Why the Dalit Bahujan Social Justice Excludes Pasmanda Muslims: The Savarna Is An Enemy But The Ashraf Is An Ally

By Adnan Qamar, New Age Islam 15 July 2023 Majority Of Dalit And Hindu OBC Intellectuals And Social Media Influencers Don't Even Engage With The Pasmanda Muslim Question Main Points: 1. Dalit and Bahujan intellectuals ally with Ashrafs; ignoring the plight of Pasmanda Muslims 2. Waman Meshram, a Bahujan leader, refused to entertain the question of caste discrimination amongst Muslims 3. Under the influence of Ashraf, Dalit and Bahujan intellectuals, some Pasmandas end up berating Hindu beliefs, which is un-Islamic practice, and hence needs to stop. 4. The Pasmandas should stop looking for support elsewhere and start to develop their own leadership. ------- Many Ambedkarites are heard urging the unification of SCs, STs, OBCs & Muslims. However, the majority of these pseudo-Ambedkarites are so much in awe of upper caste Muslims (Ashrafs), that they have forgotten the question of social justice within the Indian Muslim society. In other words, they are completely silent on the exclusion of lower caste Pasmanda Muslims by the Ashrafs. --------------------------------------------------------------- Also Read: Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh) Does Not Have Caste System but Upper Caste Muslims (Ashraafs) Have Put It There To Maintain Their Dominance in Society: Pasmanda Activist Faiyaz Ahmad Fyzie --------------------------------------------------------------- The majority of Dalit and Hindu OBC intellectuals and social media influencers don't even engage with the Pasmanda Muslim question. They purposefully avoid them, ignore them, and only interact with Ashraf Muslims. This gives Ashraf Muslims more confidence to insult, mock, and make fun of Pasmanda Muslim activists. While promoting equality, fraternity, and liberty, they critique Brahmanical social order but remain silent on similar discrimination within the Muslim society. This is nothing but the reiteration of Ashraf politics: making fun of Hindu social order while remaining silent on strictures of oppression within the Muslim society. The Silence of Bahujan Leader Waman Meshram A few days ago, there was a round table discussion hosted by the SC-ST-OBC-Muslim Front in Hyderabad. In this meeting, I got the opportunity to speak to Waman Meshram after five long years. I must disclose that I had worked with him till 2018, when I decided to quit. Meshram spoke about uniting the SCs, STs, OBCs, and minorities. To the Muslim audience present in the meeting, he requested that he be referred to as a Dalit but not as a Hindu. He told the audience that labeling him a Hindu was equivalent to abusing him. The Muslims in the audience were overjoyed by this statement, banging their tables in affirmation. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Also Read: AIMPLB an Organization of Muslim Elite (Ashraafs) Responsible For Low Educational Levels of Pasmanda Women -------------------------------------------------------------------- According to Waman Meshram, Muslims have experienced oppression since August 15, 1947, whereas lower caste Hindus have endured oppression for three thousand years. He argued that if all of these oppressed people unite together, they can overthrow the ‘fascist’ BJP-RSS government. When my turn came, I corrected him, arguing that Muslims do not exist as a monolithic community. I told him that 90% of Indian Muslims are converts from Hindu lower castes. But even after becoming Muslim, they continue to experience discrimination from upper caste Muslims or Ashrafs. I gave him an example of Pichakuntla Muslims of Telangana who are treated as untouchables till now. I asked him how his movement can include Ashraf who have been the historical oppressors for large majority of Ajlaf Muslims? I also questioned the reluctance of his organization (BAMCEF) to support the voice of Pasmanda Muslims. Fundamentally, my question was aimed at his duplicitous morality which allies with the Ashraf against the upper caste Hindus or Savarna. In other words, he remains committed to the question of social justice within Hindus but remains silent on the issue social justice within Muslim society. --------------------------------------------------------------- Also Read: From Momin Conference to Pasmanda Movement: The Challenges of the Caste-Based Inequalities in Muslim Society --------------------------------------------------------------- After my intervention, Waman Meshram quickly departed the meeting, while saying: "You Muslims decide among yourself the question of discrimination”. Ashrafs, present in same meeting got extremely annoyed with me. The hypocrisy of Ashrafs and leaders of Bahujan organisations present there astounded me. I came to the painful realization that it is not the concern for social justice that drives their politics, rather it is their politics which defines what kind of social justice they should espouse. I also realized that Pasmanda Muslims must develop their own leadership; they cannot rely on the support of others. A Muslim Should Never Insult Other Religions During my interactions, I have noticed that when Dalit leaders and leftist atheists degrade Hindu gods, beliefs, and culture, Ashrafs chuckle and take pleasure in it. This behavior is wholly in opposition to Islamic teachings. Allah says: “Do not revile those whom they invoke other than Allah, because they will revile Allah in ignorance out of spite. For We have indeed made the deeds of every people seem fair to them. Then, their return is to their Lord and He will inform them of what they have done” (Quran 6:108). This verse of the Holy Quran indicates that it is forbidden to insult the gods of other religions. But, due to the provocation of leftist Ashrafs, many Hindus, in turn, mock and insult Islamic teachings and even the Prophet Muhammad. This leads to religious conflict because of which Pasmanda Muslims suffer a lot. The artisanal and service providing Muslim castes are in daily contact with Hindu society. Such a conflict adversely affects their businesses and even endangers their lives. It is not a coincidence that majority of those lynched in such violence have been Pasmandas. A Muslim, therefore, should never provoke followers of other religions. But the Ashraf are so far removed from social reality that they do not pay heed even to this basic Islamic teaching. Some Pasmandas, who blindly follow the Ashraf, also indulge in the game of berating Hindu religious traditions. This needs to stop in the interest of maintaining the social fabric of society. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Also Read: What Caste-Based Census May Offer To The Pasmanda Muslims In Bihar? ------------------------------------------------------------------- The Plight of Pasmandas Presently, Pasmanda Muslims lack access to education, jobs, and positions of importance. We know that nearly ninety percent of the Indian Muslim population are engaged in the informal sector of the economy, among them the overwhelming majority being Pasmanda Muslims. From street hawkers to mechanics to rickshaw pullers, the Muslim labour on the Indian street is in fact derived from the various Pasmanda castes. A number of committees have pointed out that their situation is worse than that of SCs and the STs. As the Sachar Committee points out, the Ajlaf and the Arzals within the Muslim community are ‘nearly absent’ from class 1 jobs. For a community as deprived as the Pasmandas, it is expected that parties who proclaim social justice as their motto, should raise their voice against this exclusion faced by marginalised Muslim castes. Unfortunately, these parties are in cahoots with the Ashraf worldview which denies the very existence of caste within the Indian Muslim society. It is therefore imperative on the Pasmanda movement to develop its own leadership and work towards the betterment of their society and the country as a whole. ----- Adnan Qamar is a social activist, speaker, election strategist and a student of law working for the upliftment of Pasmanda Muslims. URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-sectarianism/dalit-bahujan-pasmanda-muslims-savarna-ashraf/d/130213 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism