KOCHI, 23 June 2007 — The Muslim community in India must be declared a socially and educationally backward class and a separate sub-quota for them be created within the Other Backward Class (OBC) quota, proportionate to their population, according to a declaration issued by the South Indian Muslim Convention for Social Justice.
The convention, organized here last week, highlighted the problems faced by India’s largest minority against the backdrop of the Sachar Committee report on their socio-economic and educational backwardness. A number of leaders, scholars and educationalists addressed the two-day convention attended by some 500 delegates from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Puducherry.
The “Kochi Declaration” adopted by the convention noted that India was founded on the principles of democracy, secularism, equality and social justice for all its citizens and its constitution guarantees their fundamental rights, human rights, rule of law and independent judicial system. But Muslims, who constitute about 14 percent of the total population, remain backward in all aspects, it said.
The declaration urged the federal government to collect and compile data on the socio-economic and educational status of Muslims in India on a regular basis and to establish an Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC) as recommended by the Sachar Committee.
The presidential order of 1950 should be amended to make all scheduled caste (SC) converts eligible for all the concessions available to SCs, it said.
Adequate representation of Muslims should be ensured in armed forces as a large majority of the armed forces consists of matriculates and non-matriculates and Muslims cannot be made ineligible on merits even for such posts.
The declaration proposed appropriate changes in the Communal Violence (prevention, control and rehabilitation of victims) Bill 2005 to make the executive accountable for the outbreak of communal violence and failure to take prompt measures to control it and rehabilitate the victims. It called for application of “the 1984 package” for all victims of communal violence since 1984.
The declaration called for setting up a ministry at the central government and separate department at the state level exclusively to deal with Muslim affairs.
It demanded new procedures to ensure increased participation of Muslims in Parliament, state legislatures and civic bodies. Police forces and paramilitary should be made broad-based and cosmopolitan with the inclusion of sufficient number of Muslims, the declaration said.
It called for promoting Urdu by teaching the mother tongue of most Muslims in schools of the Hindi region under the Three Language Formula and stressed the need for providing Urdu teachers and introducing Urdu as an optional subject in all government and government-aided schools in states having a substantial Urdu-speaking population.
The delegates at the convention also resolved that the community should continue its peaceful struggle at village, district, state and national levels to convince the governments about the need to immediately accept its demands. They felt that the community should continue to support the governments in maintaining peace and communal harmony.
K. Rahman Khan, deputy chairman of Rajya Sabha, India’s upper house of parliament, who inaugurated the meeting, urged Muslim leaders to indulge in meaningful introspection for social justice and learn from leaders of other communities to transform the society.
Khan said differences among Muslim leaders worked against them. “Instead of blaming the government for not providing social justice, we should blame ourselves for the situation we are in,” he said.
Terming as positive the Sachar Committee Report, he said the recommendations of the committee had given an opportunity to the Muslim community to deliberate and debate various issues concerning them.
“Our demands should be within the framework of the Fundamental Rights and Constitution, ’’ he said.
Religious leaders and intellectuals should be made accountable for the community’s backwardness as much as the government.
Praising the efforts of the leaders of the Lingayats in Karnataka to help their community stand on its own, he urged Muslims leaders to study how leaders of other communities were transforming their communities.
Talking about bureaucratic discrimination against Muslims, Khan referred to a 1953 letter Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had written to chief ministers in which he expressed concern about the administrative machinery’s bias toward the community.
Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed said a bill to amend the constitution to give constitutional status to the national commission for minorities would be introduced in the monsoon session of Parliament.
He said the Cabinet had approved giving constitutional status to the commission to protect the rights of minorities and added that approval had also been given for another commission to protect the rights of minorities.
The minister said the Cabinet had decided on May 17 to implement the Sachar Committee Report recommendations. “There is nothing in the way of the government that prevents it from implementing its recommendations and the government led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is taking necessary steps to implement them,” he said while speaking at the valedictory session.
The minister, who is also general secretary of the Indian Union Muslim League, said there would be specific provisions to ensure fair share for minorities in higher education. “At least in Kerala, the whole Muslim community will stand united to protect the rights of minorities,” the minister said.
Dr. Mumtaz Ahmed Khan, founder of the Bangalore-based Al-Ameen group of institutions, said the community should develop industry and financial sectors to create more employment opportunities. Mosques should open schools, he said.
The Sachar Committee member secretary Abu Saleh Sheriff said the panel’s recommendations can be implemented only with the active participation of the state governments and by sensitizing the bureaucracy. He said the state governments should formulate policies to implement the recommendations.
Saleh made a presentation on the findings of the committee that showed Muslims scored very low in almost all development variables when compared to other religious communities.
He pointed out that there was plenty of government money available for Muslims’ welfare, but most state governments failed to utilize the money.
The topics discussed at the convention included educational empowerment, socio-cultural empowerment, economic empowerment, reservation; a tool for social justice, community development: Kerala model, and the role of NGOs in development of the community.
The convention threw light on a number of issues regarding the development of the Muslim community. Former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, now the leader of opposition, spoke at the session on “economic empowerment.”
All Indian Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat President Syed Shahabudheen, former Education Minister E.T. Mohammed Basheer, Muslim Education Society President P.A. Fazal Gafoor and Kerala Muslim Education Association President Basheerali Shihab Thangal also addressed the convention.
