Muslim middle class' coming of age

INDIA'S MUSLIM SPRING
Why is Nobody Talking About it?
Hasan Suroor
Rupa Publications
200 pages; Rs 395

"My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist." This dialogue, from Shah Rukh Khan's 2010 Bollywood film My Name is Khan, sought to send a strong message to the world that Khan may be a common surname among terrorists but there is little similarity in terms of spirit between ordinary Muslims and their fundamentalist brethren. In fact, the dialogue from the movie is reflective of the new thinking among the Indian Muslim community - or at least among the section that is gaining influence, is proud of its religious identity, and is secular, progressive and nationalistic. Veteran journalist Hasan Suroor has tried to capture this change-in-the-making among Indian Muslim youth in India's Muslim Spring: Why is Nobody Talking About it?

The change is gradual and is being driven by the new generation of Muslims, especially women. Young Muslims want to move ahead and make the most of available opportunities. They are not waiting for "hand-outs" from the government. Nor are they willing to be led by opportunistic leadership. They are embracing tolerance and are willing to respect cultural and religious differences. "Muslims recognise that they will need to stop blaming others and using anti-Muslim prejudice to cover up their inadequacies. There is a new sense of urgency; and though more palpable among young Muslims, it is not confined to them alone," the author argues.

Some of the external markers of the change are the greater focus on the need for women's education, women taking up jobs they were unwilling to do in the past, shying away from violent protest, an honest attempt at reforming personal law and the secularisation of their voting behaviour. Ironically, these changes are happening at a time when "there is no religiosity in the air".

Surprisingly, the factors that are driving these changes are the same that made them "regressive" and "insular" in the first place. Events like Partition, the Shah Bano controversy and the demolition of the Babri Masjid caused a lot of pain, but these incidents have also occasioned introspection. The partition of India in 1947 was one such defining moment; it made Hindus and Muslims suspicious of each other. The author argues that one of its many consequences was "the flight of the Muslim middle class, the engine of upward mobility and progress in any society, to Pakistan". As a result, there was a serious lack of leaders who could motivate and inspire the Indian Muslim community. The vacuum thus created left the field open for "local mullahs and provincial political operators". They used religion as the most potent tool for political mobilisation, thereby depriving the community of the benefits of modern education and useful skills.

This has begun to change, and the seemingly terminal decline of Pakistan has only hastened the process. The author's reasoning that the realisation among today's youth in the community of "thus far but no further" is, at best, a partial explanation; the realisation is a result of socio-economic changes that have taken place in the country in the last 20 years. The Sachar Committee report, which is considered the most comprehensive and authoritative treatise on socio-economic status of Indian Muslims, offers some answers.

The report says, "While the share of Muslim workers engaged in agriculture is much lower than for other groups, their participation in manufacturing and trade (especially for males) is much higher than for other SRCs [socio-religious categories]. Besides, their participation in construction work is also high."

The report adds that besides construction, the participation of Muslim workers is quite high in the retail and wholesale trade, land transport, automobile repair, manufacture of tobacco products, textiles and apparel, and fabricated metal products. "The share of Muslim workers in manufacturing is particularly high in states like Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, where the share is more than 25 per cent," the report says.

We know how the retail, automobile repair and construction sectors have witnessed exponential growth in the last two decades. Muslims may have benefited from their association with these growth sectors. Either way, the changing economic situation has created a new middle class among Muslims, something that was missing all these years. This middle class has benefited from a post-liberalisation growth story and, therefore, has turned against obscurantist forces that try to disrupt it.

The new realisation to which the author is referring is basically a result of this emerging group's rising aspirations. This new class wants to keep religion in the private domain and deal with other issues on secular terms. Mr Suroor's appeal to the government and civil society is that this trend needs acknowledgement as well as active support.

The book is short, sweet, focused and written with good intentions. Instead of going the data route to support his central thesis, the author has based his arguments on anecdotal evidence and his interactions with a wide range of young Muslims. Without the data support, however, the book sometimes reads like the author's wish list. However, for new researchers interested in the Muslim question, it offers an excellent set of ideas to work on.