Bangalore: Dalit Voice has firmly stood by social justice and supported the demand of every section of the deprived society for its share of human rights in proportion to its population. Our “caste identity” thesis was propounded with such a noble objective.
Dalit Voice has always supported the weaker and the weakest sections not only among Dalits, Backward Castes and Tribals but also among Muslim, Christian and Sikhs.
Dalit Christians: That is how DV has been the first in demanding reservation for Dalit Christians.
Dalit Sikhs have made a big impact and our “Debate on Slow Death of Sikhism” not only criticised casteism among Sikhs but also supported the Dalit-Sikh human rights.
The “Backward Muslims” are a recent entry into our list of social justice crusaders. Mandal Commission has listed several sections among Muslims under the BCs.
DV was again first in the country to take up the demand of Backward Muslims or “Dalit Muslims”. We have published several reports on the subject.
Organisations espousing the cause of Backward Muslims are gaining a firm foothold particularly in Bihar with their demand for a separate reservation quota for the “Dalit Muslims”. Two such organisations operating with success in Bihar are Pasmanda Muslim Mahaj (PMM) and Backward Muslim Morcha (BMM).
Like Hindus, caste-like features also exist among Muslims. Upper caste Muslims have devoured all the fruits of development by exploiting the lower caste Muslims. These organisations are coming up with statistics and figures along with instances to support their point how the majority among the Musiims have: been oppressed.
As president of the Pasmanda Muslim Mahaj, Ali Anwar, a journalist-turned activist, says:
“The upper castes like Pathans, Sheikhs, Saiyads and Malliks comprise only 20% of the Muslim population and still have grabbed all the benefits. During the Laloo-Rabri regime, for which the Muslim community, particularly backwards among them form a formidable vote bank, very little has been done for their uplift. During the last 11 years there had been seven Muslim vice-chancellors but all upper castes. The BPSC and Intermediate Council had several Muslim members but there was not a single Pasmanda. Until and unless the Backward Muslims are mandalised and politicised, their all-round development is not possible”, he says.
Dr. Ejaz Ali demand: Backward Muslim Morcha (BMM) whose national convenor, Dr. Ejaz Ali, however does not feel that mandalisation of Muslims was on. He differs with the PMM over creating a division in the Muslim community.
“We don’t want a division in the Muslim community. We just want that Dalit Muslims should get the facility of reservation based on Scheduled Castes”, he says.
However, lack of unity among these two outfits of Backward Muslims is harming their goal. In fact, the two organisations are not able to see eye to eye. The differences also happen to be over political leanings of the two. The PMM is pro-Laloo Prasad while the BMM leans towards the NDA.
Laloo changes track: Laloo Prasad had strongly supported the demand for reservation for Dalit Muslims. Two years back, he only had moved a resolution seeking reservation for Dalit Muslims which was passed unanimously by the State Assembly. The state cabinet too gave its green signal. However, lately he has chosen to move cautiously.
However, the “national” level top Muslim leaders are opposed to the idea of a separate reservation for Dalit Muslims.
Syed Shahbuddin, Obaidullah Khan Azmi, All-India Muslim Personal Law Board and All-India Milli Council have been demanding 10% reservation for the Muslim community. The Backward Muslim leaders and organisations are opposing this move and feel that this is a ploy to once again snatch the share of the Dalit Muslims.
