Call for a National Movement for Muslim Reservation

The Joint Committee of Muslim Organisations for Empowerment organised a National Convention on Muslim Reservation in New Delhi on February 1, 2009; Syed Shahabuddin, the distinguished erstwhile MP, was its Convenor. The following are the Concept Paper by Syed Shahabuddin for the Convention and the Resolution unanimously adopted at the gathering.

Concept Paper by Syed Shahabuddin

After independence, living under the shadow of Pakistan, the Muslim community was for long in a state of depression because it was targeted by the communal forces often in collusion with the local administration. The promulgation of the Constitution based on Democracy, Rule of Law, Social Justice and Secularism, in 1949, though the original Article 296 in the Draft Constitution providing for reservation for in legislature and due representation in the executive had been dropped, had revived their spirits to some extent. Unfortunately, during the years of transition between 1947-71, the community remained diffident about its future, faced as it was with recurring communal violence, blatant hostile discrimination and systematic vilification. The community handled the situation with equanimity under the leadership of the JUH, the JIH and the AIMMM. But its energies were largely consumed in protection against communal riots, defence of Muslim Personal Law, struggle for the restoration of the minority character of the AMU and provision of due academic space for Urdu. It was hardly in a position to undertake long-term planning for its future or to assert its due place to the fruits of planned development in terms of educational, economic and welfare benefits.

After the emergence of Bangladesh in 1971, the community realised that its future unquestionally lay in its motherland and that, along with the emergent social forces that had been unleashed by democracy and development, it had both to develop a stake in development and, at the same time, assert its equitable share through participation in public life. However, the Emergency in 1977 was a setback to the process of building trust and confidence. Hence, full participation began only after the restoration of democracy in 1977. Since then, the community has become increasingly vocal and assertive and has slowly changed its emphasis from issues of identity to those of participation and progress.

For the first time in 1982 a joint memorandum was submitted to the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. She appointed the High Power Panel under Dr Gopal Singh to recommend measures for the economic and social uplift of the minorities and announced the PM’s 15-Point Programme for Minority Welfare. The Panel submitted its Report in 1983 and recommended several positive and valuable steps including reservation in government jobs, in category III and category IV to begin with. However, the Report was released only in 1989, like the Report of the Mandal Commission submitted in 1980. Also in actual implementation, the 15-Point Programme made no particular impact on the situation. In the meantime the community was engulfed in the agitation on the Shah Bano case and the threat to the Babri Masjid and major massacres in Moradabad, Nelli and Bhagalpur. In the circumstances, it could not pay due attention to its quest for Social Justice or even to the implementation of the recommendations of the Gopal Singh Panel.

In 1989, the All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat (AIMMM) organised the Muslim Political Convention which adopted a Charter of Demands.

In 1994, the first National Convention on Muslim Reservation was held in Delhi; it demanded a separate sub-quota for the Muslims, as a Backward Class, in public employment, education, development and welfare benefits and bank credit with the provision that the Muslim sub-community, already notified as OBC, shall have preferential and priority claim on the Muslim sub-quota. In 1998 a National Consultation on Parliamentary Representation highlighted the persistent under-representation of the community in legislatures and demanded Muslim reservation under a joint electorate in proportion to its population. In 1999, the National Convention on Empowerment under the Movement for Empowerment of Muslim Indians (MOEMIN) reiterated the demand for Muslim reservation and emphasised that a minority’s path to empowerment passed in our context through reservation only.

In a delayed response to the Mandal Report in 1990, the Government announced 27 per cent reservation for the OBCs including several Muslim sub-communities. However, the community soon realised that under the Mandal dispensation, even their notional share of 4.2 per cent within the 27 per cent was not always forthcoming, because the common pool included politically well-connected, economically powerful and educationally advanced non-Muslim OBCs. This reinforced the demand for a separate sub-quota in proportion to its population and its level of backwardness relative to SC/ST, nationally and State-wise.

Following the examples set by Kerala and Karnataka between 1994 and 2004 political support for Muslim reservation grew. Various political parties including the Congress, the Left, the RJD, the LJP and the NCP, at least formally, extended their support to some extent. So did many prominent members of the intelligentsia.

At the ground level, some other States have taken significant steps to provide higher sub-quotas for the Muslim group. In 2004, the Indian National Congress (INC) included a provision for reservation for Muslims on the Kerala and Karnataka pattern in its Manifesto.

By implication, it became a part of the Common Minimum Programme. In 2005, the PMO appointed the High Level Committee under Justice Rajindar Sachar to compile and analyse all available data on educational, economic and social status of the community, nationally and State-wise. After a thorough analysis, the Committee submitted its report in November 2006. Its basic conclusion was that the Muslim community as a whole was almost as backward as the SC/ST and more backward than the non-Muslim OBCs. It also pointed out that several States with large Muslim population had not fully utilised reservation upto 50 per cent limit and had left out many Muslim OBCs. Unfortunately, the Committee did not make a clear recommendation that the Muslim community was entitled to reservation under Articles 15(4) and 16(4) as a Backward Class, though many of its recommendations were close to it.

In 2004, the UPA Government had also appointed the National Commission on Backward Religious and Linguistic Minorities under the Chairmanship of Justice Ranganath Mishra, a former Chief Justice of India, which submitted its Report to the Government in May 2007. This Commission made definite recommendations for 15 per cent reservation for the religious minorities, of which 10 per cent exclusively for the Muslims, plus the unutilised part of the other five per cent in education, government employment and development benefits, apart from other valuable ideas for their uplift.

Both the Sachar Committee and the Mishra Commission have recommended the inclusion of Muslim Dalits, now placed in the OBC Lists, to the SC Lists by amending the Constitution (SC) Order, 1950, issued under Article 341 of the Constitution.

The UPA Government also revised the PM’s 15-Point Programme which substantially went beyond the original, by allocating 15 per cent of the outlay on some Central and Centrally-sponsored social development schemes to the minorities and by taking up all Minority Concentration Districts, MCDs (20 per cent plus) for special development as well as some Minority Concentration Towns (MCTs) for development of their infrastructure. However, the government approach has many flaws and limitations and so far the New Programme has not made much impact.

The Government Order on the Sachar Report in May 2007 and the Action Taken Report in August show that except for some scholarships and a few schools in Muslim concentration areas nothing much has been achieved on the ground. The Government of India has not issued any overall report so far.

Faced with the sluggish and half-hearted approach, in 2007, major Muslim organisations formed a Joint Committee of Muslim Organisa-tions for Empowerment (JCMOE). The idea was to build up and sustain pressure on the Govern-ment for honest and earnest implementation of the measures for the uplift as announced. It is indeed shocking that 18 months after its submission the Mishra Report has not even been released to the public. The community looks upon this Report, by a National Commission headed by a former Chief Justice of India, as the biggest gain for the Muslim community since 1950, though it is silent on the question of under-representation of Muslim in the legislature, perhaps because of the constitutional and electoral complexities involved which are not possible to tackle without a wider national consensus and political will.

Subsequently, the JCMOE adopted a Charter of Demands based on the recommendations of the Mishra and Sachar Reports and has pursued them at various levels, but to no affect.

The consultation among the members of the JCMOE and some other leaders of Muslim opinion on December 13, 2008, reached the conclusion that no real progress on the question of employment and reservation was possible without making it the key demand for the Muslim community in the coming general elections and decided that the Muslim electorate be advised by the major Muslim organisations in the coming general elections to vote only for those secular parties which support the demand for Reservation; the JCMOE also decided to mobilise Muslim and secular opinion in this regard and for a sustained struggle to launch a National Movement for Muslim Reservation. To launch the Movement before and after the General Elections it decided to hold a National Convention on Muslim Reservation on February 1, 2009.

It is in pursuance of these decisions that the Convention is being held today in the august presence of Justice A.M. Ahmadi, the eminent jurist and former Chief Justice of India, and Saiyid Hamid, the eminent educationist and Chancellor of the Jamia Hamdard, who have kindly agreed to chair and inaugurate it.

On behalf of the Organising Committee and as the Convener of the JCMOE I welcome all of you to the Convention, particularly the represen-tatives of various secular parties, Muslim organisations and NGOs as well as represen-tatives of other religious communities. I welcome all participants in the Convention who have assembled here in the common hope that the Convention will serve to accelerate the achievement of our cherished goals in order to make the Muslim community a real partner in the development process particularly to the benefit of its backward sections so that the economic, educational and social disparities that exist are reduced and national unity is consolidated to the point of fraternity through justice and equality.

Resolution adopted at the National Convention

Whereas the principles of Secularism and Democracy, of Social, Economic and Political Justice and Equality of Status, and of Opportunity enshrined in the Preamble to the Constitution, form its foundation and whereas Articles 15(4) and 16(4) provide reservation for Backward Classes and whereas Article 46 calls upon the State to promote the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people and protect them from social injustice,

Whereas reservation for Muslims in the legislatures and due representation in the Services included in the first Draft of the Constitution (Article 296) was approved in August 1948, but on reconsideration in 1949, dropped from the final text in November 1949,

Recalling the valuable recommendations of the High Power Panel under Dr Gopal Singh in 1983 for special facilities for the Muslims for their uplift including reservation for Muslims in public employment initially in Groups C and D,

Considering the inclusion of some Muslim sub-communities in the lists of OBC by various States and later in the OBC list issued by the Central Government in 1990 under the Mandal Report, which provided for a notional share of 4.2 per cent in the 27 per cent reservation for OBC in government jobs and education,

Considering the recommendations of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) for reservation for Muslims in public employment and education and for due share in the benefits of welfare and development programmes,

Recalling the PM’s 15-Point Programme for the Welfare of the Minorities which emphasised need for special measures for educational and economic development of Muslims and due representation in government employment,

Reiterating the Resolutions and the Charter of Demands adopted by the Muslim Political Convention in 1989 and by the National Conference on Muslim Reservation in 1994, Muslim Parliamentarians in the 1998 Consultation on Representation in Legislatures, the National Convention on Muslim Empowerment in 1999 and at many State level and national conventions, conferences and seminars organised by Muslim organisations of national eminence, like Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind, Jamaat Islami-e-Hind, All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat and the All India Milli Council since the eighties which all demanded proportionate reservation for Muslims in public employment, education and benefits of welfare and development programmes and the innumerable memoranda submitted to the Government,

This Convention

Expresses appreciation to the UPA Government for including some Muslim demands in the Common Minimum Programme, for revising the PM’s 15-Point Programme for the Welfare of the Minorities, for setting up the PM’s High Power Committee to study educational, economic and social situation of the Muslims in depth under the Chairmanship of Justice Ranendar Sachar, the former Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, and for establishing the National Commission on Backward Religious and Linguistic Minorities under Justice Ranganath Mishra, the former Chief Justice of India, whose Reports have served to inspire hopes in the Muslim community for a new deal in accordance with the principles of Equality and Justice for the promotion of their rights and interests as a educationally and economically weaker sections;

Records its deep disappointment that despite PM Manmohan Singh’s repeated emphasis on Social Justice, Participatory Democracy and Inclusive Development, the economic and educational status of the Muslims, who constitute one-seventh of the total population and two-thirds of the religious minorities has registered little change during his term of office and that the economic disparities between the Muslims and others even among the low income groups—very poor, poor and vulnerable—have widened, not to speak of the middle and high income groups;

Considering that this downward trend is largely due to systematic, and sometimes deliberate, exclusion of Muslims from government employment, denial of full benefits of development and welfare and marginalisation in access to capital resources and opportunities for higher education, notes with regret that the PM’s New 15-Point Programme and the recommendations of the Sachar Committee have not been implemented in letter and spirit and, what is indeed unfortunate, the Report of the Mishra Commission submitted in May 2007 has not yet been placed in the public domain, for reasons better known to the Government;

Welcomes the initiative taken by Muslim organisations of national eminence to establish a Joint Committee of Muslim Organisations for Empowerment (JCMOE) on June 11, 2007, which adopted a Charter of Demands on Sachar and Mishra Reports in September 2007 and submitted it to the Government and the major political parties for their kind attention and which has subsequently decided to launch the National Movement for Muslim Reservation for conducting a sustained and continuous struggle to achieve the basic objectives of Reservation and Empowerment in order to secure for the community its due place in the nation and the opportunity to contribute to its progress and development in full measure;

Demands the formal recognition of the Muslim community as a Backward Class in the light of the findings and recommendations of the Sachar Committee and the Mishra Commission, as already done by several States like Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu;

Urges the immediate publication of the Mishra Commission Report, full implementation of its basic recommendations, namely, 15 per cent reservation for the minorities, with 10 per cent exclusively for the Muslims, along with the unutilised portion of the other five per cent, and the deletion of para 3 of the Constitution (SC) Order 1950, issued under Article 341 of the Constitution for the inclusion of Muslim and Christian Dalits in the SC List;

Reiterates the Resolution adopted by the National Conference on Reservation in 1994 that the Muslim OBCs shall enjoy first claim, priority and preference on the Muslim sub-quota;

Proposes that after the Mishra Commission’s recommendation has been implemented, the community as a whole, respond positively to any demand for the formal bifurcation of the Muslim sub-quota between the Muslim OBCs and the Other Muslims, in view of the persistent disparity;

Also demands that the Muslim OBCs which have been left out of the OBC Lists in several states may be included at the earliest both in the Central and the State lists;

Demands a development-oriented Census of all identifiable groups (communities, castes, sub-communities and sub-castes) in 2011 in order to determine the exact population of various social groups and their levels of backwardness relative to the SC/ST and thus scientifically fix their respective sub-quotas and remove the discrepancy between the Central and State lists of OBCs;

Urges the Central Government to move the Supreme Court of India to remove the 50 per cent ceiling on total reservation, in order to accommodate the rising population of the SCs, STs and OBCs, in the interest of Social Justice, setting the Centre and the States free to fix their total reservation in the light of the circumstances as recorded in the Census;

Reiterates its unflinching support to the exclusion of the Creamy Layer from all reservation quotas and sub-quotas and proposes that the Creamy Layer should be defined in terms of family income exceeding an agreed multiple of average family income in the country and also that the beneficiaries should, as far as practicable, must themselves come from low-income groups;

Calls upon the Central Government to place before the people a detailed Balance-Sheet on the economic development and educational progress of the Muslims during 2004-09, in terms of substantive growth achieved under various administrative and development initiatives, both by the nation as a whole, and by the Muslims in particular, which should include statistics on recruitment to various services and cadres at all levels, enrollment in schools and colleges and admission to professional and post graduate courses, reduction of poverty, share in key development and welfare schemes, and nomination to boards of directors of banks and other autonomous organizations and agencies.

Expresses gratitude to the secular parties which have in principle supported over the years the Muslim demands for their proportionate or due representation in various structures of governance and development, and included their long-standing aspiration in their election manifestos, in particular to the Indian National Congress (INC) for including the demand for reservation in its Manifesto of 2004;

Appeals to all secular political parties to exert due pressure on the government for urgent action on the recommendations of the Sachar and Mishra Reports, particularly in respect of inclusion of Dalit Muslims in the SC List and 10 per cent reservation for Muslims in public employment, education, development and welfare benefits and flow of capital resources;

Requests the Muslim organisations active in the electoral field to advise and guide the Muslim electorate, at the time of the General Elections 2009, to extend their support unitedly and massively only to such secular parties which are committed to Reservation for Muslims and field adequate number of Muslim candidates, acceptable to the community in all Muslim-winnable constituencies;

Launches the National Movement for Muslim Reservation, with faith in Allah, confidence in the cause and goodwill towards all and appeals to the Muslim community and all Muslim organisations for their active and wholehearted participation in the Movement, unitedly rising above sectarian, baradari and political considerations and strive peacefully in alliance with other deprived and marginalised groups for the realisation of their common long-cherished goals of progress and development of justice and equality for all.