Special Correspondent | India Tomorrow
Pune, September 9 – It is very rare for a serving Indian Police Service (IPS) officer to write a critical book on the government’s negligent attitude towards Indian Muslims. However, Special Inspector General of Police (IGP) Abdur Rahman, currently posted as chief of Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission (MSHRC) stands apart from his colleagues where he has dared to call a spade a spade. His latest book, “ Denial and Deprivation : Indian Muslims after the Sachar committee and Rangnath Mishra Commission Reports’’ running into 569 pages and published by Manohar Publications, New Delhi, is a complete diagnosis of the ills affecting the Muslim community and offers reasonable solutions for their socio-economic empowerment in the society.
The current book is a result of three years of continuous writing, painstaking research, and one and a half years of intense editing by the publisher. The book has received rave reviews in leading English dailies of the country including popular online portals who have offered critical insights into the book.
The book was first published in the last week of November 2018 by Routledge Publication based in London. The book examines in minute details the condition of Indian Muslims socially, economically and educationally and also highlights the efficacy of government-run programmes and presents a roadmap for all-round development of Indian Muslims in the light of latest data from authentic sources and intellectual discussions. The book also highlights the need of community and individual initiatives in the absence of inclusive development of Muslims in India. The volume throws ample light on the callous attitude of the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) governments towards Muslims and exposes hostile attitude of the current Modi regime. The authors states that lack of effective steps by the successive governments has accelerated marginalization of Muslims in today’s scenario due to open discrimination, mob-violence, lynching and hate crimes taking place openly in defiance of the Constitution in the name of various communal issues.
The author states that Sachar Committee Report was submitted to the government in November 2006 and the Rangnath Mishra Commission Report in May 2007. After publication of these two reports, several community organisations, NGOs, community activists, RTI activists, committed individuals etc. have been making tireless efforts to fathom the level of implementation of these reports. “However, there was no clear picture on the national level. Worsening condition, marginalisation of Muslims and pathetic state of implementation of policies compelled me to think deeply. This proved to be an initial inspiration and encouragement for me to write this book,” Abdur Rahman says in the book.
Abdur Rahman claims that the book attempts to gauge and analyse the level of denial and deprivation faced by the Indian Muslims, so far, by presenting their correct situation after 12 years of these two reports. It presents and discusses the current conditions with respect to outcome indicators such as population, education, economy, poverty, unemployment, availability of bank loans, infrastructure and civic facilities and representation in government employment. By placing facts in perspective, it also discusses community-specific issues such as Urdu, `madrasa` and Waqf.
A very interesting and information chapter is on the demonization of Muslims where he states, “It appears, as if there is a systematic machinery which is working day in and day out to create a strong narrative around some issue to demonize Indian Muslims. There is a strong resolve, in a planned and systematic way, to psychologically demolish Indian Muslims to keep them subjugated, to keep them out of mainstream and to ghettoize them and to distract their attention from socio-economic development. Police and intelligence agencies, other government machinery, media and Hindutva organisations have been playing their assigned role in defaming Muslims. The author urges Muslims to shun radical ideologies and states that most religions of the world preach peace, justice and humanity. Islam, he says, preaches peace, humanity and social justice. In many cases, extremist thoughts and organisations in Islamic world have been created by West to serve their interest in world politics.
Responses of various political formations on these reports have been presented in a proper sequence to generate a coherent view. In the post-Sachar era, governments started many schemes to improve the condition whose reach and impact is assessed with the help of latest data in the book. It presents the social structure of Muslims, presence of Other Backward Classes(OBC), Dalits, and suggests a practical pattern for reservation. It follows up the process of implementation of recommendations of these reports and highlights how the governments adopted tokenism, attempted to implement minor recommendations and shied away from major ones. It presents the lopsided attitude of the UPA government, hostile attitude of the present regime and accelerated marginalization of Muslims in today’s scenario.
Lastly, a roadmap on what needs to be done at all levels-state, community and individual has been emphatically suggested in the light of level of deprivation, marginalization and intellectual observations. “ My effort is to create a perception where problems of Muslims could be treated as a national problem. The book emphasizes the need to take ‘concrete steps’ for ‘inclusive growth’ and ‘mainstreaming’ of the Indian Muslims’’, the IPS officer explains.
The book draws references from various government reports, various reports presented in the Parliament and state assemblies, reports published by several organisations and NGOs, newspaper reports, reports on internet, articles written by scholars and information collected through RTI.
Abdur Rahman warns that in the present scenario, there appears to be a consensus among all political parties to not address concerns of Muslims. Even media, scholars and political commentators do not show any interest to highlight the development deficits of Muslims and the alienation they face. The situation is going from bad to worse and experts say that if this situation persists, Muslims will soon become the neo-Dalits of the Indian society.
