India and her Muslims

[Omar1984]

Why do Indian Muslims lag behind?

As historians tell it, during India's first election in 1952, Jawaharlal Nehru was already worrying about the feeble representation of Muslims in the country's positions of authority.

Many more Muslims had stayed back in India than the millions who migrated to newly-born Pakistan after the partition just five years before.

India's first prime minister's concerns about the country's second largest religious group and the largest religious minority were eminently justified.

Little change

Next year, in 1953, a group of intellectuals met to discuss forming a political party for the Muslims and spoke about the low representation of Muslims in political positions and bureaucracy.

More than half century later, on India's 60th anniversary of independence, very little has changed.


Staying behind in India

Today, at over 138 million, Muslims constitute over 13% of India 's billion-strong population, and in sheer numbers are exceeded only by Indonesia's and Pakistan's Muslim community.

The country has had three Muslim presidents - a largely ceremonial role. Bollywood and cricket, two secular pan-Indian obsessions, continue to have their fair share of Muslim stars - the ruling heroes in Mumbai films are Shah Rukh, Aamir and Salman Khan, and the star of India's current English cricket tour is pace bowler Zaheer Khan. Not long ago, the national team was led by the stylish Mohammed Azharuddin.

That's where the good news essentially ends.

Muslims comprise only 5% of employees in India's big government, a recent study found. The figure for Indian Railways, the country's biggest employer, is only 4.5%.

The community continues to have a paltry representation in the bureaucracy and police - 3% in the powerful Indian Civil Service, 1.8% in foreign service and only 4% in the Indian Police Service. And Muslims account for only 7.8% of the people working in the judiciary.

Indian Muslims are also largely illiterate and poor.

At just under 60%, the community's literacy rate is lower than the national average of 65%. Only half of Muslim women can read and write. As many as a quarter of Muslim children in the age-group 6-14 have either never attended school or dropped out.

They are also poor - 31% of Muslims are below the country's poverty line, just a notch above the lowest castes and tribes who remain the poorest of the poor.

Identity card

To add to the community's woes are myriad problems relating to, as one expert says, "identity, security and equity".

"They carry a double burden of being labelled as 'anti-national' and as being 'appeased' at the same time," says a recent report on the state of Indian Muslims.

Historians say it is ironic that many Indians bought the Hindu nationalist bogey of 'Muslim appeasement' when it had not translated into any major socio-economic gain for the community.

So why has the lot of Indian Muslims remained miserable after six decades of independence?


For one, it is the sheer apathy and ineptitude of the Indian state which has failed to provide equality of opportunity in health, education and employment.

This has hurt the poor - including the Muslim poor who comprise the majority of the community - most.

There is also the relatively recent trend of political bias against the community when Hindu nationalist governments have ruled in Delhi and the states.

Also, the lack of credible middle class leadership among the Muslims has hobbled the community's vision and progress.

Consequently, rabble rousers claiming to represent the community have thrust themselves to the fore.

To be true, mass migration during partition robbed the community of potential leaders - most Muslim civil servants, teachers, doctors and professionals crossed over.

But the failure to throw up credible leaders has meant low community participation in the political processes and government - of the 543 MPs in India's lower house of parliament, only 36 are Muslims.

Also, as Ramachandra Guha says, the "vicissitudes of India-Pakistan relations and Pakistan's treatment of its minorities" ensured that Muslims remained a "vulnerable" community.

Regional disparities

The plight of Indian Muslims also has a lot to do with the appalling quality of governance, unequal social order and lack of equality of opportunity in northern India where most of the community lives.

Populous Uttar Pradesh is home to nearly a fifth of Muslims (31 million) living in India, while Bihar has more than 10 million community members.

"Southern India is a different picture. Larger cultural and social movements have made education more accessible and self employment more lucrative benefiting a large number of Muslims," says historian Mahesh Rangarajan.

In Andhra Pradesh state, for example, 68% of Muslims are literate, higher than the state and national average. School enrolment rates for Muslim children are above 90% in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Mahesh Rangarajan says poverty and "absence of ameliorative policies" has hurt India's Muslims most.

If India was to be "a secular, stable and strong state," Nehru once said, "then our first consideration must be to give absolute fair play to our minority".


BBC NEWS | South Asia | Why do Indian Muslims lag behind?

 

[Omar1984]

^ Tell that to BBC news they published the article.

 

[R.A.W.]

MJ Akbar: Pakistan cannot expect the support of India's Muslims


A revealing but rarely revealed fact is that Muslims in the rest of India give no support whatsoever to the separatist insurgency in the Muslim-majority valley of Kashmir, that charming bit of paradise that could yet trigger off history's first nuclear war.

Internal links

Straw hints at deal to avert war in Kashmir

A revealing but rarely revealed fact is that Muslims in the rest of India give no support whatsoever to the separatist insurgency in the Muslim-majority valley of Kashmir, that charming bit of paradise that could yet trigger off history's first nuclear war. At this moment, according to reliable reports, there could be as many as 3,000 armed and trained jihadis ready to combat the Indian army – but not one of them is a Muslim from elsewhere in India.

This is not because Indian Muslims are either the most content or the most obedient citizens of thecountry. Periodic outbursts of communal violence, such as the recent state-encouraged carnage in Gujarat, have left them numbed and angry. There is a fear-revenge psychosis fed by despair that could find expression in acts of retaliation. This morning in Ahmedabad, the principal city of Gujarat, a series of explosions in public buses left a dozen people injured. As I write, there is no evidence yet of who was responsible, but the immediate finger will be pointed at local Muslims.

Nor is it that there are no fundamentalists, or even plain thugs, among Indian Muslims. The incident that began the Gujarat tragedy in which more than a thousand died – so many mercilessly torched to death as the police looked on – took place at Godhra, where Hindu pilgrims inside a train were targeted, attacked and killed. But nothing in the combustible mood of India provokes Muslims to go so far as join a struggle for another division of India.

This is remarkable, given that a little more than a generation ago it was the anger of Muslims from the heartland, rather than Punjab or Sind, that created Pakistan. But the Pakistan that was the Medina of their fantasies, their sanctuary, the dream-refuge of a million refugees, isolated and spurned them. Indian Muslims have become the dogs in the manger, shunned by the Pakistan they once preferred and punished by the India they once spurned.

No one has learnt a lesson from history better than them. There are more Muslims in India than there are in Pakistan. This must rank as the most curious paradox of the many spawned by the artificial division of India in 1947. This is not, as many Hindu fundamentalists propagate, because Muslims have an astonishing birth rate, but simply because you can partition a country, but not a village.

A second paradox is even more interesting. Indian Muslims are the only Muslims in the world to enjoy sustained democracy since the freedom of their country from colonial rule. Muslim nations, particularly Pakistan, have been unable to fashion a polity relevant to the modern age, with governments accountable to a democratic process. Kings and dictators across the Islamic map throttle the Muslim street and offer support to George Bush and Tony Blair in exchange for the mantle of "indispensability". Bush and Blair give patronage, patronisingly. Blair believes that there is some cultural deficiency among Saudi Arabs that makes them ineligible for the standards of equality and political freedom that he would never deny to the British.

Indian Muslims use democracy with vigour and finesse. They control or influence the results of elections in at least a hundred seats in the Lok Sabha – the House of the People – the directly elected part of India's Parliament, making it virtually impossible for Hindu fundamentalists to fulfil their dream of gaining an absolute majority by themselves and using power to change India's secular constitution. It is a neat lock.

The absence of democracy compounds the fragility of Pakistan. The names change, but the uniforms do not. Once again a general has seized power in Islamabad and is trying to bluff his way to survival. General Pervez Musharraf took over from Nawaz Sharif less than two years ago and has used the stale and silly means of a meaningless referendum to legitimise his rule. The curious consequence is that, instead of becoming stronger, he has emerged a weaker man from the exercise.

The referendum exposed his complete lack of domestic support and blew his credibility to tatters. In the process of wooing different constituencies, General Musharraf visibly compromised with the terrorist elements he had once vowed to eliminate. He released hundreds of those arrested in January. Washington and London overlooked this, but you can toddle only so far holding Bush by one hand and Blair by the other.

If the government of Pervez Musharraf does not represent the people, then what does it represent? An army government needs something to restore its rationale for remaining in power. A war situation with India over the disputed Kashmir valley is almost the perfect answer. Particularly when there are hawks at the fringes of power in Delhi ready to match belligerence with intemperance.

A weak general sitting on a nuclear stockpile and watching his missiles as they flash through the air could fall victim to a deadly disease – eczema of the button-finger. MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) kept Europe and America safe through the Cold War. But could they have survived General Strangelove?

 

[Omar1984]

From Indian Muslims point of view:

Ayodhya Muslims – poor, uneducated and frightened

Nemat Ali is very sad he could not educate his daughters. Aware of their father’s income, they told him politely when they reached school-going age: You are lone bread earner for the family; how will you bear the cost of our education, recalls Ali, father of 6, while pulling the rickshaw.

Native of Makkhapur village, barely 1.5 kilometers from the Babri Masjid site, Nemat Ali symbolizes the average economic and educational condition of Muslims in Ayodhya of Faizabad district in Uttar Pradesh.

Abdul Lateef who takes me around Ayodhya when I tell him I want to see Muslim places here, is a high school dropout. He says Muslims here are poor. Before 1990 they would cultivate tobacco and some worked in shoe factories here. After closure of tobacco agriculture and shoe factories, their conditions have worsened. Now they are cobblers or tailors and many are rickshaw pullers. Some have gone outside to earn. Of late some Muslims have got involved in property dealings.

Constituting about 6% of 1.5 lakh population of Ayodhya Assembly constituency, Muslims are poor – mostly laborers, cobblers or tailors. Most of them unable to educate their children, very few are affording to send them to schools in Ayodhya or Faizabad.

“People are poor and so want to make their children earning hand as early as possible,” says Haji Mahboob Ahmad, a prominent local personality, adding there are very few educational institutions.

Though Ayodhya, the twin city of Faizabad, has a few educational institutions, there is Kasu Saket PG College, the largest college in Eastern Uttar Pradesh or popularly known as Purvanchal. There are about 28,000 students at the college. Majority of them are from Faizabad and other neighboring districts. Of 28,000, hardly 5% are Muslims, and many of them are from outside Ayodhya.

Many Muslim students from neighboring districts are living here in Ayodhya to study at the college. Muhammad Danish Visen is from Basti district. He is residing in the campus of Tehri Bazar Mosque at stone’s throw from the Babri Masjid site. He is doing graduation in History at the college. His roommate Muhammad Yosuf has come from Ambedkar Nagar district. He is doing MA in Urdu from Saket PG College. Muhammad Sohail from Faizabad district is doing B. Sc from the same college.

There are a few madrasas also in Ayodhya. Qari Muhammad Aslam is Imam of Tehri Bazar Mosque. He runs two small madrasas in the area where about 50 children are reading Quran and Urdu. He himself is from Faizabad.

As for social condition, Muslims here do not feel isolated in the society because there is complete communal harmony and both communities take part in each other’s social and cultural activities. Nemat Ali’s Makkhapur has 18 Muslims houses among 250 houses in total. But he does not feel threatened. So is the situation in the close surrounding of the Babri Masjid site in Hanuman Garhi.

However, they are a little bit frightened from the police. They fear they may be implicated in false cases. Every now and then you will find armed forces marching on the road and army vans moving in and around Ayodhya.

Do police disturb Muslims living in the vicinity of the disputed land? When I put this question before Haji Mahboob Ahmad, he said Muslims here are a little frightened as they fear of being implicated in false terror cases. He says once a Muslim youth was tried to be picked in some terror case but he and local Muslims intervened and he was saved.

Prominent social activist and ex-RSS pracharak Jugal Kishore Shastri says: No, the police are not disturbing them, but they live in fear. They fear that police may implicate them in terror cases. They are also frightened about karsevaks who come from outside.

Ayodhya Muslims ? poor, uneducated and frightened | Indian Muslims

 

[R.A.W.]

Indian Muslim Leaders Praise Israel During Official Visit

(IsraelNN.com) In a first-of-its-kind visit, a delegation of Indian Muslim leaders is currently on an extensive tour of Israel. The group's leader repeatedly expressed his pleasure at having his preconceptions about Israel overturned. The Muslim leaders' visit to Sderot on
A delegation of rabbis, including Chief Rabbi Yonah Metzger, made a similar trip to India.
Monday included a first-hand lesson on Palestinian Authority rocket attacks.

The Indian Muslim visit to Israel was arranged at the invitation of the American Jewish Committee (AJC) and the Australian Israel Jewish Affairs Council. Earlier this year, a delegation of rabbis, including Chief Rabbi Yonah Metzger, made a similar trip to India.

Maulana Jamil Ilyasi, president of the All India Organisation of Imams and Mosques, is heading the Indian delegation. His group represents about 500,000 imams and 200 million Indian Muslims, 40% of the global Muslim population. Among the other members of the delegation are Akhtarul Wasey, the head of the department of Islamic Studies at Jamia Millia Islamia, Mahmoodur Rahman, former vice chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), and Sahara Samay editor Aziz Burney.

According to the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS), when the Hindustan Express carried a front-page story about the visit of prominent Muslims to Israel, at least one member of the group, Sirajuddin Qureshi, dropped out. As a major meat exporter, Qureshi " feared the news of his journey to Israel could adversely affect his business prospects," according to IANS. The news agency noted that the visit has caused controversy among Indian Muslims.

'Muslims in India Should Come See for Themselves'
"The Jews I have met here say that we are all children of Abraham, part of the same family," Imam Ilyasi said with a measure of surprise. "This is something I didn't hear in India. The Muslims in India should come and see things for themselves."

Ilyasi said his visit had reversed many of his own prejudices: "My initial impression was that the Israelis are certainly dominating Muslims out here. Once I came here, that impression completely changed. I saw the reality on the ground, the mutual respect Israeli Arabs and Israeli Jews have for each other. Constant conflict is not the reality here." In Jerusalem, he said, "I saw that Muslims, Christians and Jews lived side by side happily, not at each other's throats."

In fact, Ilyasi claimed, in some ways, Israel treats Muslims better than India does: "I was pleasantly surprised to know that the Sharia (Islamic law) is being supported by the Israeli government; whereas, in India, only local Muslims implement it. That is unique." Ilyasi was apparently referring to the existence of government-sanctioned Islamic courts in the Israeli justice system, which handle marriage, divorce and conversion issues for Muslim Israelis. Similar religious courts exist for Jews and Christians.

Rabbi David Rosen, AJC's international director of inter-religious affairs in New York, said, "This visit is of great strategic importance and hopefully will impact on the wider Muslim world as well."

Unfortunately, the Muslim delegation also learned a different lesson on Monday, while visiting the Negev city of Sderot, a frequent target of Palestinian Authority rocket attacks.

"We heard a warning shot which was followed by a siren. We were immediately rushed to a shelter house where we heard the sound of a rocket attack," a member of the delegation told the Times of India.

Joint Declaration With the Chief Rabbis
The delegation of Muslim Indian leaders took part in an inter-religious dialogue on Sunday with representatives of the Chief Rabbinate, which concluded with the signing of a joint declaration with the two Chief Rabbis, Rabbi Yonah Metzger and Rabbi Shlomo Amar.

"It is high time for the religious leaders of both sides to engage in dialogue and use their collective influence to stop the bloodshed of innocent civilians," the declaration said. "Rather, we need to condemn killings, reject extremism, and the misuse of religion for acts of violence. Suicide is a forbidden act in Islam and therefore suicidal attacks can not find sanction."
Muslim Indian leaders took part in an inter-religious dialogue on Sunday.

Even before his visit to Israel, Ilyasi said that Indian Muslims "believe in the Indian tradition of resolving issues through dialogue and peaceful means."

"The time for violence has come to an end, and the era of peace and dialogue between Muslims and Jews has begun," said Ilyasi. He also called on Pakistan to establish official relations with the Jewish State.

The Indian delegation was also received by President Shimon Peres, who said that whereas past international efforts focused on separating religion from the state, the current struggle is to separate all religions from all types of terrorism. Peres went on to say that the One God respects human life without distinction and hate. "We are all children of Abraham," the President said, adding, "Jerusalem is a living example of co-existence among all the religions. The voice of the Muslim muezzin, the bells of the Christian church and the song of the Jewish cantor - all rise together to Heaven, unhindered, without borders, and with no need for visas."

President Peres also noted the Indian struggle against terrorism and factionalism, praising the country for maintaining its democratic character throughout


Indian Muslim Leaders Praise Israel During Official Visit - Inside Israel - Israel News - Israel National News

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

why worry abt indian muslims.. when ur entire nations current situation is no better at max or becoming much worse...!!

You are on a discussion forum - that is what people do, 'discuss topics' - using your logic should we prevent Indians from commenting on all Pakistan related issues?

Please refrain from such baiting and pointless posts and discuss the topic.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

kP9JCusfje0[/media] - An Indian muslim answer to Gen. Musharraf

reply from an indian muslim ( maulana madani) to musharraf! musharraf's face is just priceless here....and the anger is so obvious in his reply!

Musharraf gave a pretty good response to that exchange, and there is a whole thread on the exchange, but what does this have to do with the thread topic?

Post deleted until you can offer some context in terms of how it relates to the topic.

Don't drag Pakistan into this and start a flame fest (this goes for all of you) - the thread is about India and her Muslims.

 

[Omar1984]

From New York Times:

Muslims missing out on India's economic growth

NEW DELHI — Even those who caution against "illusions of grandeur and power," as the head of India's governing coalition, Sonia Gandhi, did last week, cannot hide their sense of pride at the idea of India as a nation that extends the concessions of secular democracy to its many castes, creeds and faiths.

Yet that notion has come under strain in recent days, with an official panel having concluded that Muslims, India's largest religious minority, are "lagging behind" on most things that matter.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's office, which is reviewing the report, summarized the panel's biting conclusion this way: "The community is relatively poor, more illiterate, has lower access to education, lower representation in public- and private-sector jobs and lower availability of bank credit for self- employment. In urban areas, the community mostly lives in slums characterized by poor municipal infrastructure."

Muslims make up roughly 13 percent of India's population of 1.1 billion, and their numbers are nearly equal to the entire population of Pakistan, which was carved out of British India nearly 60 years ago as the homeland of the subcontinent's Muslims. Soul-searching about Muslim rights and well-being in India, which has witnessed periodic outbreaks of religious violence, has been a leitmotif ever since.

The latest findings have prompted fresh debate. In an editorial in The Indian Express, an English-language daily, Pratap Bhanu Mehta, president of the Delhi-based Center for Policy Research, suggested that the government's panel had revealed "the hollowness of our concept of republican citizenship."

"What is at stake," Mehta said, "is not just uplifting this or that group, but the very idea of India itself: whether it has the capacity for transcending the cant, indifference and identity traps that have brought us to this pass."

The report is expected to be made public soon, but leaks in the last several weeks have already turned its contents into political fodder. Trial balloons have been floated about extending affirmative action benefits originally devised to uplift low-caste Hindus and others considered "backward," by offering additional set-asides in education and employment for Muslims.

The mark of "backwardness" is a boon in this country, where a government job can lift a family's fortunes forever, just as it is a vital part of political arithmetic: Secure jobs for a group, the reasoning goes, and you secure its loyalty at the polls.

A number of Muslim religious and political leaders have already begun to advocate quotas for Muslims. But the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party has pointed out that Indian law prohibits faith-based quotas.

The secretary of the panel that issued the report, Abusaleh Shariff, said in an interview this week that in some states, education and poverty indicators showed that Muslims had fallen behind even low-caste Hindus. Shariff said the panel recommended, among other things, free and compulsory education up to age 14, as well as financial support to promote industries in which Muslims are concentrated, like textiles.

The findings of the panel, headed by a retired high court judge, Rajinder Sachar, are expected to add to sparring over the Muslim vote, particularly in the elections due to be held next year in India's largest state, Uttar Pradesh, where Muslims are a vital chunk of the electorate. The report will become public when Singh submits it to Parliament, possibly during its current session.

Among the panel's most damning statistics, as reported by The Indian Express, are that in many states Muslims are significantly overrepresented in prison. In the western state of Maharashtra, for instance, Muslims make up 10.6 percent of the population but 32.4 percent of those convicted or facing trial.

In the famed national bureaucracy, the Indian Administrative Service, Muslims made up only 2 percent of officers in 2006. Among district judges in 15 states surveyed, 2.7 percent were Muslim.

Educational disparities were among the most striking. Among Muslims, Shariff said, the literacy rate is about 59 percent, compared with more than 65 percent among Indians as a whole. On average, a Muslim child attends school for three years and four months, against a national average of four years.

Less than 4 percent of Muslims graduate from school, compared with 6 percent of the total population. Less than 2 percent of the students at the elite Indian Institutes of Technology are Muslim. Equally revealing, only 4 percent of Muslim children attend madrasas, Shariff said.

The gaps in employment are likely to be among the most politically explosive. Muslims appear to be overrepresented among day laborers and street vendors and underrepresented in the public sector. Muslims secured about 15 percent of government jobs, considerably less than the share filled by "backward" castes and dalits, who were considered "untouchables" in the Hindu caste system.

Whatever action the government decides to take, it will have to contend with a peculiar dimension of Muslim identity here. Since they are mostly converts from Hinduism or descendants of converts, Muslims in India are riven by caste. In other words, there are Muslim dalits, as well as Muslims who are considered "backward."

To ignore those divides and entitle all Muslims to the same affirmative action benefits, argued Imtiaz Ahmad, a retired professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University, would be to reward only those at the upper reaches of the Muslim social ladder.

Many well-to-do Muslims, he said, particularly those with access to education, have benefited from the Indian economic advance. The Muslim community, he and other scholars point out, is made up of a small elite, vast numbers of poor people and very few in between.

Whether India can deliver the fruits of economic progress to the many Muslims at the bottom of the ladder remains a crucial question.

"There are many things we can say about Indian democracy," Ahmad said. "But it has given assurances, to minorities included, that things are negotiable."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/29/world/asia/29iht-india.3715145.html

 

[Omar1984]

From an Indian news article:

‘Over 94 percent poor Muslims don’t get subsidised food grains’

New Delhi, Sep 5 (IANS) Most of the poor among India’s 138 million Muslims do not get subsidised food grains in rural India, says Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH), one of the leading organisations working for the welfare of the community.”94.9 percent of Muslims living below the poverty line (BPL) in rural areas do not receive free food grains, and only 3.2 percent get subsidised loans,” JIH has said in a recent document called Vision-2016.

The document is a roadmap for educational, economic, and social emancipation of Muslims, India’s largest minority community.

It says that only “1.9 percent of the community benefits from the programmes meant for preventing starvation among the poorest of poor”, while “60 percent of Muslims do not have any land in rural areas”.

“The socio-economic and educational plight of Muslims continues to be abject. Although several schemes have been started to uplift them, they have still miles to go,” K.A. Siddiq Hassan, JIH’s vice-president, told IANS.

As per the JIH’s own assessment based on the government statistics and field surveys, only 2.1 percent of all Muslim farmers own tractors.

India gives highly subsidised food grains to over 10 million poorest families every year under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY), a scheme to provide food security to the poor.

The buyers pay Rs.2 for a kg of wheat and Rs.3 for a kg of rice. A BPL family is entitled to get 35 kg of food grains under the AAY scheme per month.

In India around 22 percent of people live below the poverty line (BPL). As defined by the government, this means their monthly income is less than Rs.296 in urban areas, Rs.276 in villages (44 rupees=1 dollar).

Abu Baker, former chairman of the Delhi Minorities Commission, told IANS: “The backwardness among Muslims is an accepted thing. It is deep and wide, and effective efforts are needed to improvise the community socially, economically and educationally.”

Former Supreme Court judge Rajinder Sachar, who submitted his report on the condition of minorities in November 2006, had brought out the widespread illiteracy and poverty among Muslims.

The committee said 25 percent of Muslim children in the age group of 6-14 years have either never attended school or have dropped out. In the premier colleges only one out of 25 undergraduate students and one out of 50 postgraduate students are Muslims.

“The need of the hour is to take the benefits of affirmative measures to the people on the margins. Despite the government’s best intentions, benefits of welfare schemes are not percolating to them,” said Baker, a retired professor of education in Delhi’s Jamia Milia Islamia.

Ash Narain Roy of the Delhi-based Institute of Social Sciences said: “The government initiatives need be supplemented by voluntary efforts to upgrade the overall status of Muslims.

“It is progressive of JIH not to exclude poor non-Muslims from the ambit of its plans. It is a positive development.”

‘Over 94 percent poor Muslims don’t get subsidised food grains’

 

[ambersjay]

Musharraf gave a pretty good response to that exchange, and there is a whole thread on the exchange, but what does this have to do with the thread topic?

Post deleted until you can offer some context in terms of how it relates to the topic.

Don't drag Pakistan into this and start a flame fest (this goes for all of you) - the thread is about India and her Muslims.

the video was about an indian muslim's reply to musharraf on how he and as a whole the indian muslim community are living happily and peacefully in india and enjoys support of all indians irrespective of their religion in dealing with their problems.i'd expect a mod like yourself to comprehend the message this video is sending.i fail to understand why it was necessary to delete the video? is the truth so bitter? well whatever, you're the mod ,do as you please.

 

[R.A.W.]

Indian muslims protest against Mumbai attacks and burn Pakistan flag Video, Video clips, Featured videos: Rediff Videos


Patna, Nov.30 (ANI): Expressing their outrage against the Mumbai terror attack, hundreds of Muslims in Patna took out a protest march against Pakistan and burnt its national flag here.
Organised by the Krantikari Communist Vikas Manch (KCVM) on Friday, the protest was taken from street to street to express deep anguish against Pakistan.
“I am protesting against Pakistan because it had a major role to play in these blasts hence I have burnt Pakistani national flag. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has shown that their (Government’’s) unity with Pakistan is not like that. I”m totally against Pakistan and will always be,” said Shaukat Ali, President of the Krantikari Communist Vikas Manch.
Protestors said that Pakistan was involved in the recent terrorist attack in Mumbai in which a total of 183 people lost their lives including 20 security personnel, 141 other Indians and 22 foreign nations. However, 327 people were injured.
The protestors waived posters and shouted slogans against Pakistan and the Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre.
The protestors said that the government at the center was not showing firmness in dealing with terrorists who have affected the people across the country. (ANI)

 

[R.A.W.]

Indian Muslims choose politics, not terror



Indian Muslims choose politics, not terror
By Siddharth Srivastava

NEW DELHI - Investigations into the London blasts continue to reveal militant links to countries such as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Afghanistan, countries long considered fertile ground for fundamentalist thought, as well as to al-Qaeda. Inevitably, debate has ensued in India about the absence of Indian Muslims in al-Qaeda. Indian Muslims number more than 150 million, in a population of more than a billion.

Indeed, in the wake of September 11, 2001 and the London attacks of July 7, 2005, US intelligence has traced international terror modules to Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Chechnya, Afghanistan and some Arab countries, but not a single report has linked al-Qaeda or similar jihadi groups to Indian Muslims. Similarly, no Indian Muslims are among al-Qaeda suspects on international lists of wanted criminals or in prison camps such as Guantanamo Bay.

Analysts say that the main reason Indian Muslims have stayed away from international terror circles is the strong democratic tradition that exists in the country. Muslims have been able to give vent to their grievances and grow, unlike international hotbeds where democracy is not a norm.

Several Indian Muslims have flourished in various professions, whether as film stars, cricketers, politicians or businessmen - actors Shahrukh Khan, Aamir Khan and Salman Khan; cricketers Irfan Pathan, Zaheer Khan and Azim Premji; the owner of Indian software giant Wipro; tennis icon Sania Mirza. Some of the soldiers who fought Pakistan's incursion into Kargil in 1999 were Muslim. The President of India, A PJ Abdul Kalam, is a Muslim. Although Indian Muslims remain one of the less-developed and poorer sections of Indian society, they have not been lured by the pan-Islam radicalism that afflicts many other nations.

Given the strong and uniform voting constituency that Muslims provide, Indian political outfits vie for their support. Different parties realize that securing a majority and support of coalition partners can be possible only by keeping Muslims happy. It is in keeping with the sentiments of Indian Muslims that India - under both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress party - has resisted intense pressure from the US to join the war effort in Iraq that is widely seen as having prompted the London attacks.

Nevertheless, there have been times when the machinations of Indian politics have left Indian Muslims seething, and their faith in democracy as a weapon to vote political parties in or out of power has been eroded and tested.

The threshold of tolerance was pushed hard following communal riots in Gujarat in 2002 in which more than 2,000 Muslims were killed. The state government was a mute spectator, indeed a perpetrator of, and collaborator in, the violence. In a brute expression of the Hindu majority, the state BJP government led by Chief Minister Narendra Modi was subsequently voted back into power in Gujarat.

One can recall the sensational suicide attacks on the Indian parliament, on the Akshardham temple in Gujarat, and most recently on the makeshift Ram temple at Ayodhya; in none of these instances has the identity of the terrorists turned out to be Indian - they have been renegade mujahideen from Afghanistan or Pakistan.

One reason for the rapid rise of the BJP as a political outfit in the 1990s was due to Hindus being disillusioned by the Congress's supposed "pseudo-secular" politics that appeared soft on Muslims and pampered them. The current dispensation under the Congress, which has lost out to regional parties in the north that have won over the Muslims, has floated the idea of reservations for Muslims in educational institutions and jobs. The question of quotas has been mooted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, though the BJP has taken strong umbrage to the idea. The Congress has also kept a studied distance on the Imrana rape issue, in which a Muslim woman was asked by clerics to live with her father-in-law after she was raped by him. The Congress believes that pandering to extremist and conservative elements buttresses its image as a pro-Muslim party.

While there is no gainsaying that the BJP could still play the communal card at the regional level if it suits its interests, there is a definite rethink at the national level. Muslim votes play a critical role in the most populous states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, where the BJP has also lost its hold. The general elections in 2004 saw the BJP reach out to the Muslims for the first time. It is widely believed that the BJP might form an alliance with a regional party with pro-Muslim proclivities in Uttar Pradesh in the near future.

The ongoing crisis in the BJP leadership is also due to the efforts of its leader L K Advani to take on a moderate garb, which is being opposed by the hardliners. Indeed, it is believed that even aggrieved Indian Muslims do not become terrorists, imbued as they are by the deep ethos of tolerance in India as well as political parties vying for their attention. If at all, they want to be party to progress as well as economic growth. The exception is in volatile pockets such as the Muslim majority state of Kashmir that is seen as a disputed territory by Pakistan. That too is changing fast as has been witnessed by the successful elections, both legislative and civic, that saw people vote in huge numbers. It is in the summer months when the snow melts and infiltration from Pakistan is at a maximum that the frequency of terror attacks goes up dramatically, as is happening in Indian portion of Kashmir.

This is not to say revenge killings do not happen in India. Investigations in London point to the deployment of British troops in the Iraq war as the cause of deep angst that drove the bombers, despite being British Asians. However, in India the links as well as perpetrators have not been indigenous. Most intelligence reports point to Indian Muslims at most being facilitators either under duress or lured by money.

The Indian police usually trace terrorist strikes in the country to Pakistan and its Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Until the late 1990s, the Hizbul Mujahideen (operating mostly in Kashmir and having perfected the art of remote-triggered explosions) created havoc in India. Two of the most dreaded terrorist organizations that operate in India are the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the Jaish-e-Mohammed, with active bases in Pakistan.

Then there are the henchmen who have their links with the Mumbai underworld. Such gangs are led by people such as Dawood Ibrahim, supposedly headquartered in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates, working under the aegis of the ISI.

The police hold Dawood and the ISI responsible for the serial Mumbai blasts in 1993 that left more than 250 dead. The bombs were revenge for the destruction of the Babri mosque at Ayodhya by Hindu fanatics who were buttressed by the BJP - a party that owes its rise to upper-caste Hindu votes.

Police described the Gateway blasts in Mumbai in August 2003, in which more than 50 people were killed, as revenge against the Gujarat riots. Likewise the attack on the Akshardham temple in Gujarat in which 37 people were killed. The ISI is held responsible for infiltrating poor and unemployed youth in Kashmir, vulnerable to religious indoctrination as well as monetary incentives.

Of course the role of the US remains under scrutiny, though the meddling in areas without democracy makes matters worse. A recent analysis said: "A basic reason why the military or feudal autocrats control these countries (Pakistan, Saudi Arabia) is that the US propped them up to serve its economic and diplomatic interests. It was either the presence of oil or their utility as frontline states against the Soviet Union that guided the Americans.

"As is known, Osama bin Laden, a Saudi millionaire, was an American ally when his band of fundamentalists fought the Soviets in Afghanistan. It is the cynical use of these countries by Washington that built up a reservoir of resentment among large sections of their people against the US.

"This anger may have become all the more intense because there were no democratic outlets - no parliament, opposition parties, a free press and a free judiciary - to let off steam.''

---------- Post added at 08:43 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:43 AM ----------

Kerala Muslims: Socio-economic changes and spread of education

By Prof. K.M. Bahauddin, former Pro-Vice Chancellor, AMU

Kerala is often cited as a model for the spread of education in other states. In Kerala socio economic changes preceded the increase demand for education. The process started by the middle of the nineteenth century. The introduction of plantation economy and the increased price of coconut products brought modest prosperity to the Ezhava community. The result was increased demand for education for that community which was resisted opportunity for education brought about most of the socio-political changes in the state subsequently.

The migration to gulf countries started during 1970s originally from the backward district of Malabar because of poverty. Later the migration spread to other districts. Amritya Sen has pointed out that between 1970-71 and 1987-88, poverty in the state decreased from 69% to 44%, a massive 25% reduction in a state through there was practically no poverty alleviation programme, due to the remittance form the Gulf. The data available show that 69.5% of the Marthoma Christian families 54.7% Muslim families 36.1% Brahmin families 20.7% Nair families and 16.2% Ezhava families are receiving remittance from abroad. This economic change is increased demand for education.

Not only the Muslim community but all other communities have realize that education is the biggest wealth and are eager to give quality education to their children at any cost. This provides a fertile ground for communicating education caring for equity and social justice. Communities which had the monopoly on education would like to continue to maintain their position. At the same time communities which are entering the educational field would like to have equality and social justice. The struggle between the two broad trends are ed in the political field.

The lesson to be learned by other states from Kerala experience is that without economic and social change spread of education is not easy. Poverty elimination and removal of illiteracy should be considered as one unit.

Kerala had an indigenous village based education systems much before the British came to India. Each habitat had a Pathshala and an Asan or Ezhuthachan or Madrasa to teach the children. A survey conducted in 1822 by Munro showed that there were 579 indigenous schools in Malabar. The number of students came to 14155 in population of 907575.

From the beginning of 19th century the British government policy was to ensure continous tension between Muslims and the land owing upper castes. The introduction of English education and the evangelisation process were considered a threat to the cultural identity and even the survival of the community. In 882 Logan reported that the judiciary, the police and the government machinery joined together to suppress Muslim peasants. Under these circumstances it was natural for them to resist everything western including English education.

By the end of 19th century the British government realized that the spread of English education was essential to reduce if not prevent recurring rebellion in Malabar. Attempt was mdae to introduce English education in Madrasas which was failure. From 1886 special grants were earmarked for Muslim education. But the Muslim did not take up the modern education.

During 1950s about about 80 percent of the students admitted to educational servants and land owing upper castes. The Muslims and other backward communities came under the categories of petty traders and labourers and their presence in the educational field was only 3.7 percent at PUC level. The government introduced economic criteria for reservation in education. This policy was more beneficial o the forward communities. In 1965 out of every 100 Muslim students admitted to first standard only 6.3 was reaching 10th standard.

In the National policy on education 1986 stated that “ some minority groups are educationally deprived or backward. Greater attention will be paid to the education of these groups in the interest of equity and social justice”. (NPE) Six district of Kerela
(Malappuram, Kozhikode, Cannore, Kasargode and Wayand) were specially mentioned or greater attention. Yet practically nothing was done to increase the spread or improve the quality of education in those districts.

Kerela achieved universalization of elementary education during 1980s which means that social groups which were not keen on education had entered the educational field. Ill then about 37.5 percent of the state budget was being spent for education. It is natural that students completing the elementary education would be eager to continue their education in higher classes. Instead of providing facilities for such a surge in admissions, four successive governments reduced the education budget from 37.2 percent to 22.56. Commercialisation of education payment of capitation fee for admissions payment for teacher appointments and other irregularities became rampant during this period.

Educational situation after 2000:

There was practically no increase in the state budget for education during 2000-2005. In spite of that the educational growth was phenomenal specially in the Muslim community. By the year 2006 about 2000 Muslim students were getting distinctions in SSLC. Students getting 85 percent and above was between 1300-1500. This trend got reflected in competition and in getting ranks in exams.
The change in demands for admission in the school system was not taken note of by the government when +2 was delinked from the university system. More than required facilities were created in the southern districts and minimum requirements of the northern districts were not considered. The southern districts had facilities to educate more than 50000 third class students at government expense. At the same time 15500 additional seats were necessary for admitting he second class students in the northern districts. The deficiency in the northern districts was rectified by 2005.

Implication of 2007 SSLC results:
More than 90 percent of students from all communities were reaching 10th standard by 2005. With different pass percentages in different districts. In 2007 the pass percenage in the southern districts increased by about 5-10% while the percentage increase in the northern districts were 15-20 percent. Increase in pass percentage will create a shortage of admission facilities in the northern districts. One percent increase in pass percentage in Malapurram for example will add about 500 students eligible for admission to +1. The increased pass percentage in Malappuram district was about 16 percent. During 90s the pass percentagein Mallapuram was below 30 percent. In207, the pass percentage in 76.62.

The pass percentage in 10th standard of all the districts of Kerela have reached the same level. Therefore in future additional seat requirements at+1 level may not increase rapidly. The increase may be less than 1% on the basis of population growth.
However, the quality is different in different districts. If securing 1st class in the exam is taken as a yardstick of measurements, there is a difference of about 20 percent between Trivandrum and Malappuram in the percentage of students getting first class. It may take a few more years to bridge the gap.

However, the Muslim presence in higher education is lower than that of the scheduled castes. Having realized the value of education, there will be pressure from the community for reasonable opportunities for higher education. This is a natural process of social change and enlightened governments should provide opportunities for a smooth translation to a great and equal society in the state through education.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

the video was about an indian muslim's reply to musharraf ...

Exactly - how did Musharraf enter the topic?

Now will you guys offer an Indian Muslim's comments on every other issue in the world? Lets not go off on useless tangents.

...on how he and as a whole the indian muslim community are living happily and peacefully in india and enjoys support of all indians irrespective of their religion in dealing with their problems.i'd expect a mod like yourself to comprehend the message this video is sending.i fail to understand why it was necessary to delete the video? is the truth so bitter? well whatever, you're the mod ,do as you please.

Hogwash - the intent of that post was to flame, and I understood the intent perfectly. Stick to the topic, which revolves around India and her Muslims, not on how Indian Muslims feel about Musharraf, Zardari, Bush, Pakistan, Israel, US etc.

And do recall that I pointed out that an entire thread exists about that exchange with Musharraf Mr. 'truth is bitter' - (insert foot into mouth now please - wait, its already there).

Back to topic.

 

[R.A.W.]

Indian Muslims and Education
Asghar Ali Engineer



Indian Muslims constitute more than 12 per cent of Indian population which is quite sizeable by any account and they are more than 100 million in terms of absolute numbers. It is maintained and rightly so that they are next only to Muslim population in Indonesia. Their economic and educational progress is, therefore, very crucial for the progress of the country. No country can boast of development if its sizeable minority lags behind and if its large population remains illiterate and poor.

Before we throw more light on this issue it would be important to note that Indian Muslims are not and should not be treated as a homogeneous community. They have sectarian, regional, caste and cultural differences which are quite crucial to the understanding of the problem. Most academics, unfortunately, and the Muslim leaders themselves, like to treat Indian Muslims as a homogeneous mass. Even in matters like literacy, family planning and economic development, there are regional and caste differences. If we have to understand the Muslim reality as a whole we will have to keep these differences in mind.

There is, for example, higher rate of literacy among the Kerala Muslims than Muslims in other regions. Even the rate of family planning among the Kerala Muslims is higher than the Muslims, say in U.P. or Maharashtra. Similarly, the Ansari Muslims in Eastern U.P. are better off economically than other Muslims in the region. In general the artisans, Ansaris, Qureshis, Baghbans and others have made more progress economically than upper caste Muslims. In the same manner the Bohras, Khojas and Memons of Gujrat being trading communities, are much better off than Muslims in general. Thus it will be seen that regional and even sectarian and caste differences must be taken into account while trying to understand the situation of Indian Muslims.

But it does not mean that we cannot talk of Muslim backwardness in general because the large mass of Muslims on the whole is quite poor and illiterate. In many respects they are falling behind even the Scheduled Castes. Muslim women are particularly far more behind. For example among the Muslim women on All India level, according to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), 66% are illiterate and in Haryana Muslim female illiteracy is universal (98%). It is interesting to note that in Haryana most of the Muslims are Meo Muslims and Meo Muslims are quite backward on the whole. Even in Assam with the highest percentage of Muslim population the female illiteracy among Muslims is 74 per cent. In the states of West Bengal, Karnataka, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh, 60 to 65 per cent and in the states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Gujrat, 50 to 55 per cent of Muslim women are illiterate.

The position of Muslim men is somewhat better in terms of literacy. The percentage among the men is comparatively higher. But in the post-Babri demolition situation is changing favourably. Muslims are paying more attention to education and economic progress. They have also become quite conscious of female education and now more and more Muslim women are taking to education. According to one survey done by Shervani in U.P. the percentage of Muslim girls appearing for SSC examinations has increased. Not only that but the success rate of Muslim girls has jumped 19 times. That means Muslim girls are taking their studies much more seriously today than before 1990. This healthy trend seems to be persisting. Many Muslim girls are making it to the merit lists also. In Maharashtra three Muslim girls have made it to the merit list in the results declared a couple of days ago.

A large number of Muslims live in urban areas i.e. almost thirty per cent and a large number among the urban Muslims is that of artisans who come from lower castes. As pointed out above it is these lower castes who are more upwardly mobile compared to the mobility of the so called upper caste Muslims. It is because number of artisans are becoming small scale entrepreneurs and benefiting from their professional skills.

But what is regrettable is that these skills are by and large traditional skills and they happen to be primary producers and totally lack marketing skills. In today's globalised world people with traditional skills cannot survive longer, much less prosper. There is great need for Muslim artisans to upgrade their traditional skills and acquire new skills. Also, one can hardly overstress the significance of information technology or what is called the information highway.
But where there is lack of even primary literacy there is absolutely no question of being benefited by information technology and upgrading ones skill. And yet upgrading traditional skills is a must in today's highly competitive market. Thus it is absolutely necessary to acquire not only a measure of literacy but also higher education. But real problem today is not so much of lack of consciousness importance of education as of scarcity of economic resources. The educational backwardness reflects economic backwardness and economic backwardness perpetrates educational backwardness. Thus it has become a vicious circle.

The Muslims lack not only political leadership with proper vision but also socio-cultural leadership thoroughly committed to the cause of socio-economic progress of Muslims. Though many Muslims cannot afford for education because of poverty there are community resources available both internally and externally. Internally there is great need for proper management of wakf properties which run into billions of dollars. Unfortunately the wakfs properties have not only been mismanaged by incompetent officials but also sold away at throwaway prices by the corrupt politicians. The Bohra wakf properties run into millions of dollars but these properties are controlled by a single family of the Bohra high priest Syedna Muhammad Burhanuddin. In several states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh etc. where there are huge Bohra wakf properties the Bohra priestly family has entered into illegal agreements with the corrupt wakf board officials on nominal annual fees and got exemption from inspection and control of the wakf boards. This results in huge losses to the wakf board.

Many wakf properties in Delhi have been sold at throw away prices to five star hotels in collusion with corrupt officials. If the wakf properties are scientifically and honestly managed they can generate great deal of revenue which in turn can be utilised for establishing educational institutions and professional colleges. An example of course has been set by Gulbarga Sharif in Karnataka where the Dargah authorities have established educational institutions from the revenue earned through the offerings at the mausoleum. The Ajmer Dargah of Hazrat Moinuddin Chishti has great potential in this respect. If the trustees of Tirupathi Temple can run a university why can't those of Ajmer Dargah Sharif if the funds are properly utilised. These are but only a few examples. The wakf properties in India are capable of generating massive internal resources for the benefit of the Muslim community.

As for external resources one can get lot of money from Islamic Development Bank (IDB) if proper projects for educational institutions and scholarships are submitted to the premier Muslim institution. But there is no such vision and no such attempts are made. Some Muslim countries are more interested in financing institutions of religious training and Islamic learning than those of modern secular education. Today many institutions of 'Islamic learning' have come up with the help of funding from these countries rather than those of modern professional education. Needless to say there is great need for the institutions belonging to the latter category. If more and more polytechniques are started for upgrading the traditional and marketing skills of artisans they can bring a measure of economic prosperity among the Muslim artisans which in turn can help spreading education among the Muslims.

The Muslim representation among the government jobs is much below their population percentage not only at the level of IAS cadre but also in the jobs at the lowest level like the category IV. There are several reasons for this, anti-Muslim prejudice being only one among them. The lack of education and training is another reason. The Muslim youth more often than not presume that they are not going to get jobs, 'so what is the use of applying' for them or preparing for competitive exams. Thus there is great need for proper motivation also. It is interesting to note that Kanshi Ram before entering into politics was conducting training camps for Dalits to boost their morale and competitive skills for higher echelon of government jobs. Syed Hamid, ex-vice chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University had taken similar initiative and started a training centre for IAS exams for Muslims in Aligarh Muslim University. However, others did not take up this work with great enthusiasm though there was great need for many such centres.

In this competitive world one will have to work much harder and with a sense of dedication. The Muslim leadership, particularly political one, keeps on complaining about lack of proper Muslim representation in government jobs but it is more of a political act than a genuine concern. Such routine complaints are made to make political capital out of them rather than do something concrete to spread educational skills and increase the competitive capabilities by making available such facilities.

The Muslim artisans and small scale traders lack availability of finances also. There are several schemes for minorities announced by the Central and State governments but there is no proper agency to disseminate such information. There is also great need to disseminate such information among the needy people. Also, there is highly useful institution of Zakat which is obligatory on all Muslims. If Zakat boards are formed in every state with persons of known integrity lot of resources can be made available to the weaker sections among the Muslims to meet their financial needs. Islam has prohibited interest to help weaker sections of society. Muslim intellectuals and theologians talk a lot about it but in practice do nothing to give concrete shape to these institutions. If interest free co-operative banks are established with the Zakat money to help small artisans and traders it can be of tremendous help to uplift the backward Muslims.

Thus what is needed by the Muslim leaders and intellectuals is genuine commitment, a social vision and dynamic approach. To give a concrete shape to this, think tanks should be established in every state by non-political, non-partisan Muslim intellectuals along with other secular elements genuinely sympathetic to upliftment of minorities. These think tanks can take into account the actual condition of Muslims in the respective states and devise measures to help solve their local problems. Mere breast-beating and culture of complaints would not take them very far. Hard work and establishment of proper institutions alone will help them. Earlier it is realised, better it is for the uplift of Muslims

 

[Omar1984]

From Washington Times:

India's Muslims chafe under suspicion

Three months after the terrorist siege of India's commercial capital left more than 160 people dead, the bodies of nine Muslim attackers remain in a city morgue because local Muslims refuse to bury them.

The rejection of Muslim tradition that requires bodies to be buried swiftly, usually the day after death, reflects Indian Muslims' outrage at the attacks as well as fear that it will be seen as tainted - even though the attackers all appear to have come from neighboring Pakistan.

"These terrorists are a black spot on our religion; we will very sternly protest the burial of these terrorists in our cemetery," Ibrahim Tai, the president of the Indian Muslim Council, told the British Broadcasting Corp. last year.

After the siege, Mumbai's Bollywood stars as well as worshippers at mosques across the country wore black badges to express their condemnation. Once again, India's Muslims felt pressure to prove themselves patriotic because their religion had been linked to violence.

"More than one-fourth of those killed in the Mumbai attacks were Muslims. It's ridiculous and offensive to blame India's Muslims for such attacks just because those terrorists were Muslims and they came from Pakistan," said Sabitendranath Roy, a noted book publisher, at a seminar on Hindu-Muslim relations in Calcutta after the attacks.

Indian officials have not blamed local Muslims for the attacks, yet the community has expressed a sense of nervousness.

"There is no denying of the fact that in everyday life Muslims are victims of discrimination in Hindu-majority society," said Mr. Roy, a Hindu whose Center for Hindu-Muslim Understanding organized the seminar.

With more than 150 million Muslims, India has the world's second-largest Muslim population after Indonesia. India's Muslims alone could form the world's eighth-largest country, ahead of Russia and Nigeria. But Muslims comprise only 13 percent to 15 percent of India's 1.1 billion people.

Sixty years after the partition of British India into Hindu-dominated India and Muslim Pakistan, India has had three Muslim presidents, Muslim cricket stars and a film industry presided over by Muslims.

But in general, Muslims remain second-class citizens. They are poorer and less educated than Hindus, figuring lower than many lower-caste Hindus on several social indicators. Muslims also face discrimination in finding jobs and housing.

The government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, worried that poverty and illiteracy could make the Muslim community a breeding ground for violence, set up a committee four years ago to study Muslim status. The committee findings, presented in November 2006, found that the literacy rate among urban Muslims was 59.9 percent, while the overall rate for urban residents was 80.5 percent.

The commission also found that the country's Muslim population grew by 2.7 percent from 1961 to 2001, while the overall population grew by 2.1 percent and Hindu and Christian populations by 2.0 percent. During this period, the share of Muslims in the population rose from 10 percent to 13.5 percent.

Manisha Banerjee, a Hindu schoolteacher who spoke at another Calcutta seminar, said that although Muslims were not part of the traditional Hindu caste system, their status is now close to that of Dalits, or untouchables. Muslim representation in government jobs is between only 2 percent and 5 percent, she said.

The government report "also found Muslims are more likely than Hindus to be illiterate, to live in areas without schools or medical care and, in comparatively more developed urban areas, to live in poverty," Ms. Banerjee said.

Shabana Azmi, a prominent actress, author and women's activist, aroused controversy when she said in a television interview in August that India was unfair to Muslims. She referred to her personal experience in being denied the chance to buy an apartment in Mumbai because she is Muslim.

Critics said her comments were irresponsible and a newspaper reported that Ms. Azmi already owned four apartments in the city. But her remarks resonated among many ordinary Indian Muslims.

Laila Atif, 30, a marketing executive, said she has had to move within Mumbai nearly every six months because of discrimination.

"How do you ensure the mainstreaming of a community when there is active discrimination on a basic issue like housing?" she asked. "Every time there is a terror blast and a Muslim is arrested, it is as if an entire community must accept the blame. Do we demand the same sense of collective guilt from other communities?"

In the television interview, Ms. Azmi, daughter and wife of well-known Muslim poets, said Indian politicians make only "token gestures" toward security for Muslims and don't address the "real issues." She also urged India's Muslims to move out of the "victim mode" and work for internal reforms on education and gender equality.

Mumbai-based analyst Amaresh Misra, participating in a New Delhi seminar, said the communal divide has remained for decades.

There is an anti-Muslim undercurrent [which] though small is dominant in levers of power and the corporate class and the business elite. It is this section which has started throwing Muslims out of companies, businesses and [apartments]," he said.

Tensions are such that even the outcome of a cricket game between India and Pakistan can trigger clashes in India, especially in predominantly Muslim neighborhoods.

The destruction of a mosque-temple structure in Ayodhya in northern India - which Hindus believe was the birthplace of the Hindu god Ram - led to carnage in Mumbai and the western state of Gujarat in 1992-93, resulting in nearly 1,000 deaths. A series of explosions in Mumbai in March 1993, blamed on a Muslim crime boss, killed 250.

A train filled with Hindu pilgrims was set on fire in Gujarat state in February 2002, purportedly by a Muslim mob, killing dozens. In the following months, the state exploded in violence that left more than 1,000 dead, most of them Muslims. A commission of inquiry later reported that the Hindu nationalist government in the state and the police deliberately failed to stop the killing of Muslims.

Analysts say the slaughter provided incentive for Islamist militants.

A majority of terrorist attacks in the country in recent years have been blamed on Muslim militants, most linked to Kashmir, a Muslim-majority region claimed by both India and Pakistan.

The rise of a local group, however, has given a domestic face to Islamist terrorism. The Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) began as a political movement in 1977, but turned extremist over the next decade and was banned after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States.

The group has since been blamed for dozens of attacks. SIMI, which purportedly received funds from Saudi and Pakistani sources, has said its aim is to create an Islamic state in India.

On the Hindu side, there have also been disturbing trends.

Indian investigators said in November that a Hindu terror cell that included a senior military officer and a Hindu nun was responsible for several bombings, including one at Malegaon, a predominantly Muslim town 174 miles northeast of Mumbai, which left six dead in September.

"Last year, 10 Hindu terrorists were caught for terror bomb attacks on Muslims. Yet, they lay blame for all attacks on Muslims. Even attacks on mosques have been blamed on Muslims by the Hindu groups and even by police," said Mohammad Ismail, chief cleric of the textile town.

His words resonated.

"There are tens of thousands of instances of communal bias by a police force who often consider Muslims nothing more than criminals or terrorists," said Sujato Bhadra, an executive member of the Association for the Protection of Democratic Rights.

Tehelka, a news magazine known for its hidden-camera investigations of corrupt politicians, conducted a three-month-long probe that found "a chilling and systematic witch hunt against innocent Muslims," the magazine's chief editor, Tarun J. Tejpal, wrote.

"Sadly, ... even the judicial process is often complicit in the terrible miscarriage of justice," he wrote. "India has 160 million Muslims. Even if 10,000 are radicalized, it's barely a tree in a forest. To create an atmosphere that blights the entire forest is a mistake."

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news...uslims-chafe-under-constant-suspicion/?page=3