Author: M. A. Siraj
Publication: The Times of India
Date: June 15, 2004
An architectural historian at Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, 48-year-old Omar Khalidi 's passion is the future
of Indian Muslims. Hyderabad-born, Khalidi calls for Muslims to re-examine
their sorry condition from within, rather than look for scapegoats. M A
Siraj spoke to Khalidi who was on a lecture tour of India recently:
You have studied the Indian Muslim
situation for years. How does the community fit into the larger picture
of India ?
For the present, they do not fit
into the tech-savvy, high income, self-confident India of the 21st century.
Despite the famous Khans of the Bollywood, Infotech czar Premji, and the
famed musicians, most Muslims are far poorer than their compatriots. Their
stock in the political decision making is empty. Thin dispersal of the
Muslims across the country prevents their numbers from being shown in legislative
seats. Many constituencies with large Muslim voting population have been
reserved for the SCs. Without some political leverage, public policies
cannot be changed. The biggest Muslim concern today is physical security
of life and property. Followed by economic and educational opportunities.
For this one cannot blame the government alone. Muslims need a huge amount
of self-introspection to find the lacunae.
Have the Indian Muslims benefited
from the socio-economic development of India in the post-Independence era?
No, they have not, but not because
they are Muslims, but because the economic policies pursued by successive
governments have benefited only the upper middle classes and the rich and
leave out the rural poor, the urban slum dwellers, SCs and women. The Muslims
become worse off because there is a political culture of indifference towards
them. I say indifference - not discrimination - because Muslims do not
have the political clout, which was lost in the wake of Pakistan 's creation.
They inherited the stigma for Pakistan 's birth. So when public funds are
distributed, there is a tendency to ignore them. The same policy would
have been pursued in the case of the SCs, but they are protected by the
policy of reservation at all levels. A new middle class emerged out of
the ranks of the deprived SCs, far outpacing Muslims. You once called
for the 'Bohraisation' of Muslims.
By that I mean that Muslims ought
to take more interest in trade, small businesses and self-employment. The
era of flabby civil service is over. The path of upward social mobility
is by entrepreneurship. In this venture, they have their own Prophet Mohammad
as the role model. Don't forget that he and his wife were both merchants.
And Bohras - whatever their sectarian beliefs are - have followed the example
of the Prophet almost to the letter. The vast majority of the Bohras are
small and medium businessmen and industrialists. Only a tiny number of
Bohras are independent professionals. I have not heard of a Bohra in government
employment, exceptions apart. The Aga Khani Khojas, Memons, Nawaits of
Bhatkal in Karnataka, Tamil Labbais, Saudagaran of Delhi, Kolkata and UP
and elsewhere can be good role models for other Muslims.
You have advanced the theory of
'cantonisation' of India and 'consociational power structure' in order
to empower minorities. Could you explain these concepts?
'Cantonisation' may be misconstrued.
What I mean is the democratic decentralisation as enshrined in our Constitution
as recommended by the Sarkaria Commission of 1988. It will
be economically efficient and satisfy ethnic, linguistic, sub-regional
aspirations. The more India decentralises, the better it will be governed
as the distance between the ruler and the ruled narrows. I see no harm
if a state of 'Mewat' is created by merging the Meo-majority tehsils of
Alwar and Bharatpur in Rajasthan with contiguous Meo-majority teh-sils
of Gurgaon and Faridabad in Haryana on the lines of Jharkhand and Uttaranchal.
A series of Urdu-majority Union territories - if not full-fledged states
- can be created out of the districts of Bijnor, Moradabad , Rampur , Saharanpur
in UP; out of Kishenganj, Katihar and Purnea in Bihar . The same is true
of certain talukas of Bidar, Gulbarga , and Hyderabad in Karnataka and
Andhra Pradesh. My model is of course Malappuram, carved out in 1969. Today,
Malappuram is one of the peaceful and progressive districts in Kerala.
Consociational theory implies that
the society recognises that the nation consists of various segments
with legitimate religious and cultural demands, though not economic
and educational. For each segment to be empowered, the electoral system
must be revised to permit greater electabi-lity than is presently possible.
I think, either the constituencies be demarcated in such a way that minority
groups become majorities; or reserve seats on the pattern of the reserved
constituencies presently available only to the SCs and the STs.
The difference with the separate
electorates of the British would be that everyone in each constituency
would be eligible to vote regardless of religious affiliation, though the
candidates would be from a particular group, as is the case with the present
reserved constituencies.
