mIt is often said that Muslim voters vote en masse. This perception has also been applied to the Muslims of Seemanchal in Bihar, mainly due to the astonishing rise of Asaduddin Owaisi’s party All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) in 2020.
However, this is hardly the case. Of Bihar’s 2.31 crore Muslim population, about 28% live in the Seemanchal region which includes Kishanganj, Katihar, Araria and Purnia districts. While almost all of them are from the Sunni sect of Islam, the community is not homogeneous.
caste composition
Muslims in Seemanchal are broadly divided into three castes – Surjapuri, Shershahabadi and Kulhaiya castes. Although the differences between them are not very obvious to an outsider, these three caste groups are culturally distinct, rarely intermarry, and speak different dialects. The dialects originate from a mixture of Maithili and Bengali, mixed with words borrowed from Hindi and Urdu. The dialect spoken by the Shershahbadis is closer to Bengali, while the Kulhaiya dialect is closer to Maithili. Surjapuri is somewhere in the middle, with a heavy mix of Urdu words.
However, the biggest differences between caste groups depend on which Sunni Islamic movement they follow – Barelvi, Deobandi, or Ahl Hadith. Surjapuris are divided between Barelvi and Deobandi, with a large section leaning towards the former. The Kulhaiyas are predominantly Deobandi, while the Shershahbadis largely follow Ahl Hadith. Barelvi, Deobandi and Ahl Hadith are three Sunni Islamic movements in South Asia. Barelvis practice Sufism, worship saints and celebrate the birthday of Prophet Muhammad. Deobandi are more reformist, discouraging excessive saint veneration and innovations, while retaining some Sufi influence in a strict form. Followers of Ahl Hadith rely directly on the Quran and Hadith, opposing any religious customs not found in early Islamic texts.
Earlier, all three groups – Surjapuri, Shershahabadi and Kulhaiya – were identified as Shaikhs, one of the three castes classified as high-caste Muslims along with Pathans and Syeds. However, due to the historical backwardness of the region and changes in political representation, Shershahabadi and Kulhaiya were included in the Extremely Backward Class (EBC) list, while Surjapuri remained in the backward caste category. Bihar Caste Census 2023 identifies Surjapuris as the third largest Muslim caste group (after Sheikh and Ansari) with a population of about 24.5 lakh people. The number of Shershahbadis is approximately 13 lakh and the number of Kulhaiya is 12.5 lakh. There is also a fourth caste derived from Shekh called Shekhra, whose population is about 2.5 lakh in Seemanchal. Apart from this, there are also Muslims of different castes who have migrated to Seemanchal from different parts of Bihar for business purposes. These are collectively called by the local people PachhimasWhich means western people or people coming from the west, especially from the area around Begusarai district.
Surjapuri Muslims live mainly in Kishanganj, Purnia and Katihar districts. Araria is dominated by Kulhaiya Muslims, a large population of whom also lives in Purnia. Shershahabadi Muslims live mainly in Katihar, with a considerable presence in Kishanganj.
changing trends
Caste awareness and caste-based voting among Muslims of Seemanchal is a recent phenomenon. These political changes began around 2000 and by 2010, changes were visible.
Before 2000, Seemanchal had Muslim MLAs from all four major castes. Mohammad Hussain Azad, Rafiq Alam, Abdul Jalil Mastan (Amour), Abdus Subhan, Islamuddin, Najmuddin, Mohammad Suleman, Abdul Jalil (Kadwa) and Usman Ghani from Surjapuri caste; Mohammad Taslimuddin, Hasibur Rahman, Motiur Rahman, Halimuddin Ahmed, Muzaffar Hussain and Beulah Doza from Kulhaias; Mohammad Shakoor, Mubarak Hussain and Mansoor Alam from the Shershahabadis; And Mohammad Azimuddin of Sekhra caste was elected MLA from various constituencies of Seemanchal. Many of them were elected from seats where their castes did not dominate.
However, this well-distributed representation, which shows the proverbial The greater the number, the greater will be his share. (The higher the number, the higher its share), was not reflected at the Lok Sabha level. The Kishanganj Lok Sabha constituency, dominated by Surjapuri Muslims, was represented either by Kulhaiya leaders like Mohammad Tahir, Jamilur Rahman, Halimuddin Ahmed and Mohammad Taslimuddin, or by upper caste Muslim leaders like Syed Shahabuddin, Syed Shahnawaz Hussain or parachute politicians like MJ Akbar.
It took 24 years for a senior Surjapuri leader, Maulana Asrarul Haq Qasmi, a renowned Islamic scholar who served as general secretary of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, to be elected from Kishanganj. He first contested the 1985 by-election, but could only win in the 2009 general elections, when Surjapuri Muslims collectively rallied behind him against Kulhaiya incumbent Mohammed Taslimuddin. After that, in 2014, Mr Taslimuddin shifted his base to the neighboring Kulhaiya-dominated constituency of Araria.
In subsequent elections, Surjapuri Muslims continued to dominate the Kishanganj seat, reaching its peak in the last Lok Sabha election, which saw a triangular contest between three Surjapuri Muslim candidates – Mohammad Javed from Congress, Mujahid Alam from Janata Dal (United) and Akhtarul Iman from AIMIM. Meanwhile, Mr Taslimuddin’s family has maintained dominance in Araria since 2014, winning or losing in close contests. Katihar’s long wait for local Muslim representation in Parliament continues as one Syed Tariq Anwar from Arwal has dominated there for 50 years.
current scenario
Since 2000, the number of Surjapuri MLAs in the Bihar Assembly has ranged between five to seven, Kulhaiya between one to two, Sekhra between zero and one, while the number of MLAs from the most infamous Shershahabadi community has declined from two to zero.
Muslim MLAs won 11 of the 24 assembly constituencies in Seemanchal in 2020. Of these, six are Surjapuri, two Kulhaiya, one Shekhara and two upper caste Muslims. In 2015 too, the number of Muslim MLAs in the region was the same, but then there were seven Surjapuri MLAs and only one upper caste Muslim MLA. The Baisi seat of Purnia is currently represented by Syed Ruknuddin Ahmed, an upper caste Muslim, whose family has traditionally managed a local dargah, revered by Barelvi Muslims. Senior Congress leader Shakeel Ahmed Khan, an upper caste Muslim, has consistently won the Kadwa seat in Katihar.
Like Kishanganj Lok Sabha seat, the caste equation has now become stable in many seats. All four assembly seats in Kishanganj district – Kochadhaman, Bahadurganj, Kishanganj and Thakurganj – as well as Balrampur in Katihar are dominated by Surjapuri Muslims. Jokihat and Araria in Araria district are the traditional Kulhaiya seats. Amour and Baisi of Purnia are largely Surjapuri dominated, but there is a significant Kulhaiya population here. Pranpur in Katihar has a mix of Surjapuri and Shershahabadi population, while Kadwa has a large population of Surjapuri. Katihar’s Barari, Manihari and Korha and Kishanganj’s Thakurganj and Kishanganj seats have a sizeable population of Shershahabadi.
Sekhra Muslims are numerically significant in the Araria assembly seat, although the only current MLA from Sekhra represents the Kasba of Purnia, which has a notable presence of Kulhaiyas and Shershahabadis.
It is now almost impossible for a non-Surjapuri Muslim candidate to win from Kochadhaman, Bahadurganj, Kishanganj, Thakurganj and Balrampur. Similarly, a non-Kulhaiya Muslim cannot expect to win from Jokihat, and the Araria assembly seat is also difficult for a non-Kulhaiya Muslim candidate. Amour and Baisi, although Surjapuri-dominated, often see strong Kulhaiya candidates. Pranpur is the only seat where a prominent Shershahabadi Muslim candidate has emerged in the last few elections. Manihari is reserved for Scheduled Tribe, Koraha for Scheduled Caste, while no major alliance now fields Muslim candidates in Barari.
grand alliance The opposition alliance in Bihar (Mahagathbandhan), which includes Rashtriya Janata Dal, Congress, Left parties and others, will respect caste dominance in its ticket distribution this time too. AIMIM, which has tasted success on five seats of Seemanchal by consolidating Surjapuri-Kulhaiya votes, is making the same efforts again in these elections. AIMIM Bihar chief Akhtarul Iman is a prominent Surjapuri leader and sitting MLA from Amour. However, the party has announced the Kulhaiya candidate in the neighboring Baisi seat, in an effort to consolidate the Surjapuri-Kulhaiya votes in the region, and it is a given that the party’s candidate in the neighboring seat, Jokihat, will be Kulhaiya.
Tanjeel Asif is the founder of Seemanchal-based news platform Main Media.,
