By TCN News,
Lucknow: A group of Pasmanda activists met here last week to setup a political agenda for Lok Sabha elections to be held in 2014.
The political agenda asks for boycotting of all political parties who support reservation for all Muslims. The statement issued by the group says that this demand is “ashraf-driven” and “a ploy to bring the ashraf castes within the ambit of reservations.” Ashraf refers to upper caste Muslims while Pasmanda is a term used for dalit and Backward Muslims. Pasmanda Muslims are already covered in OBC category.
The political agenda also list scrapping of Presidential Order of 1950 that discriminates against Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians by denying them benefits that is available to Dalits of all other religious groups.
The agenda also asks the political parties to give tickets to Pasmanda Muslims.
The meeting was attended by over 50 delegates from the states of Bihar, Delhi, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh. Representatives of All India Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz (UP), All India Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz (Bihar), Pasmanda Front (UP), Muslim All Backward Classes Organization (Maharashtra), Tambolian Jamaat (Maharashtra), All India United Muslim Morcha (UP), Pasmanda Intellectual Forum, JNU (Delhi), Association for Muslim Dalits (UP), Pasmanda Kranti Abhiyan (UP), Samajik Nyaya Manch (UP), Pichda Samaj Mahasabha (UP) attended the meeting.
Next meeting is scheduled to be held in Pune in August 2013 to form an umbrella group of Pasmanda organizations.
Political Agenda of Pasmanda Muslims in Lok Sabha Elections, 2014
a) Boycott of any political party supporting the ashraf-driven demand of TOTAL MUSLIM RESERVATIONS (TMR). The pasmanda muslims are already covered within the existing reservations policy [about 82 Muslim backward castes were included in the Central OBC (Mandal) list in 1990]. Hence, TMR is nothing but a ploy to bring the ashraf castes within the ambit of reservations. The exclusion of forward Muslims from the Central OBC list is the main driving force for TMR campaigns. The point is not about chalking a separate quota for all Muslims but rather the deepening of existing reservation policy so that an adequate share for dalit and backward caste Muslims is secured. The ashraf Muslims are not ‘socially and educationally’ backward and hence cannot be considered for reservations;
b) Support to any political party raising the following pasmanda demands:
§ Scrapping of Para (3) of Constitution (SCs) Order, 1950 so that dalit Muslims and dalit Christians are duly included in the SC list and they are not discriminated against on the basis of religion under Article 341 of the Indian Constitution;
§ Adequate representation of pasmanda muslims in ticket distribution in proportion to their share of population (around 85% of Muslim population).
§ Chalking out of a quota for Extremely Backward Castes (EBCs) within OBC quota at the Central and State levels (the Bihar formula) where the backward caste muslims could be clubbed together with similarly placed Hindu caste groups. This is a more judicious and non-communal demand than the 4.5% sub-quota for OBC-Minorities moved by the Congress Party before last Lok Sabha elections. Though we have no official data to show how many pasmanda muslims have benefitted from this separate quota for EBC in Bihar, we know from our experiences and the narratives of pasmanda government servants that we have gained substantially (without any charge of communalism) in terms of our representations in government jobs in all grades and education (particularly in terms of admission in state-run engineering, medical and other technical institutions);
§ State support to the artisans, crafts-persons, agricultural laborers and other cottage and small-scale industries through effective subsidies, credit and loan facilities, marketing support, skill upgradation, etc.;
§ Framing of progressive policies regarding the specific issues of pasmanda women.
c) Boycott of all anti-pasmanda candidates, especially ashraf candidates, who have been the key advisors on Muslim issues in most political parties and chiefly instrumental in marginalizing pasmanda demands;
d) Support to those pasmanda candidates that vocally raise pasmanda demands in their parties;
e) In case of non-availability of such pasmanda candidates in any constituency, candidates from other communities that support pasmanda demands should be considered (preference should be given to candidates from so-called ‘Hindu’ dalit and backward communities);
f) In any case, no support should be extended to any candidate with a criminal reputation.