NEW DELHI THURSDAY | JULY 28, 2011 3rdeye 09
What quota if all are equal?
Islam does not allow for distinctions within the community which is referred to as a biradri or brotherhood of equals. How
can then the Muslim demand for reserved jobs and seats in educational institutions be met by giving them a quota within PRAFULL GORADIA
caste-based quotas? This inherent flaw in the solution offered by Salman Khurshid merits a closer look and debate
nion Minister for Minority Affairs torates, reservation in jobs and establish-
U Salman Khurshid has said that
reservation for Muslims will be
adjusted within the OBC quota. Is this,
ment of a Muslim university. In the
course of a century, Muslim universities
have been founded, not only Jamia Millia
however, not un-Islamic? Prof M Mujeeb Islamia but also one each at Murshidabad,
in his book Indian Muslims has stated that Kishenganj, Ajmer, Bengaluru.
Muslims are a biradri or brotherhood. The Mallapuram and Patna are also in the
community is a political as well as a reli- queue. The consistency in the design for
gious society. Both these aspects have been separatism is admirable.
regarded as inseparable because Islamic A separate Central Board for Madarsas
teaching insists upon the integration of the on the lines of CBSE cannot improve the
two faces of life. It ordains that the reli- quality of learning but it would ensure a sep-
gious and the worldly life should be organ- arate curriculum. Darul Qazas or Sharia’h
ised on the basis of the same values, that courts, which are already operating, are a
equality before god should be given parallel judiciary and clearly separate. The
expression in the form of legal and polit- personal laws for the community are also
ical equality. separate and based on the sharia’h. Yet all
Evidently, Muslims cannot be divided other Islamic laws, including punishment
into castes, some of whom can then share for crimes, are ignored. Muslims readily fall
something that is meant for a Yadav or a in line with the Indian Penal Code and all
Kurmi or a Nai or a Dhobi or a Kumhar et other civil laws out of expedience.
al. By now there are any number from these As if the string of Muslim universities,
castes or professions who have become so in existence as well as being set up, are not
prosperous that they would be embarrassed sufficient, the Government has been per-
by even a hint of reservation. If the OBC suaded to declare Muslim concentration
were categorised by their vocation, as districts, presumably to serve as Islamic
claimed by Mr Kamal Faruqi (Delhi Head island camps. In order to appease his vote-
of the Personal Law Board, in a recently bank the Prime Minister has repeatedly
given interview on TV) a Brahmin who declared ‘Muslims first’ as his policy.
happens to be a tailor or a barber or a dhobi As if the National Minorities
or a potter, would get the benefit of reser- Commission was not sufficient, the
vation? I knew several Muslim families in Government was persuaded to have a
the Matiaburz locality of Kolkata who were Ministry for Minorities Affairs and the
Jatav before they converted. Would they be Minister has consistently been a Muslim,
entitled to a share in the quota meant for not a Christian, a Parsi or a Sikh.
Scheduled Castes? Prof Mujeeb has gone out of his way to
The Mandal Commission as well as the emphasise that the Muslim community is
Bakshi Panch of Gujarat have stressed social shown that the average Dalit does not ben- would it qualify for backwardness? the community should continue to live in and also culturally desirable.” He went on at once political and religious; these two
backwardness as a criterion for being an efit; only the creamy layer does. Yet the These facts lead one to suspect that the the best Islamic tradition connected with to say that Pakistan has provided a home- aspects are inseparable. To quote him: “The
OBC. Surely, in the biradri no Muslim is leaders want reservation for Muslims. Khurshid game plan is political, not social the League and holding fast to the two- land for the Muslims living in the majori- Indian Muslims have regarded themselves
socially lower than any other. If it was oth- The Mandal Commission also made and in line with the strategy described by nation theory. “In this alternative we shall ty areas, but not a homeland for the as a community, and primarily a religious
erwise, the Quran would have been violated educational backwardness as a criterion. Shaheed Suhrawardy, the Bengal Premier have to be very strong and disciplined and Muslims of India. community. In theory, if not always in fact,
especially Sura XXI, Ayat 92 which reads: Literacy, the percentage of matriculation in 1946. In his letter dated September 10, must be ready to undergo sacrifices and Evidently, reservations are a part of the their judgement in regard to beliefs, polit-
Verily, this Brotherhood of yours is a sin- passed as well as the proportion of school 1947 addressed to Chaudhry must look to Pakistan for support and pro- grand strategy of separatism. Separatism ical policies, social customs and the way of
gle Brotherhood. (The Quran explained by dropouts as yardsticks of backwardness. If Khaliquzzaman (Pathway to Pakistan) who tection. The Muslims should form them- was a theme song as early as 1906 when life generally has been influenced by a con-
A Yusuf Ali). In any case, the long experi- a group of kshatriyas happens not to pass succeeded Mohammed Ali Jinnah as the selves into strong pockets. It is politically Sir Aga Khan and his 35-member delega- cern to act as strictly as possible in accor-
ence of Scheduled Castes reservation has matriculation and drops out from school, Muslim League president, he proposed that desirable as well as necessary for survival tion to Viceroy Minto sought separate elec- dance with the teachings of Islam.”
The lost history of Lumbini
Muslim invaders treated Buddhists as infidels and attacked their places of worship. They razed every single Buddhist temple they encountered,
burnt libraries and killed monks. This is why we cannot find Buddhist structures in India, except a few stupas, and why Lumbini has been lost FRANCOIS GAUTIER
uddhism once upon a time preva-
BAD. Manywastill about thein4th centu-
ry
lent in India
historians, both India and
on Buddhism in India should be rewrit-
ten. In 1193 CE, for instance, the won-
derful Nalanda University was razed to the
discovered the great Ashoka pillar while
wandering about the foothills of the
Churia range. Further exploration and
brought to light which reveal that
Lumbini was an important place of
Buddhist pilgrimage even during the
abroad, have implied that it nearly total- ground by Bakhtiyar Khilji, a Turkish excavation of the surrounding area time of the Mauryas. Now China is lead-
ly disappeared from India, because it was Muslim invader on his way to conquer revealed the existence of a brick temple ing a project worth $3 billion to trans-
slowly ‘swallowed’ back by Hinduism at the Bengal. He looted and burned the and a sandstone sculpture within the form the small town into a premier place
hands of spiteful Brahmins. monastery, and killed hundreds or even temple itself, which depicts the scenes of of pilgrimage for Buddhists from around
Others have however pointed out that thousands of monks. The shock of this Buddha’s birth. But there was great the world. Little Lumbini will have an air-
if Hinduism resisted the Muslim onslaught event lives on in local cultural memory: damage, which Feuhrer could not port, highway, hotels, convention centre,
thanks to its Kshatriyas — the Rajputs, The three libraries of Nalanda — with explain, except speculate that the place temples and a Buddhist university. It’s not
Marathas and Sikhs — Buddhism, because books like the ones famous travellers was once ransacked. all about philanthropy, but also to under-
it made non-violence an uncompromising famous Xuanzang and Yi Jing carried back Historian Bhuban Lal Pradhan mine the Dalai Lama’s influence in
dogma, was literally wiped-off the face of to China —were so large that they smoul- believes that it was Sikandar Lodi (1489- South Asia.
India in a few centuries, as it refused to dered for six long months. 1517 AD) and Aurangzeb (1668-1701 AD) Romila Thapar, India’s most respect-
oppose any resistance. But most interesting is the history of who were mainly responsible for the rav- ed historian, believes that because
For the Muslim soldiers, Buddhists, Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha, which age and subsequent desertion of the Buddhism challenged the very structure
who adored statues and did not believe in is one of the four holy places of Buddhism. Lumbini and Kapilavastu regions. Nepalese of the caste system, it was not liked by the
Allah, were as much infidels as the Lumbini is situated at the foothills of the rulers were helpless and even Mukund upper castes who did not let it flourish. She
Hindus, and they razed every single Himalayas in modern Nepal. In Buddha’s Sena (1782-93 AD), who ruled the region also points a finger at the “policy of assim-
Buddhist temple (and also Jain temples, as time, Lumbini was a beautiful garden full from Palpa, could do nothing to recover ilation” of Hinduism, such as stating that
the ruins below Fathepur Sikri have of green and shady sal trees. the religious glory of the site and the result Buddha is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu.
proved) they encountered, burnt all the The garden and its tranquil environs was that this holy place was lost in the But Romila Thapar is wrong. If it can
precious libraries and killed tens of thou- were owned by both the Sandyas and the dense forest that grew over it. Later the be said that Adi Shankaracharya’s preach-
sands of monks, without encountering any Kolias clans. King Suddhodana, father of four stupas and a stone pillar with a fig- visit, Buddha Sakyamuni having been born name of Lumbini gradually changed to ing the five-fold path of bhakti got the
opposition. This is why you cannot find Gautama Buddha, was of the Shakya ure of a horse on top. The stone pillar bears here, a stone railing was built and a stone Rummindei and then to Rupandehi, the Buddhist converts back into Hinduism, the
a single trace of Buddhist structures today dynasty belonging to the Kshatriya or the an inscription which, in English transla- pillar erected to the Bhagavan”. present name of the district. reality is that Buddhism in India was wiped
in India, save for a few stupas, which were warrior caste. In 249 BC, when the tion, runs as follows: “King Piyadasi Lumbini then remained neglected Since Feuhrer’s discovery, several out by Islamic invaders and that Lumbini,
too cumbersome to be destroyed. Emperor Ashoka visited Lumbini, it was (Ashoka), beloved of devas, in the 20 year and forgotten for centuries. But in 1895, excavations have been conducted and a the birthplace of Gautam, suffered great-
The history of the Islamic onslaught a flourishing village. Ashoka constructed of the coronation, himself made a royal Feuhrer, a famous German archaeologist, large number of ancient relics have been ly in the process.
The other side of Bengal’s madarsa experiment
Stories celebrating Bengal's madarsa modernisation efforts focus on high madarsas without acknowledging the State's incapacity to influence khariji madarsas, writes Nikhil Raymond Puri
est Bengal has received consid- Government support). Each grouping can madarsas are fundamentally opposed to there are seven Deobandi khariji madarsas
W erable media attention in the past
few years for its efforts in mod-
ernising madarsas. Some commentators
further be divided into sub-categories.
Government-supported madarsas either
exist as high madarsas (with a predominant
the idea of affiliating with the State.
Irrespective of size, wealth, or location,
these institutions value their autonomy and
for every Government-run senior madarsa.
Even if we (generously) assume that only the
Deobandis (and no other sects) operate khar-
highlight the fact that several madarsas in focus on mainstream secular subjects), or are not easily distracted from the objec- iji madarsas, we see that the Government has
the State have more Hindu than Muslim as senior madarsas (focussing primarily on tive of religious propagation. control over no more than 14 per cent of the
students. Other observers point to an religious subjects). Independent madarsas To suggest that the State has struggled State’s religion-oriented madarsas.
ongoing experiment to gradually trans- in turn consist of two subcategories: to recognise khariji madarsas is an under- Stories celebrating West Bengal’s
form West Bengal’s madarsas into English- Secular-minded madarsas that are com- statement. According to data released by madarsa modernisation efforts focus dis-
medium institutions. According to the mitted (or at least open) to the prospect of WBBME, the number of recognised proportionately on examples of high
president of the West Bengal Board of accepting Government support, and reli- madarsas in West Bengal increased from madarsas, without acknowledging the
Madarsa Education, the body entrusted gion-oriented khariji madarsas that want 508 in 2001 to 601 in 2011. But a closer State’s demonstrated incapacity to influ-
with all things madarsa-related in Bengal, nothing to do with the State. look indicates that during this period ence khariji madarsas. Surely WBBME has
“States such as Tripura, Bihar and Odisha When an independent madarsa WBBME only managed to add to its pool its achievements. The body runs 601
have chosen to adopt the West Bengal becomes recognised, it surrenders its of high madarsas, while the number of schools, and works very hard to educate
model,” and teams from “Bangladesh and autonomy to the State, agrees to include senior madarsas remained unchanged at more than four lakh children. Though it
Pakistan have also shown interest.” Even mainstream subjects in its curriculum, and 102. This data tells us that in the last deserves kudos for its role as a successful
critics attest to the progressive nature of accepts Government funds for its day-to- decade, the State hasn’t recognised even education provider, it should not be mis-
the State’s madarsas, arguing that these day operations. For independent madarsas one khariji madarsa. In fact, the last time taken as an engine of reform or mod-
institutions are ‘madarsas’ only in name. of the secular-minded variety, the decision determinative question: Is it worth losing realistic option for these institutions is to join a khariji madarsa was recognised was on ernisation. To recognise madarsas that say
But these celebratory accounts tell just one to accept recognition is not a difficult one autonomy in exchange for financial sup- the club of Government-run senior madarsas. May 1, 1998, more than 13 years ago. “please recognise me” is not an act of
side of the story. The West Bengal model to make. Most of these institutions already port? That WBBME succeeds in recog- Despite the fact that senior madarsas have a To put this evidence in perspective, it is reform. It is an exercise in selecting insti-
appears effective because its severe short- teach the same mainstream secular sub- nising many such institutions is hardly sur- more religion-heavy syllabus than high helpful to compare the number of tutions that need help, but no ideological
comings are never articulated. jects as high madarsas. In fact, many of prising. All it needs to do is identify and madarsas, however, they do not meet the Government-run senior madarsas in West reorientation. For WBBME to claim that
West Bengal’s madarsas constitute a them even adopt names such as ‘high recruit schools that already share its khariji standard of Islamic education. As the Bengal with the number of khariji madarsas it is successfully engaged in a reform pro-
diverse lot. Broadly speaking, the State has madarsa’ and ‘junior high madarsa,’ mindset, without engaging in any reform headmaster of one khariji madarsa points out, run by only one sect — the Deobandis. ject, it will have to demonstrate its abili-
two types of madarsas: Recognised emphasising their prior readiness to or modernisation. “there is a reason why nobody seeks gradu- Except for Darjeeling, Deobandi khariji ty to recognise those madarsas that say
madarsas (supported by the Government) obtain recognition. The story is quite different in the case of ates of government-run senior madarsas for madarsas outnumber Government-run “please stay away”.
and independent madarsas (those that Typically, individuals running these religion-oriented khariji madarsas. To the religious advice or inspiration.” senior madarsas in each of West Bengal’s dis- (The writer is a DPhil candidate at the
operate autonomously, without any schools are only confronted with one extent that they accept recognition, the only Moreover, the majority of khariji tricts. If we look at West Bengal as a whole, University of Oxford.)