Pranay Prashar for BeyondHeadlines
“The status of Indian Muslims are below the conditions of Scheduled castes and Scheduled Tribes” was the summary of grave indictment of not only the economic conditions of community that failed to unite as a formidable political force but also of the farcical notion of minimal secularism endorsed by majority community which repeatedly failed to disburse justice, social and economic; liberty of thought and expression; and freedom of faith and worship to minority communities.
Sachar Committee report in a stark revelation pointed out “the overall percentage of Muslims in bureaucracy in India is just 2.5% while Muslim constitute above 14% of Indian population”. It is not only disturbing but also unfathomable that the community, which endowed nation with its first Education minister, lies at the lowest pedestal of this platform. What went wrong? What was the glitch?
Political “use” of the community in the name of Muslim vote has done more harm than good to it. The absence of a credible leader who can enforce a vision for the development concerns has squandered the communities’ unity into the cruel playful hands of proxies who had consistently used the community for their political aggrandizement and backtracked on the promise while being in power.
The political fragmentation has rendered muslims powerless in demanding their justifiable rights often enjoyed by classes that are higher in economic status and consequently not unworthy of these benefits. It’s high time to put a brave front before 2014 elections, Muslims should start uniting themselves and press for reservations in jobs, educational institutions etc and demand better dividends in exchange for their valuable votes.
Communal and majoritarian politics has imbued a sense of alienation that has further entrenched and ossified its problems. The Hindutva movement inculcating itself in horrendous demolition of Babri Masjid and in carnage of Muslims in Gujarat has pushed the community to ghettos. Instead of fighting for justice the community segregated itself from mass politics, belittling itself to be a hapless child, while its protector turned its back onto it. This segregation has manifested itself in real and perceived discrimination in jobs education development cultural promotion. This lack of amalgamation with society has backfired, consequently resulting in poverty, lack of education, awareness, and problems of mistrust and misunderstanding with other communities. Its time to learn from past experiences and thrive to build a solid foundation of amity and peace with others. It’s time to clear all misjudgments of understandings and to press harder for justice.
Lack of Muslims at higher designations in government set up can be stated as one of the reason of its systemic and systematic neglect and discrimination. Firstly the serious lack of educational institutions particularly devoted for the welfare of the community and secondly the alleged proclivity towards religious education over modern education can be behind these lacunae. Biased or prejudiced media sections propagate their own agendas that further vilify the community and had added to its woes.
Young Muslims holds the key for the desired change of attitude for upliftment from the present conditions, for betterment and for overall development of community in particular and nation in general. Young Muslims who are taking part in societal development aggressively will bring back volley of justice. They are the ones who will rise above petty considerations and cut the strings of consistent injustices perpetrated systematically upon the community for decades. It’s not easy; it will be a huge task, indeed a challenge. If they fail, it’s not the community only that will fall, but a whole world will fall. Do you accept the challenge??????
(The writer is a B. Tech student at Jamia Millia Islamia. His email id is pranayparashar@gmail.com and Facebook Profile https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000592636247.)
The views expressed in this article are writer’s own, and it does not necessarily reflect BH’s editorial policy.
