Indian Muslims not a homogeneous entity: Ansari

Ansari was addressing a gathering during the release of a book “Muslims in Indian Cities: Trajectories of Marginalisation” edited by Laurent Gayer and Christophe Jaffrelot.

Contesting the editors’ view that Muslims here are losing grounds,Ansari said “this conclusion may be contested on two grounds. Firstly,any generalisation for so large a number spread over a vast area is hazardous.”

Secondly,he added,”as the editors themselves have pointed out,Muslims of India are not a homogeneous entity.”

Observing that different stratas of the Muslim community have performed differently,he said “the elite of the feudal past have lost ground but some amongst them have adapted themselves well.”

“New elites have sprung up amongst those who in the past were under socially privileged and are now doing well in terms of educational levels and economic well being.”

He also said the community has realised that they can make their weight felt in the political decision-making process.

“The realisation is donning that as equal partners in a democratic polity,governed by the ideal of social-economic and political justice,they can make the weight of numbers felt in political decision-making,” Ansari said.

Ansari said government had in 2005 formed the Sachar Committee to collect authentic information on social,economic and educational status of the Muslim community so that it could be used in formulation of specific policies and programmes to address its socio-economic backwardness.

“The Sachar Committee report has become a landmark and has been used by government for affirmative action in different areas. The extent to which it has succeeded is subject of a lively debate,” he added.

Terming the country’s partition as “a political compromise and adjustments of elites”,he said “for several decades,the socio-economic impact of that event on the Muslim minority remained largely unstudied or understudied. Ad-hoc government initiative,taken occasionally,remained poorly implemented.”

On the general state of Muslim community in the country,he said they are 1.4 per cent of India’s population and at the same time they are second or the third largest Muslim community in the world of nation states.

Muslims have lived in India’s religiously plural society for over 1000 years,at times as rulers,others as subjects and now as citizens,he said.