Who Are The Muslims That BJP Wants On Its Side By 2024 Polls?

At the recent national executive meeting of BJP, PM Narendra Modi suggested the party should make efforts to win the support of Pasmanda Muslims with ‘sneh yatras’. Who are Pasmanda Muslims, what is their status within the community, and how numerically significant are they politically? Mohammed Wajihuddin explains

- Mohammed Wajihuddin

Muslims in India are not a homogenous group. Broadly, there are three social groupings — Ashraaf, Ajlaaf and Arzaal. Ashraaf is the plural of sharif (elite). The Ashraaf comprise Sayyids, Shaikhs, Pathans, among others, and are traditionally the dominant social group.

Ajlaaf is the plural of jilf (uncivilised), and this group constitutes mainly artisans. Arzaal is the plural of razeel (‘lowliest’). Ajlaaf and Arzaal together comprise the Pasmanda, which is a Persian word that means “left behind”.

Since most Muslims in India retained their profession even after embracing Islam, there was little economic or social upward mobility associated with the conversion. “The nature of the work they did didn’t change though they came in the fold of Islam because of the religion’s principle of egalitarianism,” said Ali Anwar, former MP and founder-president, All India Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz.

A Deeply Felt Need

Anwar launched the Mahaz to fight for the rights of Pasmanda Muslims in 1998 after he received the A K Birla Fellowship to study Dalit Muslims in Bihar. Subsequently, former Prime Minister V P Singh launched Anwar’s seminal book “Maswat Ki Jung’ or Struggle for Equality, based on his research. The book and the Mahaz pitchforked Anwar, a former Hindi journalist, into the league of Muslim leaders crusading for the Pasmanda.