[Reader-list] Muslims -- India's new 'untouchables'

[Kshmendra Kaul]

Dear Naeem
 
I was commenting on the posted article and not for a moment suggesting that you subscribe to all the views expressed therein.
 
Registered the other points made by you. Will not nitpick.
 
K

--- On Tue, 12/2/08, Naeem Mohaiemen <naeem.mohaiemen at gmail.com> wrote:

From: Naeem Mohaiemen <naeem.mohaiemen at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Muslims -- India's new 'untouchables'
To: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com
Cc: "reader-list at sarai.net" <reader-list at sarai.net>, taraprakash at gmail.com
Date: Tuesday, December 2, 2008, 2:21 PM

Dear Kshmendra

On Tue, Dec 2, 2008 at 2:16 PM, Kshmendra Kaul <kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com>
wrote:
> 1. If the position of Muslims in India is as terrible as it is made out to
> be, why is it that Muslims from Bangladesh in substantially large numbers
> have made India their home by illegal ingress and continue to do so?

1. I have never used the words "terrible" about Indian Muslims in any
of my posts. Most of the time I reserve that adjective and energy for
the condition of minorities in Bangladesh, which is more directly my
field of work. If a news item forwarded by me carries the words
"terrible" about Indian Muslims, that does not mean those are my
descriptors. I may agree with some parts of an analysis, and not
others, but will of course forward the whole article to let people
read and judge.

2. While I do not use the word "terrible", I would certainly say
Muslims are in an economically disadvantaged situation in India. I
also believe Hindus are in an economically disadvantaged situation in
Bangladesh. That is Partition's lasting legacy on both sides of
borders. Comparisons between countries are not terribly interesting,
but certainly I feel positions of Hindus in Bangladesh is very weak,
and it is one of the issues I work on.

3. The reason Bangladeshis migrate to India is because even the
economically disadvantaged situation in India is preferable to their
economic situation in Bangladesh. But we must also be aware that not
every person identified as "Bangladeshi" by rightist politicians is
Bangladeshi. This term is also used to skapegoat Bengali Muslims
broadly as an election strategy.

> 2. There are quite a few Indian Muslims in the Gulf. Many of them are as
> rich as any Indian from any other faith. If they wanted to, these rich
> Indian Muslims could shed all their interests in India and emigrate not
just
> with family but whole clans to countries where "residence through
> investment" can be secured. They do not. I personally do not know of
even
> one such example. Why do they not if the position of Muslims in India is
as
> terrible as is being suggested?

I don't know, this is an interesting question.

> 3. When Muslims in India make it to the 'directly elected by
people'
> legislatures and do so not solely on the basis of the 'Muslim
Vote', it
> suggests that things cannot be too terrible for Indian Muslims.

I agree that Muslims in India getting elected to Indian legislature is
a good thing when it happens.

In absolute numbers, I am sure Muslim political representation inside
India is better than Hindu political representation in Bangladesh. But
should Indians be satisfied with that comparison and consider the
issue resolved.

> Are Muslims as a minority disadvantaged in India? Of course they are but
> that is not something peculiar happening with Indian Muslims only. That is
> true of a minority in any part of the world especially when the
'available
> cake' is not large enough.

Agreed.

> It is true of Non-Muslim 'minorities' (on the basis of caste or
faith) in
> many parts of India itself.

Agreed as well.

> The exclusions to this are where a 'minority' grouping has created
it's own
> strong institutional framework to 'look after their own'. Cases in
example
> are the Parsis, Bohris, Aga Khanis.
>
> Minorities in any part of the world in most countries find themselves best
> catered to through "Self-Employment of Professionals",
"Individual
> Enterprise", "Individual Entrepreneurship". They find
themselves exceling
> where full dividends being realised from the skills of the individual are
> not slave to governmental or even corporate structures.
>
> In India this is certainly true in the fields Fine Arts, Performing Arts
and
> Sports apart from Doctors and Lawyers and Accountants etc. But it is also
> true for India that many Muslims have reached many high positions in
> government and corporate structures.
>
> These "Oh! my poor suffering Muslim brothers and sisters"
articulations from
> "abroad" such as Asra Nomani's only do harm to Muslims and
seek to create
> divides. They seek to stoke trouble.  We have seen that happening  with
the
> Sikhs and now also with the Hindus. They are enemies of India.