Muslim women poised to make Sachar recommendations an election issue

15 March, New Delhi: Lack of access to education, public institutions, state schemes and jobs for Muslims continues unabated even after a year-and-a-half since the damming revelations by the Sachar Committee showed that Muslims are ranked lowest even among the most marginalised sections in the country.

This was stated in unequivocal voice by a gathering of over 150 Muslim women from across the country at a two-day national consultation this month, which marked the culmination of regional deliberations involving some 30 organisations working for the rights of Muslim women.

"The Sachar Committee brought to light the truth that is experienced by millions of Muslims on a daily basis. But little has changed in the past year-and-a-half," said Noorjhan Diwan, Gujarat, convener of Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA).

Similar sentiments were aired by participants from Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. The need to highlight entitlements and rights to enable the community to demand them was a recurring theme throughout the consultation, which was organised by BMMA, Indian Social Institute and ActionAid.

Alliance of marginalised

Cautioning against divisive campaigns against the Sachar Committee recommendations, Babu Mathew, ActionAid India, country director, said: "We need to establish linkages between the marginalised communities, like the tribal, dalits, Muslims, women and even the fishing community. It is only by creating an alliance of the marginalised that we can repel attempts to derail the struggle represented by BMMA."

He congratulated BMMA for taking the discussion on implementation of the Sachar recommendations not only to state level, but into villages and urban slums.

Seema Mustafa, political editor Asian Age, stressed the need to for consistent political assertion and stated: "Committees are announced on a regular basis and they are forgotten. We know what has happened to the women's reservation bill."

"If we believe in the Constitution of India, we have to understand the Sachar Committee recommendations within the ambit of  empowering of all communities and social groups who are languishing on the sidelines even after 60 years of political independence," asserted Kamal Mitra Chinoy, who teaches at Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Member of Parliament in Rajya Sabha, P.V. Abdul Wahab said that issues raised by the committee will only see the light of the day through a strong political campaign.

"Systemic inequity will not be altered unless and until and the governments find the political courage to confront the situation head-on," he asserted.

Zakia Jowher of ActionAid outlined the way forward:

"This National Consultation has helped towards forging a national consensus with suggested strategies and plans to make Sachar Committee recommendations a reality. Participants will take amplify calls for implementation at all levels with renewed impetus and concerted effort."

"Each state will work on sending at least one postcard from each Muslim family to the President of India stating the demand for entitlements and showing the impact of their denial."

"As elections draw closer, women's groups will also engage with politicians urging them to make implementation of Sachar recommendation part of their election manifestos," she added.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

1. Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, launched in January 2007, is a collective of Muslim women from across India. It is a mass membership organization with an Advisory Council. Membership is open to women from all communities but at any given point the Muslim women will constitute at least 70 per cent. ActionAid is one of the founding members of the coalition.

2. Appointed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Sachar Committee was mandated with assessment of social, economic and educational status of the Muslim community of India. The report came up with statistics showing that Muslims are ranked lower than even the most marginalised section of the Indian Society. It made concrete suggestions that are known as Sachar Committee recommendations.