backward Classes], Other Minorities and Hindu General [mostly upper castes] in almost all indicators considered."

Development Deficit

One of the major contentions of the report is that almost 60 years after Independence the country has failed to ensure participation in governance for its largest minority group. The report begins its study on "Government Employment and Programmes" with the observation that "in a pluralistic society, a reasonable representation of various communities in government sector employment is necessary to enhance participatory governance". However, the data presented and analysed by the report show that the country is far from attaining such a goal. Though Muslims have a share of 13.4 per cent in the country's population, their representation in government jobs is a mere 4.9 per cent.

THE TINY HOUSES of Citizen Nagar at the edge of Ahmedabad's garbage dump. Muslim families sought safety in this isolated, polluted place.

[Courtesy: http://www.hinduonnet.com/]


In the elite civil services, comprised of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and the Indian Police Service (IPS), Muslim representation is as low as 3.2 per cent. Members of the community constitute a mere 4.5 per cent of the employees of the Railways and 98.7 per cent of them are positioned at the lower levels. Under-representatio n is acute in States in which Muslims constitute large minorities. In West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Assam, where Muslims form 25.2 per cent, 18.5 per cent and 30.9 per cent of the population respectively, the representation of the community in government jobs is as low as 4.7per cent, 7.5 per cent and 10.9 per cent respectively.

MUSLIM SHANTI TOWN IN INDIA "A GLIMPSE"

The report also points towards the fundamental social condition that has created this situation. Muslims across the country have less access than other religious groups to educational facilities, particularly in higher education. Consequently, only 3.4 per cent of the Muslim population has completed graduation where as the corresponding figure for non-OBC, non-S.C./S.T. Hindus is 15.3per cent. Literacy levels are also similarly low. Only 59.1per cent of the community has literacy while the national average is 64.8 per cent. The literacy level for non-S.C./S.T. Hindus is 65.1 per cent.

The report shows that only 80 per cent of urban Muslim boys are enrolled in schools, compared to 90 per cent in S.C./S.T. communities and 95 per cent among others. Just 68 per cent of Muslim girls go to school, compared to 72 per cent of Dalit girls and 80 per cent of girls from other groups. The report also explodes the myth that Muslims prefer to send their children to madrassas. The data collected from different parts of the country affirms that only 3 to 4 per cent of Muslim children go to madrassas. It emphasises that Muslim parents, as a rule, like to send their children to regular schools but are unable to do so on account of lack of access to general educational institutions.

The community, with such large deficits in education and employment, naturally figures high in terms of incidence of poverty. The report's analysis is that incidence of poverty among Muslims has a Head Count Ratio (HCR) of 31 per cent, which is second only to the S.C./S.T. HCR of 35 per cent. Significantly, in urban areas Muslims have a higher HCR of 38.4 per cent as compared to 36.4 per cent for S.C./S.T. The report points out that though comprehensive community-wise figures about land ownership are not available, it is more or less clear that the percentage of landowners among Muslims is much lower than in other socio-religious categories.

In the background to all this, the community's access to social and physical infrastructure is also abysmal. The committee used the figures of the 2001 Census and data from the NSSO (61st Round) to evaluate access to social and physical infrastructure. The evaluation shows that the proportion of Muslim households living in properly constructed houses is lower than that of the total population. The report also points out that electric lights are used less in the Muslim community when compared to the all-India average with "the share of villages with no electricity increasing substantially" as the size of the Muslim population rises. The story is no different in terms of piped potable water. Only 25 per cent of rural households have piped water and less than 10 per cent of Muslim households have access to this facility.

R. SHIVAJI RAO

JUSTICE RAJINDER SACHAR, who headed the committee.

On the positive side, the Sachar Committee notes that in spite of widespread poverty and under-development, the community has an increasingly better sex ratio than other socio-religious categories. Child mortality rates are also low in the community. The national Infant Mortality Rate stood at 73 in 1998-99 while it was only 59 in the Muslim community. The figure was 77 among Hindus and 49 among Christians. Another positive point the committee has recorded is the better housing conditions; Muslims are on a par with other communities in this and toilet facilities are even better. Despite these pluses, however, the overall condition is one of `development deficit'.

The Committee also points out that the problem of `development deficit' is exacerbated by the widespread perception among Muslims that they are discriminated against and excluded. The colossal shortfall in terms of political representation has contributed in a big way to the growth and expansion of this perception. The report points out that of the 543 Lok Sabha members, only 33 are Muslim, and warns that the low participation of Muslims in nearly all political spaces could have an adverse impact on Indian society and polity in the long run. "Given the power of numbers in a democratic polity, based on universal franchise, minorities in India lack effective agency and political importance," the report said.

Minorities, it added, "do not have the necessary influence or the opportunity to either change or even influence events which enable their meaningful and active participation in development process."

A specific study of the committee on electoral constituencies has brought out several anomalies that militate against the Muslim community. The study shows that several constituencies reserved for S.Cs have Muslim populations. The study also showed that many constituencies with more than 50 per cent S.C. population are in the unreserved category. Taking this into consideration, the committee has recommended the elimination of the anomalies in electoral delimitation schemes: "A more rational delimitation procedure that does not reserve constituencies with high minority population shares for S.C.s will improve the opportunity for minorities, especially Muslims, to contest and get elected to Parliament and State Assemblies."

On the strength of its comprehensive research and analysis the report also highlights the fact that some sections of Muslim society are more unequal than others. It draws attention to "the presence of descent-based social stratification" on the lines of the Hindu caste system among Indian Muslims and identified three social segments - Ashrafs, Ajlafs and Arzals. The traditional occupation of Arzals is similar to that of S.C.s; most of them work as butchers, washer men, barbers and scavengers. Ajlafs are engaged in occupations similar to that of the Hindu OBCs, and a sizable section of them are also landowners. Ashrafs have suffered no social deprivation as they are converts from the Hindu upper-castes or have "foreign blood".

The report said that Arzals are essentially converts from `untouchable' Hindu communities and that the"change in religion did not bring about any change in their social or economic status". The report also points out that Arzals have been clubbed with `Ajlafs, and that while the three groups require different types of affirmative action, the Arzals require multifarious measures, including reservation. The committee maintains that Arzals are "cumulatively oppressed". As such it would be "most appropriate" to absorb them among the S.Cs or at least in a separate category, Most Backward Classes, carved out of the OBCs. The (Scheduled Caste) Order of 1950 has kept Muslim and Christian converts from among Hindu Dalits out of its purview, denying them reservation.

A crucial recommendation of the Sachar Committee is the constitution of an "Equal Opportunity Commission" to look into the grievances of deprived groups. The report also says that an example of such a policy tool is the British Race Relations Act, 1976, and notes:

"Such a measure, while providing a redressal mechanism for different types of discrimination, will give a further reassurance to minorities that any unfair action against them will invite the vigilance of the law." The committee also points out that "mere material change will not bring about the true empowerment of the minorities; they need to acquire and be given the required collective agency." It suggests that a carefully conceived nomination procedure could be worked out to increase the participation of minorities at grassroots and in public bodies.

Reaction to the report has been on on predictable lines. All parties barring the BJP and the Shiv Sena have welcomed it as a step in the right direction. The Congress and the Left parties pointed out that the committee's study had proved the hollowness of the Sangh Parivar's "Muslim appeasement" contention. The BJP asserted that the recommendations would not improve the lot of Muslims as they reflected a pseudo-vision, full of biases and prejudices. Talking to Frontline, Professor T.K. Oommen, well-known sociologist and a member of the Sachar Committee, maintained that the real questions raised by the report need to be addressed and concrete action taken at the earliest. As the report pointed out, "non-implementation of recommendations of several earlier commissions and committees has made the Muslim community wary of any new initiative," he said.

Though the Sachar Committee did not specifically mention it, the summation of the Dr. Gopal Singh Committee must have been considered in this comment. In June 1983, the Dr. Gopal Singh Committee stated that two things were absolutely necessary to root out the sense of discrimination among Muslims: "Wherever the government has to make appointments through nominations, as in the case of governing bodies of banks and other public undertakings, utmost care should be taken to have a fair number of the minorities representatives, especially at the decision-making levels. Similarly, every recruiting agency or services commission must have an adequate number of their representatives, so that the sense of discrimination now prevailing may end." Twenty-three years after the submission of that report there is no record to suggest that these recommendations have been implemented.

What fate awaits the comprehensive report and recommendations of the Sachar Committee? The answer lies squarely with our political class, especially those who commissioned the Sachar panel - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his United Progressive Alliance government.

http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2324/stories/20061215004700400.htm

Frontline

Vol. 23 :: No. 24 December 02 - 15, 2006 INDIA'S NATIONAL MAGAZINE from the publishers of THE HINDU

Highlight of the report

http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2324/stories/20061215000700600.htm

ALL INDIA UNITED Muslim Morcha members at a demonstration in New Delhi demanding inclusion of Dalit Muslims in the Schedule Caste category. Secondly, in the period following Independence, Muslim masses were the victims of benign neglect and various degrees and modes of discrimination. Intermittently, they have also been the victims of violence and sometimes of gruesome communal killings; in a way, this sets them apart from any other community. But this in itself does not entirely explain their backwardness. We have got to keep their historical inheritance in mind as an important component of their backwardness. It is only then that we can blame successive governments in India of not doing anything to alleviate the abjectness of the socio-economic conditions of Muslims. Much could have been done by way of proactive policies and targeted affirmative action to make their living conditions much better than what they are now.

Behind their plight YOGINDER SIKAND

Muslim organisations see the Sachar report as reiterating their own concerns and providing legitimacy to some of their demands. JUDGING by the sheer volume of representations that the Rajinder Sachar Committee is said to have received, there seems to be a sort of general consensus among Muslims throughout the country that they are economically and socially "backward" compared with the general population. The fact that by and large Muslims are indeed economically marginalised is well known, a point the Sachar Committee report reiterates. Yet, it is surprising how this fact is rarely mentioned in media reporting on Muslims, which tends to focus almost wholly on negative, sensational stories involving some controversy or the other in which Muslims are alleged to be involved.

http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2324/stories/20061215004601400.htm

`Seclusion inflicted by insecurity' T.K. RAJALAKSHMI in New Delhi

Interview with Subhashini Ali, president, All India Democratic Women's Association A slew of reports, including the one by the Sachar Committee, have exploded the myth of Muslim appeasement. There is now a strong call from some sections for affirmative action in favour of Muslims. Given this situation, what kind of a role do you expect from policy-makers in the government?

The answer to this question has to be divided into several parts. When we are discussing affirmative action, those Muslims who are listed in the OBC list in the Mandal Commission report, are, theoretically, entitled to reservation under the OBC quota. But a problem arises in the context of discrimination on religious grounds; this affects them badly as even if they are entitled to reservations as OBCs and compete with Hindu OBCs, they suffer a disadvantage because of their religion. This question has to be addressed. The government and various organisations will have to be questioned on how many Muslims have got jobs under the OBC quota. This is a very important question and the details have to be unearthed. If they are not accessing jobs at all under the OBC quota, then something has to be done. If, as some Muslim organisations argue, Muslims constitute 8 per cent of the OBCs, then they should also be given 8 to 10 per cent of the jobs reserved for the OBCs.

http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2324/stories/20061215003201700.htm

Lesser citizens

In every State Muslims constitute disadvantaged communities; only the extent and nature of the disadvantage vary.

RANJEET KUMAR

MUNICIPAL CORPORATION SWEEPERS M.D. Jaleel and Ganesh Ram sit before their houses at Ambedkar Colony in Patna.

OUTCASTS Venkitesh Ramakrishnan in Patna

TO the residents of Yarpur basti (an urban settlement) in the heart of Patna, there is nothing extraordinary in the friendship between Mohammed Jaleel and Ganesh Ram Bara. Both of them, in their mid-sixties, had worked together for many decades in the Patna Municipal Corporation as sanitation workers. They spent much of their lives in Yarpur, locally called dom basti or bhangi basti in a disparaging reference to the caste of the sanitation workers. Their work involved a variety of tasks, such as sweeping the roads, unclogging gutters, cleaning toilets, carrying filth and disposing of waste, aimed at keeping Bihar's capital city clean. Because of the nature of their job both Jaleel and Bara faced the same kind of societal exclusion.

http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2324/stories/20061215003102100.htm

COVER STORY

Bias and the police PRAVEEN SWAMI in New Delhi

Will more Muslims in India's police forces help combat communal violence?

http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=20061215002503300.htm&date=fl2324/&prd=fline&

Is it that the sectarian ideology has already completed its task of ensuring that the half truths, half lies spread by it are the core operating principles of the large section of bureaucracy and police? The insecurity of other minority, the Christians, especially in Adivasi areas knows no bounds and through organizations like Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram the divisive and intimidating role is being carried to the full extent in remote places. The news of attacks on Christian nuns ad missionaries have become a matter of routine and no more has any 'news value' as per the parameters of our media. At social and cultural level the Freedom of Religion Bills in various BJP ruled states are an open threat to the Christian missionaries working in the area of education and health in deep interiors. Madhya Pradesh government like other BJP governments has been manipulating the things at cultural level. It has been naming most of the social schemes in Hindu imageries, like water irrigation projects as Jalabhishek, marriage support to the poor as Kanyadan and so on.

Gujarat as a Hindu Rashtra has already relegated the Muslims out into refugee camps away from the main areas. Is it a return of old untouchable ghettoes?

It seems the democratic ethos is under severe threat and the state of alienation of minorities is a pointer to that. It seems that even without being in power, the BJP-RSS agenda of Hindu Nation is already unfolding itself in a threatening manner in BJP ruled states and in a subtle and overt fashion in other states where BJP is not in power. In those states due to the communal attitude of some of those in power and the communalization of state apparatus, police and bureaucracy, the restrictions on liberal democratic spaces are mounting. Is it time for celebration in RSS headquarters or is there time still for it to be taken as a warning signal by those who wish to preserve and strengthen democracy. A lip service to minority welfare and security will not do. Those in leadership who are committed to the values of Liberty, Equality and Community (national) need to wake up and take stock of the all round intimidation and alienation of minorities. If Rajinder Sachar Committee report and Malegaon bandh does not wake them up, what will?

Democracy Besieged By Ram Puniyani 22 November, 2006 Countercurrents.org

http://www.countercurrents.org/comm-puniyani221106.htm

Non Violent Hindus - 5

Yunus Sidira wrote:

Aamir Ji

Thanks for the painstaking answer. But the fundamental issues remain unresolved. If any religion divides people, it is not religion.
==============================

Dear Sir,

Would you like to throw some light on Caste System in Vedantic Religion which is being practiced in India as mentioned below:

"The Indian government tried for a year and a half to deny that caste discrimination is a form of racial discrimination. But as a result of this conference, even the Secretary-General of the United Nations has acknowledged the gravity of work and descent-based discrimination, and India will have a hard time from now on avoiding international scrutiny."

India: Spotlight on Caste Discrimination

(Durban, September 11, 2001) -- Human Rights Watch said today that caste discrimination is now firmly on the international human rights agenda due to the efforts of Dalit activists at the World Conference Against Racism. The conference concluded Saturday in Durban, South Africa.

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2001/09/11/india2451.htm

CASTE DISCRIMINATION:

A GLOBAL CONCERN

A Report by Human Rights Watch for the United Nations World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance.

II. CASTE AND THE WORLD CONFERENCE AGAINST RACISM, RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, XENOPHOBIA AND RELATED INTOLERANCE

III. RECOMMENDATIONS

IV. BACKGROUND "Untouchability" and Segregation

Earthquake in Gujarat: Caste and its Fault-Lines

Caste and Marriage

Caste and Labor

Debt Bondage and Slavery

Caste and Socio-Economic Disparities

Access to Education

Access to Land

Political Representation and Political Rights

Physical and Economic Retaliation

Caste and Gender

Caste and the South Asian Diaspora

Failure to Implement Domestic and International Law V. CONCLUSION

VI. Acknowledgments

APPENDICES

http://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/globalcaste/

Khairlanji Atrocity

Khairlanji is a village in Mohadi Taluka, Bhandara District

http://www.ambedkar.org/khairlanji.html

About Khairlanji Village

Sequence of event

Long dispute for rights on the land For 15 years no basic facilities were provide Immediate cause:

Quarrel with Siddhartha Gajbhiye

Caste Hindus arrested as Surekha gave witness

Caste Hindus released on bail

They go to Dhusala village to beat Siddhartha

He is not found

Three four tractors full of caste Hindus attack the Bhotmange family
They drag Surekha, Priyanka. Sudhir and Roshan out of their hut
Stripped naked Paraded naked in the village Brother asked to have sex with his sister

http://www.ambedkar.org/longmarch/index.html

INDIA OUTRAGED DALITS, LIKE FLIES TO FEUDAL LORDS

The Price of Do Bigha Zameen

Nov 04 , 2006

http://tehelka.com/story_main22.asp?filename=Ne111106Dalits_like.asp

Surekha Bhotmange, 45: raped, murdered

Priyanka Bhotmange, 17: raped, murdered

Roshan Bhotmange, 23: murdered

Sudhir Bhotmange, 21: murdered


Surekha and Priyanka were stripped, paraded naked, beaten with bicycle chains, axes and bullock-cart pokers. They were gang-raped until they died. Some raped them even after that

A Maharashtra village serves up ‘moral justice’ by gang raping and lynching a dalit family. That didn’t merit front page news in 21st-century-10-percent-growth-rate India. Shivam Vij reports

On September 3, Siddharth Gajbhiye finally paid the price for helping dalits in a clutch of villages in Bhandara district near Nagpur in Maharashtra. A dalit himself, Gajbhiye is a police patil, an associate of the police hired on an honorarium, and has political connections in the Congress. This gave him some leverage to be of help to the sprinkling of dalit households who lived in constant fear of the upper castes. One such family was that of Surekha Bhotmange, 45, who tilled her five-acre plot in Kherlanji village, along with her husband Bhaiyyalal, growing cotton and rice. In 1996, two acres had been taken away as ‘easement area’ to build a road, so that neighbouring farmers, who belong to the Powar and Kalar upper castes, could take their tractors across to other villages. Now they wanted more of their land for a water pathway, and Gajbhiye was helping Surekha resist that, despite allegations that he was doing so because he had sexual relations with her. Gajbhiye and Bhotmange were in fact cousins, belonging to the Mahar caste, the same as Ambedkar’s, and were practising Buddhists in the Ambedkerite tradition.

On September 3, a mob beat up Gajbhiye, the ostensible reason being his alleged illicit relationship with Surekha Bhotmange. Gajbhiye filed a police complaint against 15 men from Kherlanji village, 12 of whom were arrested. Surekha signed on the FIR as one of the witnesses and identified the 12 in a police parade. Twenty-six days later, on September 29, as soon as the 12 men were released on bail, they were taken away in a tractor by their relatives. They got drunk and went to the Bhotmanges’ hut threatening to finish off the entire family. Then they went looking for Gajbhiye and his brother Rajan, an engineering student. On not being able to find them, the drunken group returned to the Bhotmanges’ hut and broke down the door. It was 5.40pm, Surekha was preparing the evening meal and the head of the family, Bhaiyyalal, was not at home. They dragged out Surekha, their 17-year-old daughter Priyanka, and two sons, 23-year-old Roshan and 21-year-old Sudhir. Although Roshan was blind and Sudhir a graduate, they not only helped with the farming but also brought home extra money by working as labourers. Priyanka was more ambitious — a Class xii topper and an ncc cadet, she wanted to join the Army. Her mother had recently bought her a bicycle. But all dreams came to an end in a few harrowing hours.

The mob didn’t realise that Bhaiyyalal Bhotmagne and Siddharth’s brother Rajan were just a stone’s throw from their hut and had seen the four victims being dragged away to the village chaupal, Priyanka strapped to a bullock cart. By now, men allegedly from the entire village of about 150 Powar and Kalar families had collected. Some shouted to the sarpanch to allow them to sexually assault the women. They raped the women and killed all four, even as their womenfolk looked on, mute spectators to a form of justice reserved for castes lower than theirs. One woman, Sudha Dhenge, reportedly did protest but was slapped into silence. She now says she was never there. Surekha and Priyanka were stripped, paraded naked, beaten black and blue with bicycle chains, axes and bullock cart pokers. They were publicly gang raped until they died. Some raped them even after that, and finally, sticks and rods were shoved into their genitals. In the meantime, Sudhir managed to contact the police from his mobile phone, but his phone had been smashed. Its pieces are now circumstantial evidence. Roshan and Sudhir were beaten up, their genitals mutilated, faces disfigured and their bodies tossed in the air, before they lay dead on the ground. Hiding behind a hut, Bhaiyyalal helplessly watched his family’s gruesome end. There was no one to call for help. Kherlanji had only two Mahar families; the rest were either perpetrators or spectators. An hour later, a village meeting was called and a diktat issued: no one was to say a word about the massacre.

Siddharth Gajbhiye called the Andhalgaon police station, some six kms away, at 6.15pm, asking for help. As a frightened Bhaiyyalal escaped to another village to save his life, the four bodies were thrown at different places in the periphery of the village. Head Constable Baban Mesharam reached Kherlanji at 8:30pm and got wind of the incident, but did not follow official police protocol to register the report. The next day, when Bhaiyyalal Bhotmange went to the police station and filed an FIR, SHO Siddheshwar Bharne did not believe him. It was only when the police patrol started flashing reports of the discovery of mutilated dead bodies on the wireless the next day that he filed an FIR. Constable Meshram and SHO Bharne both stand suspended.

Photographs of the bodies of Surekha and Priyanka taken by the police showed sticks and rods in their genitals. By the time they reached the post-mortem table, the sticks had disappeared. A gruesome photograph of Priyanka Bhotmange’s body, with just a piece of cloth covering her genitals, is not being printed by Tehelka. The post-mortem report by Dr AJ Shende on September 30 said that there had been no rape. “Doctors were managed and the police bribed,” Rashtrapal Narnaware, Surekha’s nephew, alleged in a statement to the fact-finding committee of the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS), a regional farmers’ organisation. The bodies were later exhumed and the report of a second post-mortem is awaited. Bhandara’s police superintendent Suresh Sagar says that only if the post-mortem establishes rape can he include the charge in his investigation. The VJAS is pushing for a third post-mortem as the due procedure specified by the NHRC has not been followed, and medical evidence of rape may never be established.

Thirty-eight Kherlanji men are in jail as accused, but Kishore Tiwari, president of the VJAS, says that some of the main perpetrators are still free due to political pressure. Apart from various sections of the IPC, the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989, has also been applied by the police. “In cases where a mob is involved, the Atrocities Act has it that the entire village could be fined to the tune of Rs 10-20 lakh,” says civil rights lawyer Colin Gonsalves. The VJAS claims that there is an attempt to cover up the incident, and has filed a case in the Bombay High Court against the state police. “For years, Surekha had been trying to file a case against the grabbing of the two acres of land,” says VJAS lawyer Vinod Tiwari, “but the police never filed the FIR.” VJAS president Kishore Tiwari first read about the incident in the rural Vidarbha supplements of the Marathi press, which blamed it on Surekha’s ‘illicit relationship’ with Siddharth. Tiwari e-mailed journalists all over India and managed to get some Mumbai newspapers to report the massacre, but his e-mails to Delhi-based journalists were ignored.

On October 2, when lakhs of Buddhists from all over the world had converged in Nagpur to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Dhammakranti — Ambedkar’s conversion to Buddhism — the organisers kept quiet about the massacre lest the issue go out of hand in such a large gathering. The Maharashtra government has paid Bhaiyyalal Bhotmange a compensation of Rs 4.5 lakhs, although according to the Atrocities Act the compensation should be Rs 2 lakh for every member of the family killed. All Bhaiyyalal wants is for the perpetrators to be hanged.


MAHARASHTRA BURNING (September - December 2006)

An atrocity left unpunished and a hero’s statue desecrated drive untouchable masses into the streets across India’s second-most populous state.

September 29: Four members of an untouchable family are horrifically lynched by men and women of the dominant caste in the tiny village of Khairlanji.

November 6: After over a month of negligence by the police and inaction from the state government, mass protests by untouchables break out in Nagpur and spread throughout the region.

November 28: A statue of the Independence-era untouchable leader B. R. Ambedkar is beheaded in the city of Kanpur.

November 29-30: Untouchable youth take to the streets in spontaneous protests across the state. In Bombay large groups target public transportation, emptying buses and a train and setting them on fire.

The rape/murder of the Bhotmange family in Khairlanji village occurred on September 29, but it was only at the end of October that the story first broke in the national press, under the ironic headline “Just another rape story.” There are hundreds of atrocities against untouchables and over a thousand rapes of untouchable women officially reported every year in Maharashtra state alone. And how many go unreported? As the Khairlanji lynching itself might have. If it hadn’t been for two surviving blood relatives who secretly witnessed this public massacre, the case would never have been registered with the police: even now, no one else will talk.

So why did the news of this particular horror spread mainly by word of mouth throughout the region and across the state? Why this time did rage over the incident simmer for two full months before finally boiling over in an unprecedented statewide uprising of the untouchable masses that took India by surprise?

Part of it may be the fact that the Bhotmanges were not quite a typical untouchable family. Although poor enough to live in a hut with a low, thatched roof and a dirt floor, they owned a few acres of land that gave them a little independence. Smruti Koppikar wrote in Outlook India (December 5) of the murdered woman of the family:

The 40-something Surekha tilled her land till it yielded something, anything. She put her children through school and college. Her daughter was reading Political Science and Sociology--no mean feat for a Dalit girl in a back-of-the-beyond village. OBC men had, on several occasions, tried to usurp the land and drive the family out of the village but Surekha--more than her husband Bhaiyyalal--had stood up to the men and their machinations. The financial independence, the education, the aspirations, the standing up to pressure--all must have made them special targets for dominant-caste bigots.

The Bhotmanges were Mahars, historically a relatively advanced untouchable caste. Traditionally village servants, Mahars later served in large numbers in the British colonial army. The unusual exposure this gave them encouraged aspirations far above their social and ritual status, and it was out of this community that the untouchable leader B. R. Ambedkar emerged. The Bhotmanges’ forebears, along with many fellow Mahars and other untouchables throughout India, had followed Ambedkar at the end of his life in renouncing Hinduism and converting to Buddhism to escape the stigma of their caste--with all the success that their fate implies.

http://www.anti-caste.org/news/maharasthra_burning.html

India: End Caste Bias in Tsunami Relief

The Indian government should ensure that tsunami victims receive assistance in an equitable manner without caste or religious bias, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch has received credible reports of discrimination in tsunami-stricken areas against Dalit (so-called untouchables) communities by the authorities as well as by some aid groups and local communities.

The government should immediately ensure that there is equitable and unbiased rehabilitation by including Dalit rights activists, both male and female, in rehabilitation committees at all levels.

Brad Adams, Asia director of Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch called on the Indian government to make all efforts to counter caste or religious discrimination throughout the entire post-tsunami process of relief, rehabilitation and redevelopment.

“In the aftermath of the tsunami, the Indian government should try to help Dalits who may be excluded from equitable relief and employment opportunities,” said Brad Adams, Asia director of Human Rights Watch. “The government should immediately ensure that there is equitable and unbiased rehabilitation by including Dalit rights activists, both male and female, in rehabilitation committees at all levels.”

Nearly 10,000 people died in India in the tsunami on December 26, most of them in Tamil Nadu state. Most of the immediate victims were from fishing communities, perceived as coming from higher castes, who live along the coast. Dalits who live further inland lost their livelihood and access to water because their wells were filled with seawater.

According to many press reports and an on-site investigation by the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR), a highly respected Indian organization, some higher-caste fishing communities refused to share emergency shelter and rations with the Dalits. The NCDHR investigation also documented incidents in which authorities in parts of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu provided Dalits with less relief and support than other victims. Dalit areas have been the last to have electricity and water supplies restored during rehabilitation efforts. NCDHR also cited allegations that officials are discriminating in providing financial assistance to the families of deceased Dalits.

“The government should ensure that all government and NGO activities take steps to combat caste discrimination in the longer-term reconstruction efforts,” said Adams. “India has excellent legislation to prevent caste-based discrimination, but it should implement these laws to avoid adding the problems of caste-discrimination to the misery caused by the tsunami.”

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/01/14/india10019.htm

About Police.

India: Probe Police Attacks on ‘Untouchables’

(New York, July 10, 2004) -- The Indian government should immediately launch a full investigation into allegations that police used excessive force against Dalits (or “untouchables”) who tried to participate in a religious ceremony in Tamil Nadu last week, Human Rights Watch said today.

" It seems that Dalits are still considered untouchable for religious purposes, but not when it comes to the police using force against them. There should be an immediate investigation into this violent incident, and all those responsible should be prosecuted.

Sam Zarifi, deputy director for Human Rights Watch’s Asia Division

Police used excessive force and targeted Dalits while responding to a riot at the Kandadevi religious festival on July 1, according to the Dalit Human Rights Monitoring Program. At least 20 Dalits were injured, eight requiring hospitalization.

“It seems that Dalits are still considered untouchable for religious purposes, but not when it comes to the police using force against them,” said Sam Zarifi, deputy director for Human Rights Watch’s Asia Division. “There should be an immediate investigation into this violent incident, and all those responsible should be prosecuted.”

Some one thousand Dalits had joined a crowd of 6,000 gathered for the Kandadevi festival. The Dalits wanted to take part in the ceremony, during which Hindus derive religious honor from manually towing a chariot-like structure holding a religious idol. A riot broke out when upper-caste Hindus forcefully barred Dalits from participating in the ritual. In the ensuing melee, the two sides resorted to throwing stones at each other.

According to the Dalit Human Rights Monitoring Program, the police reacted to the protest by targeting the Dalit demonstrators with excessive force. Members of the Monitoring Program who investigated the incident said police had used batons and rifle butts to beat protestors on the face, back, chest and buttocks.

Witnesses told the Monitoring Program that some policemen had also used racist language to abuse the Dalit protestors, particularly focusing on Dalit women. Some policemen allegedly told the protesters, “We will not rest until you are killed.”

Police prevented a fact-finding team, which had planned to monitor the ceremony, from reaching the site, raising concerns that officials had planned their violent response to the protest.

“The Indian government needs to send a message that it will not tolerate police brutality, especially when it is coupled with racist, anti-Dalit discrimination,” Zarifi said. “It’s particularly troubling that independent monitors were kept away from the event. The best thing to do now is to conduct a transparent and fair investigation that shows that the Indian government does not favor one caste over another.”

Background

The Kandadevi festival had become the focus of tension because Dalits had been excluded by upper-caste Hindus from the ceremonies for nearly a century. Since 1947, after India’s independence, Dalits have been attempting to reclaim that right and in 1999 won a court order stating that all Hindus—including Dalits—were entitled to pull the chariot.

In 2002 despite the court order, the local government failed to ensure that Dalits could participate. Last year a Dalit district chief attempted to work out a peaceful solution, but protests by upper-caste groups eventually led to cancellation of the ceremony. This year, as part of a compromise attempt between different groups, only 10 Dalits were selected at random for the rope-pulling festival, despite protests from the Dalit community.

The Indian constitution bans discrimination against “untouchables.” Dalit groups, as well as Human Rights Watch, have repeatedly urged the Indian government and the state governments to train district officials and police personnel charged with enforcing India’s anti-discrimination laws. At the same time, the national and state governments should launch an effective public awareness campaign regarding the legal prohibition of “untouchability” and other forms of discrimination and violence against Dalits.

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/07/10/india9051.htm