Since the high level committee (HLC) or Sachar report on the Muslims of India was presented to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, much debate and discussion has gone by. That the deprivation of Muslims in India should be a matter of informed public debate is indeed one of the purposes of the HLC. A disturbing fact, however, is the dominance of a reductionist view: reservation alone would benefit the Muslim community.

Among the other recommendations in the report, is this one: ‘to ensure inclusiveness through enhancing diversity’ in educational institutions, employment and work spaces, public and governance structures. The only factor that distinguishes Indian Muslims from others is their religious affiliation. A Tamil Muslim, for example, has greater affinity with a Tamil Hindu than with a Muslim, say, from Bihar or UP.

Reservation as the main point of debate may impede the broad-based affirmative action needed to eliminate the deprivation of Muslims in India. That the state of Muslim deprivation that has prevailed even after six decades of Independence, and after 15 years of economic reform, suggests that there is a systemic failure on the part of policy design and political thought.

As early as 1953, Nehru wrote, “In the services, generally speaking, the representation of the minority communities is lessening. In some cases, it is very poor indeed... looking through Central Secretariat figures, as well as some others, I am distressed to find that the position is very disadvantageous to them, chiefly to the Muslims and sometimes to others also. In the vast Central Secretariat of Delhi, there are very few Muslims.” Only a year later in a communication to a chief minister, Nehru noted, “Muslims feel deep sense of frustration. They feel that the services are not really open to them in any marked degree, whether defense, police or civil.” It is also instructive to highlight the fact that Mrs Indira Gandhi in a letter dated May 23 1975 directed all the central ministries and department and the state governments to “nominate... a member of the minority community in the selection committee/board for recruitment to group ‘C’ and group ‘D’ posts within the overall sanctioned strength of the committee/board.” Again, in a notification dated August 16 1990, it was further communicated to all the above cited ministries and departments to conform to the original notification as no compliance was in evidence since 1975. This position is reiterated on January 8, 2007 by the department of personnel and training of the Government of India to all central and state departments to ensure compliance.

... contd.