Hard Working: The Only Option

Hard Working: The Only Option Certain Muslim intellectuals insist that Muslims have become a backward community in this country, and that the only way to promote their uplift is to demand reservation in government services. What is strange indeed is that these same intellectuals uphold the Muslims as ‘the best community’ and with great fervour they call upon them to come forward and take charge of world leadership. Given that the Muslims are backward, such euphoric statements as ‘The task of leading the world will be entrusted to you,’ (Liya jaye ga tujhse kaam duniya ki imamat ka) are nothing but empty rhetoric. If the stage of world leadership has been waiting for them to set foot on it, then asking for concessions from the very people who are to be led by them sounds utterly ridiculous. There is a saying in English which goes, ‘Politics is the art of the possible.’ In this world truly effective effort is that which is directed towards the possible. Straining after an impossible goal amounts to plunging towards destruction rather than heading towards success. In the present circumstances, I find the securing of reservations almost impossible. The cause of reservation for Muslims was first taken up by Muhammad Ali Jinnah. His wellknown 14-point formula presented in 1929 was entirely based on the securing of concessions. He wanted the Congress to give its assurance that the Constitution which would be framed after independence would guarantee the fourteen concessions drawn