Muslims: Pasmanda

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A backgrounder

July 8, 2022: The Times of India

Mohammed Wajihuddin explains Muslims in India are not a homogenous group. Broadly, there are three social groupings — Ashraaf, Ajlaaf and Arzaal. Ashraaf is the plural of sharif (elite). The Ashraaf comprise Sayyids, Shaikhs, Pathans, among others, and are traditionally the dominant social group. 
 
Ajlaaf is the plural of jilf (uncivilised), and this group constitutes mainly artisans. Arzaal is the plural of razeel (‘lowliest’). Ajlaaf and Arzaal together comprise the Pasmanda, which is a Persian word that means “left behind”. 
Since most Muslims in India retained their profession even after embracing Islam, there was little economic or social upward mobility associated with the conversion. “The nature of the work they did didn’t change though they came in the fold of Islam because of the religion’s principle of egalitarianism,” said Ali Anwar, former MP and founder-president, All India Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz.

A Deeply Felt Need

Anwar launched the Mahaz to fight for the rights of Pasmanda Muslims in 1998 after he received the A K Birla Fellowship to study Dalit Muslims in Bihar. Subsequently, former Prime Minister V P Singh launched Anwar’s seminal book “Maswat Ki Jung’ or Struggle for Equality, based on his research. The book and the Mahaz pitchforked Anwar, a former Hindi journalist, into the league of Muslim leaders crusading for the Pasmanda.

Anwar says the condition of “Dalits among Muslims” cannot be improved unless they are recognised as Scheduled Castes (SCs) by amending Article 341, which originally recognised only Hindus as SCs. Later, amendments allowed Hindu converts to Sikhism and Buddhism to retain their SC status, but SCs who convert to Islam or Christianity lose their caste status.

Pasmanda Muslims’ Recognition As OBCs

Several commissions, including those headed by B P Mandal, Rangnath Mishra and Rajinder Sachar, recognised the existence of discrimination among Muslims on the basis of class. 
Shabbir Ansari, who along with late actor Dilip Kumar (Yusuf Khan), senior Urdu columnist Hassan Kamal, and others, crusaded for recognition for Pasmanda Muslims as OBCs, said the government of Maharashtra was the first to recognise a clutch of Muslim sub-classes as OBCs in 1967. In 1980, the Mandal Commission submitted its report and in August 1989 the V P Singh government implemented its recommendations, carving out a 27% quota for OBCs. This is when more Muslim sub-classes were added to the OBC list, and currently 79 such sub-classes enjoy reservation benefits as OBCs.

Resistance Within The Community

Ansari says there was a time when the Ashraaf denied the existence of the Ajlaaf and the Arzaal citing how kings and paupers stand together in submission to Allah at namaz. “At many places I was driven out (of congregations) and even attacked when I tried to explain that Muslims too have backward classes. I told them it is not about castes but classes. Gradually, they began accepting it. ” Ansari says he told actor Dilip Kumar that he was a Pasmanda because his father was a fruit-seller, thus an OBC. “Since there was not much clarity on the existence of OBCs among Muslims, many officers in Maharashtra would not issue OBC certificates to Muslim applicants,” he said. 
On December 7, 1994, then Maharashtra chief minister Sharad Pawar issued a Government Resolution (GR) which said that Muslim OBCs would be treated on a par with Hindu OBCs. This opened reservation for many Muslim

OBCs in education and jobs.

“A majority of Muslim doctors, engineers, other professionals and government employees have come through the OBC quota route. If the Pasmanda had not benefited from the OBC quota, Muslims would have remained further down on the socio-economic ladder,” said Urdu columnist Hassan Kamal.

In 2014, the Congress-NCP government in Maharashtra identified 50 backward classes among Muslims and gave them 5% reservation in education and jobs. The decision was challenged in the high court, which allowed 5% reservation only in education. But the government changed soon after and the new BJP government did not show any inclination to pursue the matter.

Where Do The Pasmanda Stand Today?

Both Anwar and Ansari say while a section of Pasmanda Muslims has gained economically, they are discriminated against socially. “Many Sayyids, Shaikhs, Siddiquis and Pathans don’t marry Pasmanda Muslims like Ansaris, Dhunias, Nadafs, Halal Khors, Shikalgars, Salmanis and many others,” said Anwar. 
Unlike Hindu Dalits, the Pasmanda are not very assertive due to pervasive poverty and educational backwardness. “We hope the PM’s call to reach out to the Pasmanda brings some positive change and does not remain a mere slogan,” said Anwar.