In its report, Social, Economic and Educational Status
of the Muslim Community of India, submitted
to the prime minister, the Sachar Committee notes, "While many welcomed
and appreciated this
initiative, there were others who were sceptical and saw it as another
political ploy. There was a
sense of despair and suspicion as well. ‘Tired of memorandums’, many
wanted ‘results’. The ‘non-
implementation’ of recommendations of several earlier commissions and
committees has made the
Muslim community wary of any new initiative." A similar if not as
exhaustive initiative commis-
sioned by former PM Indira Gandhi in the early eighties, remained a
document on paper. This history has generated serious scepticism within an
already battered community about how far the present UPA government
(Congress and the Left included) will go to correct blatant inequities on
the ground.
Indian institutions and state structures have serious
questions to answer in response to the committee’s findings, as the report
points to institutionalised prejudice that runs deep and cuts sharp. The
‘Missing Muslim’ in institutions of governance and other structures
demands a seasoned response. Solutions need to be result-driven, allowing
for complaints’ redressal in varied institutions, state structures and
bodies.
This poses a challenge to the community and its
self-styled ‘leadership’. The data and findings urge that issues of equity
in access, education and employment – justice at all levels – be the
issues raised politically on behalf of the community, not token demands
that only result in further stereotyping of India’s largest minority.
While sharing some of the all-round scepticism about the
implementation of the recommendations of the Sachar Committee
Report – recommendations of several previous commissions have come to
naught – we welcome its publication and the debate it has forced on the
Indian polity.
Muslims certainly, but all Indians who subscribe to the
values of pluralism, equity and fair play need to be actively concerned
about the report and the outcome of the committee’s recommendations. The
significance of this report is that it speaks through established data.
Quantitative data gathered from a wide range of primary and secondary
sources (largely official) now establishes that India’s Muslims are
victims of rampant bias in the fields of education, employment, access to
credit, poverty level, access to social and physical infrastructure and
political representation.
The report exposes the bogey of ‘madrassas’, showing that
only a minuscule percentage of the community’s children attend schooling
offered by this system of education. Sex ratios among Muslims are also
higher, exploding another myth perpetrated against the community.
However, the gender dimension – education for girls and
status of women within the community – is a ticklish area where,
regrettably, the Sachar Committee has chosen not to tread. Another serious
lacuna is that the document overlooks the rampant anti-Muslim bias in the
law and order machinery in general and specifically, the genuine concerns
that Indian Muslims have about security of life and property. Anti-Muslim
pogroms across states, in UP, Bihar, Maharashtra and Rajasthan from the
mid-late 1980s to the early 1990s, degenerating into full-blown genocide
in Gujarat in 2002, have impacted seriously on the community’s economic,
social and political status and voice.
Shortcomings notwithstanding, the Sachar Committee
deserves our sincere applause for having done a more than adequate job and
by the standards of committees and commissions, in record time. The value
of the report lies not in the fond hope that shamed by its findings the
Centre and the states will take corrective measures on their own. Rather,
we see the report as an invaluable tool that the Muslim community and all
other fair-minded citizens can use to launch a relentless nationwide
campaign to push political parties into urgently needed affirmative
action. It could also be an effective tool to puncture Hindutva’s baseless
propaganda about "minority appeasement". The report also holds up a mirror
to Muslims that will hopefully prompt them into thinking seriously about
the "solutions within" and the pitfalls and dangers of seeking
religion-based reservation as a solution to their problems.
For any of this to happen, the report must first be widely
disseminated in every Indian language. Not everyone can be expected to
wade through over 400 pages of dense prose, nearly 50 per cent of this in
tabular form. Edited/excerpted versions of the report would make it more
accessible through booklets, posters and the like. Citizens and government
agencies alike must join hands to make this happen. This special double
issue of CC is our contribution to that effort.
