We want to see a future where every child goes to school after which he gets a job. There should be no more street urchins doing menial jobs or begging on the streets. The law of the land should be followed. There should be no need for the Anna Hazare types to keep the nation captivated.

People should wake up in the morning to go to their jobs, where they will work to their best of their ability. They should be knowing that they will be rewarded for the hard work they put in. They should also be aware that they will be punished if their performance is not up to the mark.

Turning the light switch will mean that the room will be lightened. No more erratic power supply will be tolerated. The factories will be humming and should be manufacturing stuff that will be proudly sold in other countries. Electricity will be generated by non polluting means.

The power should be with the people. The thugs and the rascals will find a place in the jails, and politics will become a way to serve the people.

The infrastructure will be robust and no “Chalta Hai” attitude will be tolerated. There should be health care available to all. Senior citizens will be loved and respected by all. The fire fighter or the policeman will be looked upon as the real heroes by all. The movie crowd will be simply actors or actresses, not hero or heroines, as we presently know them.

These are few of the things I am looking. These are not impossible. We have to bring the change. I know we can do it. Yes, we can.

India has always been a country with a rigid division between a small number of haves and the huge mass of have-nots. There is no denying that fact. It also a land where the rule “jiski laathi uski bhains” seems to apply. The “laathi” means more than one thing. It can be a stick, or it can be education. It can be whom one knows, or it can be about how well positioned one is. It can refer to the extent to which one flows with the tide, or the risks one is willing to take.

When there are so many factors affecting one’s destiny, the answers to how one goes about life in India cannot be all that simple. Certainly India has failed to provide for most of its population. It has also failed to lift the minorities to the higher level. But, should we be calling all this a failure on its part ?

I don’t think so. In spite of rampant corruption, lack of leadership at multiple levels, widespread inefficiency, and the menace of an exploding population, India has begun running in the global race. The newer contest for supremacy and dominance among nations has only started. This is for the long haul. Participating in the race is the more important thing for now. Let another country be ahead today. Maybe by tomorrow, the race will be India’s.

The relevant question for us is how to expedite matters. We as individuals can only contribute at the micro levels. These contributions are not likely to change the landscape overnight. But there are many in today’s India who are feeling empowered. They know much more than we think they do.

They are charting their own ways forward, not waiting for a maseeha to arrive. They are voting bad administrations out of power. They are punishing the corrupt. They are being receptive to the better values of western society and absorbing them in their lives.

I am not talking about the middle class, but those who have yet to climb up to that level. The competition is fierce, but so is their determination. They are ready to beg, borrow or steal to make a fresh start and get ahead in life. With an attitude like that, there is no turning back for them. These people are the islands of hope in a still considerably sized sea of impoverishment.

The situation is not without its challenges. There are no really simple solutions to the problems. India is no longer in its infancy now and has covered some ground as a nation. Yet there is much apprehension about what lies ahead. However, one should keep in mind that sixty years is not a great period of time in a country’s existence. After all, Rome wasn’t built in a day.

The questions put forward about the have-nots are valid. A small minority of the Indians are reaping the most benefit while the huge majority still scrambles to meet basic necessities. But let’s not be hasty and start trashing the country for that. Let’s not lose hope. This is an important juncture for the nation, and all we need are a few good citizens who can steer the country and keep it on the correct path. I have seen the goodness among people. Most of us rise to the occasion when called to do so.

Do you agree ?

The Madrasa education is organized sect wise. The network is organized throughout India on these lines. It mostly depends on the contribution from the followers of their sect in different states of India and abroad. The persons going throughout the country and around the world for fund collection are called “Safeer” means Ambassador. All contributions from India and abroad are generally not accounted for. These Safeers generally get commissions on these collections, from a minimum of 25% up to 50%. The contributions received from India and abroad are mostly from Zakat fund, and hence they have to follow the restrictions in the use of these funds as per the norms of the Zakat. Most of the funds collected by these Safeers from abroad violate the norms of Foreign Contributions Regulating Act (FRCA). Generally, these contributions may not be utilized for modern education as per the Zakat norms.
The need of the hour is to reform the Madrasa education to the extent it is possible. But the strong network of sectarian Ulemas will not allow major reform in the setup. So the well-wishers of Muslim cause should find some way out without disturbing the Madrasa setup. One of the ways out is to organize one or two year’s refresher courses for the students coming out of the Madrasas. I hear that in the earlier days, there was a system of special class for the students, who come to school after passing “Urdu” or “Hindi” Middle school. These students were generally admitted to the Class VI which they call “Special Class”. A network of Special Classes should be organized by the organizations of Muslims in India and abroad. To encourage and attract the students from Madrasas, arrangement of hostels should also be made. The students of Madrasas who learn Quran by heart are generally more intelligent than the general Muslim students, and if opportunities are provided to them, they may be able to compete with not only their Muslim brethren, but the students in general also. But to arrange the special classes for the Madrasa students is not an easy task. Forward looking organizations should come forward in organizing at least a center at the district level, or at least ten in Uttar Pradesh to begin with. This way the Madrasa students will get a head start and will be able to move forward in their quest for knowledge.

I am saddened for these three people and for the hundred of other people who were brutally killed. Somebody, somewhere planned these murders, and then there were many who were the tools in executing this act of crime. The early reports say that the murderers were from a neighboring country and were the followers of the same religion. Many will chide me for bringing the issue of religion here. They may say that the killers and the murderers have no religion and there is no religion that approves the deed which they have performed.

I know that whatever they have done is against the very tenets of the religion which we all believe in. Yet, I am very disturbed. I am disturbed because this will not be the last act where people will be killed for no fault of theirs. I am also disturbed because the followers of this particular religion will not be the only ones to commit such a grave crime. The followers of other religions will also do the same thing, somewhere else. If we turn the pages of history we will notice how much blood has been shed in the name of religion. I don’t know how to react? My way of reacting is by kneeling down and praying to Allah that all the hatred amongst us may end one day. Others might react in a different way. Some may get angry and do what was done to the Sikhs after the murder of Indira Gandhi. Some may react the way the neighbors reacted with each others when India was divided in 1947. In history lessons, I have been taught about the way how King Ashoka reacted after the Kalinga war. It is said, that he took a vow to not shed any blood.

They teach us history, so that we can learn from it.

It is a pity that time and again elections seem to bring renewed hope to the downtrodden. There would be hope perhaps if the elected leaders came, so to say, from some distant world. But in reality they turn out to be cards of the same deck, shuffled manifold to present a different face and an ever attendant utopian vision. The gullible among the masses never catch onto these tricks.

This has happened especially to Muslims, and far too often. The Muslim community takes great pride in participating in electoral politics and patronizing one political party after another, all along with the false impression that it controls its destiny and that its voice counts. Yes, its voice does count. But due to lack of sound leadership, Muslims end up repeating the same mistake time and again.

Good leadership is a rare commodity. It wasn’t present among us at the hour of India’s birth as a nation. As a result, Muslims in the subcontinent suffered through one of biggest human exoduses ever. We failed ourselves then, and today, after decades of turmoil, we are continuing to do a bad job of it.

A small consolation is the fact that today’s Indian Muslim seems to have finally realized where he truly stands. Whenever he has to prove his patriotism he makes a good show of it. Few years back, in Boston at the Hatch Shell, on the occasion of India’s Independence Day, the members of the Aligarh Alumni Association of New England filled the air with a spirited rendition of Iqbal’s “Saare Jahan se Achcha, Hindustan Hamara”.

This is then, about us. Now let us take a look at our leadership.

It is not as if there is a shortage of Muslim leaders. They can be found in every nook and cranny of India. Some of them are involved in genuinely useful activity. They are working diligently for the betterment of the downtrodden. But there is not enough of this, and most of it comes too late.

In New Delhi, I was surprised to discover that the people, mostly Muslims, who are settled on the land around Batla House near Jamia University, have to beg for water from the colonies nearby. They do not have clean water to drink. This is in a region where the river Jamuna once flowed. If such is the condition of Muslims in the nation’s capital, one can only try to imagine the dire situations in the more remote villages, many of which are inaccessible and therefore lack recourse to outside assistance.

We do have a few Muslims in high places, but to no apparent benefit to the community? Have we seen any good come out from a Muslim being appointed Vice President, or even President of India? I don’t believe so. Such political developments provide no more than a false sense of euphoria and become choice pieces of conversation at social gatherings. The harsher realities though are never far away.

Some among the Muslims have played the game of politics very well and got themselves elected to positions of authority. But they have failed to do anything for the weak constituents they claim to represent. A telling fact is that today a few of the Muslim communities trail even the Dalits in certain aspects.

All this did not come about overnight. The Muslim leadership which evolved since partition has always been at the mercy of the ruling elite, i.e., the Congress Party. The Muslims were kept satisfied and happy with a few ministerial posts every now and then. But those portfolios never really amounted to much. When was the last time we were given the education, home, or finance ministries in the central government, or elsewhere? The answer is a distressing eye-opener.

Muslim political leadership in India remains a misnomer. Nor have the Indian Muslims done much to make a success of their platform.

“At present the political representatives of Minority communities in legislatures, especially Muslims, has fallen well below their proportion of population. The proportion of BCs among them is next to nil. This can lead to a sense of alienation. It is recommended for political parties to build up leadership potential in the minority communities including BCs, SCs and STs among them for participation in political life.”

It further stated more clearly:

“Backward classes belonging to religious minorities who have been identified and included in the list of backward classes and who in fact constitute the bulk of the religious minorities should be taken up with special care along with their Hindu counterparts in the development efforts for the Backward classes.”

The above referred paragraphs from the NCRWC clearly confirm that OBC section of the Muslims “are included in the list of backward classes and who in fact constitute the bulk of the population in religious minorities.” These “bulk” differs from state to state, but generally they are between 75 to 85 percent of the minority population and here minority generally means Muslims. Mandal Commission report also confirms this percentage of Muslim BCs which include Dalit Muslims also. There are no two opinions that bulk of the Muslim population consists of the Muslim backwards who are identified and included in the list of backward classes. The nine judges’ constitution bench judgment also confirms this.

In spite of the facts mentioned above, the Congress High Command under its elite Muslim leadership formed the opinion that Muslims are not getting the reservation benefits and hence Congress in its Election Manifesto 2004 has declared that when it comes to power it will provide reservation to Muslims in admission to educational institutions and jobs in civil services without going into the fact that Muslims who are socially and educationally backward are already included in the list of Backward classes in state and central list and those Muslims who are included in the list of backward classes constitute the bulk of the Muslim community and the percentage of those bulks differ from state to state which roughly comes to 75 and 85 percent of the Muslim population.

Social stratification among Muslims is a known and accepted fact. It is confirmed by sociologists and anthropologists worldwide and also by the Encyclopedia Americana and Britannica. Now the Ashraf Muslim leadership also confirms this social stratification of Ashraf, Ajlaf-Arzal groups of Muslims. Ashraf Muslim cannot be included in the OBC list because they are treated socially and educationally forward. Para 552 of the Mandal judgment has formulated the criterion for inclusion in the OBC list which is as under.

“552- The backward class of citizens referred to in Article 16(4) is the socially backward class of citizens whose educational and economical backwardness is on account of their social backwardness. A caste itself may constitute a class. However, in order to constitute a backward class the caste concerned must be socially backward and it’s educational and economical backwardness must be on account of its social backwardness. The economic criteria by itself cannot identify a class as backward unless the economic backwardness of the class is on account of its social backwardness.”

Nine judges Constitution bench judgement of Indira Sawhney v/s Union of India (Mandal case)
Since the population ration of these forward Muslims (Ashraf) is 15 to 25 percent of the total Muslim population, all the hue and cry for Muslim reservation is for this 15 and 25 percent of the total Muslim population. The bulk of the Muslim population that is 75 to 85 percent of the Ajlaf-Arzal backward Muslims is included in the list of backward classes in the state and central list and is getting the benefits of OBC in job and admissions. It may not be out of place to mention that at present OBCs are not getting reservation in central educational institutions and also in the minority educational institutions.

Without going into details at this stage, I would like to mention that all the exercise by the Congress led UPA government is for the 15 to 25 percent of the Muslim population. It has nothing to do with the bulk of the Muslim population who constitute 75 to 85 percent of the Muslim population. These bulk 75 to 85 percent of the Muslim population are not getting their due share, to be in admission to educational institutions, job reservation of central and state services, political representation in state legislatures and parliament and in the decision making bodies of political parties be it Congress, Samajwadi party, the BSP, the RJD, the NCP as well as the left parties.
The representation of these bulk Muslims (Muslim OBCs) in the Lok Sabha from 1st to 14th is also very poor. Out of around 7500 members of Lok Sabha, only 400 Muslims in all could get elected and out of this 400 Muslims Lok Sabha members, only 60 Muslims belonging to OBC category could get elected. The position of representation of the OBC Muslims in Rajya Sabha and upper Houses of legislatures is also very poor.

The actual picture of under representation of OBC Muslims who are included in the list of OBCs is narrated above concisely. The details can be provided if required. Ashraf Muslims are posing as if Muslims are out of reservation list but the picture is just the reverse. 15 percent of the Ashraf Muslims are getting 85 percent representation in every sphere and 85 percent of the OBC Muslims are getting only 15 percent representation be in admission or jobs or political representation in political parties.

I fail to understand why this gross neglect on the part of this section of the Muslim community in the Congress party is still there under your leadership. The bulk of Muslim community, who are no doubt included in the OBC list at the center and state, deserves representation in the organization of the government and the congress party. Even the National Commission of Backward Classes both has no representation of Backward Muslims.

I want to place these facts before you, the Chairperson of UPA and President of the Congress party with the hope that justice will be done to the OBC Muslims which included Dalit Muslims also.

I believe, that you will not mind if I frankly say that the OBC Muslims are underrepresented in the decision making bodies of the Congress Party at every stage, from DCCs to PCCs and AICCs. For a very long time, the working committee is without any representation of the OBC Muslims. The committee and commissions formed by the UPA government have not a single person among its members from the OBC Muslims. Governors and other constitutional positions also have no Muslims of this category.

It is sad to see that today the MPs and MLAs of the ruling party are even scared to take the plight of the weavers, because they are not sure as to how it will be taken by the party leadership. I remember that in 1972, my grandfather, late Mr. Istafa Husain, who was a MLC that time, started a movement for the cause of the weavers. At that time, he was not even concerned about how it will be taken by the party leadership. My father, late Mr. Ashfaq Husain Ansari, carried the fight initiated by his father and grandfather. He wrote many books and articles which narrated the plight of this community. Later as a parliamentarian, he exposed the weaknesses of the central government schemes which were related to the textile and handloom industry. I remember that during my childhood, my neighborhood was alive with the sound of “khatar-patar”, coming out from the running of the handlooms. Today, the whole area is silent, as if someone has died. At that time, there used to be hundreds of handlooms in that area, but today there is hardly any. At that time hundreds of people got jobs in various handloom showrooms around the country and the community was financially well off.

Both my father, as well as grandfather was of the view that consumption of the end product is the foremost challenge for the poor weaver. It is the middle man who corners the plump share leaving the poor weaver with almost nothing. It was their efforts that handloom depots were opened in the various cities in India as well as abroad. To increase the production of yarn, scores of spinning mills were opened. Today, due to the mismanagement and also due to the apathy of the state governments, the handloom and power loom infra-structure is in shambles. In my locality Wazirabad in Gorakhpur, I was dismayed to see how the so called handloom artisans, due to lack of work are available to work as day laborers.

In today’s world, the challenges before this industry are many. The industry is not able to bear the onslaught by China, which is dumping the market with cheap products. If the government is not attentive to the needs of this industry, then the day is not far off when the Bunkars of Uttar Pradesh will be forced to commit suicide like the weavers and farmers of the other states. But these challenges are not new. In the past, this industry was able to face the wrath of the East India Company and survived because there were good leaders, who under the banner of Momin Conference provided full protection to this industry. But today due to the lack of leadership this industry is lingering on borrowed oxygen. How long this will continue, is anybody’s guess?

Muslims were not in the deprived conditions all the times. They had ruled the country for the past many centuries. So what went wrong and where it went wrong? It is not correct to point fingers in every possible direction; there may be short comings in us too. On one side, after our famous ‘tryst with destiny’, we as a country did many things that were correct and appropriate, but on the other hand, there were occasions where we failed as a nation. We took great pride in electing the occupants of the ‘Rashtrapati Bhawan’, a Muslim, Sikh or Dalit. But how can we look straight in the eyes of the mother in Moradabad, who on the fateful day of Eid in the early1980s was waiting for her children to come back home after offering Eid prayer? How about the widow whose husband was lynched by a mob when Indira Gandhi was assassinated? It is not important under whose watch these dastardly incidents happened, but what disturbs is that why we failed to learn the lessons and similar incidents were repeated again after a couple of decades in Gujarat and elsewhere? In my opinion, it is due to the absence of the leadership everywhere and at all levels.

In spite of the fact that the Mumbai carnage got the government to its knees, the country is moving forward on the path of optimism with new found confidence. Muslims are in a dilemma, they want to participate in this progress like everybody else. But at places, they find themselves alienated and their loyalty being questioned. They are looked with suspicion. When they turn around to find who is advocating for their cause, they get a jolt. Like always, nobody. They lack a leader. This lack of leadership at this juncture is detrimental to their cause. If everything depends on the timing, then certainly this doesn’t bode very well for them. This is the time like no other time. Muslims need a leader. Muslims need a leader, desperately.

The Indian Muslims born after India gained independence never faced the apprehension which our fore-fathers faced. For them it must have been difficult to decide whether to ride to the crest of the wave to opt for the new country which was creating a sense of euphoria to many. In the future, it had not taken long to realize that this birth of a new nation was one of the biggest mistakes of that century. Pakistan was created because there was a lean and determined Gujarati on one side and on the other side there was another lean Gujarati, who eventually succumbed to the mounting pressure of his colleagues. The creation of Pakistan witnessed the biggest migration of the human being in the recorded history. I hear that such was the magnitude of the tragedy that some trains that were leaving with the living human beings from one side of the border, were arriving at the destination loaded with dead bodies. The debate whether this tragedy could have been avoided or not, continues. Now at this stage in time, in my opinion, this is merely a topic for historians. To move forward, we have to leave it behind.

The condition of the Muslims in India at the best can be described as dismal. During partition, a major portion of the Muslim intelligentsia had left the country for the dream land in the hope for green pastures. At that time, some of the Muslims who were a part of the feudal system were leading a satisfactory life, but the majority of other Muslims were struggling to find both ends meet and this downwards slide continued. Today, even after more than sixty years after the independence, Muslims are still behind in every aspect of the life. The intensity of these differences is acknowledged in the report prepared by the Sachar Committee, which was formed by the Prime Minister to study the economic conditions of the Muslims in India. According to this report, the condition of Muslims is pathetic. They constitute only about 5% in the government jobs and only 3 % in the elite Civil Services. This adequately raises an alarm when seen in the context of the total Muslim population in the country.

After independence, there were scant opportunities which took the country towards the path of progress. The ones, who were better educated, reaped the fruits of the independence. The Muslims generally lagged behind because they lacked self confidence and were poorly educated. There was nobody to motivate and guide them. Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) provided quality education, but was inadequate. For the Muslims, the greatest challenge was at the feeder level. In the beginning, the children of the Muslim feudal class were quick to avail the opportunity provided by AMU. Later, students from other diverse backgrounds also benefited from this great institution. Apart from AMU, the scions of the feudal and well to do families had access to other institutions and by the education they received there, they became engineers, doctors, lawyers, and other officials which formed the back bone of the Muslim middle class, which still was quite small in size. The rest of the Muslim masses, mainly artisans, small peasants and day laborers had no access and incentive for the modern education. Thus, they remained, by and large confined to their hereditary professions.

In business and various other fields Muslims were also at the bottom and were living by exiguous incomes. Along with the resources, they lacked the skills needed to conduct the business. The Muslim artisans, to some extent flourished in the cottage industry, because of their skills, and hard work, but since they were not cautious and diligent, the profit was generally cornered by the middlemen. This is another example where due to lack of leadership, an opportunity was lost. It was not like that for all the time, I remember vividly, in the mid seventies in Uttar Pradesh, under the leadership of my grandfather, who was then the small scale industries minister in the state government, the artisans were flourishing. But that ended with the change in the government policies and the fact that there was nobody to advocate for them. As a result, the small scale industry, which was the pride of the lower and middle class Muslim artisans, died a slow and tragic death. It is a pity that those artisans who were able to program their handlooms on the basic principles of today’s computers, are working as day labor and as petty vendors in the neighborhoods. However far fetched it may sound, but there is some truth in the allegations that some of the riots were systematically planned to destroy the localities where Muslims had achieved economic prosperity. In this context Meerut, Moradabad, and Aligarh is freely mentioned.

In spite of the fact that Sachar Committee report is a true reflection of the conditions of the Indian Muslims, I strongly believe that the Indian Muslims have not lost the hope. They believe in the democratic principles and vote for their best. They actively participate in the vote politics, and punish and reward the politicians with vengeance. They are aware of the discrimination, which daily stares them in their face, yet this does not deter them from making an attempt to move forward. They realize that they are not alone in being discriminated. They do notice that every other Indian is being discriminated by another Indian, at least once in their life time. One of the facets of the discrimination originates from the caste system. This malaise is prevalent in both the religions. In one religion, it is well documented, whereas in another, it is practiced clandestinely. For Hindus, it has worked for their advantage because of the reservation that is guaranteed through the Indian constitution. Like Hindus, some classes of Muslims are more deprived than the others, but because of a discrimatory constitution amendment in 1950, they don’t have any protection or reservation to elevate their position to bring them equal to their well to do brethren. To many this is a genuine cause for concern.

Let us ponder about the issues of the leadership. One of the casualties of the great migration after partition was the absence of Muslim leadership on the Indian side. After Independence, for decades the country was single-handedly ruled by a single political party, i.e., Congress party, which thrived on the support provided by the Muslims and other minority groups. Since the Congress party lacked inner party democracy, the leadership was entirely based on the nomination process, which was at the fancy and mercy of the party high command. Often, Muslims were selected and groomed based on the loyalty factor and were imposed on the populace in quest to gain the maximum mileage during the elections. In this process, where loyalty was the sole criteria, nolens volens, genuine grass-root leaders were sidelined to give way to the sycophants, who were there for their self interests. As a result, the interest of the common people became a casualty. The failure of the Congress to protect the minorities during communal flare-ups was seen intentional, because of the compulsions of the vote bank politics. Some even say that the Congress was working on the British doctrine of ‘divide and rule’ and believed that by creating a phobia of Hindu resurgent, they will force Muslims to flock to the Congress for protection. Such was the moral bankruptcy of the Muslim leadership that they were scared to raise the issues of Muslim security in the legislative bodies, because they thought that this act of theirs will chastise them for working against the party line. This honeymoon with the Congress lasted for quite some time, and produced leaders, some of them, although were pygmies in stature, but attained high offices and decorated the Parliament and other legislative bodies. This worked very well, cemented our secular credentials, and caught the imagination of the world. But unfortunately, this did not give the full return on the deposit. The deposit here was being the Muslim votes.

The Muslim leaders who were cultivated in the past were not effective, because they lacked the ability to get elected on their own. Never mind vision, they generally lacked the other ingredients needed to win an election, i.e., charisma, money and muscle power. There are Muslims desiring to be the leader who have access to the money and muscle power both, but they lack respectability and their acceptability level is low. Once elected, it is observed that they generally focus on getting access to more muscle and money power, because they are aware that in a wooden utensil, one can only cook, once.

The dilemma of being deprived of having a Muslim leader who was not nurtured from the lowest ranks amongst the Muslims had serious consequence which is being noticed in our day to day life. Why the Indian Muslims could not get their own types of Laloo, Chandra Babu Naidu, Narendra Modi or Mayawati? If we look carefully, we will notice that for all the time after independence there was no Muslim leader of towering personality. The last time we had a Muslim leader; it was either Jinnah or Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad, with all India appeal. When Jinnah departed to Pakistan, the only Muslim leader who was in the field was Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad, who unfortunately was systematically marginalized by the leaders of the Congress Party. Minus Azad, it may not be out of place to mention that the last Muslim leader India had was Mahatma Gandhi, who paid th e ultimate price for being the leader of the Muslims. In the second and third levels, there were many who dominated the landscape, but they had limited and localized appeal, along with the shorter shelf life. Their credibility got low, because to get elected, they compromised on the principles and hopped from one party to another. It is sad that were not given the leadership roles by virtue of their following among the masses, but they were there holding high as well as low positions because of the privilege of the access they had with the powerful satraps of small regional parties. Having no grass root support, they were made leaders by the virtue of simply co-incidence.

Looking at the past, we will realize that Indian Muslims after being betrayed by the Congress Party have put their destiny in the hands of the local leaders, like Mulayam, Laloo and recently Mayawati. Was that a wise move, or a simple act of sheer desperation? When the choice is between two evils, the good practice is to choose the lesser evil. But we should not forget that by doing so, we loose an opportunity to nurture or develop a leader from ourselves – a leader, who we always lacked and who when patronized by us, could cater to our needs.

So far, the upper echelons of the Muslim community, who were better educated than the socially and economically weaker sections, provided the Muslim leadership. This provided leaders, who were sincere, but generally were not effective. Since these leaders for most of the time were from affluent background, they had no clear understanding, nor did they ever attempt to understand the challenges faced by the common Muslim. As a consequence, they were not in a position to work for the betterment of the Muslim community in the first place. On the other hand, the leadership of the weaker section of the Muslim community gained momentum with the advent of All India Momin Conference, but gradually with the passage of time and due to the lack of foresight, this movement fizzled out.

It is sad. But in India, the votes are cast on the basis of caste affiliations. In today’s political scenario, some of the electoral gains made by the parties and the leaders are on the basis of the numerical strength of the caste they are affiliated with. By the same token, the person who is vying to be the Muslim leader should be in a position to affiliate him with birth or with association with the caste that has an advantage over others in the number game. In spite of the fact that Islam prohibits division based on caste and creed, the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent to some extent, practice the caste system, which basically is adopted from the Hindu caste hierarchy. On the basis of the caste system, the Muslim community is highly stratified and the economically weak are placed at the bottom. Although this section constitutes the bulk of the Muslim population, but politically they have been marginal ized. It will play to the advantage of the Muslim leader, if he belonged to one of the marginalized groups, because numerically these groups have tremendous advantage over the others and since democracy is the game of numbers, this approach will not be inconsequential and will pay rich dividends. The dividend can be a Muslim Mulayam or Laloo or even another Muslim Mayawati.

There is a need for an ebullient Muslim leader who can perform and negotiate based on his credibility without the aid of crutches. The crutches in politics generally are the patronage of business houses, or a godfather, like Kanshi Ram, who was doing the ground work for decades. It may still be not too late, for the Kanshi Rams of the Muslims to emerge. It will be advantageous to the Muslim leader if he is capable to provide for himself and his family by his own means. This way he will not forgo the pledge to his constituents and will not become a participant in the mechanism to generate money by questionable means. It is tragic, but the leader simply became a sycophant to the local center of powerful.

The person has to be educated, widely travelled, and should have the vision to look beyond the spoils of the power. The person should be able to inspire for the change and be able to provide hope. The person should know how to get connected with the people of Kashmir to convince them that a powerful and united India is the need of the day. He should be able to comfort the victims of Gujarat pogrom who are still struggling to put their lives back in order. He has to be believed by the migrant workers working in big cities, that he is aware of their plight and will advocate the case of their unfairly treatment. He should be equally comfortable in the company of the “rocket scientists” and should be on the same wave frequency with the not so educated constituents. That is the ideal leader we are looking for.

The foremost challenge for the Muslim leader will be to heal the indelible scars which are inscribed on the heart and soul of the Muslims. The Muslims are angry and frustrated over the happenings of the past. They have witnessed in dismay how Narendra Modi, a mendacious politician is able to build an empire on the graves of the Muslims, whose lives could have been saved. Their anger is a manifestation of their helplessness. During the independent movement some strayed and vented their frustration by killing the police personnel at a place called Chauri Chaura, in Gorakhpur. This single incident in all likelihood could have derailed the independence movement. But it was the charismatic leadership of Gandhi, which prevented another incident like this from happening elsewhere. Today, similar challenge is being faced by the Muslim leadership. The threat of the irresponsible outfits to creating chaos and hijack the Muslim leadership is real. To counter this calamity, we need a Muslim leader who can tame this tiger. We don’t have a leader like Gandhi, whose fast to death will bring cold sweats on the forehead of the bravest of the time. The challenge for the Muslim leader will be to put a leash on these irresponsible and emotional outfits because they threatens to negate the hard-won gains of a new generation of Muslims who have defied the odds to emerge as successful entrepreneurs and professionals.

It will be difficult to convince Muslims that to change their destiny, they have to believe that the panacea is hard work and good education. Some may be hesitant in subscribing to the concept of education. Today’s education is expensive and the gains of the education generally are not available immediately. In today’s life, where the foremost challenge is to provide for food and other immediate needs, the gains that may come from the education in the future looses appeal. In-spite of this shortcoming, for long term goals, the merits of good education should be conveyed to all, because education has brought wonders to the ones who have subscribed to it. Our leadership should be able to open new avenues in a quest that good education is available to all. We have witnessed sincere Muslim leaders, rather than championing the cause of getting good education, will put all of their energies on the agendas of getting reservation for the Muslims. There is no denying that soliciting for reservation will be beneficial and communities with reservations have benefited from this. But the leader should not be naïf, and be careful enough to pick his battles. One should not choose the battle which is insurmountable and will divert all your energy from the goal and rather will focus more on the path to reach it. This will wear them on the tracks and will take the attention away from the goal. The Muslim leader should be clear about the short term and the long term goals. Asking for the reservation for Muslims in government services is the example of long term goal, whereas guiding and mentoring them in achieving good education by the available resources is an example of the short term goal.

It is my hope that the Muslim leadership is somewhere in the making and the day is not far of when the leadership will emerge. All we have to do is to keep looking and punishing the rotten ones and embracing the deserving ones. If we are not careful in our choices, then who we are going to vituperate?

The foremost question that comes to mind is whether all Muslims can be provided reservation or not? To get the answer we should consult the constitution because without having the basic understanding of the constitution it will be meaning less to talk about the reservation for all the Muslims. Our constitution prohibits providing reservation on the basis of religion because the spirit of the constitution is secular is secular. Hence, without constitution amendment reservation for all Muslims is not possible. We all know that changing the constitution is a herculean task, and if attempted, will be a blunder because this will provide the communal elements an opportunity to polarize the nation on communal lines which will be detrimental for the national unity and growth.

At this time it is advisable for us to focus on the reservation for the “Pasmanda” or the backward sections of the Muslim community, because it will be in accordance with the spirit of the constitution. Based on the Mandal commission report, backward Muslims should get approximately nine percent from the allocated 27% reservation allocated for the OBC Muslims. This will be in accordance with the tenets of the Indian constitution. At this time, any reservation which is based on religious grounds will be Himalayan blunder.