Pasmanda Muslim

Subject :Polity

Context:

INA first-of-its-kind conference of Pasmanda Muslims was organised in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh by the state BJP’s minority wing.
Many prominent Pasmanda Muslim where honoured.

Who are Pasmanda Muslim:

Pasmanda is a Persian word that means the ‘ones left behind’. The word is used to describe the depressed classes among Muslims who have been deliberately or consciously excluded from the fruits of power and privilege.
Backward, Dalit, and tribal Muslims use the word Pasmanda as an umbrella identity to flag caste-based discrimination within the community.
The term Pasmanda Muslim was first used in 1998 by Ali Anwar Ansari , who founded the Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz.
Today 85% of the total population of Muslims in the country is known as Pasmanda.
It is believed that the so-called untouchable Hindu converts are categorised as Pasmanda.

A caste system in minorities

The caste system is applicable to Asian Muslims in the same way as it is applicable in Indian society.
Among the South Asian Muslims including those living in India, 15% are considered upper class or upper caste, called
The remaining 85% Muslims known as Arzal and Ajlaf are considered to be Dalit and backward. Arzal means degraded.
Ashrafs claim to be the descendants of Muslims from the Islamic homelands of Arabia, Persia, Turkey, Afghanistan (Syeds, Sheikhs, Mughals and Pathans), or of upper-caste converts from Hinduism.
Ajlafs are the middle-caste converts who were involved in occupations that are considered ritually “clean” likemomins or julahas (weavers), darzis or idiris (tailors), and rayeens or kunjaras (vegetable sellers).
The Arzals have traditionally been beyond the pale, and were first recorded only in the 1901 census.They belong to the lowest, “untouchable” castes like the halalkhors, helas, lalbegis or bhangis (scavengers), dhobis (washermen), nais or hajjams (barbers), chiks (butchers), and faqirs (beggars).

What is the Constitutional status of those muslims?

The Constitution (Scheduled Caste) Order, 1950, had restricted Scheduled Caste (SC) status to Hindus, keeping Dalit from other religions out of its ambit.
The order was later amended in 1956 and 1990 to include Sikhs and Buddhists.
The implementation of the report of the Mandal Commissionbrought the non-Ashrafs, Ajlafs, and Arzals, under the OBC category.
The National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities, known as the Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission, acknowledged that the caste system impacted all religious communities in India, including Muslims.
The report of the Rajinder Sachar Committee, formed in 2005 to study the social, economic and educational condition of Indian Muslims, stated that there is three groups among Muslims:
Those without any social disabilities, the Ashrafs;
Those equivalent to Hindu OBCs, the Ajlafs,
Those equivalent to Hindu SCs, the Arzals.
Those who are referred to as Muslim OBCs combine Ajlafs and Arzals

What are the demands of Pasmanda Muslims:

Conducting a caste census.
Restructuring of existing reservation categories, and
State support for artisans, craftspersons, and agricultural labourers, who are among the most impoverished of Indian Muslims.
Pasmanda outfits demanded that Dalit Muslims should be included in the SC list, and the OBC quota should be redesigned to create an Extremely Backward Castes (EBCs) category at the central and state levels for both most backward Hindus and Muslims.