by Fawaz Jaleel
“You were … actually, we were right. The board has all the answers,” Ashraf said as he inched closer to his mentor.
“What are you getting at now, Ashraf? I am getting tired of this,” the maulvi responded.
Ashraf looked into Imtiaz's eyes. He could see that the man could barely look into his eyes. This made it evident that Imtiaz knew what he was getting at.
“All those people. Younus Pathan, Parvez Khan, Then Alam, Mufti, and even you Sheikh. That’s your real problem, isn’t it?” Ashraf didn’t mince his words.
“What nonsense?” the maulvi appeared restless now.
“My name is Ashraf but I am not an Ashraf. That is the problem,” Ashraf laid it out straight.
“There is nothing like that. Islam has never promoted it,” the maulvi responded.
“Yet again, different religion but the same story and, of course, the privileged upper castes would always deny that caste exists in the society and worse in your bloody minds,” Ashraf shot straight.
The maulvi wasn’t pleased at the way he was spoken to. He was furious that Ashraf wasn’t grateful for being raised in the trust under his mentorship.
“If it weren’t for us, you wouldn’t be here, Ashraf. There is a reason why religiously educated people should hold these positions,” the maulvi hit back.
“Religiously educated … is that the pseudonym you are using to say religiously superior due to your birth in certain families?” Ashraf wasn’t going to let this go easily.
“Think what you may. The decision is final. Now, focus on your political career which by the way is also this trust’s charity.” There was a stark contrast in the maulvi’s demeanor by now.
“Of course, and I should always remain loyal and under you for this, right Imtiaz Sheikh saab?” Ashraf’s words had a mix of anger and disappointment.
“I do not want to discuss this anymore. You may leave now.” The maulvi opened the door and showed him the way.
⁂⁂⁂
“There was always an underlying caste angle in this case. I could feel it from the briefings. But I didn’t know it was going to be about caste in Islam.” Director Verma was shocked at the turn of events. He hadn’t anticipated such a reason.
“Yes, sir. If questioned, the higher caste Ashrafs as they are called will say that Islam is an egalitarian religion. But the truth is far from it, at least in South Asia and India,” Ila responded.
“Yes, of course. How did things go from this to Ashraf’s death?” Verma probed further.
Hinduism is often criticized due to the discrimination on the basis of caste. The religion, its advocates, and critics have largely acknowledged its existence and work has happened to bridge these differences. However, there have been multiple instances of political parties using caste to segregate votes to fulfil their political ambitions. Historically, Bihar has seen this phenomenon in play. However, Islam largely negates the presence of caste and claims itself to be an egalitarian religion. But the reality is different, very different!
When Islam grew in South Asia, caste grew within the religion too. Muslims in India can be categorized into three broad categories—Ashrafs, Ajlafs, and Arzals. Ashrafs are regarded as the upper castes and the “superior” beings. They are considered mightier due to their foreign lineage unlike the majority of Ajlafs and Arzals who are mostly converts to the religion. There are four major types in the Ashraf caste itself: Sayyids/Syeds, Sheikhs, Mughals, and Pathans. The first two are historically descendants of the Arabs, while the latter two are descendants of Mughal and Afghan invaders. Imtiaz Sheikh, the maulvi belonged to this caste as did Akbar Syed, the leader of the AIPIM.
Below the Ashrafs are the Arzals or the clean occupational castes. Some of the common types are: Julaha (weaver), Qasab (butcher), Hajjam (barber), Teli/Kalu (oil presser), Dhobi (Washerman), Dhunia (cotton-carder), etc. Even below the Ajlafs are the Arzals or the ones regarded as “worthless” or in Indian terms, Dalit Muslims.
Brought up inside the four walls of the trust, Ashraf wasn’t taught about caste until a situation like this arrived. He knew of its existence but the discrimination wasn’t evident to him.
The more he thought about it, he realized that barring him and a couple of other people, the majority orphans or abandoned ones from poorer families never made it big. They went out and sought menial jobs and worse was that they accepted it as their reality. Unlike other religions, the superior beings of his religion practiced this subtly without making it too evident.
The picture kept getting clearer in Ashraf’s mind. His father a laborer who did “menial” jobs would be considered an Arzal or an untouchable Muslim in the eyes of the caste supremacists. By now, Ashraf had made up his mind to expose this prevalent yet hidden reality of people like Imtiaz Sheikh and his trust who practiced this invisible caste techniques.
His education had given him a keen research-oriented mind. He dug up data on the matter with the help of his close friend and well-read journalist, Chirag. The results of their research shocked the duo.
“Can you believe this?” Ashraf asked Chirag over the phone.
“This is preposterous, man. I mean we knew it existed, but these numbers really put things into perspective,” Chirag responded.
A mere 10–15 percent of the Muslims in India are Ashrafs while majority are Arzals and Ajlafs commonly clubbed and named as Pasmandas. In Persian, this would loosely translate to “the ones who have fallen behind”. This wasn’t the shocking stat that stared at Ashraf and Chirag. From the first Lok Sabha in 1952 till the 14th Lok Sabha that lasted till 2009, an approximate of 7,500 leaders were elected to the parliament. Out of this, 400 odd were Muslims—a 5 percent representation. Out of these 400 odd, 340 leaders were Ashraf Muslims, while a mere 60 odd represented the Pasmandas. This meant that Ashrafs who were just 10 to 15 percent of the Muslim population and roughly just 2 percent of the total Indian population got 4.5 percent representation in the parliament—more than double their population to representation ratio. Whereas the remaining 12 percent got a mere 0.8 percent representation in the parliament. If elected to power, Ashraf Zain would have been one of them. A man who thought beyond identity and religious politics for his nation found himself trapped in a battle—one to expose the faces of people who kept babbling about Islam and its egalitarian principles when they silently oppressed the poor for their petty gains. Chirag and Ashraf’s research revealed multiple things—from untouchability practices to violence against Arzals and systemic action to bring them down when they tried to rise up. These are the very people who would criticize the Varna system in Hinduism at the drop of a hat but refuse to acknowledge the problem within their own system.
They found studies that showed that during attacks, fights, riots, etc., it is the Ajalfs and Arzals who end up losing their lives and livelihoods, while the supremacists among the Ashrafs enjoyed their privileges.
This gave Chirag an idea that he shared with Ashraf. On hearing this, Ashraf hesitated in the beginning since he didn’t want to get sidetracked from his political commitments. When Chirag assured that he would do the groundwork first and then involve him, Ashraf agreed.
Chirag set off to multiple places in Bihar, namely, Bhagalpur, Siwan, Aurangabad, Samastipur, Munger, Nalanda, Sheikhpura, Nawada, etc. These were the areas that were affected by the Bihar riots in 2018. Chirag visited the houses of the deceased—both Hindus and Muslims. He identified that the trend continued wherein the deaths were higher among the Arzals and Ajlafs, while their Hindu counterparts suffered the same fate. However, the caste stratification in Islam gets hardly exposed in front of the common public. Ashraf was determined to reveal this and unravel the masks of the privileged Ashrafs who practice casteism and break the rant of Islam being a monolithic religion.
After Chirag’s visits to the places, Ashraf also met with the families. He had lined up visits to all the places that Chirag had visited. He covered most of them and set up dates to visit the remaining three places.
> Between these visits, around 11 December 2019, Ashraf went to the Islamiya Peace Trust to meet the maulvi. This was five days before his death.
Sitting in his office, unaware of the forces that were about to hit him, the maulvi welcomed Ashraf trying to put behind the rough exchange during their previous meeting.
“I am not here to reach an understanding. I am just here to warn you.” Ashraf began the conversation in a conflict mode itself. He had enough the last time and with more elements of reality unveiling in front of him, he wasn’t willing to compromise.
“Okay. We need to be more practical, Ashraf. You don’t want to lose the trust’s support, especially when you have an unfunded political party.” The maulvi played his cards.
“If you think that I am one of those who would bow down to petty pressures or downplay discrimination for the sake of my political career, you are wrong. I am in this service to serve people not myself.” There was an honest intent in the man’s words and his voice as he meant every word.
“What would a smart man like you choose—a petty fight with a larger establishment, go down, and lose your dreams or adjust to the reality and work on making a difference? You could change lives, Ashraf. I know that’s what you want too.” The maulvi appeared suave and tried to appeal to Ashraf’s sensibilities while sugar coating a threat.
“If my end would mean the end of discrimination, if it would expose the faces of the so-called generous yet caste-ist minds, the supposed good-hearted men whose brains have elements that induce a prejudice against people and for what—their social status, caste, money, and all, then I would rather go down taking them along with me.” Ashraf had made up his mind. For him, his individual hopes never outweighed the larger interests of the society.
Ashraf told the maulvi that his days as the head and the so-called generous, large-hearted man were numbered. He told him that he had enough to expose the caste-ist approach of the trust when it comes to leadership. In fact, he had data and information to express this silent discrimination that existed throughout Islam.
“Masks would fall … and men and women would rise and overthrow people who control the narratives of the religion,” Ashraf said as he stormed outside the maulvi’s room. The maulvi knew that Ashraf being a popular leader, vocally expressing the inequalities, would shackle the support system of the trust and even the religious structure in general. Despite the prevalent inequalities, the narrative of fear and oppression is what made the Ajlafs and the Arzals listen to the leaders from the upper castes.
Imtiaz Sheikh had no option but to protect the trust and its practices and for this…
“Ashraf must die,” Yohan concluded the briefing that left an eerie silence in the room. Ila looked at the maulvi with contempt for his layer of goodness just got peeled in front of people.
“When you asked me Ila what? You just wanted to know my surname, didn’t you?” Ila asked the maulvi, but he refused to answer.
“What happened next is why we have arrested the maulvi and Sumit,” Yohan added.
“Yes. The maulvi wanted Ashraf gone and so he found his accomplice in Sumit, a man whose values quite match with Imtiaz, albeit different religions,” Sukumar started summing up.
“I must say, the maulvi used Sumit well and remained hidden until you guys nabbed Chirag. How did you manage that?” Director Verma asked.
“Sukumar’s research, sir. Sumit’s lawyer is Piyush Bansal who happens to handle the trust’s and maulvi’s legal work too.” Yohan gave due credit to his teammate.
“Yes, sir. The same soul who first falsely informed us that Bashir Hashmi had visited the trust and made a statement reflecting his intent to harm Ashraf. Also, I must say, the whole Parveen and marriage angle did put us off in the beginning. Well played, maulvi. If only you put out a media announcement, we would have taken a little more while to get to you,” Ila built on the reveal. Her contempt for the maulvi was evident from her words.
“Not just that. The set up toward kidnapping Priyanshu and creating the incidents to point out at Bashir Hashmi. That was masterful,” Sukumar added.
“Oh, yes. In fact, Bashir Hashmi is an upper-caste Muslim himself. But the maulvi didn’t mind sacrificing his own for his safety.” Yohan made a valid point.
“The Sumits and the maulvis don’t define every one of their kind, right? But these are the ones who cause shame to the others. Not in this case, thanks to the brilliant work by you guys, Ila, Sukumar, and Yohan,” Director Verma applauded the team while making a relevant observation.
There were high fives exchanged around the room and congratulatory wishes between the team. They had successfully closed the Ashraf Zain and Piyali Sharma murders and brought the culprits in front of the law. The news of this would be out in a few hours or by tomorrow latest and give a sense of closure to everyone following it.
As the trio prepared to leave the room and let the police arrest these culprits, the maulvi who remained unusually quiet said, “Don’t you guys dare rejoice that we are going to be locked in forever. Our people will fight for us. After all, we are the ones who protect them and their faiths.”
“No, maulvi saheb. You are wrong. There are two kinds of people: Sumit and your kind, and Piyali and Ashraf kind. Once your truth is out, there will be more Ashrafs who will lead India to a day without the perils of oppression and Piyalis whose love for people will trump the hate and negativity,” Yohan replied with a gentle smile on his face. Ila was impressed at Yohan’s choice of words and his optimism in the spirit of the people of India.
“India will always find a way to overcome the intentions and evils in the minds of people like you, Imtiaz Sheikh. India will rise and if not Ashraf, someone else will lead them to it. And trust me for young Indians like me, their surnames won’t matter. God bless not you … God bless them and this beautiful country.” Ila’s reply wasn’t loud but her words were enough to shut Imtiaz down. She just wanted to say one more thing and she did it as she left the room.
“We’ll choose the Constitution over the Quran, Bible, and Gita. Into that heaven my country will awake.”
Yohan Tytler Mystery #2
Ila, Sukumar, and Yohan hung out in the CCD at Patna airport while waiting for their flight to Delhi. Ila and Yohan took their cappuccinos without sugar and moved to their table, while Sukumar was busy selecting appropriate cookies to consume with his chai latte. Yohan’s and Ila’s faces had signs of sleeplessness and a deep desire to find their respective beds to get a good long sleep. However, Sukumar looked fresh as ever. Unable to select from the last two cookies he circled on, Sukumar picked up both and a bunch of newspapers from the stand. It was one of his habits to check the newspapers the next day after solving a case to see if his team, and particularly if his name, was mentioned in the reports. Sukumar would then cut these clippings and put them in his scrapbook that he was preparing to show his future children. He would also buy extra copies of the newspapers to show his wife and relatives. Yohan and Ila couldn’t care less about the media attention and often taunted Sukumar’s celebrity-pursuant attitude.
“Okay, guys. Who wants to see what’s written about them in the papers?” Sukumar announced as he walked toward their table. Seeing Ila’s and Yohan’s uninterested faces, he was quick to answer the question himself, “Of course. That would just be me.”
“Anna, you are the superstar in this team. We are your sidekicks.” Yohan winked.
“Yeah, yeah. With that well-toned body and dashing good looks, I am always the number two.” Sukumar rolled his eyes.
“Suku sir, are you saying that I am the number three? So, you are confident that I am no good as compared to the two of you?” Ila’s voice had a playful anger.
“C’mon, Ila madam. I was just ... you know...” Once again, Ila’s confrontation and her straight face pushed Sukumar into his “uncomfortable with guilt” situation.
“Anna, it’s so easy to put you in a spot. You give in without even trying. I think the most important thing here
is that Ila referred to you as Suku and not Sukumar.” Yohan was right. From a restrained person, Ila quickly became comfortable in the company of her colleagues. It was not her usual experience. Earlier in her career, there were experiences of her being subject to sexist remarks and even kept away from field duty because she was a woman. But things have been evolving and Yohan was a brilliant people’s leader. She did look up to her senior. She particularly liked how she was given her space and adequate work in the team where the other two members have been buddies for years. Sukumar also had a giant smile on his face after seeing Ila address him on a nickname basis.
“I need a nice vacation now. This has been quite a hectic case. What say, Yohan sir? Let’s plan one?” Sukumar wanted to make plans already.
“Umm actually, I already have one planned with my buds from college,” Yohan replied.
“You are still in touch with college friends? Wow, what a social life!” Ila had both surprise and sarcasm mixed in her comment.
“Actually, we do a yearly catch up.” Yohan was serious and had a smile on his face when he said that.
“Ooh. Where? Some fancy place?” Sukumar was extra curious.
“One of my friends owns this kick-ass homestay in Fort Kochi. That’s where we meet every year.” Yohan was enthusiastic about it.
“Delightful.” Ila wished she had such elaborate plans.
“Oh, indeed it is. In fact, it’s called Delight Homestay. Oh man, the food, the smell of greenery, and the brilliant vibe. I just can’t wait to be there.” Yohan transported himself to his world, while Ila and Sukumar were amused at this fantasy zone their senior entered. While he was lost, Ila decided to entertain Sukumar’s interest in the media coverage.
“So Suku, tell us what does the media say? What are the headlines?” She continued to engage with her “friend.”
“There are many good ones, like Young CBI Team Nabs the Murderers of the Young Politician. Here’s another which says, CBI Team Pierces through Caste and Community.” While reading out the headlines, Sukumar’s eyes quickly scanned to see if his name was there in any of them. His smile widened as a few newspapers mentioned their names.
