Empowerment of Muslims in Local Bodies: A Case Study of Gopalganj (Bihar)

Sohail Akhtar and Masoud Bashar Tullah*

Department of Sociology and Social Work, AMU, Aligarh, U.P. 202002

INTRODUCTION:

Gopalganj is a beautiful land with tremendous historical background and magnificent culture. An ancient state of "Mallyas" known for their bravery and love for civil liberty becomes the frontlet of Gopalganj. In Pre- historic time, Gopalganj was part of Nepal, up to the bank of the Saryu river which bounds Siwan district on South of it. Siwan means the boundary - the Southern boundary of Nepal Kingdom. Gopalganj, which till 1875 was only a tiny hamlet, was made a subdivision of the old Saran district in the same year. It became an independent district on October 2, 1973. The old Saran district included the present districts of Saran, Siwan and Gopalganj. The history of Gopalganj is a part of the history of old Saran District. The composite Saran district lies on one of the main lines of the Aryan advance.

Geographical Location of Gopalganj district lies between 26° 12 to 26° 39 North latitudes 83° 54 to 84° 55 East longitudes. The district occupies an area of 2033 km² and has population of 21, 526,38 (as of 2001). The 93.93% population of the district lives in rural areas, where as 6.07% population lives in urban areas. Muslim constitutes nearly 17.1 percent of the district and they constitute 18.15 percent in urban areas of the district while they have the share 16.94 percent of the rural areas of the district. (Bhatt, 1998:481). The literacy rate of the district is 48.95%. Females literacy rate is half that for male. Density of the population is 1057 and sex ratio is 1005 (as of 2001). It bounded on the east by the Gandak River, on the south by the Siwan and some part of the Saran districts, on the west by the Gorakhpur district of the Uttar Pradesh, on the north by the Deoria district of the Uttar Pradesh. Gopalganj has a varied climate. It is exceptionally hot and dry during summer with temperature reaching as high as 45 degrees Celsius.

Gopalganj has been a major player in the politics of Bihar and has produced great leaders such as Smt. Rabri Devi first woman chief minister of Bihar and only Muslim chief minister, Abdul Ghafoor (1973 to 1975). Ex. Chief Minister of Bihar and Railway Minister of India Mr. Laloo Prasad also belong to this district and last but not the least Smt. Ram Dulari Sinha of the Indian National Congress, a prominent freedom fighter, Former Union-Minister and Former Governor (Governor of Kerela) (Bhatt 1998: 173-180).

After the restoration of the district which took place in the year 1973, Gopalganj was separated from the old district saran to form an independent district constituting of 14 developmental blocks namely, Gopalganj, Phulwaria, Sidhawalia, Panchadewari, Thawey, Manjhagarh, Barauli, Baikunthpur, Kuchaikot, Hathua, Uchkagaon, Bhorey, Katiya and Bijaipur. (Bhatt, 1998:173-180).

Muslims Resentation in Panchayats of District Gopalganj (Table V1.1)

S.No	Panchayati Raj Institutions(PRIs)	Total Elected Members	Muslims Elected	Expected Muslims on the basis of their population (census2001)	Deprivation % in PRIs
1	Zila Panchayat Adhyaksha and Block Pramukh	15	1	3	67
2	Zila Parishad	30	2	5	60
3	Sarpanch	234	30	40	25
4	Mukhiyas	234	29	40	28
5	Gram Panchayat Members	3177	1028	540	No
Total			1090	628	30

The district is divided into two subdivisions for administrative purposes and each subdivision is divided into development blocks which are further divided into village Panchayats. District Gopalganj has 14 development blocks (vikaas khands) and 234 villages Panchayat. There are three key positions namely Zila Panchayat Adhyaksha at district level, Block Pramukh at intermediate level and Gram Panchayat or Mukhiya at the village level in the three tiers Panchayati Raj Institution. There are also elected members of these bodies. District has one Zila Panchayat Adhyaksha and 14 block Pramukhs. These are apex positions in the three tiers Panchayati Raj Institution. They pay a significant role in the planning and development of the villages.

In the panchayat election 2006, only one Muslim are elected as a block Pramukh and no Muslim was elected as Zila Panchayat Adhyaksha as shown in the table (VI.I). There are 30 members of the Zila Parishad in the district but only two Muslims are elected as Zila Parishad. In the Panchayat election in the 2006, there are 234 Mukhiya (head of the village panchayat directly elected by people) in the district but 29 Muslims are elected as Village Pradhans or Mukhiyas. Out of 234 elected Sarpanch of the district 30 are Muslims. 3177 are elected members of the 234 village Panchayat of the district out of which 1028 are Muslims. If Muslims were elected in proportion to their rural population (16.94%) in the district there would have been 3 block Pramukhs, 5 Zila Parishad, 40 Mukhiyas and 40 Sarpanch respectively.

Preceding analysis explicitly shows that under representation of Muslims in PRIs. Their political deprivation is evident as number of elected Muslims in PRIs is not in proportion to their rural population. There were no Muslims are elected to Zila Panchayat Adhyakhsha their deprivation is cent percent (100%). While 67 percent deprivation exists at the block Pramukh level. 60 percent deprivation prevails at the Zila Parishad level. 25 percent deprivation prevails at the Sarpanch level and 28 percent prevail at the Mukhiya or Pradhan level.

Thus in the local bodies of Gopalganj district the average deprivation in Muslim representation is nearly 30 %. If one compares these figures with the Muslim deprivation percentage in the Lok Sabha election (2004) i.e. 45.45 percent and the Bihar Assembly elections (2005) i.e. 46.48 percent (Ansari, 2006:64-182). The Muslim deprivation pattern in Gopalganj district Panchayats is quite low. The pattern of Muslims representation in key positions of local bodies is not worse than that of Muslims representation at national and state level. Concerned is expressed both in the government report and in academic circles on the patterns of Muslims political representation in decision making bodies at grass root level for a community which is lagging behind in development. Empowerment of the community through participation in decision making in PRIs is considered necessary for equity and development. Sacchar committee observed that “many persons the committee interacted with felt that lack of adequate Muslim voice in the government, even in the self government bodies and similar other grassroots institution has resulted in a situation that Muslims lagged behind. In their view, political participation and representation in government structure are essentially to achieve equity” (SCR, 2006:23)

REFERENCES:

1. Bhatt, S.C. and Gopal K. Bhargava (ed). 2005. Land and People of Indian States and Territories, Bihar, vol.36, Delhi: Kalpaz Publications.

2. Bhatt, S.C. (ed) 1998, “The Encychloepaedic, District Gazetteer of India- Estern Zone.Vol.8, New Dehli: Gyan Publication.

3. GOI. 2006. Social, Economic and Educational Status of Muslim Community of India – A

4. Report. New Delhi: Prime Minister’s High Level committee, Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India. (Chairperson Justice Rajinder Sacchar)

Received on 10.02.2011

Accepted on 22.03.2011