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<p>This study challenges the homogenisation of India’s Muslim population by interrogating the role of endogenous caste structures in perpetuating systemic inequality. It examines the intricate dynamics of caste, social mobility, and migration among Pasmanda (backward) Muslim communities. Drawing on an interdisciplinary framework, the study investigates how neoliberal economic transformations, institution-building by caste associations, and both internal and international migration reshape or hinder social mobility. Through a mixed-methods analysis of longitudinal data (2004–2005 to 2024–2025), including PLFS-NSSO data and a novel harmonised caste-religion framework, it is demonstrated that the Pasmanda Muslims—comprising Ajlaf and Arzal castes and constituting over 80% of the Muslim demographic—are entrenched in a severe poverty trap. The findings reveal a bifurcated reality: while the Ashraf elite exhibit mobility trajectories nearly on par with Hindu upper castes, Pasmanda subgroups lag profoundly, with Arzal Muslims now trailing behind Hindu SC/ST communities. Decomposition analysis further attributes 44–52% of the Pasmanda employment gap to discrimination and unobservable factors, underscoring embedded labour market biases. The study concludes that prevailing neoliberal and monolithic community frameworks are inadequate, and calls for a radical policy shift centred on Pasmanda-specific sub-quotas, the democratisation of Muslim institutions, and targeted anti-discrimination measures to break the cycle of intergenerational deprivation.</p>

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Bifurcated Mobilities: Caste, Discrimination, and the Myth of Muslim Homogeneity in India

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年5月28日

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  • Sazzad Parwez

摘要

This study challenges the homogenisation of India’s Muslim population by interrogating the role of endogenous caste structures in perpetuating systemic inequality. It examines the intricate dynamics of caste, social mobility, and migration among Pasmanda (backward) Muslim communities. Drawing on an interdisciplinary framework, the study investigates how neoliberal economic transformations, institution-building by caste associations, and both internal and international migration reshape or hinder social mobility. Through a mixed-methods analysis of longitudinal data (2004–2005 to 2024–2025), including PLFS-NSSO data and a novel harmonised caste-religion framework, it is demonstrated that the Pasmanda Muslims—comprising Ajlaf and Arzal castes and constituting over 80% of the Muslim demographic—are entrenched in a severe poverty trap. The findings reveal a bifurcated reality: while the Ashraf elite exhibit mobility trajectories nearly on par with Hindu upper castes, Pasmanda subgroups lag profoundly, with Arzal Muslims now trailing behind Hindu SC/ST communities. Decomposition analysis further attributes 44–52% of the Pasmanda employment gap to discrimination and unobservable factors, underscoring embedded labour market biases. The study concludes that prevailing neoliberal and monolithic community frameworks are inadequate, and calls for a radical policy shift centred on Pasmanda-specific sub-quotas, the democratisation of Muslim institutions, and targeted anti-discrimination measures to break the cycle of intergenerational deprivation.