Why the Dalit Bahujan Social Justice Excludes Pasmanda Muslims: The Savarna Is An Enemy But The Ashraf Is An Ally
By
Adnan Qamar, New Age Islam
15 July
2023
Majority
Of Dalit And Hindu OBC Intellectuals And Social Media Influencers Don't Even
Engage With The Pasmanda Muslim Question
Main
Points:
1. Dalit and
Bahujan intellectuals ally with Ashrafs; ignoring the plight of Pasmanda
Muslims
2. Waman
Meshram, a Bahujan leader, refused to entertain the question of caste
discrimination amongst Muslims
3. Under the
influence of Ashraf, Dalit and Bahujan intellectuals, some Pasmandas end up
berating Hindu beliefs, which is un-Islamic practice, and hence needs to stop.
4. The
Pasmandas should stop looking for support elsewhere and start to develop their
own leadership.
-------
Many
Ambedkarites are heard urging the unification of SCs, STs, OBCs & Muslims.
However, the majority of these pseudo-Ambedkarites are so much in awe of upper
caste Muslims (Ashrafs), that they have forgotten the question of social
justice within the Indian Muslim society. In other words, they are completely
silent on the exclusion of lower caste Pasmanda Muslims by the Ashrafs.
---------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------
The
majority of Dalit and Hindu OBC intellectuals and social media influencers
don't even engage with the Pasmanda Muslim question. They purposefully avoid
them, ignore them, and only interact with Ashraf Muslims. This gives Ashraf
Muslims more confidence to insult, mock, and make fun of Pasmanda Muslim
activists. While promoting equality, fraternity, and liberty, they critique Brahmanical
social order but remain silent on similar discrimination within the Muslim
society. This is nothing but the reiteration of Ashraf politics: making fun of
Hindu social order while remaining silent on strictures of oppression within
the Muslim society.
The
Silence of Bahujan Leader Waman Meshram
A few days
ago, there was a round table discussion hosted by the SC-ST-OBC-Muslim Front in
Hyderabad. In this meeting, I got the opportunity to speak to Waman Meshram
after five long years. I must disclose that I had worked with him till 2018,
when I decided to quit. Meshram spoke about uniting the SCs, STs, OBCs, and
minorities. To the Muslim audience present in the meeting, he requested that he
be referred to as a Dalit but not as a Hindu. He told the audience that
labeling him a Hindu was equivalent to abusing him. The Muslims in the audience
were overjoyed by this statement, banging their tables in affirmation.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------
According
to Waman Meshram, Muslims have experienced oppression since August 15, 1947,
whereas lower caste Hindus have endured oppression for three thousand years. He
argued that if all of these oppressed people unite together, they can overthrow
the ‘fascist’ BJP-RSS government. When my turn came, I corrected him, arguing
that Muslims do not exist as a monolithic community. I told him that 90% of
Indian Muslims are converts from Hindu lower castes. But even after becoming
Muslim, they continue to experience discrimination from upper caste Muslims or
Ashrafs. I gave him an example of Pichakuntla Muslims of Telangana who are
treated as untouchables till now. I asked him how his movement can include
Ashraf who have been the historical oppressors for large majority of Ajlaf
Muslims? I also questioned the reluctance of his organization (BAMCEF) to support
the voice of Pasmanda Muslims. Fundamentally, my question was aimed at his
duplicitous morality which allies with the Ashraf against the upper caste
Hindus or Savarna. In other words, he remains committed to the question of
social justice within Hindus but remains silent on the issue social justice
within Muslim society.
---------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------
After my
intervention, Waman Meshram quickly departed the meeting, while saying:
"You Muslims decide among yourself the question of discrimination”.
Ashrafs, present in same meeting got extremely annoyed with me. The hypocrisy
of Ashrafs and leaders of Bahujan organisations present there astounded me. I
came to the painful realization that it is not the concern for social justice
that drives their politics, rather it is their politics which defines what kind
of social justice they should espouse. I also realized that Pasmanda Muslims
must develop their own leadership; they cannot rely on the support of others.
A Muslim
Should Never Insult Other Religions
During my
interactions, I have noticed that when Dalit leaders and leftist atheists
degrade Hindu gods, beliefs, and culture, Ashrafs chuckle and take pleasure in
it. This behavior is wholly in opposition to Islamic teachings. Allah says: “Do not revile those whom they
invoke other than Allah, because they will revile Allah in ignorance out of
spite. For We have indeed made the deeds of every people seem fair to them.
Then, their return is to their Lord and He will inform them of what they have
done” (Quran 6:108). This verse of the Holy Quran indicates that it is
forbidden to insult the gods of other religions. But, due to the provocation of leftist
Ashrafs, many Hindus, in turn, mock and insult Islamic teachings and even the
Prophet Muhammad. This leads to religious conflict because of which Pasmanda
Muslims suffer a lot. The artisanal and service providing Muslim castes are in
daily contact with Hindu society. Such a conflict adversely affects their
businesses and even endangers their lives. It is not a coincidence that
majority of those lynched in such violence have been Pasmandas. A Muslim,
therefore, should never provoke followers of other religions. But the Ashraf
are so far removed from social reality that they do not pay heed even to this
basic Islamic teaching. Some Pasmandas, who blindly follow the Ashraf, also
indulge in the game of berating Hindu religious traditions. This needs to stop
in the interest of maintaining the social fabric of society.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Also
Read: What Caste-Based
Census May Offer To The Pasmanda Muslims In Bihar?
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The
Plight of Pasmandas
Presently, Pasmanda Muslims lack access to education, jobs, and positions of importance. We know that nearly ninety percent of the Indian Muslim population are engaged in the informal sector of the economy, among them the overwhelming majority being Pasmanda Muslims. From street hawkers to mechanics to rickshaw pullers, the Muslim labour on the Indian street is in fact derived from the various Pasmanda castes.
A number of committees have pointed out that their situation
is worse than that of SCs and the STs. As the Sachar Committee points out, the
Ajlaf and the Arzals within the Muslim community are ‘nearly absent’ from class
1 jobs. For a community as deprived as the Pasmandas, it is expected that
parties who proclaim social justice as their motto, should raise their voice
against this exclusion faced by marginalised Muslim castes. Unfortunately,
these parties are in cahoots with the Ashraf worldview which denies the very
existence of caste within the Indian Muslim society. It is therefore imperative
on the Pasmanda movement to develop its own leadership and work towards the
betterment of their society and the country as a whole.
-----
Adnan
Qamar is a social activist, speaker, election strategist and a student of law
working for the upliftment of Pasmanda Muslims.
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-sectarianism/dalit-bahujan-pasmanda-muslims-savarna-ashraf/d/130213
New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism