[Reader-list] Pasmanda Intellectuals' Forum Questions...

Sun Jun 14 20:50:55 IST 2009

In fact its like that everywhere.

South asian has been described as homo hierarchus, and we have very vertical
societies, meaning layers and layers very deep. the zaat and caste,
biradari, clan (with some/ afew new additions and adjustments) has just not
changed very much. I dont think social change has had substantial effect on
that. certainly not among muslim zaats, castes, biradaris, clans.

On Sun, Jun 14, 2009 at 8:06 PM, Inder Salim <indersalim at gmail.com> wrote:

> thanks Kshmendra ji
> for this link,
>
> Javed's reflections to Arshad was quite limited in scope, however sincere.
>
> Here, just to add, about kashmir: Wattal ( low caste muslims in
> kashmir ) are located in their own mohallas, own coloines,with their
> own shrines, graveyards and mosques, their music and marrainge
> cermonies are a shade different than the main stream,.
>
> then we have people Hanz, ( fishermen) who are traditionally live
> around river and dal lake,. they too have their own systems of living,
> and here again, markedly differnent from others, no marraiges between
> similar faiths,
>
> then we have gujjar and bakarwal muslims living around the periphery
> of kashmir mountain range who are quite far from mainstream upper
> caste muslims in kashmir.
>
> Yoginder Sikands's research in the subject is well placed and
> questions the so called monolithic  Mulsim community in India.
> The political vocabullary is so limited and ruthless, often createinng
> an imaginery enemy
>
> there are communities within muslim society  in indi which are truly
> opressed and below poverty level, which needs redressal.
>
>
> love
> is
>
>
> On Sun, Jun 14, 2009 at 4:48 PM, Kshmendra Kaul<kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > You might like to read through the following:
> >
> > - "Islam And Caste Inequality Among Indian Muslims"
> > http://www.countercurrents.org/sikand150204.htm
> >
> >
> >
> > --- On Sat, 6/13/09, M Javed <javedmasoo at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >
> > From: M Javed <javedmasoo at gmail.com>
> > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Pasmanda Intellectuals' Forum Questions...
> > To: "arshad amanullah" <arshad.mcrc at gmail.com>
> > Cc: reader-list at sarai.net
> > Date: Saturday, June 13, 2009, 9:59 PM
> >
> >
> > Dear Arshad
> > I have never figured out if I am a pasmanda or ashraf or ajlaf. How
> > does one find that out. I don't have a tag of a caste or sub-caste
> > with my name, nor have I ever been told by my parents or family about
> > it. And how do the selectors of a job like a VC find out if a
> > candidate is a pasmanda or ashraf. Apparently "Ansaris" are supposed
> > to be the ajlaf or pasmanda, but Hamid Ansari (our vice-president) and
> > so many other Ansaris have been among the elite of the Muslims for so
> > many generations. So how does it work out then.
> >
> > Javed
> >
> > On 6/13/09, arshad amanullah <arshad.mcrc at gmail.com> wrote:
> >> [With apologies for X-posting]
> >>
> >> An Open Letter to the President Ms. Pratibha Patil
> >>
> >>
> >> The last two decades in Indian democracy have witnessed wider
> >> acknowledgement and interrogation of the disproportionate hegemony of
> >> upper castes in the structures of power. Quite clearly such overt
> >> domination of a few elite oligarchic caste groups in decision making
> >> processes runs against the pluralist and democratic ambitions of the
> >> Indian Constitution. The persistence of such trends does not augur
> >> well for the future of this nation.
> >>
> >> The legitimacy of the category of caste in non-Hindu (minority)
> >> communities is now officially established. The inclusion of 82 Muslim
> >> caste groups in the OBC list of the Mandal Commission Report in 1990
> >> was a watershed event in this context. The presence of caste in Muslim
> >> community is also reaffirmed by the recent Sachhar Committee Report
> >> and the report of the Ranganath Mishra Commission on Linguistic
> >> Minorities.
> >>
> >> Moreover, apart from the official recognition there is a strong
> >> movement among the dalit/backward caste Muslims that is gaining ground
> >> in North India (especially UP and Bihar). The movement is called the
> >> ‘Pasmanda Movement’ and it is articulating the anxiety and anger of
> >> the Pasmanda Muslim sections over their blatant social exclusion. It
> >> must be borne in mind that the Pasmanda Muslims (dalit/backward caste
> >> Muslims; also called ajlaf and arzal) constitute about 75% of the
> >> Indian Muslim population (the remaining 25% is formed by the upper
> >> caste ashraf Muslims). The politics of numeric should itself suffice
> >> to suggest that their claims can not be taken lightly. The
> >> marginalisation of Pasmanda Muslims from state and community-controlle
> >> d institutions is an issue that perhaps needs to be urgently
> >> addressed.
> >>
> >> In this context, the recent reports about the selection process of the
> >> Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the Jamia Milia Islamiya University (JMI), New
> >> Delhi have once again disappointed the Pasmanda Muslim sections. In
> >> historical terms, ‘Muslim’ institutions like AMU and JMI have
> >> exhibited strong rigidity in accommodating persons from non-ashraf
> >> social locations as VC’s. If the claims of the Pasmanda Movement are
> >> true then not even a single VC in these institutions has been
> >> appointed from the Pasmanda Muslim communities since Independence (Mr.
> >> Hamid Ansari, the former VC of AMU who is usually taken to be a
> >> Pasmanda Muslim arguably comes from an ashraf family). Quite clearly
> >> the empanelment process of the Vice Chancellor in these two
> >> institutions is a strong testimony to such prejudices.
> >>
> >> Recently, a ‘Search Committee’ (comprising Justice Saghir Ahmed, Syed
> >> Hamid and Prof. Yashpal) constituted a panel of five persons for the
> >> Vice Chancellorship of JMI (see: The Indian Express, New Delhi
> >> edition, 12 June 2009) and submitted it to the President (visitor to
> >> the University). The panel includes Mr. Afzal Amanullah, Prof.
> >> Mushirul Hasan, Prof. Faizan Ahmad, Mr. Najeeb Jung and Mr. Mohd
> >> Shakeel Ahmad. While two members in the panel are academics, the rest
> >> are bureaucrats. Remarkably, neither the search committee nor the
> >> panel includes even a single name from non-ashraf Muslim communities!
> >>
> >> There are credible reports that an IAS officer from the UP cadre Mr.
> >> Anis Ansari, who also comes from a Pasmanda biradari, did offer his CV
> >> for the purpose. Moreover, having served as Secretary Agriculture and
> >> as Agricultural Production Controller (APC) of UP twice he did have
> >> the experience of managing and dealing with the affairs of higher
> >> education (including the prestigious Pantnagar Agriculture
> >> University). Besides, he has also served at the level of Additional
> >> Chief Secretary of UP and has held key positions in the departments of
> >> Rural Development, Industry and Urban Development etc. Yet his name
> >> was not deemed fit to be even mentioned in the panel of five. What is
> >> more remarkable is the fact that all the other bureaucrats favoured
> >> over him are either junior to him or had dissociated themselves from
> >> public service by taking voluntary retirement from the IAS way back
> >> (Mr. Najeeb Jung and Mr. Mohd Shakeel Ahmad). The selection process of
> >> the panel clearly underlines the strong and deeply entrenched
> >> prejudice against the Pasmanda Muslim communities. Afterall, what
> >> explains this anomaly and elision if not caste discrimination of the
> >> worst order?
> >>
> >> What is even more intriguing is that India, a nation of one billion
> >> people, is so deficient in human resources that a man in his 80’s, and
> >> with all the problems that old age brings, is allowed to play
> >> arbitrary and decisive roles in the affairs of ‘Muslim’ institutions
> >> in particular and the affairs of the Muslim community in general.
> >> Moreover, this particular person is highly distrusted by the Pasmanda
> >> sections of Muslims and his prejudices against a particular region are
> >> more than evident. He, in the capacity of AMU-VC, outrageously denied
> >> admissions to many students of Bihar. The aggregate of marks awarded
> >> by Bihar School Exam Board were supposed by him to be unduly inflated
> >> and hence he initiated the practice of deducting 5% marks from the
> >> aggregate while preparing the merit list for admissions to 11th
> >> standard in AMU.
> >>
> >> Let us reiterate that all these events are being monitored with
> >> anxious curiosity by the Pasmanda Muslim sections and all democratic
> >> citizens of this country. This is high time that the process of
> >> democratisation is initiated in ‘Muslim’ institutions and other
> >> structures of power. The Search Committee, the Executive Council and
> >> other such bodies of JMI, AMU et cetera must be made socially
> >> representative.
> >>
> >> In this respect, the appointment of the VC for JMI forms the acid test
> >> for Indian democracy and the commitment of the government of the day
> >> to the issues of social justice and social exclusion. The anger and
> >> frustration is brewing in Pasmanda Muslim communities over these
> >> repeated acts and instances of their structural marginalisation.
> >>
> >>  We, therefore, request the President Ms. Pratibha Patil to look into
> >> this matter and do the need-some. Moreover, we urge her to reinitiate
> >> the process of empanelment for the VC of JMI so as to ensure greater
> >> transparency and address the anomalies in the present panel
> >> convincingly. We sincerely hope that she will consider the sentiments
> >> of the huge Pasmanda Muslim masses before arriving at a suitable
> >> decision.
> >>
> >>
> >> 'Pasmanda Intellectuals' Forum, New Delhi
> >>
> >>
> >> ***The Pasmanda Intellectual’s Forum (PIF) is a small informal group
> >> of activists, journalists and intellectuals who deliberate on the
> >> issues concerning pasmanda and other subaltern sections like bahujans,
> >> gender, working classes, tribals and so on. They aspire for a plural
> >> and democratic India and strive to intervene in issues that take
> >> forward this agenda. Their overriding concern is to provide visibility
> >> to marginalized issues by articulating it and bringing it to the
> >> public sphere so that an informed debate can take place on the same.
> >> It does not have a formal hierarchical structure and is facilitated by
> >> a Coordinating Committee. Though it operates out of Delhi it has no
> >> spatial limitations and is open to all democratic citizens from any
> >> caste, creed, gender, class or religious location.
> >>
> >> At present the Coordinating Committee comprises Mr. Ashok Yadav
> >> (Patna), Mr. Noor Hasan Azad (Patna), Mohd. Hishamuddin (Patna), Mr.
> >> Raza Abbas (Aligarh), Dr. Mohd. Sajjad (Aligarh), Mr. Khalid Anis
> >> Ansari (New Delhi), Mr.Qasim Ansari (New Delhi), Mr. Naresh Kumar
> >> (Lucknow).***
> >> _________________________________________
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>
>
> --
>
> http://indersalim.livejournal.com
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