Census started during the British rule in the country, in which Hindus and Muslims were counted. In all the censuses conducted in the country since independence, people of the Muslim community were counted only on the basis of religion. But this time in the census, along with Hindus, the castes of Muslims will also be counted. In such a situation, know why the Muslim League formula is being used after 94 years?

The Modi government at the centre has announced caste census in the country, which will be done along with the next census. This time in the census, castes of Muslims will also be counted along with Hindus. In the census questionnaire, there will be a column for caste along with religion. Muslims will have to mention their caste along with their religion, through which the social, economic and educational status of Muslims will be known.

Census was started during the British rule in the country, in which Hindus and Muslims were counted. In all the censuses conducted in the country since independence, people of the Muslim community were counted only on the basis of religion. In this way, the castes of Muslims could not be counted. However, in the census conducted from 1981 to 1931, Muslims were counted on both religious and caste basis, but in the year 1941, the matter got stuck due to the Muslim League and Hindu Mahasabha along with the Second World War.

What was the formula of Muslim League

During the caste census conducted before independence, the Muslim League had played a political gamble. During the 1941 census, the Muslim League had insisted on the Muslim community writing Islam instead of religion and Muslim instead of caste. The Muslim League had run a campaign for this through its leaders and had said that instead of writing their caste, they should write Muslim. A large number of people from the Muslim community had written Islam in the religion column and Muslim in the caste column.

In response to the Muslim League, the Hindu Mahasabha also ran a campaign. The Hindu Mahasabha had asked Hindus to write Hindu religion instead of caste, which led to a controversy. Due to this, in 1941, neither any caste census of Muslims was conducted nor the castes of Hindu society could be counted. The Muslim League wanted a strong basis for the role of a separate country on this pretext. The Muslim League was also successful in creating Pakistan without religion.

Religion-Islam, Caste-Muslim

Now after independence, when caste census is going to be done in the country, Muslims will be counted along with Hindus, because like Hindus, Muslims also have many castes. This will be the first time in India when caste-wise census of Muslims will be done. This is also important because till now in the census, Muslims were counted as a religious unit only. Now for the first time Muslims will be classified on the basis of their caste. This will be the first time when the government will have concrete data about the socio-economic and educational status of Muslims and their castes.

There is a caste system among Muslims and its pattern is the same as that of upper caste, backward and Dalit among Hindus. Just as there are Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra castes among Hindus, similarly Ashraf, Ajalaf and Arzal are seen. Apart from this, Muslims are also divided into different castes in the same way as Hindu castes are. Despite this, some posters are going viral among the Muslim community, in which it is written that during the caste census, people of the Muslim community should write Islam in the religion column and Muslim in the caste column. In a way, it is being said to hide the caste. This pattern is also the same as the one adopted by the Muslim League in 1941.

However, the name of any Muslim organization is not mentioned in the poster appealing to write Islam in the religion column and Muslim in the caste column. Apart from this, there is no name of any particular person. Similar posters were also issued during the 2011 census. In such a situation, the question arises that why the work of hiding the castes of Muslims is going on.

Muslim castes divided into three classes

The Muslims of the Indian subcontinent, i.e. India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, have castes just like the Hindus have castes. The Muslim castes are divided into three classes. They are called Ashraf (upper castes), Ajalaf (backward castes) and Arzal (most backward castes). These are groups of castes, within which different castes are included.

Upper class Muslims are called Ashraf, which includes Syed, Sheikh, Turk, Mughal, Pathan, Rangad, Kayastha Muslim, Muslim Rajput, Tyagi Muslim. The backward class castes of Muslims are called Ajalaf. OBC castes like Ansari, Qureshi, Mansuri, Salmani, Gujjar, Gaddi, Ghosi, Darji, Manihar, Kunjra, Teli, Saifi are included. After this come the most backward Muslims, who are called Arjal, which includes Dhobi, Mehtar, Abbasi, Bhatiyara, Nat, Halalkhor, Mehtar, Bhangi, Bakkho, Cobbler, Bhat, Dafali, Pamaria, Nalband and Fisherman.

It is believed that 15% of Muslims are Ashraf and 85% are Pasmanda Muslims. In such a situation, the caste census will bring out the authentic data of different castes of Muslims. Apart from this, it will be known that not the entire Muslim society is backward but there is a Pasmanda class among Muslims, which is 80-85% of the total Muslims, but their development or upliftment has not been possible. This roughly matches the census of 1881, which said that only 19% of Muslims in India were from upper castes, while 81% are from lower castes.

The number of Pasmanda Muslims is around 85 percent

The number of Pasmanda Muslims in the Muslim community is said to be around 85% while the remaining 15% are upper caste Muslims like Syed, Sheikh, Pathan. Upper caste Muslims are strong socially and economically and they have dominated all the political parties. On the other hand, Pasmanda Muslims are weak socially, educationally, economically and politically.

It has been said that in the name of Muslims, some upper castes of the Muslim society are getting the benefit of all the comforts and facilities. The condition of the Pasmanda Muslim castes is worse than that of OBC and Dalit Hindus. Due to lack of concrete data, their voice is ignored, but authentic data will be revealed through caste census. After this, Muslims of Pasmanda or other castes can also demand representation in proportion to their numbers.

PC:TV9Bharatvarsh