However, ever since the Justice Sachar Committee came out with a report which said the obvious – that most Muslims living in India , who are converts from the poorest strata in Indian
Now, the same Congress wants to bring in a job reservation for Minorities, who in the Indian context mean mostly Muslims, and is vacillating back and forth on demands for a minority quota in the Lokpal (Ombudsman) panel. Sounds good. Secular India
The Yadav leaders of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh who have been seeing their votebank which at one time included members of the minorities, slipping from their grasp, have launched an attack in Parliament on the just introduced Lopal Bill, asking for a minority quota on the Lokpal panel. The Lokpal bill seeks to set up an Ombudsman body which will keep a check on public servants from the prime minister down, and seek to investigate and prosecute any involved in bribery or other forms of corruption.
The Congress is of course gleefully watching from the sidelines. If a quota on the panel is really passed by the Parliament, it could help reinforce Congress’s claim that its the greatest protector of minority rights. If it is not passed, then the opposition BJP can be blamed for being anti-minority and scuttling the issue.
In any case, Anna Hazare, the civil rights activist and former army-man fighting for a tough Lokpal bill, may have to travel into the wilderness as the agenda is now changing from how tough or weak the bill will be, to whether its sensitive towards India’s minorities and backwards.
The Left parties – CPI and CPM – who never really fully supported Hazare despite flirting with him, have picked up this chance to demand quotas for women, scheduled castes and tribes on the panel.
The problem for Hazare and his ilk is that they mostly represent upper class, upper caste Indians. The demands which are shifting the ground from under this bill are demands for giving representation to those who are considered on the margins of India
Till now, Indian Muslims like many other Indians felt that a formal structure like the Lokpal is needed to fight corruption which has been eating into
However, demands for quotas which some politicians have been raising for some time in different contexts, would obviously take precedence in the mindspace of many within the community, helping divide the by and large middle class movement to bring in a Lokpal.
Especially as the battle over what kind of a Lokpal will be brought forth really precedes the formalisation of a job quota for minority poor. India has a long held policy of positive discrimination which reserves jobs in civil services, state run corporations and educational institutes besides seats in colleges for marginalised sections of society. The Congress is seriously considering bringing forth rules which would give economically backward Muslims a sub-quota within the 27 per cent Backward Castes quota. A figure of 6 per cent is being bandied about. Though this may come down if other politically powerful backward castes object.
Post Script: Since posting this blog, the Indian cabinet has passed a 4.5 per cent quota for minorities within the overall backward castes quota in government jobs, state run educational institutes etc. It means out of every 100 jobs in government, 4 will be reserved for the economically weak among minorities from all religions other than Hindus (who form the majority) whose communities are listed in the Indian Government's list of backwards. The main gain, if any, from this quota should accrue to Muslims families who have been traditionally weavers, leatherworkers, ironsmiths, armourers etc.. However, whether the beneficaries would be truly economically and socially backward minority families, is something which only time will tell.
Post Script: Since posting this blog, the Indian cabinet has passed a 4.5 per cent quota for minorities within the overall backward castes quota in government jobs, state run educational institutes etc. It means out of every 100 jobs in government, 4 will be reserved for the economically weak among minorities from all religions other than Hindus (who form the majority) whose communities are listed in the Indian Government's list of backwards. The main gain, if any, from this quota should accrue to Muslims families who have been traditionally weavers, leatherworkers, ironsmiths, armourers etc.. However, whether the beneficaries would be truly economically and socially backward minority families, is something which only time will tell.
3 comments:
Lokpal bill seems to be turning out to be a Jokepal bill. political parties want to take the credit of providing reservation for different sections of the society, but on merit the bill seems to be a weak one.
Lokpal can inquire into allegations of corruption only against those referred by the government and investigating agency CBI would be under the control of the government.
At a time when the level of honesty in the society is quite low, and there is an urge for the corruption to end, as seen from the spontaneous outburst of anger to the call of Anna on the issue from people of different walks of live, one expected the peoples'representative, to listen to the voice of the people.
Peoples' representatives are not supreme, neither is judiciary or executive. Only thing which is supreme is the book called the Constitution and it begins with the Preamble "We the People", everything is subservient to it.
A balanced, well argued presentation. I felt the same watching noisy Parliament proceedings on TV.
The Opposition parties and Team Anna, have succeeded in projecting the anti-graft and Lokpal as anti-Congress and anti-UPA Government, thanks to the strong middle class perceptions and the media hype, again by editors and reporters, who represent the upper middle class. Thje government, on its part, lost its nerves in the face of the combined onslaught. All of them missed out the depth and inevitability of the political processes and the social dynamics.
The Opposition displayed crass opportunism by joining Anna platform on one day and taking a different line at the all-party meeting. It wanted the government to hold back the bill, and not do things "in haste." Had government done that, the same Opposition would have attacked it.
Jayanta is right in concluding that Hazare's is essentially an urban, middle class asnd largely upper caste movement. The poor are not included -- and they are not bothered about corruption as a slogan.
The tabling of the bill in Parliament should be a turning point for the government -- assuming it will play its cards well. It should be a turning point, also, for Hazare and those around him who are manipulating him. Their political ambitions (in some cases, also economic offences) have been exposed.
As for the quota, this has been the government's trump card vis a vis the political class.How it works remains to be seen. Surely, it has been used and misused in the last six decades. But it has also brought benefits to those for whom they were intended. We all want merit to be the criterion, but we cannot ignore the past baggage of discrimination that persists even today.
Lokpal has to be within the Constitution, and not outside it. It cannot be a super legislature/executive/judiciary. It hass got to be the creation of Parliament, tempered by law and judiciary's interpretation --- a point that Hazare does not understand and his Team has conveniently ignored.
Jayanta, that was a good balanced piece. Corruption is such an emotive issue, but an effective solution is only possible through complete selflessness and a principled approach. Playing politics will not bring the answer nor should one be perceived to be playing politics. That is why Gandhi was such an exceptional man!
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