Part Six
Despite accounting for 14.53 per cent of the total population, there is no representation of the community in the State Administrative Service and there are only five Muslims among 102 IPS officials
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI — Jharkhand, carved out in November 2000 as the 28th state bordering Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and West Bengal, is witnessing campaigning for the 6th Legislative Assembly polls for 81 seats. One of the richest mineral zones in the world boasting 40 percent and 29 percent of the country’s mineral and coal reserves, respectively, and one of the most attractive parts of the Indian peninsula, Jharkhand has 23 districts. Tribals comprise 26.3 percent of the state’s population while Christian tribals make up 4.3 percent of the population, as per the Census 2011. The 12th largest state for tribal population, 14th largest by overall population, and the 15th largest state by area is going to polls in two phases in mid-November with the entire pre-poll exercise turning increasingly inflammatory and rhetorical.
Muslims, accounting for 14.53 per cent of the total population, remain a deciding factor across several constituencies. The BJP is fuelling communal fears and social divisions, and building anxiety through singling out Muslims over several pressing issues confronting the society. In the overwhelmingly communally polarising situation, the issues of social inequality, employment, economic prosperity, law and order situation, and communal discrimination that Muslims have been suffering for the past two and a half decades getting sidelined, according to a new book ‘Muslims in India 1947-2024 – Fake Narratives versus Ground Realities.’
The political representation of Muslims has significantly declined in Jharkhand over the past two decades. The state has 14 Lok Sabha seats. In June 2024, the BJP won eight of them, making it the biggest winner. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) won three seats while the Congress won two. In the 2019 polls, BJP won 11 seats, AJSU Party one, JMM and Congress one each. In 2004, the first general elections after the formation of the state, one Muslim MP was elected. Jharkhand had its first elections for the Legislative Assembly in 2005. Congress and JMM contested the polls in alliance. At that time, there were five Muslim candidates from Congress and four from JMM. RJD also had five Muslim candidates. In 2009, Congress contested the polls in alliance with Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM) and gave tickets to eight Muslims while the latter fielded two candidates; JMM and RJD had four Muslim candidates each.
In the 2014 elections, all the above parties contested separately. There were seven Muslim candidates from Congress, six from JMM, six from JVM, and one from RJD. In the assembly polls, Congress gave the least number of tickets to Muslims in the 2019 polls. In that year’s polls, JMM, Congress, and RJD fought in alliance and had four, three, and one Muslim candidate, respectively. The BJP has not given tickets to any Muslims in any election in Jharkhand. Out of the eight Muslim candidates of the UPA for the 81-seat Jharkhand Assembly, four won.
Accounting for 15 percent of the state’s total population or around 60 lakhs, Muslim electorates hold the key in 10 to 15 seats. However, Muslims who played a significant role in the formation of the state are now being exploited, suppressed, and deprived of political upmanship. Pakur Lok Sabha seat has 35.08% Muslim voters, Rajmahal has 34.06%, Jamtara has 38%, Godda 27%, Madhupur 25%, Gande 23%, Tundi 22%, Rajdhanwar and Mahagama 17% each and Hatia 16% Muslim voters.
The population of Muslims in the state is spread over 24 districts, with more than 15 districts having a Muslim population of more than 10 percent of the total population. Of the top 50 Muslim districts of the country, listed according to their percentage share of the total Muslim population, two districts, Pakur and Saheb Ganj, with percentage shares of 32.4% and 31.3% respectively, figure at the 47th and 48th place. These two districts occupy the highest share of the Muslim population in the state while the lowest population is in West Singhbhum (2.4%).
According to the 2001 census, 55.6% of Muslims are literate, two per cent more than the state average. Muslims are the least literate as Sikhs, Christians, and Buddhists have a literacy rate of 87.8, 67.9, and 62.5 per cent, respectively. When one looks at the work participation rate for Muslims in Jharkhand, it is 43.5% for males and 18.8% for females. Muslims have recorded the highest employment in household industries, among all other religious communities. Other occupations which recorded sizeable employment are cultivation (25.2%) and agricultural labour (27%).
Muslim officials in law enforcement in the state are at low levels. SPs and ASPs numbered 44 of which only one is a Muslim. No Muslim representation is among 101 SDPOs and DSPs and only one officer is a Muslim among 709 Inspectors and Sub-Inspectors (L&O and Crime). In the State Administrative Service, 12 out of 621 officials are Muslims while four of the 47 are Muslims in Police Services. While two Muslims got representation in the state cabinet comprising 12 members the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) had five officials with no Muslim representation.
Two of the 35 officials in the Drug Control and Inspection teams are Muslims. Three of the 51 officers in the Labour Department are Muslims. In the State Legal Services Authority, three out of 50 are Muslims in the top management while 83 out of 1,418 honorary lawyers are Muslims. In the State Administrative and Police Service as per the Civil List 2023, there are no Muslims among 15 officers and 12 officers respectively. Jharkhand had a total of 154 IAS officers of which seven are Muslims; six out of 113 IPS officers are Muslims and two of the 87 Indian Forest Service (IFS) officials are Muslims. In the management team of the Department of Commercial Taxes, no Muslim is among 153 officials. The same is the situation in the Revenue Department with seven top officials and no Muslim representation.
In the State Prosecution, no Muslim had been the head of the Prosecution or Advocate-General (AG). Only one Muslim is there among 32 additional AGs while two are among 89 District Prosecuting Officers.
In the Management and Inspection Teams of the Excise/Prohibition Department, three including an excise commissioner are Muslims out of the total 97 officials. In the Anti-Corruption Department, three officials among nine are Muslims. Seven of the 24 Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) are Muslims while three of the 16 DEOs/Deputy DEOs are Muslims. Two of the 78 officials in the Forest Department are Muslims.
There is only one Muslim among 21 senior staff in the Lok Ayukta. One of the 14 Directors General of Police had been a Muslim, way back in 2010. Three of the nine governors have been Muslims with the last being in May 2015. Only one of the 12 chief justices of Jharkhand had been a Muslim and out of 23 judges there is no Muslim representation till now. Four Muslims are among 102 IAS officers while there are five Muslims among 102 IPS officials. One of the 11 Speakers of Legislative Assembly had been a Muslim way back in 2006 while one had been a Muslim among eight Deputy Speakers way back in 2004. Out of the total 324 MLAs since the state was formed, 10 had been Muslims.
One of the three members of the State Public Service Commission is a Muslim. The community had no representation in the State Women’s Commission. All the seven chairpersons of the Waqf Board were Muslim while similar was the reality for Secretaries/CEOs who numbered 12. The total number of doctors registered with the State Medical Council stands at 7,547 of which 493 are Muslims as per 2003-2022 data. In the Statutory State Bar Council, one is a Muslim among 25 members.
Muslims have been victims of 46 incidents of mob lynching in the state since 2016. Since 2000, 14 cases of hate crimes motivated by religion in Jharkhand led to nine deaths.
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Next Part: Muslims are 11.5 % in Maharashtra but Have Minimal Presence in Governance
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