Articles
Muslim Representation in State Legislatures, Parliament and Other Selected Bodies and Governments’ Offices
Dt:25/11/20
Muslim Representation in State Legislatures, Parliament and
Other Selected Bodies and Governments’ Offices
Dr T H Chowdary*
In a report on the op-ed page of Indian Express, Hyderabad Edition of 3 Nov 2020 one Sri Sana Shakil, made out that the number of Muslim MLAs goes down when there is BJP upsurge and recovers and increases when Congress bounces back. He also referred to eh 2006 Sachar Committee’s findings that Muslims ae under- represented in police and government departments in the states and the Center (Union) in consequence of which the Sonia-directed UPA government or Sardar Manmohan Singh government launched “Muslim First” (not SC or ST) programs for advancement of Muslims. The remarkable obsession with Muslim grievances in India is not now. It began in 1905 when under the leaderships of Agakhan, a delegation of prominent Muslims submitted a Memorandum to the then Vice Roy and Governor General urging that Muslim community’s interests in the governance of India must be separately taken care, especially in view of their centuries-long role of rulers in the country but its diminution as a minority in representative ( i.e by election) governments getting gradually introduced. The colonial British government’s acceptance of communal representation and that too a weighted one in favor of religious minorities, the Congress Party’s Gandhiji-dictated Muslim demands (eg: participation in Muslims’ khilafat movement (1919-22) in the hope of forging Hindu- Muslim unity in the struggle for freedom from British rule, the rioting and voting of Muslims for partition of the country and creation of the Islamic state of Pakistan, the non-emigration of Muslim Indians to the state(s) of their creation, the ethnic cleansing of Hindus and Sikhs from Pakistan and Bangladesh 17% reduced to 1.5% and 33% reduced to 7% in the two states respectively) and the growth of Muslims from 9.8% in 1951 to over 16% by 2019 in India are history.
2. Now the history is repeating Muslims in India are again exercised about their communal representation. The Constituent Assembly of India in terms of the Britain’s Cabinet Mission Report (1946) met towards the end of 1946 (before independence on 15-08-47). The Muslim League Members boycotted it. India was partitioned; Pakistan came into being on the 14th August’47 in fulfillment of Muslims’ demand, “SPLIT and QUIT” . The Consembly ( short form for Constituent) continued to draft the Constitution. A few Muslim League Members, some of whom soon migrated to Pakistan, attended some sessions.
3. The most important committee of the Condemnably was about “ minorities”, Chaired by Sardar Patel. During its deliberation so called nationalist Muslims tutored by the tallest of them Abul Kalam Azad pleaded for separate electorate ( for Muslims) and reserved seats for them. H.C Mukherji and Rajkumari Amrit Kaur on behalf of Indian Christians opposed separate electorate and reservations for Indian Christians. Begum Aizaz Rasul, a former Muslim League Member of UP Legislative Assembly was nudged by K M Munshi to speak . She with some fear took to the microphone and emphatically rejected and denounced separate communal electorate and reserved representation. Sardar closed the discussion declaring that it was the unanimous recommendation of the Minorities Committee not to have separate electorate, weighted and reserved representation for minorities; the two evils that led to the two-nation theory, partition and the birth of the nongenetically inimical ( to India) Islamic State of Pakistan.
4. Free India’s Constitution gives fundamental rights to individuals as citizens of India not to Communities such as Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or Christian. India’s for long dominant party, Congress with its hopeless and tragically magnificent obsession of “Hindu-Muslim” unity continues to cultivate Muslims, before 1947 for their participation in freedom struggle and since hen, for their votes. Frightened by Congress’ propaganda that RSS and Jana Sangh / BJP are from Hindu Raj, Moslems were block-voting for Congress but when the regional partis started eroding Congress’ strength , they started swinging to the regional parties ( Samajwadi and Bahujan in UP, RJD & JDU in Bihar; JD(U) in Karnataka, TRS in Telangana, NCP in Maharashtra, Communities TMC in West Bengal, DMK in Tamilnadu, Lok Dal in Haryana. So the Muslim vote swings between Congress and regional parties, which has a greater chance of defeating the so labelled Hindutva, BJP and till recently Shiva Sena.
5. As long as Islamic faith endures, Moslems by and large will, as before 1947 (and sine the 11th century) will not be truly fraternizing with kafirs, the Hindus. Dr B R Ambedkar fearlessly asserted in his magnum opus work in regard to Muslims in India, namely,” Pakistan or India Divided” and Thoughts on Pakistan”. In that book he argued for partition and exchange of minority populations between Pakistan and Hindustan as lasting settlement of the Muslims problem in India. While partition was accepted by Gandhiji and Congress .
6. While at the same deceptively asserting that they did not accept the two-nation theory of Muslims, the exchange of minority populations, though at one stage it was acceptable to Md Ali Jinnah-led Muslim League, did not take place. Ethnic cleansing of minorities is a continuing fact in Pakistan and Bangla Desh. It is a fact even in Muslim-majority India’s Kashmir from where almost all Hindus had to flee under the majority Islamists threat of conversion or death. Inspite of partition, ethnic cleansing of Hindus and Sikhs, Hindu-majority has not been unfair to Muslims is borne out by several facts such as Muslims becoming Chief Ministers in overwhelmingly Hindu states of Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Bihar, Delhi and Assam while not once could a Hindu become Chief Minister of J&K, where Hindus were not less than 33%. Muslims in India had become Chief Justices of the Supreme and High Courts; Hoe Ministers in Central and State governments, Vice-Chancellors (while no Hindu could become Vice-Chancellors of AMU, Jamia Millia, MANUU, all funded by the secular government of India); Generals. Air Marshals and c Commanders of India’s armed forces, Directors-General of Police, Ambassadors, Governors and Presidents of India - all by merit and not reservation or communal representation.
7. Besides the grievance that Muslims are not in legislatures in accordance with their proportion in population of the states and the country, they and their vote-seeking “secular”, progressive, liberal, Marxist” intellectuals often say that they should be in the “backward class” list and get a share in the reservations for B.Cs. Were the backward when they were the ruling class for centuries? Hindus were the under class during their rule and for another 150years under the British. Did they become backward because they lost the rulers’ exploitative power? During the last decades of the British rule, Muslims had reservation for admission to professional courses (engineering, medicine etc) and government jobs, 30% to 50% more than their proportion in population. ( I am sure about this in the Madras Presidency comprising Tamilnadu, AP and some districts in Kerala and Karnataka) why could they not quit backwardness? It appears that their religion and society ad life styes condition them to backwardness as understood in non-Muslim societies. No self-ruling Moslem country in the world eg: Turkey is as advanced (science, technology, literature, income, military-wise) as any European power. Instead of self-criticism and reform ascribing backwardness to the Hindu majority rule in India amounts to calumniating Hindus. As 98%, self-ruling majority are Muslims better of and not backward in Pakistan than Muslims or Hindus in India ? Indian Communists and their fellow-travelling academicians have been and are always in support of Muslims’ grievances, like inadequate representation. Never once did a Muslim become the Gen. Secretary of the Communist parties in India ( and also no a lady). In no Muslim country is there a living communist party Faiz md Faiz an eminent Urdu poet and prominent communist migrated to Pakistan; he could organize no communist party there; ignored ,shunned and persecuted perhaps, he migrated to India .
8. Muslims like the Swisis of Hyderabad talk of united front of “SCs, STs, BCs and minorities’ fight “Hindutva forces”. They don’t ever mention why Jogindranath Mondal of East Pakistan, as SC leader in alliance with Muslim League and first Law Minister in Pakistan, had to flee from Pakistan and died as a refugee in India. The lot of SCs did not improve under centuries long Moslem rule in India including Nizam was Hyderabad State.
9. As long as Muslim residents of India don’t confront the reality of their divisiveness and destruction of Hindus temples, and get conditioned by Madrasa instruction, so long will they blame Hindu majority for their elf-imposed backwardness and would often indulge in our-bursts like
10. “Akbaruddin Owaisi, MLA and Leader of Opposition Telangana Legislative Assembly boasted that, “if the police keep off for 30 mnts, all Hindus would be wiped off”.
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