One thing remarkable about the Pasmanda movement is, you hear the same thing from them, again and again. Here is the jist of their argument - ============================== //Some ashraf accuse us of dividing Muslims. They say that caste has no sanction in Islam and they accuse us of injecting the poison of caste into Muslim society. Such people are completely blind to social reality. Islam, it is true, has no conception of caste, but Indian Muslim society is, by and large, characterised by the existence of multiple castes. And for centuries the ashraf have taken pride in being of foreign extraction – Arab, Iranian or whatever – and have considered other Muslims, who are all of indigenous Indian extraction, as being of ‘low’ caste. So all this while the ashraf have been championing caste and division among Muslims based on caste but this does not strike our opponents as ‘casteism’ or as ‘un-Islamic’, yet the moment we non-ashraf begin to speak, to oppose this system of ashraf hegemony, we are dubbed as divisive and ‘anti-Islam’ and so on. This reaction is no different from that of many upper caste Hindus who brand the Dalit movement as divisive, accusing it of reinforcing caste simply because the Dalit movement seeks to do away with upper caste hegemony. My answer to those who falsely accuse us of dividing Muslims is that far from doing so we are trying to unite the dozens of Dalit/Backward Caste Muslim communities who have been kept divided for centuries! We are trying to bring them – Ansaris, Halalkhors, Kunjeras, Kalals, Dhuniyas, Mochis and who knows how many more such castes – together on a common platform to voice their demands and concerns. Now, you tell me, are we dividing these Muslims or uniting them? We are not setting Dalit/Backward Caste Muslims against ashraf Muslims. Our movement is not directed against them. Rather, we seek to strengthen and empower our own people, to enable them to speak for themselves and to secure their rights and justice from the state. We welcome well meaning people of ashraf background as well as non-Muslims who are concerned about the plight of our people to join us in our struggle. When we are accused of dividing Muslims, our response is, You so-called ashraf have kept us divided for centuries by fanning sectarian (maslaki) differences. Why don’t you put an end to this instead of telling us what to do? You have created and magnified these sectarian divisions for your own interests, to run your own little religious and political shops, for which you have not stopped even at promoting bloodshed and hatred. First you put an end to this sectarian hatred and division that you have created and then talk to us. Today numerous maulvis of different maslaks – Deobandi, Barelvi, Jamaat-i Islami, Shia, Ahl-i Hadith and who knows how many more – issue statements against each other, some going to the extent of branding all Muslims but themselves as ‘apostates’ and even as ‘enemies of Islam’! Is that not ‘dividing the Muslims’?// sabrang/cc/archive/2005/nov05/dalit1.html
Posted on: Fri, 11 Apr 2014 06:04:32 +0000