Pasmanda Muslims make their presence felt in Telangana ahead of polls

With barely six months to go to polls, politics in Telangana slowly hotting up with all the stakeholders upping their ante. Hyderabad being the stranglehold of prominent Muslim leader and AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi, it is only obvious that communal issues will take centrestage in the State's politics in the coming days.

Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao's alleged Muslim appeasement policy has certainly paid off and helped him retain power. But it has annoyed not only the majority of Hindus but angered a major section within the Muslims too. With this section voicing their concerns openly in his home turf, Owaisi does not seem to get a free hand to play his communal card so succinctly this time.

The Pasmanda Muslims -- the marginalised indigenous Muslims who constitute about 90% of the community's total population in India -- in particular are incensed over the fact that the benefits extended by the government to the community through various schemes are all gobbled up by the upper class Ashraaf Muslims within the community, leaving only a meagre portion for them.

The Pasmanda Muslim leaders from all over the country recently held a crucial meeting in Hyderabad to chalk out their next step to address the concerns of the backward Pasmanda communities. Lawyers, writers, students, social activists and representatives of diverse Pasmanda communities all participated in this roundtable discussion on June 4 last.

As far as Telangana is concerned, currently 75.4% of the Muslims belong to Pasmanda Backward Class (BC-E and BC-B) categories. Despite having reservations, their social and educational conditions are worse than those of any other communities, including SCs and STs. The Pasmanda community leaders have often tried to raise the issue that they are the numerical majority among the Muslim population but that a tiny elite section (Ashraafs) remained in the leadership position.

According to Adnan Qamar, the Pasmanda Muslim activist who organised the meeting, Pasmandas currently do not have access to land, jobs, important positions, education or other opportunities that is abaduntly available to Ashraafs. Unfortunately, more than 75% of Muslims are unemployed or do not hold any type of employment in the organised sector, he rued.

After taking over the most important roles, the Ashraaf leaders and religious clerics ran a narrative of a monolithic Muslim identity forcing Pasmanda Muslims to give up their caste-based occupations. The plight of Pasmanda Muslims began to deteriorate over time. As their degrees of poverty and illiteracy rose, they were eventually forced to give away their expensive possessions, explained Qamar.

Senior Qureshi community leader Imran Aziz Qureshi stated that Pasmanda communities are misled by Ashraafs by "instilling fear of Modi, the RSS and the BJP" among them. Pasmanda Muslims must have to understand this and their thinking should go past these traps and concentrate on progress and development. The Ashraafs completely disorganised Pasmandas and profited from it, he said, adding that there is a need to organise these marginalised communities before it is too late.

According to Sanaullah, a prominent social activist with over 40 years of experience, Muslims are currently suffering tremendous harm at the hands of their own community organisations, mostly led by Ashraaf leaders. All such bodies, whether national or State-level, have transformed into "desk organisations" who simply issue statements on their letterheads but never address the practical problems faced by majority Pasmanda Muslims.

He advised the Pasmanda Muslims that the case of Dalits should serve as an example for them as they battle for their rights. Every Mohalla and community of Pasmanda Muslims should form a committee of 50 -50 persons each to address their issues, he added, offering a practical solution to their problems.

Mohammed Abbas, president of 'Awaaz', informed that his organisation have already contacted with eight Pasmanda Muslim communities like Fakers, Pattar phodulu, Kanchera, Burewala, Pichakuntla Turkolu, Sapera and Pittala Muslims and are assisting them in resolving their problems.

The social and educational conditions of these communities are in dire straits, and there is inadequate representation to address their problems. Hence, Abbas emphasised on the necessacity to make sincere efforts to develop leadership within these communities.

Similarly, Team NGOs chairman Ilyas Shamsi recommended that Pasmanda Muslims establish their identity. Quoting verses from holy Quran, he said if the Muslim organisations and Ashraaf leaders truly believe that the BJP is attempting to win over the Pasmandas, then they should step forth and support the Pasmandas. "Why are they not concentrating on Pasmanda Muslims' issues and making BJP profit from them?" Shamsi asked.

Famous Telugu author and poet Skybaba claimed that many members of the Pasmanda communities added Syed, Khan and Pathan to their names only to gain social recognition. They must acknowledge and recognise that they are former SC, ST or OBC members who became Muslims, he advised the Pasmandas.

Pointing out that converted Muslims in India make up 90% of the Muslim population, and only a small percentage are foreign Muslims, Skybaba said, "The Urdu-speaking Ashraafs residing in the urban comforts, disrespect the Pasmanda Muslims for speaking the Telugu language. They consider Urdu to be an Islamic language and they discriminate against people who speak other languages."

In the meeting, it was decided to establish a 'Pasmanda Muslims Action Committee' in Telangana soon. The objective of this platform is to bring about social change within Pasmanda communities. Many activists, students and young people are eager to join the platform and take up issues pertaining to Pasmanda Muslims, claimed the organisers.