"Aagaya ain ladai mein waqte-namaz,
Qiblaru hoke zamin-bos hui qtaum-e-hejaz,
Ek hi saf mein khade ho gaye Mahmood-o-Ayaz,
Na koi banda raha, aur na koi banda-nawaz."
(In
the midst of a raging battle if the time came to pray,
Hejazis turned to Mecca, kissed the earth and ceased from
the fray. Sultan and slave in a single file, stood side
by side. Then there was no servant nor any master, nothing
did them divide...)
The
famous couplet by Mohammad Iqbal highlights the virtue
of an egalitarian society that Islam professes. The religion
propounded by Prophet Mohammad does not sanction inequality
on the basis of caste and birth. That is why a king and
his slaves stand shoulder to shoulder in prayer as Iqbal
mentions in his verse.
But
the Sachar Committee Report that was tabled in the Lok
Sabha recently brings to the fore the "discrimination,
deprivation and oppression on caste lines within the community",
of which idealist poet-cum-philosopher Iqbal never imagined.
In fact, even a casual walk through the localities inhabited
particularly by "low-caste" Muslims in Bihar
and Jharkhand proves Justice Rajender Sachar and his observations
right. I believe that Allama Iqbal, who had a strong faith
in the egalitarianism that Prophet propounded, would have
been disheartened had he been alive today and had he witnessed
the oppression in a community that was built on brotherhood
and equality.
"I
am a post-graduate washerman engaged in washing clothes
of MLAs and ministers staying at the MLA flat," says
Manzoor Alam, adding: "Had I been in the category
of Hindu dhobis (washermen), I would have surely got the
benefit of reservation and might have even got a decent
job on the basis of my degree." And Manzoor is not
the lone educated Muslim washerman pursuing a profession
that does not do justice to his education. The campus
in which MLA flats are located has many such outhouses
inhabited by many such Manzoors.
Justice
Sacher has recommended that Muslim students from Madarsas,
too, should be allowed to appear for the entrance exams
for professional courses. His report also states that
Muslims should be categorised into three different social
groups for the actions to ameliorate their conditions.
In fact, categorizing them in groups appears to be necessary
for a community that, too, has its share of "creamy
layer" pocketing the political and administrative
positions across the country.
"Caste
oppression is common in Muslim society, as it is in Hindu
society. The only difference is that the Hindu Dalits
have the benefit of job reservations in the Assembly and
the Parliament, whereas Muslim Dalits don't," says
Ali Anwar, president of All India Pasmada Muslim Mahaz.
"After all, why should Muslim washermen, barbers
and scavengers be deprived of reservation and political
seats when their Hindu brethren are enjoying it,"
he asks. I have visited countless dalit Muslim localities
across Bihar and Jharkhand. The dirty drains, dingy houses,
emaciated men and women are scenes I got to see. Dalit
Muslims living between Bariatu Road and Bariatu hills
in Ranchi or those at Adalatganj inhabited in Patna live
in hellish conditions, not very far from the glamour on
Frazer and Bailey Roads in Patna.
At
the same time, I have seen many Hindu Dalits becoming
MPs, MLAs or even IAS and IPS officers, while taking the
benefit of reservation. "But you will not find a
single Muslim Dalit working as an IAS or IPS in the whole
of Jharkhand or Bihar," Anwar claims. I have no reasons
to dispute Anwar for I have not come across them either.
On
a personal note, reservation alone in government or political
sector is not a very sure way for the establishment of
an egalitarian society. Whatever be the Constitution provision,
the policy of job reservation somehow discourages merit
and fuels social unrest of the worst order.
But
when India has adopted reservation policies for the Scheduled
Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other backward sections,
as an instrument to ensure the participation of the socially
and educationally deprived section why should Muslim dalits
be kept away from the benefit? There must be a uniformity
in the treatment of the Dalits — either from the
Hindu or the Muslim community. Or for that matter, any
religious group.
