SOROOR AHMED analyses class division, in Indian Muslim society in particular, and calls upon the Muslim leadership to rise to the occasion to contain this India-specific phenomenon.
The employee-employer relationship is an important factor in shaping the society, especially in a country like India, where caste still plays a very crucial role. Much of the social tension in the rural areas is attributed to this fact. What is more even among Muslims, where caste divide is not so wide, is we find examples of such friction, yet we tend to ignore it.
An employee working in a private establishment, be it indigenous or an MNC, often has a long list of complaints against the employer, the owner or the top management. The latter, in contrast, would find fault with the worker and argue that s/he is a shirker.
But the nature of tussle between the two seldom acquires any caste or communal overtone, in the organised sector in particular. Even during the strike or agitation this issue is not raised.
But that is not the situation in agrarian India and in the unorganised sector, where the caste and class have somewhat got mixed up. Six decades after independence and so much land reform, it is still the upper castes who in many parts of the country are the owners of the land. The share-croppers and small and marginal farmers generally come from the backward castes and Dalits. The third category still form the overwhelming landless farm labourers. The nature of division is slightly different in tribal belt. Similarly, most of the domestic-helps, private security guards, liftmen, etc. employed in urban unorganised sector are Dalits, tribals or backward castes.
Since caste or tribe is still a strong binding factor, any class resistance has the potential to become caste struggle in the rural areas. That is why we find overwhelming presence of Dalits, tribals and backward castes in various ultra-Left movements. Since they claim to espouse their cause, it is natural for them to get associated with them. It is another thing whether such organisations are serving their purpose or not.
Since Hindu caste hierarchy is structured in a way that it is difficult to find upper castes engaged in the menial work, especially at their own native places. They may migrate to some other cities and towns to do almost the same nature of work, but that is a different matter. At home it is unimaginable for them to do the work meant for the Dalits.
But what happened in India was that even among Muslims land was mostly in the hands of the so-called upper castes – though there is nothing like forward and backward castes in Islam. Many Muslim Zamindars (landlords) in the 19th and 20th centuries, especially in east and north India, used to behaving a la their Hindu counterparts. They were equally oppressive in behaviour to their tenants and labourers – be it Muslims or Hindus. As they were under pressure from the British government, which used to charge exorbitant land revenue, the landlords would crush their own people and fulfil all the demands of their English masters.
Though after independence, abolition of Zamindari did change the situation and many landlords got reduced to just landed farmers, the mindset did not change in many cases. Though the introduction of technology did reduce some pressure on the labour class but the behaviour of the landed class, once again mostly upper castes, did not change much. They may be affable and lenient when settled in urban jobs, but the moment they reach their village their attitude would be the same. In office or factory his boss may be a backward or Dalit, but back home in the village he would not allow his sub-ordinates, who would come from the same so-called inferior castes, to even sit in front of him.
In large parts of north India the landed upper castes have migrated to the urban areas leaving behind the land to the sharecroppers, most of them backwards. Any genuine conflict between the two often acquires the caste overtone. And if both the landed farmer and the sharecropper belong to the same caste category, that is both are backwards or both forwards, then the tussle between the two does not acquire caste dimension – just a tussle between a farmer and a sharecropper.
The tragedy is that such a situation still exists and that too among Muslims. A large section of urban Muslims, especially from the so-called upper castes refuse to accept this reality at the grassroots level of the society. Not only are some of them unaware of this contradictions, they dub all such discussions as un-Islamic.
The reality is that in those pockets of India where Naxals have become strong, the so-called weaker section of Muslims has also come under their influence. Even if they may not be economically exploited – though they still are – the socially weaker section feels that they are humiliated and insulted and not treated equally by the so-called upper caste landed Muslims.
Since the upper echelon of the Muslim society tends to sweep under the carpet all such contradictions in the name of being un-Islamic, the society fails to address the problem. The sense of revenge for the crime committed against them or their forefathers is strong among many so-called backward caste Muslim youths and their anger is being tapped by someone else – may be Maoists in many places.
The small consolation is that the so-called lower castes of Muslims are not essentially agrarian – sharecroppers or farm labourers. Most of them are artisans and craftsmen engaged in other trades and employments. Besides, migration has, to some extent, minimised such social tension.
Unlike in the Hindu society, where the caste has religious sanction, such divide among Muslims is not spread to all parts of the country. Yet wherever it exists, it is dangerous and hardly any genuine efforts are being made to bridge the gap.
Since in no other country the landowners and the working class, broadly speaking, hail from two different categories, this problem is more or less India-specific. So it is for the Muslim society to find the solution. The Muslim leadership should make introspection and remove this chasm in the light of Islam and not by just saying that caste has no basis in Islam.