The basis of Justice Sachar'sCommittee has been that the interests of one community differ from the interests of another community in the same place, same job. A Muslim worker and a Hindu worker have different problems. Thus in view of the Sachar Committee, religion divides the nation into communal segments with separate personal laws, separate social philosophies and separate economies. This is the result of misrepresentation of secularism by the Indian political system and predominant secularist intellectuals. So the author says that it is imperative to know how the misrepresentation and misuse of secularism have deconstructed the civil society in India.
Islam adheres to fundamentals and differentiates human behaviour from religion to sex and financial dealings, gender relationship, system of justice, etc, which have discouraged any discourse to interpret in the context of modernity, scientific temperament and values generated in other socio-religious communities. The general will of the Islamic society reflects a totalitarian attitude. ?It decries the space to multiculturalism and religious equality with a few exceptions,? says the author.
In contrast, keeping the geo-cultural dynamics in mind, the Hindus? perception of secularism has to be understood in the context of its geo-cultural dynamics. It adheres to the pluralistic quest for truth. Thus its philosophical, cultural, social and spiritual process remains decentralised, diversified and discourse-centric. It promotes self-reliance in the spiritual life too. There are small gods and goddesses in every nook and corner of the country.
The book points out that the Muslim discourse remains primarily based on colonial hypothesis that Hindus and Muslims are two competing religions with separate political identities. The author points out that the formation of the high-level committee by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in 2005 was exclusively to study the Muslim problems and it was against the spirit of the Constitution which does not define the term ?minority? in the religious context. It shows that the minority in India is synonymous with the Muslim community.
The book says that the Committee's?complete bankruptcy to understand the Muslim mind and the realities is its unsubstantiated allegation? that the Muslims have fewer bank accounts and are deprived of bank loans, without taking into consideration the fact, as Syed Shahabuddin says, ?Muslim in Indians have inherited the tradition of avoiding contact with the banking system as far as possible because it is based on interest. Thus they have deprived themselves of the far-reaching benefits of a developing economy which is based on credit flow on interest?total estimated loss of the Muslim community in India every year runs into billions of rupees.?
The book says that the Sachar Committee'sformation was based on communal logic and its composition shows the sectarian mindset and its functioning guided by an agenda of Muslim politics and finally ?its report lacks the legitimacy?. In other words, the Sachar Committee is trying to convince the Muslim masses that the Indian State and the Hindu majority are reasons for the Muslims? backwardness and discrimination against them.
(Bharateeya Vichar Manch, 203, Shefali Shopping Centre, Paldi Cross Road, Ahmedabad-380 006, Gujarat.)
