Sudarshan News aired its first episode on the ‘UPSC Jihad’ which embroiled the channel in great controversy recently. Editor-in-Chief Suresh Chavhanke spoke on the unfair advantage that members of the Muslim community have over non-Muslim citizens of the country in recruitment to civil services and also spoke on the links between the Zakat Foundation with Islamist organisations.
Unfair Benefits to Muslim Community
Suresh Chavhanke said during the show that Rs. 1 lakh is granted to members of the minority community through the Udaan Yojana to crack entrance exams for UPSC while Hindus do not receive any such benefits. Similarly, for gazetted posts in state public service commission (PSC), the minority community receives Rs. 50,000 and for non-gazetted posts in state PSC and SSC exams, they receive Rs. 25,000.
Sudarshan News also revealed that the overwhelming majority of those availing the benefits of the schemes for the minority community are Muslims. After the Muslim community, Christians come a distinct second; followed by Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis respectively.
The other unfair advantages that Muslim candidates appearing for civil services receive are higher number of attempts and higher upper limit for the age of candidates. Suresh Chavhanke said that some Muslims take advantage of OBC categories and are included in them. Consequently, a Hindu can appear for the civil services till 32 years of age, Chavhanke said, while Muslims can appear for the exams till 35 years of age. Also, Hindus can make only 6 attempts while Muslims can make 9.
The Urdu Advantage and Interviews
Suresh Chavhanke said in the episode that the rate of success for candidates who opt for Urdu is disproportionately high when compared to other languages. For instance, in the year 2011, the success rate for Urdu candidates was 40.9% while the same for Sanskrit and Hindu were 11.8% and 13.1% respectively. In 2017, the success rates for Urdu, Sanskrit and Hindu were 19.2%, 7.1% and 7.1% respectively.
The Sudarshan News editor said that in Urdu, the question paper is prepared by people from the same community, the answer sheets are checked by the same community and those who choose the language also belong to the same community. Suresh Chavhanke also revealed that Muslims on an average score higher than non-Muslims in interviews, which is bound to attract suspicion as assessment during interviews can be highly subjective.
In 2018, the difference in the marks for interviews between Muslims and non-Muslims was as high as 9.5 per cent. A similar trend has followed since 2013. Suresh Chavhanke also gave the example of Shah Faesal, the infamous Kashmiri bureaucrat who had quit in protest against the Modi government, who had secured the top rank solely due to his superior marks in interviews.
The Zakat Foundation and Islamist Links
The episode also spoke on the Zakat Foundation’s links to Islamist organisations and radical Islamic preacher Zakir Naik. He mentioned Zafar Hussain Qureshi, the Zakat functionary who has links to Zakir Naik and various other Islamist organisations. Zakat Foundation helps Muslims get recruited into civil services. They believe that bureaucrats rule the country and through the civil services, Muslims could capture the PMO and all other ministries. We had reported on the matter in detail.
Suresh Chavhanke also spoke out against the critics who slammed him for raising questions against the civil services. He said that in this country, no one is above criticism. From the Courts to the laws passed by the Parliament, everyone and everything is criticised. Therefore, there is no reason why the civil services should be beyond reproach. He said that asking such questions was his right and answering them was the duty of authorities.
