Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declared at the 59th National Development Council meeting that "minorities, particularly Muslims will have the `first claim' over the national resources." With Uttar Pradesh, the Muslim vote rich State, set for elections soon, the campaign for block Muslim votes has opened a can of worms. By declaring the `first claim' theory the ruling political class is actually attempting to assume the management - and why even the ownership - of the Muslim community. The design to assume control of the community under the garb of state patronage is explicit.

First, the Muslim community's self-confidence is shaken by projecting the whole community as `poor' and `illiterate' and not just that it has problems of poverty or illiteracy. Sachar reports are complied to convince them that without state patronage, that is, without the munificence of the political class, the community is doomed. But little do the chasers of Muslim votes, the political class, or the victims they chase, the Muslims, realise that the best way to turn a community dysfunctional and rob its initiative is to make it lose confidence and offer state patronage to it. State patronage means state management. Even well-managed business enterprises whose management is assumed by the state turn sick thanks to state intervention. How then could the State assume responsibility for developing a community, a far more complex mechanism, than a business corporate?

Now look at how communities - far more disadvantaged than the Muslims who were once the rulers large parts of India - have developed and developed unbelievably without any special state patronage. Heard of the Jatavs of Agra and Kanpur? Of the Gounders and Naidus of western Tamil Nadu? Of the Nadars of the southern Tamil Nadu? Of the Ezhavas of Kerala? Of the Kutchis and Patels of Gujarat? Of the Ramgadias of Punjab? What is common among them all? They were all socially and economically deprived in more than one sense.

The Jatavs are a segment of the untouchable Chamars in UP. The Gounders, Naidus and Nadars of Tamil Nadu belong to the OBCs. The Ezhavas of Kerala are almost regarded as untouchble. The Kutchis and Patels also belong to the OBC category. The Ramgadias, the artisans of Punjab, too belong to the OBC category. But how different are these OBCs and SCs, who are just illulstrative? Read on.

Take the Jatavs of Agra and Kanpur in UP. Their traditional occupation was leather working and shoe-making. Caste discipline had confined the Jatavs to shoe-making. But the blessing in disguise was that they alone had the skill to make shoes. The Jatavs turned their disadvantage itself into business monopoly. Not after Independence, but long before, as early as late 18th century, Jatavs set up shoe-making factories and later turned wealthy elite within their community. Thus the Jatavs had taken the initiative to develop before Government patronage could enslave them! Today the Jatavs of Agra and Kanpur have their own educational institutions to ensure that their wards received good education to measure up to `Manuvadis'! They are the backbone of Mayawati's BSP.

Take the Patels of Gujarat next. They have become the chief drivers of Gujarat's business and industry. They are a global power too. They own over 80 per cent - yes 80 per cent! - of the roadside motels in the US!. And they are bidding for management of big hotel chains of US corporates in the Americas. They control the major part of the global, yes global, diamond industry. The Kutchis of Gujarat - many of them Muslims - control the retail trade in Mumbai and own huge retails chains in England. The Nadars of southern Tamil Nadu were among the most backward a century ago. But they now control over 66 per cent - yes over two-thirds! - of the retail and wholesale trade in Tamil Nadu and almost all of the fireworks business in the whole country - yes whole!. They have made Sivakasi into a `mini Japan' as Pandit Nehru once remarked. They began efforts to educate themselves and other communities as early as 1885!

The Nadars are today one the richest communities in Tamil Nadu. So are the Gounders and Naidus of western Tamil Nadu. They control between themselves almost the entire spinning, knitting and weaving of textiles and exports of over Rs 10000 crores! They also own huge national capacity of lorry transport, engineering goods manufacture, and rig business throughout India and even Africa. The Ramgadias of Punjab who were artisans and carpenters have a huge presence in engineering industry today. The Ezhavas of Kerala, once in the lowest rung of the social ladder, have emerged socially and economically the most powerful community in Kerala.

Studies of these communities show that they have moved ahead because they did not seek any special state patronage or allow the government to patronise them specially. They turned their community linkages into social capital to help themselves instead of vote banks to serve the political class. Many other communities, some less backward than them, turned into ballot papers and sought and obtained disproportionate Government patronage. Today they remain state-dependent and far far behind these self-dependent communities. This is not just anecdotal. NSSO survey says that out of the 28.8 million non-agricultural enterprises, OBCs own 37 per cent, STs 4 per cent and SCs 9 per cent. This is development without special patronage.

QED: A community over-patronised by the state loses initiative and turns state-dependent. If the Indian Muslims ask why the political class is so keen to patronise them, they will get the answer and that is: the political class wants a state-dependent Muslim community.

Courtesy: www.newindpress.com, December 16, 2006