Globalisation reduces commodities and perceptions to a common destiny. Thus a spectre that is haunting the west, of Muslim group identity, seems to have reached India too.
Group identity of Indians as a social reality is testified to in matrimonial columns of newspapers. It plays a crucial role in the electoral system and is in evidence in state and district administrations. It exists elsewhere, too, protestations notwithstanding.
The Constitution is unambiguous. Article 16 guarantees equality of opportunity vis-a-vis public employment. Article 16(4) authorises the state to take corrective action in favour of any backward class of citizens that 'is not adequately represented in the services under the state'.
This was the point of departure for the Sachar Committee. The PMO notification of March 9, 2005, noted that the lack of authentic information about the Muslim community comes in the way of specific action needed to address its socio-economic backwardness.
Its Terms of Reference specifically sought to ascertain, inter alia, 'their relative share in public and private sector employment'. The committee sought this information from published sources and from central and state governments.
The feigned outrage is unwarranted. If data in question is not maintained, how has this been mentioned in media comments on this question? It is nobody's case that merit selection based on examinations and interviews be interfered with.
However, a soldier, a policeman, and others at class III and IV levels of government services are selected on simpler criteria and if only 2per cent of Muslims qualify for the army and 3-4per cent for police and other services, then there is a cause for concern.
The creation of Pakistan, said Ajit Prashad Jain in 1949, facilitated constitution making and the question of minorities 'ceased to be a live issue'. By the same token, as the Gopal Singh Committee found in 1983, the Muslims in particular suffered from conscious or sub-conscious neglect at the hands of state agencies.
The problems have aggravated in the past two decades and led to the appointment of Sachar Committee. They need to be addressed, not wished away through pious exclamations.
The writer is a former Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations, former Ambassador in Iran and former Vice Chancellor, Aligarh Muslim University. He is presently a Distinguished Fellow at Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi.
Source: The Economic Times, New Delhi, February 22, 2006 * Views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Observer Research Foundation.
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