The minorities landscape

MINORITIES COMMISSION - Minor Role In Major Affairs: Tahir Mahmood; Pharos Media & Publishing Pvt. Ltd., P.O. Box: 9701, D- 84, Abul Fazal Enclave I, Jamia Nagar, New Delhi-110025. Rs. 300.

TILL 1996 the National Commission for Minorities was a sleepy, largely ignored organisation which seldom made media headlines. Its reports were seldom submitted to Government and almost never on time. Until Professor Tahir Mahmood - then Dean of Law Faculty, Delhi University - was appointed as its chairman by the then Prime Minister Mr. Deve Gowda.

For next three years, the commission undertook an activist role, making its presence felt in no uncertain terms. Whether it was the humiliation of Father Christudas in Dumka, Bihar or the alleged rape of nuns in Madhya Pradesh or an assault on missionaries in Haryana and Orissa or the blatantly communal census launched in Gujarat and Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the commission refused to be a sleeping dog. It took up the matter in earnest with the State and Central Governments concerned. And soon the commission which did not have the weapons to hurt those responsible for the indiscretions - the commission does not have a Constitutional status - made adequate use of the tools at its command to put the fear of the law in the minds of the guilty. Incidentally, Prof. Mahmood has been involved with legal research for nearly four decades and is an acclaimed authority on the Hindu and Islamic laws.

Not that the panel was reduced to majority rabble rousing only. Its ever-expanding role meant that the commission's advice and good offices were sought even by those not covered by the umbrella of the word ``minority'' as defined by Indian laws. Hence, some South Indian Brahmins once made a plea to the panel to consider them as minorities within the religion! Similarly, some Jains wanted their voices heard. But the most salutary of its recommendations was the one involving national majority which is in a local minority. That is Hindus who form a majority according to the Census reports but are in a minority in places like Kashmir, Lakshadweep and the North-East. The Commission wanted to confer the status of minority on these people. Its suggestion is still pending with the Government.

Throughout his three-year tenure Prof. Mahmood, who has just authored his reflections on the commission, had to go through fire. And like those whom fire fails to burn but never fails to harden, he has gathered courage and patience to pen together the tale of the National Commission for Minorities ever since it was established by the first non-Congress Government in 1978 under Morarji Desai. The book is a laborious exercise. It is based on painstaking research, intensive documentation and steadfastness. It carries his distinct stamp - it is alternately a must read and difficult to read, depending on the glasses you wear. For those - now a part of the ruling dispensation at the Centre - it is an eyesore which they would like to wish away. More so, because the author makes no bones about the viewpoint of some of these leaders at the time when a Constitutional status was sought to be provided to the Commission in early 1990s.

He quotes the present Home Minister and the then Leader of the Opposition, Mr. L. K. Advani as having opposed the move tooth and nail. ``I hold myself guilty for having been party to the creation of the Minorities Commission, even though on an administrative level without any statutory back-up.'' Mr. Advani reportedly said, adding that he was expected by some Congressmen to scuttle the move. ``These very people used to tell us why did you accept it. You should not have accepted it. You have committed such a grave mistake. This kind of Bill is addressed in name to the Christians, to the Parsis, to the Sikhs, etc... but actually it is addressed only to one section.... I can only warn you.'' The author true to his style, has pulled no punches and exposed the identity of views when it came to the Commission between the Congress and the BJP.

The book goes on to detail all the Commissions which have assumed office for last two and a quarter decades. While separate chapters have been devoted to the commission in the pre-statutory days and the first statutory commission, it is the role of the second commission, headed by the author which makes for interesting reading. For instance, the experience of the Commission in setting up a regional office in Bombay after the State Minorities Commission was dissolved by the Shiv Sena-BJP Government in Maharashtra. The panel failed to set up an office in the city despite the Supreme Court's approval of the same. The authorities had apparently stonewalled all attempts at finding official accommodation in Bombay and the commission was not allowed to open a regional office elsewhere.

He has also written about the inadequate representation of the minorities in police and allied services, quoting extensively from official figure to buttress his contentions. For instance, the minority population in Delhi is more than 15 per cent but the representation of the minorities in the police is less than six per cent. He notes with anguish the rejection of the proposal for ``special consideration'' for the minorities under the 15-Point Programme of the Prime Minister.

The book will apprise readers of the developments on the minority landscape over last 20-odd years. Do not look for subtleties or niceties in the book whose author pulls no punches. However, while doing so from Prof. Mahmood's book, just ignore more than a few typographical mistakes and a few inadvertent printer's devils.

The book has great value for those inclined towards history and not keen to rewrite historical wrongs like sundry politicians. And some value for those concerned with the pluralist soul of our polity.

ZIYA US SALAM

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