Minority is the authority
Size does matter, but not in this case
DEBATE BY ALTAF KHAN
Kashmir, Palestine in the making. A story of demographic injustice. Settlement of Jammuites in Srinagar. These are the voices that have emanated from the advocates of majority sentiment in Kashmir. For the last few weeks much has been said about this 8% reservation and Census 2011. Hardly anything has been left unsaid about how 8% reservation would give easy access to Jammuites to stake a claim in the recruitment and then in the demography of the valley. Census has been sensationalized enough. Why do we tend to be so cynical every time Government tries to implement something for the upliftment of the people who belong to this state and are an inalienable part of it. Critics of Inter-district recruitment amendment bill have been sloganeering against the benefits that the Schedule caste Jammuites could enjoy, with such minority-friendly measure in place. It is debatable whether 2001 census was tempered with or not. And if at all it was, what good has it done to the engineers of the manipulation? Adversaries of the recruitment bill believe being a majority they should have the lion’s share in any development activity, which includes employment. They go by the age old cliché “Majority should be the authority”. In all these concerns, in defence of the Muslims of the state, one thing that has come to fore is that it is this Muslim majority character of the state that has lead to the undoing of the majority. Spare a thought for the very idea of majority in this state. What has this majority character given us? And how does it make us exceptional? It is beyond comprehension. Why don’t we stop weeping about the Census 2001?And even if the doubts raised with regard to the authenticity of official figures in census 2001 are true, how would it make heavens fall, if we are authenticated to be a majority in the census 2011? Infact the game of minority appeasement has been going for long now. With minority communities reaping the harvests, government after government announces packages to earn their ashirwad. And the majority is left at the mercy of cat to leave some spilled milk for them. What sort of authority do we, the majority have now, and in what aspect? Here is a majority force, always at the receiving end of the policies. This minority influence is being felt by the youth so much so that the majority is an umbrella under which they hide their subjugation.
Read this. A minority community has more than 2000 jobs on offer, under minority package, on fast track basis. Compare this to our slow and steady but always at defeat our slowest track of employment, where even the applicants forget which post they had applied for, as the fast track is too slow to finalize in a lifetime. No surprise that the employment package for minority is being hailed as the “Paradise regained”, for minority. And for Muslim majority the employment has been like the Adam’s forbidden apple in the so called “paradise”. Agreed, that it has come with a condition that minority will have to give an undertaking that it will serve permanently in the region and cannot seek transfer or move out. A good initiative to encourage migrants to live in their own land. But “the efficient minority” knows the means and ways to get away with the conditions. Governments passed from Muftis to Abdullahs but the Godot that would relieve majority of its miseries is yet to arrive on the scene.
This goes to the credit of our governments that as far as the framing of the policies for minority goes, it is better than we can have in any state of the country. Mainstream political parties may have too many differences, but when it comes to packages for minority their work culture is worth emulating for other states. With this majority tag on our heads we bag nothing. I hope the census this time around shows Muslims of the state a minority, and we enjoy all the benefits reserved for the minority community. Then the more we will have the more we will want. Majority would keep showcasing their sloganeering skills, earn some clicks but we as a minority we will click the right key to -powerpoint. And power rests with minority. So friends minority is the authority and manipulation, if it occurs, we have nothing to lose but everything to gain.
(Feedback at altaftake1@gmail.com)
Lastupdate on : Thu, 10 Jun 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 10 Jun 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 11 Jun 2010 00:00:00 IST
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