State and Muslims in India: Politics of Inclusion and Exclusion

Also called, Prime Minister’s High Level Committee, Social, Economic and Educational Status of the Muslim Community of India: A Report, Cabinet Secretariat Government of India, New Delhi, November, 2006.

The term dalit refers to outcaste social group—the most socially, economically and politically discriminated and excluded social group in Indian society that belongs to no caste. Constitutionally, this social class is referred to as Scheduled Caste. To uplift this community, the central government has made an affirmative provision of 15.5% reservation in all categories of centrally funded employment and educational opportunities.

Also called, Report of the National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities; Report of the National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities, Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India, 2008.

Gopal Singh Report, 1983, S. Varadarajan Report on Minorities, 1996, Sachar Commission Report, 2006, Rangnath Mishra Commission Report, 2008, NSSO. 2011. Key Indicators of Employment and Unemployment in India 2009–2010. NSS 66th Round, NSSO. 2011. Key Indicators of Employment and Unemployment in India 2011–2012. NSS 68th Round, Government of India. 2011. India Human Development Report 2011: Towards Social Inclusion. New Delhi: Institute of Applied Manpower Research, Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability. 2012. Policy Priorities for Development of Muslims: An Assessment. New Delhi Centre for Equity Studies. 2011. Promises to Keep: Investigating Government’s Response to Sachar Committee’s Recommendations. New Delhi.

Seal (1968, pp. 300–310).

Alam (2015, pp. 1–18), Gayer and Jafferlot (2012, p. 320).

Afzal (2014, pp. 112–113).

Ibid., 282–283.

The SCR, pp. 170–171.

Ibid., pp. 171.

Ibid., pp. 166–167.

Zaidi (2014, pp. 23–25).

Rakesh Basant, Education and Employment among Muslims in India: An Analysis of Patterns and Trends, W.P. No. 2012-09-03, September 2012 Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, available at https://​web.​iima.​ac.​in/​assets/​snippets/​workingpaperpdf/​12051717332012-09-03.​pdf, accessed on 28.8.2019.

Ahmed (1975, p. 251).

Chauhan (1992, p. 54).

Basant, Education and Employment among Muslims in India: An Analysis of Patterns and Trends, pp. 14–15.

On why SCR figure is wrong, see Alam (2013).

Arshad Alam, Working Paper: Assessment of Education Component of Prime Minister’s 15 Point Programme, Unpublished.

Khalidi (2006), Farouqui (2010), Basant (2012).

Census (2001). In fact the percentage of Urdu speakers declined from 5.1% as per 2001 Census to 4.1% as per 2011 Census. See, Census of India 2011, available at http://​censusindia.​gov.​in/​2011Census/​C-16_​25062018_​NEW.​pdf, p. 17, accessed on 28.8.2019.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Hindi speech was written in Urdu script.

Such as appointment of Urdu translator in governmental offices of those states where Urdu has been declared second official language and of Urdu teacher where number of Muslim students are more than 15%. Currently, Urdu enjoys the status of second official language in the states of Bihar and Delhi, 13 districts in the state of Andhra Pradesh and also in certain pockets of Karnataka. In the state of UP, Urdu was declared as second language in the western parts of the state in the early 1980s through an ordinance that subsequently lapsed.

Arshad Alam, Working Paper: Assessment of Education Component of Prime Minister’s 15 Point Programme.

Late former Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi has stated in early 1970s in the context of India’s role in creation of Bangladesh that if Muslims were having reservation on creation of Bangladesh, then I do not need Muslim vote. Mrs. Gandhi was then compared with Goddess Durga! Today, it is BJP that asserts that it did not want Muslim vote.

Muslim groups on the basis of backward caste identity now receive the benefit of reservation in the states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar and West Bengal. In Kerala, 12% of jobs are currently reserved for Muslims. Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh brought in 4 and 5% reservation for Muslims in 1994 and 2005, respectively. In Tamil Nadu and Bihar, Muslims are entitled to reservation under the 30% and 17% category earmarked for OBC. In 2010, the Government of West Bengal has also made the provision of 10% reservation for Muslims in state educational institutions and public services. In October 2017, the state of Telangana passed a reservation bill for enhancing Muslim quota from existing 4 to 12%. In addition to this, some 80 lower caste Muslim groups enjoy the benefit of 27% reservation in the central government services and educational institutions as per the Mandal Commission Recommendation. Moreover, Muslims of Lakshadweep islands who constitute 97% of the Island population is covered under ST reservation. A few Muslim tribes in Manipur are also covered under ST reservation in addition to 4% more reservation to all Muslims in Manipur who constitute around 7–8% of state’s population.

See, Asghar (1989); Communal Riots in Post-independence India, New Delhi: Orient Blackswan, 1991; The Gujarat Carnage, Orient Longman, 2003; Akbar (1988).

Sonia Bhalotra, Christine Valente, Arthur van Soest, The Puzzle of Muslim Advantage in Child Survival in India, February 2009, IZA DP No. 4009, Bonn, Germany, http://​ftp.​iza.​org/​dp4009.​pdf, accessed on 10.10.2017.

It accepted the modern distinction between private and public and brought Sharia within the domain of private. With this democratic principle the religious Islamic leadership skillfully negotiated with secular government of India not to interfere in the personal domain of Muslim community in exchange of political support.

Following the partition of the country, the late Maulana Azad, the senior Congress Leader, in 1950s demanded the dissolution of all communal Muslim organisations.

Yogi Sikand provides the following figures in relation to madarassas in India, according to the Centre for the Promotion of Science at Aligarh Muslim University: in 1985, there were 2890 madarassas in the country. A decade later, the Union Minister for Human Resources Development put the figure at 12,000. In 2002 the Union Minister for Home claimed that the number stood at 31,875. In 2003, a leading Muslim paper claimed that there were some 125,000 madarassas in India, catering to around 3,000,000 students and with a combined annual budget of approximately Rs. 14 billion. According to this figure, most of the madarassas are located in Uttar Pradesh (10,000) followed by Kerala (9975), Madhya Pradesh (6000) and Bihar (3500). Sikand (2005, p. 95).

This is not specific to Indian context alone, but has been reflected in Muslim majority countries where Muslims destructed the political system. Thus in Turkey, a large number of Muslims had shunned the Kemalist educational institutions for the fear of compromising their Islamic faith.

Personal observation: In the Muslim neighbourhood where I grew only my family send their children to christian missionary school and government school near to home, all other Muslim families preferred Muslim educational institution even it was located at a far away from the neighbourhood. None of the Muslim family joined the Government Hindi School, which was next door to my house. Many of my friends have similar experience.

All minority educational institutions have been exempted from Right to Education Act. One implication of this exemption is that madarrasas institutions are not bound to teach secular component of education.

This is not specific to Indian context alone; globally all Islamic institutions and Ulema have successfully opposed the government’s secular reformist agenda for the similar reasons. See Crecelius (1980).

See a few resolutions of All India Majlis-e-Mushawarat.

Achieving Financial Inclusion for Muslims in India: How Can Islamic Finance Help? https://​www.​ethicainstitute.​com/​webinar/​Achieving-Financial-Inclusion-For-Indian-Muslims.​pdf, retrieved on 15.10.2017.

Personal observation and interaction.

The organized political expression of this movement has been found in the formation of Pasmanda Muslim Mahaj led by Ali Anwar, All India Backward Muslim Morcha led by Ajaz Ali and All India Muslim OBCs organization led by Shabir Ahmad Ansari. Some of the literatures on dalit Muslims are: Ali Anwar, masawat ki jung, vani prakashan, 2001, Trivedi et al. (2016, p. 15), Ansari (2009).

Wilkinson (2000, pp. 767–791).

GOI: 2011, NSSO: 2011, NSSO: 2013, Center for Budget and Governance Accountability: 2012, Center for Equity Studies 2011.

Farasat et al. (2014).

Anwar Alam, Emergence of Muslim Middle Class.

Lauren Gayer and Christopher Jafferlot, Trajectories of Muslim Marginalisations.

For details see, Abhishek M. Chaudhari Rise of Muslim Political Parties, Public Policy Research Centre, http://​www.​pprc.​in/​upload/​Rise%20​of%20​Muslim%20​Political%20​Parties%20​in%20​India.​pdf, accessed on 25.10.2017.