Myths about Muslims in India

[rajk20002002]

No this itself does not create a secular society. in 21st century you bound to provide that (even i doubt indias commitment to that)..

A secular country must create its own inhabitant with secular mind... I dont see its happening in India, I am not only talking about Muslim, but a lot of other clans still feel insecured in India.. Recent violence against Christian is an example. Violence in Assam is a everyday matter...
How can I say India is a secular country when BJP has so much popular support.. And the vote just keep rising as soon as there are more and more violence..

Please please no side discussions on this thread. Let us limit ourselves only to facts and figures. No vague stuff please.

RK

 

[civfanatic]

Richest Muslim outside the royals of Gulf is an Indian Muslim;

'Premji world's richest Muslim entrepreneur'- Software-News-Indiatimes - Infotech

RK

I wanted to write a reply to above but fortunately someone better than me had already written reply for above post .

What Makes Premji a 'Muslim Tycoon'?
BY FARZANA VERSEY
Is Azim Premji really the world’s richest Muslim entrepreneur? Is there a list which mentions the richest Hindu, Jew, Buddhist, Christian, Scientologist, atheist, Rastafarian?

Unlikely. At least nothing that would make the Wall Street Journal want to give it front page legitimacy. Talking of legitimacy, surely we are talking about legitimate enterprise, for the underworld and the mafia, Muslim or otherwise, are flush with money. In all likelihood, they are investors in the big companies.

Mr. Premji heads Wipro, India's third-largest IT exporter. Its fortune rests at $17 billion. I like rich people. But this gentleman is not just rich; he has been saddled with baggage. And the newspaper goes out of its way to prise it open by saying that he defies all conventional wisdom about Islamic tycoons - he does not hail from the Persian Gulf and does not wear his faith on his sleeve.

Where did the term ‘Islamic tycoon’ come from? What is unconventional about not wearing your faith on your sleeve? Is it even important to discuss?

Of course, it is. Imagine the world we are living in. Azim Premji has to be displayed as the nice guy – no beard, well-fitted suit, an amiable demeanor, likeable. He might have been a crass bore with ****** lucre, the Tom Cruise type who had to jump on an Oprah Winfrey sofa to declare his love for a Kate to become interesting. Mr. Premji has been given a moment quite unlike that cheesy one. He has been profiled (and do pardon the pun) in an article titled, “How a Muslim Billionaire Thrives in Hindu India”.

I am an Indian and have always lived in the country of my birth. It is not a Hindu nation. It may have a majority of Hindus, but then it has a majority of illiterates. Why wasn’t the report called, “How a literate billionaire thrives in illiterate India”? There are many such potential headlines I may offer, but I should hope the point has been made.

This ‘Muslim billionaire’ has thrived because he had a family business to start with. He had money to get a decent education and he had the spirit of enterprise. Hindu India did not contribute to these, neither did Muslims. It is an individual achievement.
It is unfortunate that Muslims are being made accountable for aspects of life that would under normal circumstances not identity them with religion.
Yaroslav Trofimov, the writer of the article, says, “Yet, to many in India's Muslim community, Mr. Premji's enormous wealth, far from being inspiring, shows that success comes at a price the truly faithful cannot accept. They resent that Mr. Premji plays down his religious roots and declines to embrace Muslim causes – in a nation where people are pegged by their religion and where Hindus freely flaunt theirs.”

What price has Mr. Premji had to pay? He has quietly gone and made a success of his business. There is no resentment against his hesitation to talk about his Muslim identity, and no Muslim social organisations aredependent on his largesse.

What is resented is the fact that in a country where most of the 150 million people of the community are ghettoized, the likes of Premji are touted as examples of Hindu tolerance. This just does not wash. It is most patronizing, and a huge insult to those who do make a decent living but are tagged in ways that are negative simply because they lack the visibility of a high-profile profession. On any given day there will be a handful of Muslims taken out of the celebrity closet to reveal the mothballed magnanimity of the majority community.

No one wants Premji to stand up and be counted. But there is no reason for him to play along with this secular sham, and he has been doing so for a while. He said in an interview to the paper, “We have always seen ourselves as Indian. We've never seen ourselves as Hindus, or Muslims, or Christians or Buddhists.”

The report further states, “Mr. Premji has mentioned his Muslim background so rarely in public that many Indian Muslims don't even know he shares their heritage. None of Wipro's senior managers aside from Mr. Premji himself are Muslims. The company maintains normal working hours on Islamic high holidays.”

This does not sound like a report in a respected newspaper but something straight out of a pamphlet. What heritage are we talking about? Is there one Muslim heritage? His last name could well be Hindu as his roots are in Gujarat. What is so heart-warming and significant about not working on Islamic holidays? Does it become news when many Hindu-owned companies celebrate religious festivals with a puja (prayer) and in fact during Diwali (that is an unabashed ode to the goddess of wealth) people even offer prayers to account books? Is it news that this includes Muslim entrepreneurs? What is the purpose behind such a statement? And why is it surprising considering that most of the 70,000 employees of Premji’s company are non-Muslim?

These are devious little tricks. No one mentions good old Adnan Khashoggi and his cruise liners in which the international high and mighty had fun vacations.

Isn’t there a mean between riding the Islamophobia and secular waves? The latter is as ridiculous as Mohamed al Fayed screaming about being discriminated against by British society because of his religion.

Azim Premji is a thriving businessman in the globalized world he keeps talking about. A globalized world that is unwilling to dignify him as just another wealthy guy and has to mention his religion not just in passing but as the very crux of his defiance – a defiance that is as imaginary as other stereotypes.
He says with what appears to be an element of arrogance, “All our hiring staff are trained to interview in English. They're trained to look for Westernized segments because we deal with global customers.”

Indeed. The Chinese, the Japanese, the Russians are doing rather well for themselves, and they don’t go around kowtowing to some colonial mentality that talks about English in such a fashion. He mentions that most Muslims are educated in Urdu. Perhaps he might like to check the statistics that say Urdu is a dying language. Perhaps he might like to sponsor some schools for Muslim children; he can do so incognito so that his secular credentials are safe. Perhaps he might like to know that even madrassas these days use his computers, so it is entirely possible they are cracking codes on them. Perhaps he might like to not even entertain questions about his Muslim identity. He is rich enough to afford to say, “No comments”. That is true liberation.

However, being called a Muslim tycoon is like being addressed as a hot Eskimo. And who doesn’t like a touch of oxymoron?

Farzana Versey is a Mumbai-based writer-columnist. She can be contacted at kaaghaz.kalam@gmail.com

 

[leonblack08]

ok honestly, earlier I wouldnt even notice the difference. but of late, with increasing acts of violence in the name of islam, I am suspicious of such ppl and have very low opinion of them. they seem to represent ghetto and extremist kinda ppl.

I would not blame you but just be careful you should not generalise.Most people are good,its only handful who are culprit.

 

[Rajkumar]

Ok I have a simple query,

How do you see the practicing Muslims,with conservative values,with beard and wearing Tupi or in Burka??

I would like to know from non-muslim Indian members.Please give an honest opinion.
Because during my stay in India,I had some experiences which happened because of lack of understanding of the religion of Islam.

i think every body knows their customs so there is no fuss about this.i have so many Muslim friends.Although if i need to propose to a girl who is wearing a burka, i would be much more careful as compared to other girls.
pata nahin kab uske bhai aakar pit den

 

[jamesy]

No this itself does not create a secular society. in 21st century you bound to provide that (even i doubt indias commitment to that)..

A secular country must create its own inhabitant with secular mind... I dont see its happening in India, I am not only talking about Muslim, but a lot of other clans still feel insecured in India.. Recent violence against Christian is an example. Violence in Assam is a everyday matter...
How can I say India is a secular country when BJP has so much popular support.. And the vote just keep rising as soon as there are more and more violence..

in a secular country, govt should not provide any special privilege to any person or group on religious basis. thats it. wat a person thinks in his mind is not a prerogative of govt.
and wat clans are you talking about? plz specify, dont ramble.
as far as christian violence is concerned, yes there is a problem and it needs to be addressed. but again you dont know the entire situation, so plz dont pressume.
about assam, it is not a problem of secularism but of security from terrorists.

lastly, BJP is not a taliban to be shunned. BJP is a mainstream right wing party and it is actively courting muslims these days to try and win elections next time. indian politics is too complex for an outsider to understand.

 

[ahmeddsid]

Leave Premji, Look at the Film Industry, which is the hardest place to get into! Its filled with Muslim Superstars, Directors, Producers and Writers! Not only Bollywood, But South cinema and others! all of them came up from scratch, if there was widespread discrimination then there would be only Hindus in movies!

 

[rajk20002002]

i think every body knows their customs so there is no fuss about this.i have so many Muslim friends.Although if i need to propose to a girl who is wearing a burka, i would be much more careful as compared to other girls.
pata nahin kab uske bhai aakar pit den

I would greatly appreciate if no side issues are dicussed here. Please contribute with facts and figures only. We are no dicussing the dreass codes and other things.

RK

 

[jamesy]

I would not blame you but just be careful you should not generalise.Most people are good,its only handful who are culprit.

I know. and I understand. but still we are also humans not divine.
especially of late when even educated ppl turn out to be terrorists, then there is serious doubts cast on everyone.
the feeling is that better be careful than sorry.

no offence. I am just being honest and I know there are several like me around the world.

and I also have muslim friends, just that when they talk about their religion, I am not as open-minded as I used to be.

 

[ahmeddsid]

There is no Terror in Islam, but then again Its OffTopic!

 

[leonblack08]

I would greatly appreciate if no side issues are dicussed here. Please contribute with facts and figures only. We are no dicussing the dreass codes and other things.

RK

I am not getting the concept of this thread then...sorry.

What are facts and figures going to suggest??

 

[ahmeddsid]

sorry for off-topic.
I know that ALL muslims are not terrorists but MOST terrorists seem to be muslims. is it not?

I sense a troll!

 

[rajk20002002]

Number of Highest India award "Bharat Ratan" = 41
number of Muslims getting this award =6 ( about 15&#37

sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharat_Ratna

RK

 

[leonblack08]

sorry for off-topic.
I know that ALL muslims are not terrorists but MOST terrorists seem to be muslims. is it not?

HEY!!this is the title of an Anti-Islam Indian website.They are biased.They removed my comment when I said Hindus don't follow their religion properly by worshipping idols,no offence to any hindu members.In the Vedas it is said not to worship idols.The next day I found out my comment was gone!!

How come most terrorists are muslim??That's because we are shown That way.The Media plays the lead role here.Anyways off topic as it seems.

 

[leonblack08]

Minorities everywhere feel harassed. Sometimes for justifiable reasons and somwtimes without. Your country has BNP which supports the fundies. India is a secular country because the constitution does not discriminate.

Jaamat is the main fundamentalist,then again we don't claim to be Secular.Although AL wants to become one.

 

[dabong1]

According to a report in leading newsmagazine Outlook, India's external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing, adheres to an "unwritten code" not to recruit Muslims. Right from its inception in the late 1960s, RAW, which has a 10,000-strong staff, "has avoided recruiting any Muslim officer". This is the case, too, with the National Technical Research Organization, the recently established technical-intelligence wing of RAW.

The report points out that Muslims and Sikhs are not deployed to protect India's VIPs, either. The Special Protection Group (SPG) that is in charge of protecting the prime minister avoids posting Muslims and Sikhs as bodyguards. The few Muslims and Sikhs who are in the SPG are deployed on administrative duties. There are no Muslims or Sikhs in the National Security Guard (or Black Cats), an elite counter-terrorism force that is also responsible for VIP protection.
Distrust of Muslims is far deeper and more widespread. They are kept out not just from bodyguard duties of India's top leaders but much more.

Muslims constitute 13.4% of India's 1.1-billion-strong population, but their presence in education and employment - both private sector and government - is nowhere near their population share. "From the administration and the police to the judiciary and the private sector, the invisible hands of prejudice, economic and educational inequality seem to have frozen the 'quota' for Muslims at 3-5%," observes Siddharth Varadarajan in The Hindu.

"For virtually every socio-economic marker of well-being, the Muslim is well below the national norm - not to speak of the level commensurate with her or his share of the national population - and the evidence suggests these inequalities are not decreasing over time."

Distrust of Muslims is far deeper and more widespread. They are kept out not just from bodyguard duties of India's top leaders but much more.

Muslims constitute 13.4% of India's 1.1-billion-strong population, but their presence in education and employment - both private sector and government - is nowhere near their population share. "From the administration and the police to the judiciary and the private sector, the invisible hands of prejudice, economic and educational inequality seem to have frozen the 'quota' for Muslims at 3-5%," observes Siddharth Varadarajan in The Hindu.

"For virtually every socio-economic marker of well-being, the Muslim is well below the national norm - not to speak of the level commensurate with her or his share of the national population - and the evidence suggests these inequalities are not decreasing over time."

It is estimated that the number of Muslims in India's 1.1-million-strong army is only about 29,000. Since 1947, there have been only three Muslim lieutenant-generals and only eight major-generals, out of several hundred, points out Omar Khalidi, author of Khaki and the Ethnic Violence in India. This is the same number as that among Parsis and Jews, who are far smaller minorities in India.

"The reported exclusion of Muslims from RAW isn't a surprise," said a retired bureaucrat. "It is an extension of the systematic discrimination that Muslims in India encounter whether it is in education, jobs or accessing bank credit."

It appears that like RAW, the Intelligence Bureau (IB) - the agency responsible for domestic intelligence - was once reluctant to recruit Muslims. A change in its outlook came in the early 1990s when it decided to recruit Muslim officers. Today, the 12,000-strong IB has what has been termed "a handful" of Muslim officers.