As polls in Bihar near, there are no takers for the state’s Pasmanda Muslims

Why is no one talking about Bihar’s Pasmanda Muslims this election campaign? The rekindling of the discourse on Pasmandas during the 1990s by some educated, politically ambitious members of the Ansari caste was done to jump on the bandwagon of the Mandal Commission. The Ansari politicians did make hay while the sun shone. Ever since, there has been no concrete effort to address the real issues: acute poverty, unemployment, loss of livelihood during COVID-19, the rising cases of mob lynching, harassment, bullying, false propaganda and destruction of Pasmandas’ petty businesses by right-wing hooligans post-2014. All of these have further pushed the marginalised community into the abyss of oblivion. The condition of Pasmanda women is worse than their male counterparts and their Hindu Dalit women counterparts.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) promised to give Rs 10,000 to every woman in Bihar to start their own business. But this promise proved to be discriminatory insofar as implementation of the scheme is concerned. A great majority of Pasamanda women whom I interviewed reported that they were denied this money for obvious reasons.

The open discrimination based on socio-religious identity is egregiously outrageous. Post-COVID, these women are struggling to keep the hearth burning as their men are laid off from their regular work or do not want to migrate out of their hometowns in search of livelihood, quietly withdrawing themselves from any income generating avenues. Under such circumstances, Pasmanda women are now doubly burdened — to keep the household afloat, they mostly work for money as house helps or vendor daily consumables. Caught between underpaid work and the responsibility of household chores, children’s education and drunkard husbands, Pasmanda women wonder why no political party takes cognizance of their existence.

Bihar: The land of Dalit politics

The Dalit movements in Bihar have evolved from struggles against caste oppression and landlordism to broader demands for political recognition and socio-economic justice. From the early reformist efforts of Babu Jagjivan Ram to the militant peasant uprisings of the Naxalite period and the political mobilisations of leaders like Ram Vilas Paswan, these movements reflect a continuous negotiation between resistance and participation. Today, the Dalit discourse in Bihar stands as a testament to the enduring struggle for dignity and equality in a state that continues to mirror India’s deep-seated caste contradictions.

In contemporary Bihar, Dalit politics has become both institutionalised and diversified. The state has witnessed increased representation of Dalits in local governance through Panchayati Raj reservations, and several Dalit leaders now occupy important roles across parties. Nitish Kumar’s government, for example, introduced targeted welfare policies such as the Mahadalit Commission (2007), identifying the most deprived Dalit sub-castes for special assistance. But the incompetence of Pasmanda leaders can be gauged from the fact that after grabbing plum posts in the NDA government, they abandoned the cause of the Pasmanda movement. This is the main reason why, except for the founder of the Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz/PMM (founded in 1998) Ali Anwar Ansari, a former JD (U) member and ex-MP, there is not a single Pasmanda political leader worth the grain or with any political or social visibility: in such a bleak scenario, to expect any female Pasmanda representation would be like chasing a mirage. The slogan, “Dalit–Pichhda ek saman, Hindu ho ya Musalman” (Dalits and backward classes are equal, whether Hindu or Muslim), was given by Ali Anwar with the sole purpose of capturing the essence of cross-religious solidarity among the oppressed. But it fell flat on the political landscape of Bihar where every Backward Castes, Extremely Backward Castes and their respective sub-castes were busy negotiating deals, brokering seats in Assembly, municipal and Panchayat elections. The PMM went into political hibernation, leaving the community and its cause in the lurch.

Reality versus rhetoric

The findings of the Bihar caste survey that was carried out by the Nitish Goverenmnet (2022-2023) are suggestive of the sordid plight of Muslims in general. Pasmandas constitute more than 70 per cent of the total Muslim population in Bihar. They are now further pushed into an acutely deplorable condition. By contrast, insofar as Dalits and Mahadalits are concerned, their political mobilisation, assertion and representation have increased in mainstream politics over the years because their leaders work relentlessly for the betterment of their respective communities. For instance, the Dusadhs (Paswans e.g. Ram Vilas Paswan who founded the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) which is now part of the NDA government), relatively better-off among the Dalits, consolidated political influence, while the Musahars, among the most marginalised, began organising for basic rights like land, literacy, and wages. The Musahar-led movements, supported by non-profits and left groups, demanded inclusion in development schemes and recognition of their extreme deprivation. These localised movements have expanded the Dalit agenda beyond identity to include education, land redistribution, and social dignity.

Since Pasmanda politicians fail to assert their voice in the political domain or work relentlessly for the amelioration of their community, the Pasmanda community now doubts the intentions of its leaders.

My field work in Phulwarisharif (Patna district) on Chhappaikaars (block printers) revealed some stark realities existing on the ground that expose the intention and efforts of the avowedly Pasmanda leader of the PMM, “He (Ali Anwar) lives across the road in a posh gated locality, but has never raised any concern for us — in fact, all political parties, Modi ji included, they only throw hollow promises at us….mere lip service! And now we are sick and tired of them. Machine print has devoured our livelihood,” Shams, a distressed Chappa artisan remarks poignantly. His wife now aids her husband by working as a help in the gated community across the road from their house. The exploitation of Pasmanda women working as house helps goes unreported. They are ill-treated, made to endure symbolic violence both by men and women, and subjected to exploitation of all kinds, especially wage related. It was reported that these house helps had to pull their daughters out of their schools to help them put make ends meet.

It is high time that the leaders who avowedly claim to represent the Pasmanda community should take out a leaf from the political movements of their Dalit and Mahadalit counterparts. The ruling NDA alliance (both at the Centre and in Bihar) as well as the opposition parties, should take cognizance of their conditions of deprivation and should make sincere efforts to frame targeted policies and schemes for the amelioration of the Pasmanda community and Pasmanda women in particular. Mere sloganeering  like “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas” and  symbolic outreach and hollow promises of inclusion have done no good to the already distressed, marginalised and stigmatised people who have been abandoned by both their own community and the state. The Pasmanda women of Bihar need political representation proportionate to their population because they are now done with all the rhetoric of inclusive development.

Rafia Kazim is an author-researcher and teaches sociology. She is based in Hyderabad

Views expressed are the author’s own and don’t necessarily reflect those of Down To Earth