The Partition and the Pasmanda Muslims!

By Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi, New Age Islam 13 August 2024 They Particularly Sought to Combat Communalism and Contested Islamization and 'Ashrafisation'; That Is the Imitation of the Upper-Caste Muslims. They Challenged The ‘Two-Nation’ Theory Advanced by The Muslim League and Rejected the League Leadership as Representing Only the Interests of the Higher Muslim Castes/Classes and Thus They Derived Legitimacy for Their Claim to Represent the Lower-Caste Muslims ------ Why did the Pasmanda Muslims vehemently oppose the Two-Nation Theory and the partition of India? "Bhai Saheb! My village is completely Pakistan which is surrounded by India". "What do you mean by India and Pakistan?”, I asked. Only Sheikhs and Syeds live in the village and on the periphery, there are settlements of Kunjras (green-grocers), Qasaais (butchers), Julahas (weavers), Dhuniyas (cotton-carders), Nais (barbers), etc.", he replied. The above excerpt from the book, “Zaat-Paat Aur Musalman” (Casteism among Muslims p: 453) by Prof. Masood Alam Falahi reproduced here at New Age Islam tells us a revealing story. The book sheds light on the history of “Pasmandas” (lower-caste Muslims) and their anti-caste movement in pre-partition India, the caste-based discrimination, and anti-caste mobilisation based on a propounded theology within Indian Muslims. But it also unravels what is the Indian Muslim imagination of an independent and sovereign nation. It also explains why it is crucial to understand the social structures of Indian Muslims in order to ascertain their political behaviour since the partition of the country. This question has both cultural and theological dimensions. First, the institution of caste is fundamental to Hinduism, whereas an Islamic society, as conventionally said, is built on the basic Qur’anic principle of Masawat (equality). But studies and books like the above tell us that Indian Muslims have a social structure that is not dissimilar to that of Hindu caste system. As a result, Indian Islam gradually began to incorporate the casteist elements found in Hinduism. Now Muslims across India are generally seen as a homogeneous community, but in reality, Indian Muslims are segmented into different caste-based categories on the basis of status, income, occupation, education and lineage. Unlike the Hindu caste system, where it is easy to discern the stratification, caste identities among Muslims are not defined rigidly, making any study of the prevailing system that much more difficult. In fact, caste and the practice of caste system have prevailed among Indian Muslims since the medieval times. Ever since, the upper-caste domination has continued and intensified later in the modern period. In colonial India, it was the elitist Muslims who formed the leadership of the Muslim League which only served the interests of upper-caste Muslims with the ‘two-nation theory’ resulting in partition of India on religious lines. This essay argues that in terms of the nationalist Muslim activism in India, the lower-caste Muslims were probably the first among the disenfranchised Muslim castes to organize themselves against the emerging separatist tendencies. Considered socially inferior by the higher caste Muslims, and economically marginalized due to colonial policies, they sought incessantly a course of action where they could fight not only for their social dignity and political empowerment but also run a nationalist movement. The Pasmanda Muslim leaders and thinkers strongly challenged the “two-nation theory” and Muslim League politics. Pre-eminent Pasmanda leader, Abdul Qayyum Ansari who belonged to the Julaha (weaver) community is a glaring example. He led the Momin Conference, the movement in pre-Independence India which strongly advocated against the country’s partition in 1947. They were strongly against the “Two Nation Theory” which gave birth to the call for partition. Some Muslim weavers categorised as the ‘Ansari caste’ organised themselves as a group called the ‘Momins’ and formed the All India Momin Conference (AIMC) in 1926. In 1937, the Momin Conference which was a reformist organization took a strong political stand against the Partition of India and countered it. It functioned until 1947 as the ‘first wave’ of the Pasmanda movement. They were even trolled in various newspapers and journals by the elitist Islamic leadership which tried to theologically justify the creation of Pakistan. But Abdul Qayyum Ansari, himself a practicing Muslim, called did not heed those ulema and shunned their voices as ‘divisive’. Following Ansari, several prominent Muslim leaders who preferred to stay back in their country took on the Muslim league and continued to oppose the partition movement. Thus, through the Momin Conference, the Pasmanda Muslims in India, during the partition, strived to forge the solidarity of all subordinated Muslim castes in order to contest the elitist separatist politics. They particularly sought to combat communalism and contested Islamization and 'Ashrafisation'; that is the imitation of the upper-caste Muslims. They challenged the ‘two-nation’ theory advanced by the Muslim League and rejected the League leadership as representing only the interests of the higher Muslim castes/classes and thus they derived legitimacy for their claim to represent the lower-caste Muslims, who formed the majority within the Muslim population. These Pasmanda Muslims strongly believed that the interests of ordinary Indian Muslims were in sharp conflict with those of the Muslim League, which they considered as an Ashraaf/elitist Muslim party. Since the partition of India, the Pasmanda Muslim discourse in the country is that the 'upper caste' or the Ashrafia Muslim leadership which thrives on championing 'non-issues' the real community concerns such as the protection of the Muslim Personal Law, has only helped in marginalizing the mainstream Muslims, disintegrating them and in enabling an environment for communal tensions in which the major victims are the Dalits, both Hindu as well as Muslim. This is precisely why the Pasmanda Muslims challenged the mainstream Muslim politics in their discourses. They believe it has only furthered the elite-driven symbolic, emotive identity politics in the post-partition period such as Babri Mosque, Uniform Civil Code, status of Urdu, the Aligarh Muslim University and so on. These issues, Pasmanda Muslims believe, have thoroughly discounted the developmental concerns and aspirations of common Muslims in India. By emphasising that the Muslim identity is not monolithic and is segmented into various castes/classes, the Pasmanda movement has dislodged the commonplace assumption of any putative uniform community sentiment or interests of Indian Muslims. To put it precisely, the Pasmandas suggest that just like any other community, Muslims too are divided with different sections harbouring different interests, and that the emotive religious issues raised by the upper-caste Muslim leaders do not reflect their concerns, but rather deter the process of democratisation of the Muslim society in particular and the Indian state and society in general. Therefore, the Pasmandas’ pre and post-partition fight against “social injustice” emanating from the continuing elitist politics is an enduring struggle within the community. It was actually an organic development in pre-partition India which has a deep-rooted historical underpinning. The first freedom movement—the revolt of 1857—which was spearheaded by both Hindu and Muslim revolutionaries was castigated by some elitists Islamic theorists. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan went to the extent of slandering the Muslim patriots who participated in the Revolt as 'Badzaat Julahe' (a caste slur). In his book “Ithas Ka Matantar”, historian Mubarak Ali notes that the Ashraaf (Muslim elite) pressured the British to maintain their influence over the country. Some elites masquerading as 'Muslim representatives' told the government that as the founders of the country, they still had influence over the provinces and were therefore more important than the numerical majority. Sir Syed Ahmad is known for championing modern education among Muslims but not many know that he also had barred backward Muslims from his educational movement. Thus, modern education was denied to them and even freedom and democracy was opposed because, according to the elitist Muslim leadership, it would emphasize the identity of those who were socially and politically dominated by them. Following the Partition, systematic persecution and educational and social deprivation of Pasmanda Muslims illustrates why they were vehemently opposed to the Two-Nation Theory and the partition of India. Leading political and social actors of the Pasmanda Muslim movement in different Indian states today seek to find their rights and place in mainstream Indian politics as well as in the Islamic jurisprudence. -------- A Regular Columnist with Newageislam.com, Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi is an Indo-Islamic scholar, Sufi poet and English-Arabic-Urdu-Hindi writer with a background in a leading Sufi Islamic seminary in India. He is currently serving as Head of International Affairs at Voice for Peace & Justice, Jammu & Kashmir. ------ Note: Translated from Urdu by Yoginder Sikand for NewAgeIslam.com, all parts of Masood Alam Falahi's Urdu book Hindustan Mai Zat-Pat Aur Musalman (‘Casteism Among Muslims in India’) are accessible here: Caste and Caste-Based Discrimination among Indian Muslims URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-sectarianism/partition-pasmanda-muslims-ashraaf/d/132922 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