An absent presence: experiences of the ‘welfare state’ in an Indian Muslim mohallā

Abstract

This paper examines the everyday experiences and perspectives of Muslim Ansāris (weavers) in urban north India with respect to the ‘welfare state’. The case of a recent health insurance scheme, initiated by the Indian government, constitutes the paper's focus. Narratives around the scheme expressed by residents in a majority Muslim mohallā (neighbourhood) in Varanasi illustrate the ways in which the state's presence was more often experienced through its perceived absence and inaccessibility. But even whilst such experiences represented broader patterns of neglect, locally interpreted as the upshot of being India's largest religious minority, this community was not stricken by a sense of absolute alienation and nor did individual or collective actions exhibit outright disaffection towards the state. More appropriately, ‘defensive agencies’ informed by degrees of pragmatism, acceptance and resilience, were articulated in an effort to protect, as well as improve the future capacities and ambitions of the neighbourhood residents where the state had seemingly failed. The paper concludes however with a word of caution about celebrating such agency, and reflects on the potential for transformative politics by Muslims in urban India.

Keywords:

• everyday state
• urban politics
• Indian Muslims
• marginalisation
• agency

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to the Economic and Social Research Council who funded the doctoral research on which this article is based, and to my Research Assistant, Ajay Pandey and friends and informants in Varanasi who were central to the production of this research. I wish to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and the participants of the ‘Experiencing the State’ conferences, Bhaskar Vira and Deepta Chopra for their helpful feedback on previous versions of this paper.

Notes

1. In 2007 a weaver might expect to earn between Rs80–150 per day. On 1st April 2007 Rs100 was approximately equivalent to £1.18.

2. All names used are pseudonyms to protect the anonymity of informants.

3. A similar argument could be made for Dalit Chamars documented by Ciotti (2010) in eastern Uttar Pradesh.

4. Muharram is the first month of the Muslim calendar and considered to be a month of remembrance. During this time Muslims mourn the martyrdom of the Prophet Mohammed's grandson. In Varanasi the event is publicly commemorated by Shia Muslims in particular who process through the streets carrying decorated tombs (tⱥziyⱥs), whilst young males perform acts of self flagellation.