Half of the battle for equality, social justice and dignified life seems to have been one by the Muslim community of plural Bharat. In the Supreme Court’s half-nod, on March 25, to 4% quota in jobs and educational institutions for “backward” Muslims of Andhra Pradesh, the optimists in the sufferers’ ranks see a brighter ray of hope with regard to their age-old demand for 15% reservation to the minorities with 10% exclusively for Muslims.
The said order hints at the direction of the wind, although it is interim in nature and with a reasonable rider, saying a constitutional bench would look into the constitutional validity of the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes of Muslims Act of 2007. Scrutiny will start mid-August.
A 3-Judge Bench of the Chief Justice, Mr. Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, and Justices Mr. J.M. Panchal and Mr. B. S Chauhan stayed the Feb. 8 order of the 7-Judge Bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court and termed the Andhra 2007 Act as invalid, unconstitutional and discriminatory.
A perusal of the Act and its subsequent judicial rejection reveals a shockingly cavalier treatment to the Act by its framers. The state government had failed to present its case in a logical and scientific manner.
FULLER IMPLEMENTATION
All the political parties except the RSS and the BJP have hailed the Apex Court order. The Congress, the Left and the Lohiate parties have expressed happiness at the development. The Muslim minorities has raised its voice for the fuller implementation of the Rajindar Sachar Committee recommendations and the Ranganath Mishra Commission Report which is for 15% reservation for Muslims.
It is fair to recall that the National Movement for Muslim Reservation, which is a representative body of the principal minority, has since long been making strenuous efforts in this regard.
Much has been written and said on battles at the bar. Here is a scintillating glimpse. The Senior Advocate, Mr. Harish Salve launched a blistering attack on the Andhra Pradesh State Law: “What have you done by this Law? You have taken Muslims and created a separate class for reservation based on religion.”
The Chief Justice, Mr. Justice Balakrishnan says: “The Government is of the view that certain sections of Muslims are socially and educationally backward. What is wrong with that? It is only a question as to how you identify them. It is not a question as to whether they are Hindus or Muslims but the question is social and educational backwardness. Merely because they are Muslims, they cannot be denied.” So observed the bench while passing the order.
NOT RELIGION SPECIFIC
The Attorney General, Mr. G.E. Vahnavati, appearing for the Andhra Pradesh government, led the arguments, declaring the state legislature did not intend the Act to be “religion-specific” but aimed to uplift social groups identified as backward. “The criterion in this law is backwardness. Religion specific is a non-issue. You cannot pick holes in the intent of this social welfare legislation. This Act should not have been struck down, he said, underlining that the Act does not prescribe reservation rights for general, but especially for backward class Muslims. Mr. Vahanvati continued: “The High Court struck down the Act saying the reservation rights to these classes would potentially encourage conversion. I say, reservation benefits to these 14 groups since the Act came into being in 2007 have never led to unscrupulous conversion. The implementation of the Act is an important social, affirmative action.”
The truth is, so feels the Muslim leadership, the critics of Muslim demand have no case at all. The Muslims have never, ever said: Give us reservation because we believe in Allah, the Last Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) and the Day of Judgement. Their demand is, and has been, poverty specific.
RELATED SUBJECT
A related subject: one, of late, sees a strange phenomenon. Those who have no stake in Islām and say at the beat of drum ‘I am an atheist not a Muslim’ poke their nose in Muslim affairs. Not realising that they have no locus standi to speak on the subject, they in and out of season, crow against Muslims and their leadership and thus try to convince the government and the majority community that they, in fact, are Model Muslims. One such wiseacre is Mr. Javed Akhtar, whose forte is songs, music, dance, poetry, scriptwriting, dialogue writing and all that.
Not long ago, on March 21 to be exact, soon after being nominated as a Member of the Rajya Sabha, Mr. Javed averred: Those who are protesting against the Women’s Bill on the ground that it does not provide representation to Muslims and other backward class women have been exposed. He also questioned: “What right does the All India Muslim Personal Law Board has to ask for a quota for Muslim women in Parliament when it has never provided any quota for women in any field.”
Mr. Javed! Instead of joining issues on non-issues with you, we would like you to single-mindedly concentrate on your specialisation i.e. naach, gaana, ragaas, murkies, dholak, tambura, tanpura and baansuri, etc. The problems of the Muslim minority are not your cup of tea, simply because you have no knowledge on the subject. Your uninformed and ridiculous comments on the subject make a laughing stock of you and remind us of the “Islamic scholarship” of the late Mr. Hamid Dalwai and Mr. M.C. Chagla.