FOr at long last, India’s Hindi film industry has portrayed the realities of caste with a rich versus poor narrative. Dalit cinema has been countering this narrative every year with honest films about caste. 2021 was a good year for Dalit cinema too with similar films Jai Bheem, Jayanti, Uppena, Karnan, Sarpatta Parambrai, But the question remains over the disappearance of the characters of Pasmanda.
In the past one year, the onscreen presence of Muslim characters has increased amid massive distortion of historical facts. Sadly, most filmmakers have been able to trace foreign Muslim invaders, but have been oblivious to India’s indigenous Pasmanda Muslims, who have been systematically marginalized. It is true that films are made with the intention of making profits, but the fact that filmmakers and writers are only able to present Ashraf as central characters shows his upper caste bias.
In this article, we will discuss the four major types of films based on Muslim identities, how Hindi cinema has made the Pasmanda society completely invisible by completely ignoring the story.
The first category of films includes those which have shown the Ashraf culture and their manners as ideals in the Muslim society. Ashraf’s style and language in films Mehboob’s Mehndi, Pakeezah, and Umrao Jani Shown as ‘Muslim culture’. In fact, the elegance and manners shown in such films have nothing to do with the 85% Muslims of the Pasmanda society. In Mughal-e-AzamAkbar is shown taking pride in his Taimur dynasty and this fact is repeatedly shown in the film. Yet, by not identifying the caste/lineage of ‘Anarkali’, the story of the film turns into a ‘Haqdar Vs Garib’ saga.
Ashraf writers have always denied casteism in Muslim society. At the cost of not allowing the caste consciousness of the Pasmanda society to develop, he decided to praise the Ashraf culture in the Hindi cinema world.
The second category of films without Pasmanda characters include those that depict the story of characters from different religions falling in love with each other. Movies like Roja, Bombay, Ishqzaade, Zubaida etc are some examples of this. No matter how much the propaganda of ‘Love Jihad’ is spread, it is no coincidence that most of these films depict the female lead as Muslim and the male lead as Hindu.
“In a semi-feudal society like India, a woman is always identified with her husband, i.e. if the boy/husband comes from a Hindu family, his children will also be considered Hindu. As such, these matrimonial relations are seen as establishing their superiority and victory over the other religion rather than as a mutual love affair between people of two sects,” writes film critic Jawaharmal Parikh. One cannot imagine seeing a Syed girl and a Halalkhor (Muslim sweeper) in a relationship on the big screen. In Muslim society, if a Sayyid girl marries a Pasmanda boy, the muftis of big madrasas (madrasas) like Deoband also annul such marriages as un-Islamic. On the other hand, love for a Dalit boy is a simple social fact in films like Masaan, Sairat etc., which is depicted quite beautifully on screen. Films are often called the mirror of society, so in such a huge exhibition of art, will the Pasmanda society ever be able to see its truth presenting honestly?
In the third category, the story is based on terrorism. Movies like Subhash Ghai in the 1980s karma or Mehul Kumar tricolor Terrorism is not linked to any religion. But later on, the issue of terrorism was continuously shown by Pakistan in the form of proxy war in films like Roza, Sarfarosh, heartily, mother salute you, burnt e.t.c. After 9/11, terrorism has been clearly linked to Islam. in movies Like Fanaa, Dhoka, Mukhbir, Amir, Ek Wednesday, Adi, terrorism not only had a religion, but it was also internationalised. In this way, these films served to create the impression that ‘not every Muslim is a terrorist but every terrorist is a Muslim’.
Another fact is that most of the terrorist organizations are led by Syeds or other upper caste people who are in dire need of Pasmanda’s head as the sacrificial lamb. Each such film garners a lot of applause by targeting terrorism, but they imprison the Pasmanda society in a cell of hatred, where they serve life imprisonment. Kashmir is a classic example of the caste-based character of terrorism in India. All the top separatist/terrorist organizations like United Jihad, Jamaat-Islami, Hurriyat Conference etc. are under Syed’s control. It would not be wrong to say that the entire Kashmiri administration is under the iron grip of the Sayyids, but throughout the period of rebellion against India, very few Ashraf families and very few [Syeds] They have sacrificed their lives, while the Pasmanda castes have suffered the most from this large-scale rebellion.
The fourth category of stories – as told in films Tamas, Pinjar, Gadar – A love story, Hot air, God, Oh Ram, Adi – has tried to portray the tragedy of the communal riots that took place during the Partition period. An attempt has also been made to touch the human aspects amid the riots. But, even in these films, communalism is depicted as a direct fight between two religions. The Pasmanda movement stands on the fact that to understand the prevalence of communalism in India, it would not be appropriate to look at it only through the prism of religion, but from what point of view the trend of communalism in India can be better understood? Caste. Would it be wrong to say that Jinnah and the entire Muslim League were a party of Ashraf landlords/upper caste Muslims who facilitated the partition of the country for their class-caste based interests?
On the other hand, Pasmandas of that time was opposing the Two Nation Theory through his contemporary organizations like ‘Momin Conference’. Some Ashraf Congress leaders like Maulana Azad were representing only their own party Congress, so they remained in favor of Congress even on the issue of Partition. Asim Bihari, the founder of Momin Conference, strongly opposed the creation of Pakistan till the end. He had said, “Wherever a true believer (of Islam) lives, his Pakistan (holy place) is in that land, we don’t need any Pakistan.” Every such story in Hindi cinema would be far from the truth without presenting Pasmanda’s side.
Now let’s talk about movies Bombay, Parzania, Firaq, Kai Po Che, Zakhm, Fiza, etc. Which are based on the post-independence communal riots. Why don’t our secular liberal intellectuals raise the question that only the Ashraf castes are the real beneficiaries of Muslim communalism? (So-called) Muslim leaders are always vocal on emotive issues like Shariat, Burqa, Aligarh, Urdu but they never raise their voice against the structure of anti-poor political system. If any filmmaker dares to show this true character of Ashraf leaders and their Muslim politics, they are immediately accused of spreading ‘Islamophobia’. Even Pasmanda does not solve their problems and starts rallying behind issues serving the interests of Ashraf’s politics.
Despite all these arguments, we need more hope than criticism. The way Dalit cinema is conveying Dalit, Bahujan, Adivasi lifestyle and values to the people in an open and very aesthetic way through art, and raising questions related to their problems openly, it is also a catalyst for the Pasmanda society. Looks like Movies affect the society, so it is necessary that we play the character of the audience with maturity and accountability. After all, society decides who will influence films and who will not.
Abdullah Mansoor is a Pasmanda activist and a teacher and runs the YouTube channel Pasmanda Democracy. Thoughts are personal.
This article has been translated from Hindi by Ram Lal Khanna and edited by Prashant.