November 8, 2013, 11:08 pm
By Syed Ali Mujtaba
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has outlined five priorities of Indian foreign policy that his government has evolved during its nine years of rule to firm up India's place in changing world order.
The Indian Prime Minister claimed that his government has reset the fundamentals of India’s foreign policy based on national priorities and concerns in concert with its capabilities and role and destiny in the world affairs.
First, international relations are increasingly shaped by our developmental priorities and the single most important objective of Indian foreign policy is to create a global environment conducive to the well-being of our country.
Second, India should integrate more closely with the global economy because it has benefited from globalization.
Third, India seeks stable, long term and mutually beneficial relations with all countries and is prepared to work with the international community to create a global economic and security environment beneficial to all nations.
Fourth, "Indian subcontinent's shared destiny requires greater regional cooperation and connectivity."
Fifth, "Our foreign policy is not defined merely by our interests, but also by the values which are very dear to our people.”
There is sub text in all the five points enumerated by the Prime Minister as his fundamentals of India’s foreign policy.
As far as his first point on creating global environment conducive for India, Prime Minister meant, he wants to create a global economic and security environment as India's relations with the world were increasingly shaped by its developmental priorities.His second point is on globalization and likes India to integrate with global economy as our country would benefit a lot by greater integration with the world economy.
His third point maintaining long term relationship with all nations so that international community can freely invest in India and help in country's developmental activities.
His fourth point is lays emphasis on regionalism in recognition that the sub-continent's common destiny requires greater regional cooperation and connectivity. He likes India to strengthen regional institutional capability and capacity and invest in connectivity.
His fifth point on vales meant India's experiment of pursuing economic development should not be mercantilist but based on values. He defined India's core values as plural, secular and liberal democracy. He opinioned these values have inspired people around the world and would continue to do so. He would like India to align with such countries that espouse these values.
When we apply these five point objectives in the context of what India wish to achieve and where does it see itself in the changing world order, then the stark realities glares at our face.
The first foreign policy objective of creating global environment for developmental activities in the country does not sink with the domestic conditions prevailing for development in our country. The government policy of creating economic zones has run into trouble and many foreign investors have backed out due to lack of conductive global environment for investors. There is need to sort out India’s domestic developmental priorities before we promise to create friendly global conditions.
Second, pushing the cart of globalization is a mountain to climb. If globalization is the panacea of the mankind, then why there are nation states? Today, if a referendum is held on globalization, Manmohan government can only survive with the tricks it adopted to pass Indo-US civil nuclear deal, bribing the Parliamentarians.
Even though globalization can bring significant improvement but it has to answer some traditional nationalist questions like 'self-sufficiency' and 'self-reliance.' This has a huge challenge India has to tackle on the issue of globalization.
Third, point on seeking mutually beneficial relations and create a global economic and security environment beneficial to all nations seems to be rhetoric. When Indian economy was buoyed by 8-9 per cent growth and aiming higher growth, such words may sound music, but now when we are slipping to the Hindu rate of growth, such statement is mere hyperbole. The global economic slowdown and India’s economic mismanagement cast a shadow on this foreign policy objective.
On regionalism, Manmohan Singh’s idea of having "breakfast in Amritsar, lunch in Lahore and dinner in Kabul," may remain a dream. SAARC, the organization that’s pushing this agenda, is closing 40 years now and still taking baby steps. There is total disconnect between the talk and the realities on ground. There is no peace in India’s periphery and there is tension with all its neighbors, barring Bhutan. Terrorism poses a bigger challenge, not only to India but also to its neighbors. There is no sign of its containment. Besides, there are host of issues that vitiate peace in the subcontinent. So how this foreign policy objective of India could be achieve?
The last point on values is like saying; “I once had a girlfriend called America, she went on and on about freedom, while spying on me all the time!”
As Manmohan Singh talked about core values of India’s foreign policy objective, India’s Army Chief was delivering War games softwares and other deadly consignment to the Military Junta of Myanmar. In the war against the ethnic minorities in Myanmar, Indian weapons are freely used and against the rebels, who were fighting for the same values that India cherish. Those rebels had flashed to the media, ‘made in India bullets’ meant to kill them. So Papyji don’t preach! Is this the moral values you are talking about?
Manmohan Singh instead of making India’s foreign policy as another ‘Pachsheel’ if had stuck to his articulations made in 2004 as three point objectives, it would have been more modest summary of his international relations.
He had then said, the strategy was based on three pillars: "First, strengthen ourselves economically and technologically; Second, acquire adequate defence capability, and third, to seek partnerships to widen our policy and developmental options." He may have added this time that these are policies are at work has to be continued in future.
[Syed Ali Mujtabais a Journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba@yahoo.com]
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November 8, 2013, 11:12 pm
By Seema Chishti
New Delhi: With elections season in full swing and positioning for 'representation' of minority groups gaining focus, an important development took place on Sunday. The two warring factions of the Majlis-e-Mushawarat, India's oldest Muslim body set up in 1964 to address problems faced by Muslims and articulate their views to governments, reunited after 13 years.
According to president Zafar ul Islam, the coming together of the Syed Shahabuddin and the rival Maulana Salim Qasmi factions has "breathed new life into the idea and expectation with which the Mushawarat was set up fifty years ago".
After they buried their differences, members of the Mushawarat met UPA chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhion Monday evening to push for more central assistance for the Muzaffarnagar riot victims. They also made a case for the anti-communal violence Bill which, according to Islam, "fixes accountability" on erring administrators and political representatives when they are unable to control group violence.
A delegation of 16 Mushawarat representatives who met Gandhi for about 45 minutes said: "She heard us out patiently and seriously on the detailed status of riot victims in western UP, and assured us of best efforts to mobilise help for victims as the onset of winter is creating difficulty in the camps. She also assured us of trying to bring the anti-communal violence Bill in this session of Parliament."
The Majlis-e-Mushawarat has its origins in communal riots that took place in Jabalpur, Sagar, Rourkela and Ranchi in the early 1960s and shook the Muslim community. Following this, leading freedom fighter and Congressman from Bihar, Dr Syed Mahmood, initiated a drive to establish a Muslim convention to instill confidence in the community. Since then, even though the Mushawarat steered clear of an overtly political role, it remained a vital barometer and influencer of the crucial Muslim vote.
Over the years, its influence declined as the All India Muslim Personal Law Board became the point of touchdown for all those who wanted to get a sense of Muslim legal issues, especially as the Ayodhya issue took centre stage.
Despite prominent Muslim figure, MP and former IFS officer Syed Shahabuddin, associating himself with the Mushawarat, it has been involved in controversy since an internal election in 2000.
"It was ironic that the Mushawarat was calling for a common platform and preaching unity when we ourselves were split, minimising our own strength. Hence, unity among ourselves was a priority," Maulana Ataur Rehman Qasmi, one of the key figures who brought the two factions together, said.
While the UK-educated Islam, who also edits The Milli Gazette and is the son of respected cleric Maulana Wahiduddin, has been named president, the older member of the former breakaway faction, Maulana Salim Qasmi, has been named chairman of the Supreme Guidance Council of the organisation.
Sources said leaders within this once influential platform are concerned about the "situations facing the community now". Efforts to target groups "within the community" are being seen as deliberate and a way to distract attention from the key issue of backwardness and discrimination facing the entire community.
The Mushawarat, it is believed, gave a tacit call to oppose the Congress after the riots in the '60s, which created a divide between the two groups — one sympathetic to the Congress and the other hostile. This, say analysts, contributed majorly to the 1967 debacle for the Congress. But before 1971, the Mushawarat decided to tacitly support the Indira Gandhi-led Congress.
Despite the timing of the merging of the two factions, Shahabuddin said the Mushawarat is politically neutral. "Mushawarat is not a political party and does not support a political party. We want a secular government in the country and advise Muslim voters to vote for secular candidates," he said.
(Courtesy: The Indian Express)
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November 8, 2013, 11:15 pm
IMO News Service
New Delhi: To mark the second International Day of the Girl Child, UNICEF organized a meeting with top Urdu editors in the capital today. The conference which was supported by Shikhar, highlighted the power of innovation in education. The focus was on the crucial role that media can play to create a sustained discourse and highlight innovations that get more girls to school, keep them in school and improve the quality of learning for all children.
Evidence shows that even a single year of secondary school for a girl correlates with as much as a 25 per cent increase in her future earnings. Despite the decreasing number of girls out of school, many around the world are still denied a quality education and a chance to reach their full potential. In India, the number of out-of-school children stands at 8.1million, of which 4.5 million are girls. For every 100 boys enrolled 88 girls are enrolled in secondary school. The main causes of school dropout among girls are child marriage and child labour.
“Investing in the education of girls, especially the most marginalised, is needed to make progress on most social indicators in India” said Urmila Sarkar, Chief of Education UNICEF. Giving examples of how communities have arranged for safe school transport for girls in hard-to-reach areas from Udaipur, Rajasthan, she said, “Innovation in girls’ education will be instrumental to female empowerment and breaking the cycle of poverty and deprivation.”
Ms. Sarkar also highlighted the importance of gender sensitisation. Teachers who have undergone gender sensitisation training have made a significant difference for adolescent girls in schools. The participation of Muslim girls has improved in Madrasas of Malda district of West Bengal where adolescent groups have been set up and trained. The girls now take up issues with the Panchayat to ensure entitlements reach the people.
The conference was chaired by top representatives of academia and media, Prof. Mohd Miyan, Vice Chancellor, Maulana Azad National Urdu University and Director General, Doordarshan News, Mr. S.M. Khan. They shared examples of how technology coupled with media outreach, has increased access to education for out-of-school girls and improved the quality of learning for every child. They urged Urdu media to dedicate media space and build capacities of reporters to highlight issues and innovations in education, especially of girls. Civil society representatives from Shikhar, Prof Rihan Khan Suri and Sh. Ambarish Rai of the RTE Forum spoke on how civil society efforts can build on the momentum created by a conducive educational policy framework and ensure that girls have access to quality learning environments.
Highlighting the crucial role of media, Caroline den Dulk, Chief of Communication & Advocacy, said, “Innovation can mean embracing new ways to overcome other barriers that keep girls out of school. Media, especially Urdu media which has the third largest readership after Hindi and English, can create a sustained dialogue on the diverse avenues available for girls to remain in school.”
Innovation in other parts of the world, is also helping to reach the hardest to reach children who are at the greatest risk of being out- of- school. In Uganda, EduTrack is using SMS text messaging to connect students and schools with UNICEF, enabling them to report on learning, teacher quality, and violence in schools. In India, the Meena radio programme implemented in 5 states has developed a cadre of aware and empowered girls and boys in remote rural areas.
Elementary education in India has made significant progress over the past few decades.
The landmark passing of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act 2009 marks a historic moment for the children of India. For the first time in India’s history, children are guaranteed their right to quality elementary education by the state with the help of families and communities.
The conference highlighted the need to strengthen collective action that civil society and private sector organizations can take to ensure that the education goals of India can be met.
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November 8, 2013, 11:24 pm
By Hasan Suroor
Does anyone remember Maulana Azad and Rafi Ahmed Kidwai anymore?
The frenzied debate over the comparative legacies of Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, sparked by Narendra Modi’s foray into counter-factual history, provides an occasion to remember two tall Congress leaders whose contribution to the idea of a modern, united and secular India has gone by default because there are no votes to be had by invoking their names.
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Rafi Ahmed Kidwai — along with Zakir Hussain — were the last of a formidable generation of truly nationalistic Muslim leaders. Unlike Nehru, their belief in pluralism and tolerance did not derive from exposure to the western values of Enlightenment but from their own experience of Hindu-Muslim cultural fusion — the so-called Ganga-Jamunitehzeeb.
Given the nature of India’s current Muslim leadership, characterised mostly by intolerance and a narrow self-serving view of Muslim interests, it is hardly surprising that it does not want to be reminded of those who had a very different vision for their community, and who did not see politics as a zero-sum game between majority and minority groups.
The result is that at least three generations of Indians have grown up with no knowledge of Muslim contribution to nation-building. This has been exploited by the Hindu Right to portray Muslims as being outside the “national mainstream”; and as scroungers living off the labour of Hindu nation-builders.
Role models
Worse, young Muslims have been deprived of role models in politics to look up to. When they look around, they see Muslim “leaders’’ whose grasp of the community’s priorities is so slight and politics so opportunistic that they can’t be blamed for feeling cheated and facing a leadership vacuum.
Both Azad and Kidwai were practising Muslims, but their religious sensitivities were not so fragile as to be offended by a pedestrian novel irreverent of the Prophet, or a crass Islamophobic film. Moreover, they were a living refutation of the idea that religiosity equals fundamentalism — a notion fuelled by the antics of a new breed of self-styled Muslim leaders claiming to act in the name of Islam.
Azad, complete with a beard and what these days is referred to, in slightly derogatory tone, as a “Muslim cap,” was an Islamic scholar who compiled highly regarded commentaries interpreting the Koran and the Hadith. He also trained in science, mathematics and philosophy.
Setting up the IITs
Few know that it was Azad — the bearded, topi-wearing namazi — who laid the foundations of world-class technological education in India by setting up the Indian Institutes of Technology, whose graduates are making waves around the world.
As independent India’s first education minister, he was also the architect of many of the modern higher education institutions, such as the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) of which the country is justly proud. He introduced the system of universal free national education, making it possible for millions of poor young Indians to go to university.
A unifier
Kidwai, or “Rafi sahib” as he was popularly known, was independent India’s first communications minister. Nehru had such confidence in him that later he entrusted him with the food and agriculture portfolio when the country faced a serious food crisis. He proved so successful that the Indian Council of Agricultural Research instituted an award in his memory to honour scientists for outstanding contributions to research in agriculture.
Dubbed an “Islamic socialist” for his broadly leftist views, he played a big role in mobilising Muslims of eastern and central Uttar Pradesh around the idea of a united and inclusive India when the State’s Muslim elite was drifting towards the Muslim League’s campaign for a separate Muslim homeland. Thanks to his popularity and influence in what was then the United Provinces, his followers came to be known as “Raffians.”
Although he barely stepped out of India, in many ways Kidwai was a more modern man — and understood universal values of tolerance and inclusion better — than many of the globe-trotting present crop of Muslim leaders.
Delhi’s Rafi Marg is named after him, but how many people know who that Rafi was? A random poll many years ago revealed that many thought it referred to the singer Mohammed Rafi.
Questions for the community
It is a pity that today men like Azad and Kidwai are regarded as no more than ghosts from the past who have no relevance in the modern world. Conspiracy theorists accuse the government of deliberately neglecting Muslim leaders, but what about Muslims themselves? What has the Muslim community done to carry forward their legacy?
The duo represented the finest traditions of Indian Islam, and there could be no better time to “exhume’’ them than now when its core values of co-existence and cultural integration are under attack. They would be turning in their graves as Islam becomes shorthand for intolerance, backwardness and, worse, terrorism.
Narendra Modi on Patel
Mr. Modi’s intervention on behalf of Patel may be a crude electoral ploy, but it would have served a purpose if it opens up a wider debate on the need for us to revisit our liberation heroes and nation-builders less selectively (and more frequently) — not just by building their statues and naming projects after them but by disseminating their ideas and acting on them.
Indians are unique in lacking a sense of history just as, in contrast, the British are obsessed with it. Which is why it has become so easy for the Indian Right to distort history to suit its objectives. It is time the story of modern India was told through many different voices. Nehru and Patel were, no doubt, the “big beasts,” but there were others who had more than walk-on parts in this great story. And their legacy, too, must be kept alive.
[Hasan Surooris an independent columnist. His forthcoming book, India’s Muslim Spring: Why is Nobody Talking About It? is being published by Rupa & Co. E-mail: hasan.suroor@gmail.com]
(Courtesy: The Hindu)
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November 8, 2013, 11:30 pm
[Sir Muhammad Iqbal was a true Indian Nationalist who later played an instrumental role in demanding a separate homeland and the formation of Pakistan. In India, Allama Iqbal still continues to be revered by most, for he was the one who gave India its famous National Song "Sare Jahan Se Achcha Hindustan Hamara..." The Indian government should consider honoring Allama Iqbal with Bharat Ratna posthumously. This would also acknowledge Iqbal's love for India. If former Prime Minister Morarji Desai is honored with Pakistan's top civilian award Nishan-e-Imtiyaz, then why not Allama Iqbal be honored with India's top civilian award Bharat Ratna. If the Indian government fails in doing so then i should also strip "Sare Jahan Se Achcha Hindustan Hamara..." the status of National Song and forbid its singing. -- Danish Ahmad Khan, Founder-Editor, IndianMuslimObserver.com]
By Rohail Khan
Sir Muhammad Iqbal (9th November 1877 - 21st April 1938), also known as Allama (Scholar Highest Rank) Iqbal was a philosopher, poet, politician, and a social reformist. He is widely acclaimed to have inspired millions of Muslims to demand a separate homeland from the British Empire in India.
Religious scholar and Sufi Master, Iqbal’s literary works in Urdu and Persian are largely based on teachings of the Holy Quran. He propagated self-respect and self-realization and reiterated the need to revert to Islamic values.
Allama Iqbal is officially regarded as National Poet of Pakistan, Shayir-e-Mashriq (Poet of the East), and Hakeem-ul-Ummat (Sage of Ummah).
A Barrister from Lincoln’s Inn, England and a Ph.D in Philosophy from Munich University, Allama Iqbal was a strong proponent of the political and spiritual revival of Islamic civilization across the world, for which he travelled and delivered lectures at length across the continents. His famous speeches have been collected and published under the title: “The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam”, a collection of esoteric lectures delivered between 1928-1930.
Allama Iqbal encouraged the younger generation for fresh interpretation of Quran and the Sunnah and discover mutual harmonies that would enable Muslims to learn modern science and use science and technology to improve their material existence.
Allama Iqbal started writing poetry from his school days and was in full swing at the time of freedom movement in India. His fame started with his poetry which was written in the classical style for public recitation. Through ‘poetic symposia’, his poetry became widely known, even among the illiterate masses. Almost all the cultured Muslims of his own and later generations came under the spell of his poetry, one way or the other.
His first book of poetry Asrar e Khudi (Secrets of Self) appeared in Persian in 1915 and received instant popularity amongst the down-trodden Muslims of British India. Other great works of poetry are: Rumuz e Bekhudi (Secrets of Selflessness), Baal e Jibrael (Wings of Jibrael), Payam e Mashriq (Message of the East), Zabur e Ajam (Persian Psalms), Baang e Dera (Call of the Marching Bell), Zarb e Kaleem (Blow of Moses), and Javed Nama (Book of Eternity).
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In 1922, he was knighted by His Majesty King George V, giving him the illustrious title of “Sir”.
Allama Iqbal passed away on 21st April 1938, but to date millions of fact-finders are mesmerised with the beauty and depth of his poetry. He simplified the philosophy of life, de-mystified the purpose of our human existence, and turned the teachings of Islam remain into an eternal message ready to be interpreted by the masses. English Translation of Allama Iqbal’s Poetry:
For those unable to comprehend Urdu and Persian languages, a simple translation into English will certainly facilitate the understanding of Allama Iqbal’s message. Let us focus on selective topics where the Great Maestro exposed his inner self.
Like everyone, Iqbal dearly loved his mother. On her untimely death in 1914, he became restless and expressed grief in the form of Eulogy.
Who would wait for me anxiously in my native place,
Who would display restlessness when my letter fails to arrive,
I will visit thy grave with this complaint,
Who will now think of me in midnight prayers,
All thy life thy love served me with devotion,
When I became fit to serve thee, thou hast departed !
Muslim Youth’s spiritual deterioration and distancing from Islamic teachings was of utmost concern to Allama Iqbal. Youth being the architects of our future, Allama Iqbal addressed the Youth of Islam as follows:
O Muslim youth ! have you ever used your prudence,
What was that sky of which you are a fallen star,
That nation has nurtured you on its lap of love,
Whose feet had trampled the crown of Darius’s head,
Civilization’s formulator, creator of rules of world government
Your ancestors from the deserts of Arabia ruled the Universe,
Even in poverty those men of God were so high-minded,
That the rich could not avoid charity for beggar’s fear,
What should I tell you what those wanderers in wilderness were,
They were world conquerors, world rulers, world administrators,
If I wish to present their picture in words I sure can,
But that scene is beyond the comprehension of your imagination,
It’s such a pity you have no correlation with your ancestors,
You are talk, they were action, you are stars, they were planets,
Alas we have wasted the heritage obtained from our ancestors,
The sky has thrown us down from the Thurayyah to the Earth,
The aftermath of World War I brought down the Ottomon Caliphate and placed the Muslim Ummah in stark adversity. Allama Iqbal vehemently protested against the subjugation of Arabia by the Western Christian authorities. He encouraged the Muslim Ummah to wake up from deep sombre and have faith in their strengths. He spread the message of hope and courage to stand-up and struggle collectively for “The Renaissance of Islam” :
Life-blood has started flowing through the dead arteries of the East
This secret is in-comprehensible to likes of Sani and Farabi,
The storm of the West has made the Muslim into a real Muslim,
Only the upheavals of the sea bring the pearl’s beauty to its perfection,
The Muslim is to be endowed again from the God’s Court with,
Turkoman’s dignity, Indian’s intellect, Arab’s eloquence,
If some slumber is lurking still in the flower buds,
“Strike the beat harder if the taste for music is lacking”,
Jump restlessly in the garden, in the nest, in bowers,
It is impossible to deprive mercury of its restlessness,
Why should the eye used to chaste things see coat of arms,
When it is able to see the valour of the Gaza’s soul,
O God, light the candle of Longing in the tulip’s heart,
Make every speck of garden’s dust a martyr searching for the Truth,
The Book of the Muslim nation is being organized again,
This Hashemite Branch is surely going to blossom again !
The avalanche of calamity over Uthmani’s is not to be bereaved’
As the dawn is produced after destruction of myriad’s of stars !
Allama Iqbal was of the firm belief that “self-respect and self-realization” can mobilise our inner energies and provide us the real dynamics of success. His poetic calls can still warm up blood in the dead. His mesmerising poems can still light up the spark into the lives of the gloomy and the depressed.
Sing O Nightingale so that with your modulations,
The falcon’s heart in the pigeon’s frail body be produced,
Concealed within your heart is the secret of life,
Relate to the Muslim the traditions of pathos of life,
You are the potent hand and the word of the Eternal God,
O imprudent one! Develop Faith as you have been overcome with doubts,
The Muslim’s destination is beyond the azure coloured sky,
You are the caravan the dust of whose trail are stars,
You are the Final Message of God and you are eternal,
Your origin is from Ibrahim, you are the world’s architect,
Your nature is the custodian of all life’s possibilities,
So you are the touchstone for world’s hidden jewels,
From the material world to the Eternal world,
You are the gift which the Holy Prophet took,
The history of the Muslim nation reveals the secret,
That you are the protector of the nations of Asia,
Learn again the lesson of Truth, Justice, and Bravery,
You are to be entrusted with the world’s leadership,
This alone is the creation’s objective, this alone is Islam’s secret,
That there should be universal brotherhood and abundant love,
According to Allama Iqbal, Faith in Allah SWT is divine enough to energise our conscious abilities and sub-conscious capacities. Through inner faith we can achieve the impossible.
Sainthood, sovereignty, the universality of material knowledge,
What are all these except unravelling of the secrets of Faith,
When Faith is created in this earthly ember,
It itself creates wings and plumage of Jibrael,
Neither swords nor plans are of any avail in slavery,
Chains are cast away when taste for Faith is created,
Can anyone assess the strength of his arms ?
Destinies are changed by the Believer’s mere glance !
Mysteries of life and the purpose of human existence is Allama Iqbal’s specific area of interest. He solves this philosophy through impeccable simplicity. Human life is no more than a breath. It is alive only as long as it is flowing. In the same way human life, which this wave sustains, is worth its existence only as long as it is active. Man is the only secret in the universe. This secret is that though Man apparently has humble origins, being created from soil, he has the potential of being Allah Almighty’s Vice Regent on earth.
The life of Man is no more than a breath,
Breath is a wave of air, it is no more than a flow,
The flower was depicting life as a smile but,
The candle said it is no more than a cry of grief,
The secret of life is a secret till there is a confidante’,
When it is open, it is nothing more than the confidante’,
Somebody should ask the pilgrims of Ka'bah, O Iqbal,
Is the gift of the Haram nothing more than Zamzam ?
The last verse is sarcastic and carries the lesson that the real gift of the Pilgrimage to Ka’bah is that the pilgrim should return from there after sacrificing his arrogance, greed and jealousy, after stoning the Satan and controlling the evil in himself, and hence gaining the purity and innocence of a newborn child.
Allama Iqbal was a Sufi Master. Let us look at how he studied the relationship between intellect and the heart and described the controversy of “Aql o Dil”.
One day Intellect said to the heart,
A guide to the misguided ones I am,
Being on the earth I reach up to the sky,
Look, how deep in comprehension I am,
Guidance on earth is my sole occupation,
Like the auspicious in character I am,
Interpreter of the book of life I am,
The Manifestation of God's Glory I am,
You are only a drop of blood, but,
The invaluable ruby's envy I am,
Hearing this the heart said, All this is true,
But look at me as well, what I am,
You understand the secrets of life,
But seeing them with my own eyes I am,
Concerned with the manifest order you are,
And acquainted with the inward I am,
Learning is from you, but Divine Knowledge is from me,
You only seek Divinity, but showing Divinity I am,
Restlessness is the end of Knowledge,
But the remedy for that malady I am,
You are the candle of the assembly of Truth,
Lamp of the Divine Beauty's assemblage I am,
You are related to time and space,
The bird recognizing the Sidrah I am,
Look at the grandeur of my station,
The throne of the God of Majesty I am !
We all realise the need for Islamic Renaissance in this Millenium. In this respect, Iqbal’s poetry is more relevant now-a-days than ever. Let us re-evaluate the message of Allama Iqbal and learn to cure our short comings.
“Given character and healthy imagination, it is possible to reconstruct this world of sin and misery into a veritable paradise” – (Stray Reflections; Private Diary of Sir Muhammad Iqbal).
[Rohail Khan, senior banker and social worker, is actively developing communities through literature, culture, and philanthropy. He can be reached at rohailkhan00@gmail.com]
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November 8, 2013, 11:42 pm
By Maqbool Ahmed Siraj
Educating a backward minority is a Herculean task. Muslims began thinking of modern education only around 1970. Today when the Information Technology, liberalization and globalization have begun to change the shape of the world, we are rubbing our eyes in disbelief over the strides made by erstwhile backward communities who have marched much ahead of Muslims, the rulers of yore. All this while Muslims had meticulously kept the mythical refrain of education having nothing to do with economy. But the world has asserted in totally unambiguous terms that affluence and influence are both inevitably linked to knowledge and people refusing to see this reality will have to pay a price in terms of economic well being as well as their rating in the powerful nations.
As a writer on Muslim development issue, I feel the Muslim educational planners should look at the following points:
An Overview of Muslim Situation in West Bengal and Assam
Muslims in West Bengal & Assam are least urbanized i.e., only 16.8% in West Bengal and 6.4% in Assam live in urban areas.
Literacy level: Muslims had 57% literacy against general 68.6% in WB. In Assam, Muslims were 48% literate against 63.3% among general population.
Mean Years of Schooling (MYS): Sachar Committee Reports had put West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh as states where MYS (for how many years a Muslim child of 7-16 years attended a school) as the least i.e., 2.84 years in West Bengal and 2.64 years. Muslim children were among those whose average years of attendance in schools was the least.
General Enrolment Ratio (GER)}: The report mentions GER among Muslims children of 6-14 years group in West Bengal being 82% as against 85.7% among the general populace. This is a heartening feature. Even in Assam it was 87% against 90 in general population.
Percentage of Matriculates: In the general population there were 38% people in West Bengal had completed matriculation in 2001. But among Muslims this figure stood at 11.9%. Among SCs and STs this percentage was 13%. The Reports has not mentioned these figures regarding Assam.
Percentage of Graduates: Among the general population 13% people were graduates while this figure for Muslims in West Bengal was around 2%.
Share of Muslim in State Employees: Muslims constitute 25.2% of state’s population while there were only 134,972 Muslim employees in the Government who represent only 2.1%. In Assam, Muslims constitute 30% of the state’s population while their share among government employees was 11.2%.
Put First things First Muslims should go for Mass enrolment of kids and checking dropouts
Muslims should not opt for top-down approach but rather should begin from the first baby step of setting up quality schools. A Muslim university here and an IAS coaching academy there may be fanciful idea, quite pleasing to the ear. But the work should start from basic institutions.
Care should be taken to enroll all children in whatever schools are available, and retaining them there for maximum period. This may entail organizing scholarships, transport facilities, midday meals or hostels. Charities should be channeled for these purposes. Pressure should be brought upon authorities to set up govt schools in Muslim habitations.
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Education must not be Islamized
‘Islamization’ should neither be attempted nor demanded. It is simply suicidal. When we Islamize education, we also lend legitimacy to those who are out to saffronise the curriculum. They can very well ask, “when a minority is free to Islamize their schools, why not the majority saffronise their schools?” A better way to express the need for culturally sensitive curriculum is to say that ‘Privately managed Muslim schools should also provide for Islamic education up to a certain standard’. It should not be demanded in the state-run schools. And a curriculum on Islam should be informed and inspired with rationale and reasoning. Sometimes, the Islamisation takes very awful form. In a Muslim school the children were taught that Prophet Muhammad was the first man in space. Obviously, the teacher was trying to explain the Holy Prophet’s Meraj to heavens in contemporary scientific terms. They were dissuaded from doing so when a parent pointed out that Prophet Adam and his wife Eve (Hawwa) came down from heaven and Prophet Jesus was lifted to heavens and should thus be considered men (or woman) in space prior to the Holy Prophet.
Yes, Mother tongue is the best mediumBut, kids are rapid learners of any language
Mother tongue is universally acknowledged as the best medium of education in early stages. If there is a sizeable section of Urdu speaking people in a ward or area, it is better to have Urdu medium schools upto 7th standard. But beyond this the community should enable the students to switch over to regional language medium or English.
Unavailability of Urdu medium schools should not be an excuse to keep away kids from schools. They must be sent to schools in whatever medium is available. Kids must be sent to school rather than be taught at home. Schools inculcate societal norms in them and kids are rapid learners of all languages.Often Urdu medium is demanded for three principal reasons:
1-Culturally sensitive education,2-To ensure that all teachers are Muslims and job opportunities get exclusivised for Muslims at least in Urdu medium schools, and3-Urdu speaking parents could possibly guide the kids in their home coaching.
But at the same time, Muslims must be wary of its repercussions in matters of higher education. A child who has grown up learning zoo azaf aqal for LCM, mustateel for rectangle, murabba for square, darja e hararat for temperature, majlis e qanoon saz for Legislative Assembly, is all likely to develop disinterest for natural as well as human sciences after school primarily he would be learning a language other than his own. It is therefore necessary for Muslims to envision a future of a kid-turning-into-a-man. It is therefore necessary that kids are made to develop a vocabulary in vernacular language as well as in English. It is inevitable for a Muslim to be bilingual (or even trilingual) in an emergent India in order to realize his or her full potential.
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In a rapidly globalizing world, a lot many native languages are bound to lose their day-to-day relevance. It is not alone the question of survival of Urdu. The question haunts hundred of languages and dialects. UNESCO projections say only seven or eight principal languages would survive internationally. These are English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian and Hindi. It is better for Muslims to develop felicity in at least two of these languages and integrate themselves with international media, job opportunities and communication.
Right to education through mother tongue is guaranteed in the Constitution, but not the right to job
We need to be practical. Yes the Constitution of India does guarantee right to education through mother tongue in schools. But it does not necessarily guarantee jobs for all such students. Jobs and employment are decided by the market forces. English is not one among the languages in the 8th schedule of the Constitution but most high-paying jobs in private sector are available to English-knowing people. This is owing to the fact that most technical, professional and higher educational institutions teach through English medium and national and international businesses operate through English. So the practical wisdom should urge us to set our priorities right. Language formula should be decided at state level. If those who speak Urdu can opt for Urdu as the first language, it is sufficient. Often Urdu medium schools fare poorly in comparison to other medium schools because most teachers are Muslims, there is stress on rote learning, laxity in teaching, liberal evaluation (in order to see that every Muslim child passes) and relaxed monitoring by Urdu inspectors. There cannot be better way to commit collective suicide than having low quality education.
Quality springs from quantity
A lot of Muslims think in terms of setting up community run medical, engineering and management colleges. These are less likely to serve the community if there are no sufficient number of feeder institutions such as high schools and colleges imparting Pre-University education. Muslims in four south Indian states run at least 110 engineering, a dozen medical, 15 dental, and hundreds of other professional colleges. Barring a few, most of them do not have majority of Muslim students. So resource-short Muslims in UP, Bihar, West Bengal and Assam, should rather concentrate on improving academic performance of Muslim high schools and sending more of them into Government-run institutions where education is state funded. Investment on private coaching institutes for entrance exams or even providing scholarships and free board and lodging facilities in the Cities, is a viable alternative than investing hugely on mega ventures. Aligarh Muslim University could think of such initiatives. Its Constitution empowers it to initiate measures to ameliorate educational and social conditions of Muslims all over the country under article 5(2)c.
Gradually, the higher education is becoming a commercial proposition with less of social objectives. Thousands of BE seats in engineering colleges in South India go begging for students. Muslims must periodically review the changing higher education scene, financial dynamics of professional courses, court interpretations of Article 29 and 30, market needs and state as well as central Government policies. In short, a central think tank on Muslim education is the need of the hour.
There are enough of madrassas: Charities must now be directed towards modern education
There are simply too many madrassas in India. Nobody ever gives a thought if a madrassa is a prime need before setting up one. They are set up indiscriminately anywhere and everywhere if charities could be carved up. Several madrassas in Karnataka are now being run by moulvis from UP and Bihar just because religious charities come aplenty there. They often bring the students from those states and insist on teaching a syllabus that is out of sync with times. The graduates from madrassas suffer from low self-esteem as they are totally out of tune with the surrounding realities. Some of them even serve as cover for real estate, Hajj e badal and Umrah or qurbani businesses or take up matrimonial servicing. They are governed by no central affiliating, registering, auditing, certification, curriculum-setting or examining authority. The students graduating from their portals are fit for no job and therefore start new madrassas in smaller towns or remote locations and thereby perpetuate the backwardness of the community. The district of Basti in Uttar Pradesh has 371 large madrassas but only six primary schools run by Muslims.
Muslims must now think of investing their charities in modern education. Modern education creates self-reliance and nurtures self-esteem. It encourages creativity and innovation, the very essence of modern civilization. A community which has a vast army of muftis (opinion-givers) but no musleh (reformers) is bound to remain mired in the past.
Orphanages must be modernized
Most Muslim orphanages in India are run on traditional lines where the objective is to provide shelter to the destitute and the orphans. The focus is on physical well-being of the orphans rather than nurturing them into full human beings, self-confident, skilled and articulate. Kids are herded like flocks of goats and sheep, their heads tonsured regularly and are made to sit on the ground. Chowkidars keep them indoors within fortress like structures. They are object of abusive calls and everything is done to make them look like miserable creature. No effort is made to look at their innards, their psychological well being. No one sings them lullabies when they go to sleep, no one tells them the tales of chivalry of the legendary rulers of yore, no one relates them traditions of the holy Prophet, peace be upon him. Nor are they ever taken out on excursion or visits to parks, museums, botanical gardens and zoos. In Bangalore, we attempted two new institutions, ‘Rifaah Home for the Girl Child’ and ‘Ashiyana’ for the boys and introduced these reforms. Results are tremendous. In contrast, I questioned the traditional approach of herding the children like sheep in the century old orphanage here. The reply from the orphanage manager was: “If they cease to look like miserable kids, donations too would stop”.
Diversify professional profile
Muslims should take measures to diversify the professional profile of the community. Most bright students head for medicine, engineering and management courses. The community lacks able men and women in the field of law, journalism, fine arts, chartered accountancy, agricultural sciences, scientific research, designing, vernacular languages etc. Science and technology bring wealth and create disparities. People trained in journalism, law, sociology, economics should step into the field to even out the imbalances thus created. Not many thinkers, researchers, social and political scientists and economists, advocates have emerged out from the younger Muslims in India in recent years.
Pay Equal attention to Women’s education
Muslims must strive to include facilities for women’s education at all levels. Women’s role in the society is changing very fast. Women cannot be confined to cooking, washing and household chores any more. These functions are being taken up by machines. Muslims must think of inducting women into roles whereby their talents and faculties, which are on par with men, could be put to optimum use. Studies suggest that new kitchen aids, instant mixes and processed foods have reduced the actual cooking hours to merely one hour and 45 minutes. Studies also suggest that entry of one new home gadget (such as washing machines, remotes, mixers, vacuum cleaners) adds eight pounds to the weight of household women. Similarly, online facilities are expanding opportunities for women being employed (or used for income generation) in multiple ways.
Removing the disconnect between education and economy
Muslim artisanship is in decline. Modernisation and automation in the industry is sounding death knell for them. Several crafts have lost their relevance while others practically employ Muslims as daily wagers. Their finance, export and management is in the hands of persons who do not belong to the traditional occupational groups. Writing on the wall is clear: Modernise or perish. It will be unviable to carry on the crafts in the traditional way. Means and methods of production are changing every moment and they require new techniques, skills, calculations and methodologies. If education does not equip the younger generation, they will be misfits in the future society. Knowledge is doubling every five years and the community must keep pace with it. Unless it is done, the threat of irrelevance will loom overhead. It is where Muslims need to remove the disconnect between the education and economy.
During the last decades several occupations have been phased out. Sample these:
• Remember you would have kalaigars who would varnish your grandma’s copper and brass utensils once in a year. Aluminum and Stainless steel have replaced them. Kalaigars have vanished now.• You would have your stone grinders (sil and okli) chipped once in a year. We used to call these people Takaras in Karnataka. They have become irrelevant due to modern blenders, mixers and juicers.• STD booths have become irrelevant with cell-phone in every pocket. Thousands of such booths have vanished in oblivion within the last decade.• Cyber centres are also on the way out as every cell phone would have Internet browsing facilities.• Newspapers no longer have linotype typesetters. These machines are out. Even proof-readers job has been clubbed with sub-editors.• Hoarding painters lost their jobs during 1990. Digital printing replaced them.• Zari workers are losing their jobs as embroidery machines are coming in.• Calligraphers were replaced by Urdu DTP operators.• Silk reelers have been replaced by modern reeling machines.• Photo studios have disappeared from our cities in thousands as digital cameras have eliminated the need for bromide photos.• Banking has seen a big change from cheques to ATMs to Credit cards to mobile banking.• Within next 20 years the printed newspapers will disappear. Various Browsing and reading devices will replace them.• Credit cards and cheques too will vanish as money will be transferred through internet between businesses and banks by an individual who will merely press computer buttons and beeps and blips will signal transfer the cash from individual’s accounts to store’s accounts.• There will be phenomenal changes in occupations like accounting, auditing, and dissemination of news, pharmacology, electioneering and voting, education, and training due to new online devices that will enter our lives.
As we advance deeper into the 21st century, the transformation in our lives would be much more drastic. We need to pattern our educational system for the future needs. Thomas Friedman in his book “That Used to be US” (2011) laments that US is falling behind in education as US school system is not one among the 10 best school systems in the world. PISA rating ranks Finland’s as the best education system. Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, Japan, Hong Kong, and parts of China have overtaken the United States. We need to assess as to where do we stand?
[Maqbool Ahmed Sirajis an eminent journalist and former Editor of Islamic Voice, Bangalore. He has also worked in the BBC World Service and writes regularly for the English daily Deccan Herald, Bangalore and several other magazines and journals. He also participates in various TV and radio programmes. He can be contacted at maqsiraj@gmail.com]
Note: This paper was presented at `The East & North East Educational Conference’ held on 26th October at Bhasha Bhavana Auditorium, National Library, Alipore, Kolkata, West Bengal, organized by M M Foundation of Kolkata and Al Falah Mission of Berhampur, Murshidabad.
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November 8, 2013, 11:49 pm
By Dr. Shabistan Gaffar
Sixty years after independence also the Indian Muslim women have remained unrepresented and unheard. The Sachar Committee appointed by the Prime Minister established the fact of poverty and socio-economic exclusion of the largest minority in recent decades. Although the report is sympathetic to Muslim women, it does not have detailed analysis of the condition and issues faced by them. Women in every community are victim of neglect, discrimination and some of the other form of injustice. This is true for Muslim women too. However, as has been pointed out by many perceptive observers, Muslim women constitute “Minority within minority”. The lot of the poorer section of Muslim women is far worse.
In today's fast changing society the rights of women is at stake and their position has become very much vulnerable. The balance between the rights of women and its protection and her family and social responsibilities is totally disturbed. Women have to play role in society, family and country. They are to be made to fulfil the responsibilities as daughter, sister, mother, wife, daughter in law and as a citizen of the country.
If we talk about overall empowerment of women in India, since the country became independent in 1947, the democratic government has tried to introduce measures to empower women, yet the expected measure of success has not occurred due to reasons like, bureaucratic delays, political compulsions, social and cultural constraints and the continuing poverty of the masses. Obtaining some measures of economic self sufficiency and independence is prerequisite to any advancement of women at social, cultural and political level.
The silver lining in the cloudy sky has been the development of several grass roots movements initiated by women themselves, especially those from the lower section of society.
No, less important than the government’s initiatives are society own mutually caring and cooperative actions which strengthen the ethos of social harmony and inter-dependence, exclusive thinking, exclusive concerns and excessive reliance on exclusive policies can never lead to inclusive development. Much less will it promote social and national integration, which must form the bed rode of both government and societal effort for inclusive development.
Yet another shortcoming in the debate and governmental and action that followed the Sachar report is that the problems and concerns of Muslim women have been largely bypassed. Grossly inadequate attention has been paid to the condition of Muslim women, their socio-economic and educational backwardness, and the efforts needed to bring them into nation’s development mainstream.
Muslims lag behind in education which is largely responsible for most of the problems faced by the community. If women of the community are educated, things would change as women are the axis of Indian families. Muslim women could reform the whole family moreover this will help her in protection of her rights and controlling crimes against women.
The educational and economic backwardness in which community lives make it necessary for policy makers to take urgent steps to alleviate this condition. The greater of multiple exclusion of women calls for a thorough analysis leading to understanding of their need and issues followed by multi-prolonged action to make a change the destination is equal citizenship of Muslim women in principle and in reality as guaranteed by the Constitution of India. The recent census of India has brought out a positive fact about the sex ration in the Muslim community being better than most other socio-religious communities. There is need to build further on this positive trend by paying equal attention to the education of girls and health and nutrition for the girl children and the mothers.
Apart from health care and nutrition, girls need opportunities for higher education, they need safety and security in order to access education of their choice. They need support and encouragement at home and in the community to realize their full potential as human beings. It calls for policy measures and financial allocations by the government apart from a supportive atmosphere in the family. Educated and empowered girls can be the change agents for an empowered community in the future. Social empowerment in general and women empowerment in particular is very fundamental in achieving such kind of goals.
Territory education is especially important so that women can move into positions of political, economical and social leadership. It is well known that Muslim women are home based working women, the Sachar Committee too endorsed this finding. There are women who missed out on education opportunities but are nevertheless working informally and out of homes. They work for very low wages and often in hazardous activities like beedi making and other activities posing hazard to eyes, lungs and skin.
They mostly underpaid or unpaid and exploited by middlemen. These women need support, mechanism at multiple levels beginning with skill training, skill upgradation, marketing support and financial support etc.
In fact, the voluntary organizations and experts faces lot of challenges in their work for empowerment of Muslim women. The work must happen at various levels, apart from continuous advocacy and campaigning for governmental accountability. They face the challenge of correcting and building understanding and perspective in the community society.
[Dr. Shabistan Gaffaris Chairperson, Committee on Girls Education,National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions,Government of India. She can be contacted at committeeongirlseducation@gmail.com]
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November 9, 2013, 1:09 pm
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November 9, 2013, 1:51 pm
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November 9, 2013, 1:57 pm
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November 14, 2013, 9:08 pm
By Rohail Khan
When it comes to social work and philanthropy, Indian Muslims normally outclass their peers. There are so many to mention. However, Azim Premji, Founder/Chairman of Wipro Group has topped the list.
Shanghai-based Hurun Data Group has this week released the Hurun India Philanthropy List 2013, with IT Industry leader and business magnate Mr. Azim Premji emerging as the most generous Indian with a donation of Rs 8,000 crores in the past year.
Born in Karachi on 24th July, 1945 and settled in Mumbai after partition, Azim Premji graduated from the world famous Stanford University, California. Hailing from a Gujarati business family, his entrepreneurial spirit and creative nature compelled him to set up the world-renowned Wipro Company some forty years ago.
Azim Premji has guided Wipro Group through four decades of expansion to emerge as one of the top world leaders in the software industry. He has been recognised by Business Week as one of the Greatest Entrepreneurs for being responsible for Wipro emerging as one of the world’s fastest growing companies.
In 2001, he founded Azim Premji Foundation, a non-profit charity organisation, with a vision to significantly contribute to achieving quality universal education that facilitates a just, humane and sustainable society. The Foundation works in the area of elementary education to foster systemic change in India's 1.3 million government-run schools. A specific focus is on rural areas where the majority of these schools exist.
In 2005, the Government of India honoured him with Padma Bhushan for his outstanding work in trade and commerce.
[Rohail Khan, a Canadian-Pakistani with strong parental roots in India as well, is a Senior Banker and CFO based at Jeddah. He is also Chairman, Urdu Academy International (UAI), Washington, D.C. He can be contacted at rohailkhan00@gmail.com]
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November 14, 2013, 9:12 pm
IMO News Service
Mumbai: Over 200,000 Dawoodi Bohra community members from all over India, South Asia, Far East, the Arabian Gulf, East Africa, Europe, North America and Australia congregated in Mumbai to attend the ten-day Moharram observance known as Ashara Mubaraka, with their spiritual leader His Holiness Dr. Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin.
The revered occasion concluded on the Day of Ashura, the 10th of Moharram. The tragic martyrdom of Imam Husain SA, the grandson of Prophet Mohammad (pbuh), was narrated during these solemn days with much fervor in remembrance of his sacrifice for the cause of Islam and humanity remembered.
With the directions of Syedna, his heir-apparent Syedi Mufaddal Bhaisaheb Saifuddin (70) delivered the Moharram discourses at Saifee Masjid in Bhendi Bazaar. Apart from imparting teachings based on Islamic principles on family values, women empowerment, and patriotism, he reiterated Syedna’s universal message of social justice, peace and international harmony. He also conveyed His Holiness’s special prayers for the progress and prosperity of India and for the wellbeing of humanity at large.
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The community-run Saifee Hospital, The Saifee Ambulance Society and Burhani Medical Idarah (BMI) co-ordinated in providing the best of medical facilities to the attendees. As to de-centralize the large number of participants, the Moharram discourses were transmitted in 60 other Dawoodi Bohra Masjids and community centers in South Mumbai and in the suburbs.
The occasion of Moharram was also observed with much spiritual enthusiasm by the Dawoodi Bohras living in all parts of the world.
In the past years, Moharram sermons of Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin have been held in international cities like Cairo, Dubai, Houston, Colombo, Karachi, Nairobi, Dar-e-Salaam and in Indore, Pune and Jamnagar in India to name some. Last year the occasion was held at Surat.
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November 14, 2013, 9:16 pm
IMO News Service
Chicago, U.S.A.: Muslim Spelling Bee 2013, Finals will be held on November 30, 2013 at the Des Plaines Theater, suburbs of Chicago, from 8.30 AM (This is an open event and all are invited to attend). Tausif Malik, Founder of Muslim Spelling Bee, said: "240 finalists and families from all over the United States will converge for the World’s First Muslim Spelling Bee Second season Finals."
The premise of the bee is to connect Muslim students from all over the United States who attend public, private and Islamic schools. Regional winners hailed from Chicago, Houston, Atlanta, New York, New Jersey, California, Florida, Houston and Dallas and included high caliber competitors such as the Florida state spelling bee winner who will be competing in the Scripps’ National Spelling Bee.
“The Muslim Spelling Bee has become the most talked event in the community and this is due to the support of the community” said Tausif.
Recently the Muslim Spelling Bee competition has been nominated for Islamic Economy Award to be held in Dubai.
The 2013 season kickstarted in New York at Al Ihsan Academy, then it was hosted by Precious Sprouts of Ann Arbor, Michigan, Islamic School of Irving,Al Hadi School, Houston,Orange Crescent School,Orange County, Folson Educational Academy, Mohammed Schools of Atlanta, American Youth Academy,Tampa, Darul Arqam, New Jersey and ended at MCC Full Time School, Illinois.
Muslim Spelling Bee has created a new format, where the competition is divided into 4 groups based on age and Top five spellers from each group are eligible to participate at the Finals.
This years winners will get gifts from the Illinois Office of Tourism (IOT)-Museum of Science and Technology, Iqra Foundation, A1 Tax Chocolat Uzma, My Halal Kitchen, Sabika Seatle, Nahda Designs, Taaza2u.com, 99.0rg Comics, UPF Movies & Insiyah Atoor.
The event is sponsored by Comcast, University Islamic Financials, K12.com
Media supported by Al Hikmat TV, Al Jumuah Magazine, Asian Lite, Azizah Magazine, Desi Express, Dinar Standard, Dunya, Global Muslim Observer, Indian Express, Indian Muslim Observer, Infocus California, Islamic Focus South Africa, Islamic Post, Lone Star Crescent, Muslim Coupon, Muslim Backyard, Multicultural Familia, Muslim Digest, Muallim, My Education Key, News Pakistan, New York Awam, Pakistan Chronicle & Pakistan Journal, Pakistan Post, Pakistan Times & South Asian Gazette, Pakistan Express, Pakistan Voice, Radio Sargam/News Pakistan, Radio Sohni Dharti, Sadaa-e-Pakistan, Saavn.com, The Desi Times, Tribune Asia, TV ONE GLOBAL, Urdu Times Chicago, Urdu Times, Ummaland.com, Ummah Design & UmmahLinked
The Muslim Spelling Bee will be recorded and broadcasted by TV ONE Global.
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November 14, 2013, 9:23 pm
In the squatter colonies of Pakistan, education is something that happens to other people—especially if you are female. Rahul Bhattacharya meets Humaira Bachal who, as a girl, taught a whole community a lesson
By Rahul Bhattacharya
In the settlement of Moach Goth on the outskirts of Karachi lives a heroine. To meet her you must drive out towards the provincial border of Sindh and Balochistan. En route to Moach Goth, you are shown the flyover that collapsed, the factory that burned, and an entrance to Lyari, the ghetto whose gang wars and body-counts are in the papers every day.
It was a momentous time to be in Pakistan, ten days after general elections and the first transition in the nation's history from one elected government to another. The talk was of tabdeeli, change, and dhandhli, rigging. The talk was of whether things were getting better, or whether they were going to get worse before they got better. The day before repolling in a constituency in southern Karachi, Zahra Shahid Hussain, a much-admired professor, activist and vice-president of the political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, had been shot dead at the gates of her house by two men on a motorcycle. The next morning Samina Baig, a 22-year-old, became the first Pakistani woman to scale Everest.
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To enter Moach Goth is to begin to understand another climb, that made by Humaira Bachal. When she and her family came here, they had just cleared their debts. It was probably some time in 1995, but they are not sure. The settlement was small, nothing like now. A fishing village had been here for a long time, but now it was transforming into a squatter's colony in the fast-expanding conurbation of Karachi. When they arrived, as they remember it, there were about a hundred mud and straw huts. There were jungles of thorny acacia. The gangs had not yet formed, and in any case no vehicles really came to the village, so you didn't need to flash your headlights in code to enter anybody's turf after dark.
Now, between the Sindhis, Balochis, Kutchhis, Brohis, Mohajirs, Punjabis and Bengalis, there are 160,000, perhaps 180,000, people in Moach Goth. The sand blows through its unpaved streets. The cement water tower that stands tall over the population worked for two months, then ran dry, so now they must buy water from private contractors. Electricity lines have been installed, but there are power cuts for nine hours a day. Sewage pipes were laid twice; each time they burst in the rains.
Two of the three government schools in Moach Goth are ghost schools, abandoned by their teachers and administrators and occupied instead by junkies or criminals; there are an estimated 30,000 such schools in Pakistan. The single working school left in Moach Goth barely functions. Boys are usually pulled out at 12 by their families and put to work in factories or on construction sites; girls are rarely permitted to study at all. Government figures state that 40% of Pakistani girls have had a primary education, but other official sources put female literacy in Pakistan at 26%. According to independent sources, if you exclude those who can form only their signature, the figure tumbles to 12%.
So when Humaira Bachal matriculated—the equivalent of taking her GCSEs—it was about the most improbable thing a girl from Moach Goth could do. And then she built perhaps the most improbable school in the world. She is 26 now, and she started it when she was 13.
Humaira was born on a Friday morning, "black and thin," she says, "like a little rat". Her grandfather looked at her and cried: "Allah, will this girl live to ever give me a glass of water?" She was the firstborn of Mohammad Bachal and Zainab Bibi, though each had four children from a previous marriage.
They had fallen in love in Lyari, not then such a lethal place. (Decades later, the body of Bachal's only son would be discovered there in a sack under a bridge.) Zainab, a Baloch, was married at 11 to a drunk, drug addict and wife-beater. Bachal, a Sindhi, married a woman who loved someone else. She arranged for Bachal to wed Zainab. But he was cussed: for her troubles, she still did not get her divorce. "Your father is a most wicked man," Zainab would complain to Humaira and her younger sister Tahira, making them laugh.
After the marriage, Zainab and Bachal moved to the town of Thatta in Sindh, where they bought a piece of land and built a hut. He was a truck driver; she took stitching jobs. Humaira was born in Thatta, and three years later was admitted to a nursery school. It was the first time a girl in the family had started a formal education. Bachal tolerated it—Zainab had insisted, supported by her youngest son, Shakeel, who had found some progressive friends in Thatta. The elder daughters were not around, so it was Shakeel who would dress Humaira and Tahira and comb their hair, babysit them at the cycle store where he worked, and take them to their classes.
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Her most vivid memory of Thatta is leaving it, soon after the wedding of Shakeel's older brother. The Bachals had put all their capital and more into the wedding, counting on recouping the cost through wedding gifts. But then the rains came. Interior Sindh was flooded. The animals their guests might have given them were washed away, crops were submerged. The roads were gone; hardly anybody showed up. The wedding went ahead, but left the family in debt.
"We sold the iron," Humaira says. "We'd saved up for a television, we sold that. One by one, we sold our utensils. I remember creditors coming round. I remember my mother taking the earrings from my ears and selling them, and I remember why she sold them: because we had the money of others." When the house they had built with their hands stood empty, Zainab Bibi said, "We cannot live here any more." They sold the house and land for 40,000 rupees (£261) and made for the big city, where lives sometimes change.
They reached Karachi in a truck, their belongings few, their money gone, not sure where to go. At first they lived with an uncle, though it was clear they were not welcome. At the time Moach Goth was being settled by people escaping ethnic violence in Orangi Town, Karachi. An acquaintance of the Bachals had acquired a small plot there for 1,000 rupees (£6.50), but did not need it. He offered it to them. "You'll have a place to live, and I'll know that nobody will squat on my property."
Mohammad Bachal didn't have a job, nor did Zainab's sons; Zainab knew nobody she could stitch for. Food was scarce. Humaira and Tahira were "distributed among relatives". Humaira was about eight. "It was tyranny, like they show in the films. I was made to wash clothes, utensils, clean the house, cook, but given only scraps of the leftovers. I carried their bull of a child all over the place until my back felt it was going to break. I couldn't stop crying. When my mother came to see me three months later, I forced her to take me back."
Because there was no sewage system in Moach Goth, there was work available digging latrine pits. This gave Bachal daily wages. Zainab, a generous woman, was known to give away fistfuls of firewood to whoever came asking. "I told my mother, 'why don't we sell the wood?'" says Humaira. "I was very business-minded from the start." They hounded a scrap dealer till he sold them a pair of old scales. On Sundays the family would go into the acacia scrub. Bachal chopped, Zainab removed the thorns, Humaira and Tahira bundled the wood and loaded it on a truck. On a good day they could gather 100 kilos. At home, Zainab would cut the wood into little pieces, and sell them for two rupees (1p) a kilo.
With the money she paid for the two girls to go to Islamia Public School, a few kilometres out on the main road. It cost 250 rupees (£1.63) a month for each girl. At first Humaira and Tahira saw school as a punishment. Instruction was in Urdu, and they knew only Sindhi. They would be beaten in class for their incompetence, then shouted at at home by Zainab for complaining. But they both grew to love it. Mathematics was Humaira's special passion. She was sometimes ahead of the teacher, which gave her a feeling of exhilaration. The sisters used to set themselves the challenge of getting into the top three in class. They usually managed it.
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What would become the Dream Model Street School began in 2001, with one blackboard, at home. Humaira taught ten friends of her age, seven of them girls. She started with the alphabet, in Urdu and English, and proceeded to the names of things. She supplied blank pages from her own notebooks, until it got her into trouble with her teachers. Then the friends went round asking people to donate paper, or bought scrap.
Soon, Tahira, who was 11, and three other girls were teaching alongside Humaira. "We were militant about time. Time for study, time for play, time to eat—and time to go out and recruit. We didn't have the sense to realise we didn't have space, books, teachers, money. We went around to houses, telling people, 'We've opened a school, send your children, you must send your children!'"
A short film released on YouTube this year, "Humaira, Dreamcatcher", demonstrates the challenges of this recruitment. It's the work of an Oscar-winning Pakistani-Canadian documentary-maker, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, whose crew have been following the lives of Pakistani women fighting for change. Twelve years after the school started, the film shows local men still making their points: for girls to study is not our culture; they will be stared at while going to school; what use is educating a girl when she is only going to marry and run a house? Permissions, given reluctantly, are withdrawn easily.
Yet by 2003 Humaira's team had enrolled over 150 children. The students could no longer fit into the Bachals' home, so the young teachers decided to rent. They took a 240-square-foot plot with two sorry rooms surrounded by mounds of mud. They levelled the ground themselves, erected wooden poles and strung up discarded flour sacks for shade. These collapsed in the rain. Someone suggested they use Panaflex signboards in place of the sacks. But the wooden poles would not take the weight. Somebody else suggested they use iron pipes, so they found a welder who helped rig them up. Finally, the shelter stood.
They had just about plastered part of the floor with money from a small donation when a charity called arm Child and Youth Welfare came visiting. One of its initiatives was a home-literacy programme, which meant that it could provide textbooks. It could also spare 1,000 rupees (£6.50) a month. "To us," Humaira says, "it felt like a hundred times more. It meant we could pay the rent."
By now, her own education had become a fraught affair. In those days Islamia Public School taught up to the eighth standard, two years short of the matriculation exam. Humaira did not have her father's permission to study further, or farther away. Conspiring with her mother, she enrolled at the Government Girls High School in Baldia Town. The secret could be kept from her father, who was away in the interior for weeks driving trucks. Humaira shone at the new school, becoming class prefect and head of the students' union. She wanted to be a doctor and spent her free time in the lab, dissecting frogs that she carried in from home. To her joy, she cracked the stationery problem at her own school when she discovered piles of half-used notebooks: the dinner lady had been tearing out the pages to wrap samosas.
One morning Mohammad Bachal returned home as Humaira was leaving to take her ninth-standard English exam. Enraged, he slapped her, then beat her mother, who urged Humaira to grab her bag and run. She sat the exam in a state of anxiety. When she returned, the house was calm. Her parents were having tea. He had not changed his mind.
Humaira says she told him, "Abbu [Daddy], if you are worried that you won't be able to marry me off, I promise you that no matter who you produce, even if he is blind or a cripple, tell me where to sign and when to say kabool [I accept], before the magistrate, and I'll do it, no questions asked. Just let me study." She knew it was a risk, but she was counting on her father's love and her mother's wisdom. "When a person is being stubborn," her mother would say, "it's because he hasn't understood yet. Once he understands, the severity with which he opposes you now, he will stand behind you with as much strength."
When he got a job in Karachi, Mohammad Bachal began dropping off his daughters at school in his truck, which delighted them. But his conversion was not complete. Shakeel remembers Bachal's recurring bouts of rage, the way he once brandished an axe during an argument. And the other men of Moach Goth would not let it be. They asked the family to leave the settlement: Humaira and Tahira were a bad influence. They sent thugs to intimidate them. "But over the years," the sisters tell me, almost with one voice, "everyone realised that we are more stubborn than them."
Humaira dropped her plan to study medicine when she found out the fees were around 350,000 rupees (£2,280) a year. Instead she enrolled in a madrassa, with the intention of becoming an Islamic scholar, taking a degree equivalent to a Bachelor of Arts.
She remembers putting on what's known as the "shuttlecock" burqa, head to toe, with stockings and gloves, and attending the madrassa, where the master taught from behind a purdah (screen). She became an occasional speaker at religious congregations. She instructed 350 girls in Moach Goth in namaaz, prayer, andwuzu, religious ablutions. Six months short of getting her degree, she quit.
Humaira does not name names, and keeps the details vague: there were arguments with the teachers at the madrassa, there was an attempt to kidnap her, her family feared for her safety. It's clear that the disagreements were fundamental.
"Their concept of women was four walls and purdah. To them women are naqis-ul-akl—of defective intelligence. My perspective on Islam was very different from theirs. In the time of the Prophet, peace be upon him, women were traders. Hazrat Khadija [the Prophet's first wife] was a businesswoman. Bibi Aisha [the Prophet's youngest wife] was a teacher of hadith, traditions of the Prophet, and fiqh, jurisprudence. In the time of the Prophet, peace be upon him, women had beensipahisalar, military commanders; they lived in camps. So is that the correct Islam—or is it four walls and purdah? Islam to me is the faith which gives rights, rather than takes them away. My conscience, my heart, was not satisfied with what they were saying. Why should I take a degree to which I am opposed? What would I do with it?"
From 7.30AM to 8PM, the 25 teachers at the Dream Model Street School educate 1,200 students over five shifts. The school is co-educational, the books are free, and there is no uniform. For those who can pay, fees are 30 rupees (20p) a month. Classes start from nursery and run up to eighth standard. The classrooms are partitioned by curtains, their walls alive with drawings and craft. The blackboards are busy with writing, not all of it completely accurate. "Present Simple Tense = Subject + Verb + Object. Anjum looks at wall clock every day". The teachers are in their late teens or early 20s. Most began their own schooling here.
In the evenings there are classes for child labourers. In the afternoons, a two-hour madrassa class, held for tactical, as well as educational, reasons. "Parents agree to send children to our school because of it," says Tahira, who took over as principal from Humaira six years ago, when she started another job. There are over 50 mosques in Moach Goth, and almost all have a madrassa. "We have seen cases where children have been taken out of the school, put in a madrassa and then talk all day about jihad. One boy, they brainwashed him so much, he pulled his sister out of school. He has become an imam."
Enrolment is one thing, retaining students another. Girls are often pulled out at 12. "The routine", Humaira says, "is matchmaking at 12, engagement at 13, marriage at 14, pregnant at 15. That is why we say we don't enrol a student, we have to enrol a family." They have made progress. A few years ago, of 50 nursery students, boys and girls, only two would still be attending by fifth standard. That number is now up to 20.
At noon there is an adult literacy class, used mostly by older girls who do not have permission to attend school—or a school to attend. Last year ten girls from Moach Goth matriculated. This was a record. They had studied at Dream's adult literacy classes, though for the purposes of sitting their matriculation exam they registered with a government ghost school. Reviving those schools is another part of Dream's agenda. They have already mounted a successful campaign to reopen one of the two abandoned primaries in Moach Goth. Police constables were sent in to clear out the junkies. The teachers—ghost teachers receiving real salaries—were ordered back.
I was accompanied to this school, a day after it had reopened, by two of Dream's male teachers. Qayoom used to paint spare parts for motorbikes, but quit his job when he realised how much he enjoyed being at Dream. Mujeeb was the younger brother of one of the original teachers. A few months ago he was picked up while standing sentry near the school, during a paramilitary operation to flush out criminals. His misfortune, according to his friends, was that he looked like a Makrani gangster: tall, dark, with matted hair. The Moach Goth gangs mostly respect the school. They may snatch mobile phones from its teachers, but they have never made demands: some of them have young relatives at Dream.
The de-ghosted government primary is as stark as a shell. Every piece of furniture, every fitting seems to have been stolen. Nothing remains, no doors, no windows, not even their frames. The white afternoon light explodes into the bare, ravaged rooms, onto the brown sandscape outside, the thorns on the acacia. There are squares of cardboard scattered on the floor, where students must have sat that morning.
By contrast, the second Dream School premises, under construction a kilometre away and close to Humaira's original school, gleam with promise. In 2009, an organisation called Shirkat Gah Women's Resource Centre made a film about Humaira, "A Small Dream". It was shown in Lahore, and Humaira, Tahira and their mother were invited, the first time they had been to the city. Humaira made a speech. The impact went beyond anyone's expectations. With the donations and networking that followed, teachers could be trained and paid a modest salary. The curriculum and the textbooks could be upgraded. "We need a space," Humaira had told the audience in Lahore. "We can't afford the rent, and the landlord keeps trying to lock us out. We are scared that the school will shut down."
The first part of the building, on a 500sqft plot, is the result of a gift from a Pakistani company, Engro Vopak, and a Swiss foundation, Volkart. The ground floor is almost done. If further funds come in, two more storeys will be built. "We want to have classes that go up to matric," says Humaira. "We will have chemistry, physics and biology labs, a computer room, a library, an auditorium. We will have outdoor activities in the back yard, a staff room, principal's room, accounts room. In the back yard we want to put fish and plants and birds. I don't want this to be a school, I want it to be a paradise for the children of Moach Goth."
In April this year, Humaira was interviewed on stage in New York during the Women in the World Summit at Lincoln Centre. Her involvement was arranged by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy: Pakistan needs heroes, she says, their stories must be told. When the talk was over, Humaira says, and the lights came up and she saw thousands of women in the auditorium standing and applauding, tears came to her eyes. Things were swimming like a film in her head: the hardships, the house, the village, people's insistence that "nothing will ever come of this". She was such a small part of such a small place, but look at the respect the audience was giving her. She thought, "I wish my father could see this."
Mohammad Bachal's house, on a plot the family owns, is today one of the finest in Moach Goth. His family has eased into comfort. Humaira's first salaried job, at 7,000 rupees (£46) a month, was as a mobiliser in a micro-finance project. She had taken it when rent for their school space increased to 3,000 (£20). Then she began exporting Chinese beauty products from Karachi to Iran—where some of Zainab's relatives have shops—and earned up to 30,000 rupees (£196) a month, until the border was closed. She now makes a living giving leadership training, and remains president of the school and the Dream Foundation Trust, which runs it.
Shakeel has a job in the granulation department of a pharmaceutical company. A few years ago, when he was out of work, he tried to commit suicide by drinking poison. Tahira gently admonishes him for having scared everyone.
Mohammad Bachal has fractured his hand, and has been persuaded to retire. He thinks he must have been 18 when Pakistan was created, which would make him 84. He looks nearer 64, lean, rugged, with kohl in his eyes and a red Sindhi topi on his head. "It was jahilpan, ignorance," he says about his years of opposition. "Even an animal will listen to a well-educated person, but illiterates are influenced by illiterates."
Zainab Bibi is wearing a traditional Balochi pashk. Her arm carries traces of an old injury, suffered at her husband's hands the day he found Humaira leaving for her exam. "I didn't want my girls to have my life," she says. "I wanted them to become something." The daughters say that Zainab is their hero.
Pakistan does need heroes; but heroism is a permanent hostage. Its fate is unforeseeable. Initiatives begin and are ridiculed, blindsided or murdered. Months before Zahra Shahid Hussain was killed, so was Parveen Rehman. An architect and social worker, she had been documenting land records of the poor in settlements similar to Moach Goth. She was shot dead, allegedly by the land mafia. Months before her, in a part of the country where more than 600 schools have been destroyed or closed down by the Taliban, 15-year-old Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head for wanting to study.
The courage of a Pakistani hero involves facing the ultimate fact of death. But the fantasy of martyrdom, where it exists, is largely a male one. A heroine needs a more supple courage. She must negotiate: with her emotions, with her adversaries, with her family, with hypocrisies. But not, if she can help it, with her ambition. "If I can teach a few mothers to read a few labels, that will be enough." That is what Humaira Bachal told herself, when she started her school.
(Courtesy: Intelligent Life)
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November 14, 2013, 9:29 pm
By Dr. Chandan Yadav
Some of the recent pronouncements of Modi seek to give an impression that he is a changed man. He has been talking about welfare of the Muslims and fighting poverty. Does this articulation mean that Modi wants to change himself and project himself as something other than he is perceived as? While seeking answers to these questions, one could deconstruct Modi’s speeches through what is unsaid rather than said. We must try to look into the meanings of what has not been said, but is implied and meant. When Jacques Derrida wrote his theory of deconstruction, is it possible that he had a sense of prolepsis and had the likes of BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi in mind? Derrida’s Deconstruction theory, in very simple terms, refers to an understanding of an idea in terms of its binary oppositions i.e. what is NOT stated, and as an attempt to expose and undermine these oppositions. No other personality in current Indian political discourse offers himself to be such a ripe candidate for testing of Derrida’s theory.
As I listened to Modi delivering his speech in Patna, I realised that either this man has no idea of what he is saying, or second, the irony of his own pronouncements is lost on him. Or perhaps, he is deliberately, dangerously and surreptitiously trying to communalise the polity. Why else would he, in his blatant distortion of the history of Bihar bring the foreigner Alexander to its shores, but omit the story of the native Sher Shah Suri? Opportunism, communalism, casteism and dynasty are the biggest impediments to democracy said Modi. Why does he not practise what he preaches? Isn’t Narendra Modi himself today one of the biggest examples of opportunistic politics in this country – a man who has used the likes of Haren Pandya, Keshubhai Patel, DIG Vanzara, Sanjay Joshi and most recently his political ‘guru’ L.K. Advani, to fulfil his agenda and then thrown them by the wayside? Hasn’t he subverted legal processes by refusing to have a Lokayukta in Gujarat during his entire tenure? And even while he spoke out against the evil of casteism from the dais in Patna, within the next few minutes, he launched into an appeasement drive towards the Yadavs and the backward castes, condescendingly proclaiming how he would “take care” of all Yadavs, and playing his own background and roots to the gallery. Why was so much of his speech comparing Muslims in Bihar and Gujarat? An editorial in the New York Times published this week states that “Muslims in Gujarat, are much more likely to be poor than Muslims in India as a whole, even though the state has a lower poverty rate than the country.” The implicit irony of this cannot be ignored. While one of Narendra Modi’s pet peeves seems to be the dominance of ‘dynasty’ in Indian politics, he perhaps forgets that, India has not had a ‘dynastic’ Prime Minister for almost the last quarter of a century! In a democratic set up, every eligible person has the right to contest elections. Being born as the son or daughter of someone cannot be a source of disqualification. India’s vibrant and functioning parliamentary democracy is the cynosure of the whole world. The people of India have elected those that they have found deserving, similarly, even big ‘dynastic’ names have been defeated at the hustings. A close reading of Modi’s speeches therefore shows that this man will stoop to any level to assert his superiority, and posit himself clearly as the “Self” in the dialectic discourse. Last Sunday’s speech in Patna was no different – interspersed with rhetoric, lies and even exposed his ploy to distort history and falsify facts.
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Would it therefore be wrong to say that the BJP Prime Ministerial candidate is nothing but an opportunistic, double-faced personality, who contrary to his real self is being projected by his organisation, his PR managers and also his own self as someone with almost superhuman powers, a desi ‘Rambo’? However a closer look reveals that he was totally confused as to what he wanted to be in his youth – from joining the army (Haryana rally), to being a sadhu like Baba Ramdev to becoming a teacher to the more recent career goals like being a Chowkidaar (a clear reference to his Prime Ministerial ambitions). Like a chameleon, he changes his colours to suit the situation. Deconstructing Modi’s speeches bring out the facts – the real truth – a deeply communal man who is unapologetic about his past deeds, a man who spews venom and hatred, a man who epitomises opportunism and can lie through his teeth to achieve his aims, a man who shows no remorse for the dead- either those killed in Gujarat, or for the DIG who collapsed on the dais while he was speaking on Independence Day. His speeches are dominated by negativity and rhetoric – he has not yet given one constructive agenda for the future which is not vague. The more he speaks, the more is kept hidden – the logos only further articulates the differances. Reality is far removed from what is perceived to be real. The man is nothing but a split personality.
[Dr. Chandan Yadavhas a Phd in Linguistics from Jawaharlal Nehru University. He is currently Spokesperson, Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee. He can be contacted at chandanjnu@gmail.com]
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November 14, 2013, 9:37 pm
By Dr. Mohammad Manzoor Alam
The single specialisation of RSS since 1920s has been sowing hatred and hostility in the Hindu mind against religious minorities, particularly Muslims and, to a lesser degree, Christians.
One of the themes of the anti-Muslim propaganda: the Muslim birth rate is so high that by 2035, Muslims will become the absolute majority in India.
The latest round of demographic propaganda began recently with the exhortation of RSS joint general secretary Dattareya Hosable to Hindus to produce more children to “maintain the demographic balance”.
Up to here it was ok. But soon the RSS website came up with the following canard: “… In 2035, Muslims will become absolute majority in India (total population: 197.7 crore). Conversion, threatening, rioting, slaughtering, terrorism, intrusion, polygamy, avoiding birth control are major tools for Muslims to reach that figure within the said period”.
This is nothing but hate propaganda based on falsehoods. How does threatening, rioting, slaughtering, terrorism and intrusion increase the Muslim population? Where are Muslims threatening, rioting and slaughtering?
Every few years the RSS comes up with this and people regularly explain that this is not the case. According to some extreme scenarios, Muslims may overtake (which is not possible keeping other factors in mind) Hindus in 250 years if one goes by RSS standards. That is 2263, not 2035.
That is not going to happen as the new global trends show. Worldwide Muslim population growth rate is falling and other, formerly stagnant declining populations like Russian, Japanese, French and Israelis are growing steadily. India is no different.
There is a general falling trend in population growth across communities over the last six and a half decades in India. In the earlier years of freedom every woman had seven children, which over the decades became six, five, four, three and two and a half. Muslims have not been different, except marginally. The size of the Muslim family has shrunk drastically, like any other.
The small, virtually insignificant, margin is explained by greater poverty and illiteracy among Muslims. The poor and the illiterate always have more children. In the years ahead Muslim poverty and illiteracy will decrease. So will their population. Their relative population will shrink, not outgrow others.
[Dr. Mohammad Manzoor Alamis Chairman of Institute of Objective Studies, New Delhi. He can be contacted at manzoor@ndf.vsnl.net.in]
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November 4, 2013, 1:15 am
By Syed Ali Mujtaba
The big debate in India is whether there is crisis of leadership or there is crisis of vision and mission to run the country. While there can be endless debate on the leadership issue, there exists a consensus on policy paralysis and India is in dire need of reforms at various levels to redeem itself.
An interesting book "Reforms to Save India" by S. Gokulraj lists out number of suggestions that need attention, although some may be laughing stock and quite out of context. Notwithstanding the facts, the author wants to convey the message that India needs systemic change in order to gallop on the highway of progress.
Attacking on the electoral system of India the author makes some pointed reference towards electoral reforms. He says the solution for general elections is to have a Single Transfer Direct Preferential voting system as it is followed to select the President of India. This will empower the people to select the person they want directly as they cast a primary vote for a person of their choice and a secondary vote for their second choice. He suggests that there should be provision for recall of the representative after two-and-a-half-years, if he fails to perform.
The author also sees problem in the way our Parliament functions. He finds it lethargic procedural and slow in operation. As part of Parliamentary reforms, he suggests the President of India should be made the speaker of the Lok Sabha and the question hour should be at the start of the proceedings and not in the end.
He also likes to see reforms in the system of Cabinet of Ministers, which constitute the government. He suggests that at the ministerial level, there should be three ministers for every Ministry. A Ministry should have an executive minister with the specific background of the portfolio he holds, and he should be selected by the UPSC. Then there should be a shadow minister from the opposition party, the third be an elected representative from the ruling party. He insists that proper educational qualification should be mandatory for handling the ministry.
Getting down on the issue of accountability, the author demands that the employees in Government offices should be made accountable. There should be monthly targets of work and this has to be audited on monthly basis. In finance and administration, he recommends, a self-sufficient revenue model.
He wants to see municipal reforms and likes each municipal corporation maintain a treasury and use 50 per cent of the money for developmental activities. He also mentions introduction of EVCC (Electronic Voting and Complaint Registration Card) which can be used as an ATM card to register complaints on bad roads and drains. The author is of the view that this model would help faster implementation of development activities in the cities towns and districts of India.
Turning his attention to the villages that is sulking in penury, he advocates Corporate Cluster Cooperative Farming in agriculture, where corporate houses adopt villages, invest money in agriculture, and buy the produce from the farmers in bulk.
He wants reforms in the employment exchange level and likes the government to help the economically weaker sections of the society. As a means to rehabilitate such people, he suggests attaching them to the agencies such as the employment exchange that may generate jobs for them in the Government or in Corporate Sectors.
Coming to judicial reforms, he wants a compounded court system for the entire judicial apparatus. Such complex should have multiple of courts to deal with crime, social issues, family problems, business and corruption. There should deadlines for the judges to clear the cases and their progress should be audited.
S. Gokulraj also wants reforms in the UPSC that selects officers under a complex examination pattern to govern India. He rebukes on the current selection system saying one exam selects officers for 24 postings and because of the ranking system; a qualified doctor is posted to look after the revenue department. He is of the view that the best of the talent can be put to use in the respective fields by conducting individual exams in that particular field. The selected candidates should then be given appointment in the respective departments.
Even though, there may be many shortcomings in the prognosis of Reforms to Save India, one thing that stands out is the author is able to provoke that there is in need of reform at various levels, if our country is to run like a well oiled machine.
The policy paralysis is apparent. At the corporate level the policy is to make rich, richer, so that a white and blue collared class is develop to live as hangers on. We protected our industries for forty years since independence and in the process created our own capitalist class. When we opened our economy in the 90s, it is same the class which benefited from the liberalized policies. Those who made cycles in the protected regime started making motor cycles in the liberalized environment.
Here one needs to understand the operational dynamics of democracy that works on party system and parties need money for contest the mammoth elections. A corporate class is essential to finance such democracy and to distract is being touted as growth engines of the nation. Even though being very small and electorally insignificant, this class holds leverage over the systems of governance in the country.
While at the urban setup, at the corporate level, the parasite policy is at work, in the rural level where the actual vote bank exits, a different policy is being followed. Here the policy is to make the large farmers poorer, robbing their holdings and conditions being created to push them out from farming. This plan has succeeded to an extent, having its own repercussions, the plan to uplift the marginalized section in the farming sector remains in fits and starts.
Now there is the talk is to bring corporate sector into farming and develop the same parasite model in the rural areas as well. What is this? Is this not policy paralysis?
What this discussion has brought to fore is that our country needs reforms that has to be well thought out. The current method of our plans and policies is ridden with deficiencies and has done no good to our country.
If the book ‘Reforms to Save India’ is of any worth, it is only in the realm of to raise the consciousness of the people to long for reforms. This aspiration has to grow thick and fast, if we want to make our country a true functional democracy.
[Syed Ali Mujtabais a Journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba@yahoo.com]
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November 4, 2013, 1:22 am
By Pervez Bari
New Delhi: A charter of demands on “People’s Expectations on Budgetary Priorities from the Next Union Government” was released at the end of the two-day National Convention which concluded here at the India Islamic Cultural Centre on Friday.
The charter of demands which were prepared under different heads included: 1. Education; 2. Health; 3. Water & Sanitation; 4. Rural Development & PRIs; 5. Agriculture; 6. Food Security; 7. Responsiveness to Climate Change; 8. Children; 9. Women; 10. Dalits; 11. Adivasis; 12. Muslims; 13. Persons with Disabilities; 14. Unorganised Workers; and 15. Taxation
The National Convention was organised by the People’s Budget Initiative, (PBI), under the aegis of the New-Delhi based Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability, (CBGA). The Charter of Demands prepared in this National Convention will form the basis of advocacy with the policymakers and members of legislature in the ensuing months.
As the country is gearing up for the next General Elections, efforts have been made by PBI to assess people’s expectations on budgetary priorities from the next Union Government. In this regard, five Regional Conventions were held – in Ranchi (for Eastern Region), Bhopal (for Northern and Central Region), Hyderabad (for Southern Region), Ahmadabad (for Western Region) and Guwahati (for North Eastern Region) during 30th of September to 7th of October 2013.
Meanwhile, the Closing Plenary Session was chaired by Amitabh Behar (National Foundation for India) while D. Raja (Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha); Prakash Javadekar (Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha) and Tapan Sen (Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha) were the panellists. PL Punia (Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha) who was also one of the panellist of the session was conspicuous by his absence. The demands made under the various heads are as follows:-
Education
1. The recommendation of Kothari Commission (1966) for 6 % of GDP for public expenditure on education is still unmet. The estimate was made long ago based on growth in enrolment, per student expenditure and other parameters. Nevertheless, it assumes importance mainly as the benchmark has remained unaccomplished so far; 2. Government should increased spending on Secondary and Higher Education. Private University Bills should be discouraged; 3. Adequate emphasis should be laid for increasing enrolment and retention of girl student in schools; 4. As per Right To Education Act, Teacher student ratio for Primary and Upper Primary schools is 1:30 and 1:35. However we find shortfall of teachers to the tune of around 11 lakh. Therefore, immediate recruitment of teachers across the country should be initiated; and 5. There exists a duality in the expenditure pattern of different government run schools. The government spends a substantially higher amount in the special category schools like Navodaya Vidyalaya, Indira Gandhi Residential School etc as compared to normal Government-run schools. There is a need for rationalization of this duality within the government supported schools.
Health
1. A long-pending recommendation has been for stepping up total public spending on health (Union and State governments combined) to 3% of GDP; the present government spending on health is a mere 1% of GDP. An increase in public spending on health to the tune of 3% of GDP would help address the shortage in physical and human resources. A related demand is to set up new health centres as well as upgrade all health institutions following the Indian Public Health Standards, (IPHS); 2. There has been a mention of separate allocation for free medicines in the 12th Five Year Plan. In keeping with the plan provisions, availability of essential drugs and medicines should be notified at all health centres (rural and urban) essentially with adequate budget provisions. Concrete provision should be made for the availability of necessary drugs/medicines at block PHCs and regular OPDs; 3. While government speaks of extending the NRHM to include the urban spaces as well, urban PHCs, also called dispensaries or government health centres across cities, need to be upgraded to meet the norms of a Primary Urban Health Centre (PUHC) with basic laboratory facilities, offering a range of preventive and curative services as well as referral services to secondary and tertiary facilities. Functioning primary care facilities need to be adequately staffed, with the services of qualified physicians (available round the clock), nurses, health workers and technicians. The facilities should stock all essential medicines appropriate for that level of care and should provide all basic diagnostic tests. All these services should be free to all patients. The facilities should also have provision for in-patient care in line with the rural PHCs; 4. The huge shortage of human resources in the health care sector is reflected even in premier institutions such as AIIMS. One of the reasons for such shortages is that the private sector, promoted and subsidized by the government, under the model of public-private partnership, draws away human resources from the under resourced public sector. The problem is further accentuated by poor working conditions in public hospitals. There is a need to significantly augment human resources in public hospitals, to improve working conditions, and to work towards strengthening public facilities rather than subsidizing private hospitals. Strict regulation for health services provided by private agencies need to be drafted and strictly followed for ensuring accountability; 5. The Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), the health insurance cover for the BPL population, has been upheld as one of the major drivers of universalisation of healthcare facilities. However the functioning of the scheme requires a deeper scrutiny. A number of concerns have been reported from several states referring to improper enrolment, unethical practices by private providers accredited under the scheme, etc. Universal health care demands and a reformed public health system, if at all insurance based, should have a well drafted policy to regulate private players within the health sector.
Water & Sanitation
1. Though the Constitution of India does not recognise Right to Water as a fundamental right, Article 21 of the Constitution (Right to Life) has been interpreted to include Right to Water. Hence, water and sanitation services need to be recognised as a right and legislation for the same needs to be carried out in order to make it justiciable. Water and sanitation should be the responsibility of the government and not privatised in any form (full scale or private contracting for operations and maintenance); 2. There is a need to step up allocations for drinking water and sanitation. For the period of the Twelfth Five Year Plan, against an amount of Rs.1,66,686 crore proposed by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, the amount allocated (as intimated by the Planning Commission) is Rs.98,015 crore, which is only 59 percent of the proposed allocation. As reported to the Standing Committee on Rural Development (Fortieth Report, 2012-13), the reduced allocation is likely to result in a reduction in the target of rural population covered with piped water supply proposed to be achieved by the end of the Twelfth Five Year Plan from the proposed target of 55% to 50%; 3. In order to make drinking water accessible to all individuals, out of pocket expenditure in the form of capital cost sharing and operation and maintenance (O&M) costs must be discouraged. Accordingly, O&M costs for piped drinking water schemes in rural areas should be stepped up to ensure availability of more funds at the gram panchayat level; 4. In acknowledgment of the gender-based disadvantages faced by women in accessing water supply and sanitation facilities, the Union Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation must report its gender-responsive budgetary outlays in the Gender Budget Statement; and 5. Toilet designs with features that could be accessible for persons with disabilities should be introduced under Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan. Subsidies for construction of Individual Household latrines under Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan to households with persons with disabilities should be enhanced to allow for such modifications in the construction of toilets.
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1. Devolution of three F’s –Function, Fund and Functionaries is necessary for rural governance. A well thought out activity mapping is critical to ensure that functions are devolved to the appropriate level of local self-government; 2. For inadequate and relevant training and capacity buildings, PRIs often failed to handle even their limited responsibilities. Besides, lack of technical capacity, shortage of administrative staff is another major bottleneck for PRIs. Capacity building of elected and non-elected members of PRIs, employment of more administrative staffs is some major criteria towards ensuring effective implementation of programmes and schemes. Above all, greater transparency and accountability mechanism should be developed at the local level; 3. Abolition of parallel bodies like District rural Development Agencies (DRDA) and other CSS line departments and strengthening District Planning Committees (DPCs) may help create a more streamlined structure for the articulation of local plans, synergy across Panchayat plans which is critical for implementation of larger initiatives such as infrastructure; 4. Lack of convergence among different govt. agencies and different schemes targeted towards rural development is one of the major constraints. Demand of a ‘single window’ system for coordination between different programme implementing bodies is the pre requisite for sustainable rural development; and 5. The identification of appropriate beneficiaries should be done in a transparent and accountable manner at the Gram Sabha level.
Agriculture
1. There is a need for establishing a Farmers Income Commission (Permanent Body) in line with the regular Pay Commission for the government employees, which will ensure a guaranteed income to farmers. In this regard, budgetary provision should be in line with the recommendations of the Commission to secure a guaranteed income of the farmer (those who are above the age of 55) as part of their social security safety net; 2. Indian farmers, particularly the small and marginal farmers are deprived of getting fair prices for their produce due to weak marketing linkages at present. Therefore, budgetary allocation should be made to develop market linkages and to set up a Special Marketing & Transportation Corporation to link each village with urban markets, which would ensure maximum returns to the farmers and make the agriculture, as a profession viable and profitable; 3. There is a need for reorienting the whole agriculture budget of the country, particularly schemes/programmes focusing towards agricultural practices of rain-fed/dry-land agriculture. Therefore, adequate budgetary allocation should be made towards the improvement, management and monitoring of dry land /rain-fed agriculture areas. 4. Higher magnitude of funds should be allocated towards watershed development projects and for promoting micro, small and medium irrigation. The government should take concrete steps to bridge gaps between irrigation and the potential created and utilized in such irrigation projects. This could be done with intensive command area treatment and canal management as well as attempts to raise water use efficiency; and 5. Special incentives should be provided to the farmers those who are practicing organic farming. In this regard, budgetary provision should be made to create a dedicated cell at the district level to promote and monitor the growth of organic farming in the area. Further, budgetary allocation should be increased towards provisioning of organic manures so that farmers can avail such manures at a rate comparable with the chemical fertiliser.
Food Security
1. The National Food Security Act -2013 has excluded 33 percent of the population from accessing the PDS as a right, continuing the exclusion principle on priority and general category households. Therefore, the next government should take immediate step and adequate resources to universalise the Public Distribution System (PDS) in the country; 2. The next Union government should provide adequate resources for the implementation of National Food Security Act -2013. Due to lack of resources, poorer states are not in a position to implement the NFSA provisions and hence, the Act may not be implemented in true spirit. Therefore, the Union Government should allocate sufficient budgets (as supplementary budget) to the poorer states to ensure food security. Procurement and storage of food grains must be decentralised, preferably done at the Panchayat levels. Sufficient budgetary provisions should be made towards construction of storage facilities, particularly for perishable agriculture produce (horticulture and vegetable crops) in order to address the wastages of food-grains. For this, budgetary allocations under Village Grain Banks (VGBs) scheme needs to be done to encourage local procurement, storage and distribution and to ensure food security at the household level; 3. The government should provide higher Minimum Support Price (MSP) as legal entitlement within the National Food Security Act. The Act does not provide agriculture and production related entitlements for farmers in spite of the fact that majority of the people in this country are dependent on agriculture for their livelihood; 4. PDS should be expanded to cover pulses and edible oils and other essential commodities. In this regard, adequate investment should be made towards production of pulses and oilseeds in the country to combat malnutrition. Special provisions are needed to decentralized procurement of crops like millets and pulses, which would ensure price support for these crops. The Union government, therefore, should encourage some of the states (with a greater reliance on rain fed agriculture) to consider devoting at least two days in a week for providing millet-based noon meals in the Mid-Day Meal (MDM) scheme – this could be taken up on a pilot basis in a few blocks where millets are still part of household food consumption. Hence, the next Union Government should allocate sufficient budgets towards encouraging millet based farming and food system as these grains not only have high nutritional value, but also extremely crucial to tackle food and farming crisis in an era of climate change.
Responsiveness to Climate Change
1. National Action plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) which was envisaged in 2008, need to be made active. The 12th plan neither gives any clarity neither on the allocation of missions amongst various ministries nor on the funding mechanisms for all eight missions of NAPCC. These doldrums need to be avoided. In this charter, we demand from the next Union Government for clear finance allocations for all 8 missions of NAPCC and timeline based target in NAPCC and State action plan on climate change (SAPCC) should be prepared in consultation with public; 2. Climate change adaptation measures should be gender sensitive and should focus on developing financial instrument for the livelihood of rural population. There should be transfer of budgetary allocation till the panchayat level under SAPCC, Disaster management measures, renewable energy initiatives and biodiversity conservation measures. Budget allocation for disaster management should include allocation for establishing disaster prediction and information dissemination centers; 3. We urge the Union Government to grant ‘priority sector status’ to renewable energy projects in order to enable the sector to access priority lending by commercial banks and conditions of financing renewable projects at state level need to be reviewed. Waste to energy project need to promotes for establishing market linkage with waste collector for better sustainability; 4. CBGA Study has shown ineffective utilization of National clean energy fund (NCEF) and its objectives. Next Union Government should priorities fund allocations in line with the objectives of such funds which are reserved for mitigating climate change. Also, there should be concurrent monitoring mechanism in place in such funds; and 5. India set the target to reduce emission intensity of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in line with the target of 20 per cent to 25 per cent reduction over 2005 levels by 2020. Other ministries and their schemes have direct impact on target set forth in 12th five year plan. It is required that the other ministries should collaborate, supplement and enable achieving the targets for environmental sustainability. Union government must set parts of this target on climate change with other ministries other than the Ministry of Environment & Forests, along with allocation of corresponding budgetary requirement and setting up of overall review committees for this target. We also demand to introduce a budget line on environmental conservation into budgets of all ministries with targets.
Children
1. The government should provide resources for a comprehensive mapping of interventions needed for children in different sectors. Participation of children in the processes of setting up priorities should be initiated (like Bal Panchayats and representation in SMCs). Exclusion faced by marginalized children needs to be mapped, and following the Supreme Court order of 2004, ICDS centres should be established in all Dalit habitations. Child impact indicators should be developed for ministries and departments dealing with schemes or services, directly and indirectly related to children; 2. The restructured ICDS should be properly implemented and allocation for ICDS should be raised. It is vital to improve the unit costs in Supplementary Nutrition Programme, there is a need for a shift in the policy guiding providing food at AWCs and PRIs should decide the food to be given at AWCS according to the regional food pattern and availability of food. It is also needed that Anganwadi Workers and Anganwadi Helpers are developed into a professional cadre; 3. In order to ensure universal quality education for all up to 18 years of age; the Kendriya Vidyalaya standards should guide the financial norms for all government schools. Higher allocation needs to be provided for Primary School Education (PSE) kit for effective education learning at mini Anganwadi centres (AWCs). There also for establishing of higher secondary schools to help address the problem of child marriage. There should be stringent punishment must be there for private schools not following the 25% reservation; 4. The government should take steps to address the violence and exploitation that children risk. There is an immediate need to strengthen Integrated Child Protection Scheme, step up outlays for the scheme. Attention should be paid to formation of child protection cell in each school and Village Child Protection Committees in each village, sensitise the members to carry out their roles regarding safeguarding the overall interest and of the children; and 5. The ‘Care’ deficit in policies for young children under six has its implications for survival, development, and protection of these children. The needs of health, nutrition, care, stimulation and learning should be provided holistically by an adult caregiver. There is a need to bring legislation for free and universal Early Childhood Care and Development.
Women
1. The budget circular issued by the Ministry of Finance needs to be engendered. The circular should specify that ministries and departments need to analyse the policies, programmes and budgets from a gender perspective; 2. The Ministries/Departments should make a serious effort to – recognize the specific gender-based challenges confronting women and girl children in their sectors of concern and then amend the objectives, operational guidelines, financial norms and unit costs of their schemes/interventions to make those more gender responsive; 3. Interventions addressing gender based should be backed by adequate budgetary outlays. there is a also need for all the ministries and departments to identify the specific interventions for ensuring safety of women in their respective sectors and put in place requisite measures, backed by adequate funding; 4. Frontline workers under ICDS, NRHM, KGBV and Mid May Meals should be recognised as regular employees and ensure minimum wages and social security to all along with regularization of working conditions; 5. Addressing concerns of Internally Displaced Persons (IDP): In the absence of a national law on displacement, we urge that the state governments must adhere to international standards set out in ‘Guiding principles on Internally Displaced Persons’ in planning and implementing rehabilitation packages and programmes especially addressing the strategic gender needs of women in post conflict situations; and 6. In the context of feminization of agriculture, there should be due recognition in our agricultural policies that increasingly, the work is being carried out by women agricultural labourers or marginal women farmers, in the absence of the men of the households (who are increasingly migrating to cities in search of better opportunities). Since the benefits under the agricultural schemes are linked to land rights, the women are unable to get benefit from these schemes as the ownership of land is not in their names. In such a scenario, the government should take steps to address this problem. Conferring tiller rights, encouraging registration of land title in joint names (by reducing stamp duty for the same), providing technical agricultural training to women farmers, promoting organic farming, providing extension services to women farmers etc. are some of the interventions that need to be taken up.
Dalits
1. Enact Legislation on SCSP that provides for earmarking of Plan allocations for Dalits in proportion to their share in the total population; 2. All the Ministries and Departments should be encouraged to: (i) identify what could be the additional difficulties / challenges confronting SCs in their sectors of concern, (ii) what kind of measures could be taken by them to address those special difficulties / challenges, and (iii) how much additional resources would be required for such special measures. These additional resources devoted for the special measures for SCs should then be reported under SCSP; 3. Concerns of Dalit women should be identified and accounted for, while planning for schemes and programmes to be reported under SCSP; 4. A comprehensive development framework should be evolved for Dalits and there should be convergence among different sectoral schemes. Priority must be given in SCSP to employment, skill development, entrepreneurship development and higher education for Dalits. Also, basic amenities to all Dalit bastis or settlements, education allowances for higher education and adequate fund provision for addressing health needs of Dalits should be made available; and 5. To ensure that beneficiaries’ identification is streamlined, a list of Dalit beneficiaries in all government schemes and programmes (e.g. JNNURM, NRHM) should be maintained separately.
Adivasis
1. Legal status to TSP for effective implementation of TSP; 2. Special consideration to Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) and women in access to basic facilities - Tribal groups such as Tea-tribes in Assam should be recognized as PVTGs; 3. Allocate funds for conducting tribe-wise population survey - to ensure that there exist effective implementation mechanisms and transfer of benefits from the earmarked funds for STs; 4. Create a dedicated administrative mechanism – Indian Tribal Services on lines of IAS, IFS, etc. and 5. Heavy taxes on existing natural resource based industries, moratorium on any new such projects.Muslims
1. There should be a separate budgetary provision in the Union Budget for the upliftment of Muslims. Allocations should be made in proportion to the Muslim population. As of now, there is no separate budgetary provision for Muslims; 2. There should be a separate statement (in Expenditure Budget Vol. I)on financial allocations to Muslims. A separate minor head can be created for Muslims in the budget in line with those of SCSP and TSP; 3. Budgetary outlays for Muslims must be made non-lapsable; additionally, there is a need to develop and strengthen mechanisms to check diversion of funds from these schemes for general purpose expenditures; 4. While stepping up outlays for Muslims is an important way to address the problem, it is also critical to ensure that the programmes are implemented more effectively and the services are delivered to the intended beneficiaries through exclusive projects and need assessments; and 5. The Multi Sectoral Development Programme (MSDP) and the PM’s New 15-Point Programme should adopt a village / hamlet level approach, instead of the prevailing district level approach, for identifying potential beneficiaries and for better implementation.
Persons with Disabilities
1. India, as a signatory to UNCRPD, needs to develop and carry out policies, laws and administrative measures for securing the rights recognized in the Convention. The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill, which is in consonance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, should be passed with adequate budget provisions; 2. All policies and programmes across ministries and departments should be made responsive towards ensuring the rights of persons with disabilities. There is a need to assess the extent to which the challenges/issues faced by disability sector are being addressed through budgetary allocation. There should be revamping of all the schemes under all departments and Ministries for mainstreaming disability. All flagship schemes like NREGS, NRHM, NRLM, SSA and RMSA should be accessible to persons with disabilities. In the budget of all the Ministries, a 6% allocation should be made for disability related issues pertaining to that particular Ministry. Adequate funds should be provided by the next government for setting up of disability units in all ministries and departments; 3. Resource allocation for provision of adequate, accessible, affordable, adaptable and quality health care products and services for persons with disabilities. Allocations shall be made to support the medical, rehabilitation and nutritional needs of children with disabilities and for persons with demilination and degenerating conditions. The support must follow the principles of 4AQ; 4. There should be adequate allocation of funds towards promoting accessible and accommodative curriculum, teaching-learning methodologies and evaluation systems, training of human resource towards the same and transition programme from home based education to mainstream to ensure quality inclusive education for all children with disabilities at all levels of education. Adequate allocation should be made towards skill development programmes and vocational training of students. All education schemes should be amended in lines with UNCRPD; and 5. Related to Employment, there is need for earmarking budget outlays for establishing a National Employment Portal for persons with disabilities, a National Labour Institute for Persons with Disabilities, and new Model Vocational Rehabilitation Centres. There should be inter-sectoral and interdepartmental collaboration and coordination for creating opportunities for persons with disabilities and making provision for at least 6 per cent reservation in the public and private sector (including multinational companies).
Unorganised Workers
1. There should be a separate demand head and associated budgetary provisions for the entire unorgansied sector covering budgetary provisions for all subsectors such as domestic workers, brick kiln workers, auto rickshaw workers, workers in the fisheries sector including building and construction workers, bidi workers. All the unorganized workers both in the organized and unorganized sectors should be inclusive in this budget head; 2. As per the guidelines under the Unorganised sector Social Security Act 2008, a Universal and Comprehensive Unorganised Sector Social Security Board should be constituted for all the subsectors mentioned above. A provision for a Biometric Worker Identity Card should be considered as the first task of such a board. Adequate budgetary provision should be made for the provision of universal worker identity card and functioning of the committee should be clearly allocated in the forthcoming union budgets. A separate cess of 1-2% on all central taxes may be collected for the budgetary provision for sub-sectors other than Construction workers and Bidi workers for which there already exists resource mobilization mechanisms through cess. As far as cess for construction and bidi workers is concerned, this should be managed by the union government and allocations be made to states accordingly; 3. All committed benefits for the unorganized sector workers may be guaranteed in the budget within the lapse of the financial year and the provisions for them should be clearly articulated in the budget itself; 4. All sub-sectors in the unorganized sector such as domestic workers, brick kiln workers, patthar khadan workers, auto rickshaw workers, workers in the fisheries sector and other sub sectors covered under the board should be clearly defined in the budget documents itself in the “key to Budget Documents” and in the form of notes where allocations are made for the specific sub sectors; and 5. Instead of profit making insurance companies, ESIC facilities should be provided to all unorganized sector workers issued with identity cards. Accountability mechanism for this should be clearly articulated in the budget documents in a prominent manner.
Taxation
1. There should be some concrete plan or policy framework to increase India’s tax-GDP ratio significantly; 2. Attention should be paid to increase the tax buoyancy; 3. In India’s tax system, there should be an effort to collect more direct taxes, as heavy reliance on indirect taxes is generally regressive; 4. Information on commodity-wise details of revenue collected through indirect taxes is required in forthcoming Union Budget documents to clarify indirect tax burden implications for different sections of population; 5. There is a need to make wealth tax more broad-based and progressive as well as introduction of an inheritance tax in order to pursue the objectives of reducing inequality and increasing revenue mobilisation. 6. There is a need to reduce and rationalise the existing gamut of tax exemptions in Central Government tax system; 7. There is a need to carry out a comprehensive review of India’s Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (DTAAs) with various countries, especially those like Mauritius, Cyprus and Singapore; and 8. Implementation of General Anti Avoidance Rules (GAAR) is required in India to deter aggressive tax planning and tax avoidance practices.
It may be pointed out here that the above demands made in the Charter at the conclusion of the National Convention are just a miniscule of the inputs collected from the five regional conventions. The Charter of Demands will be shared with the Union Ministry of Finance, other union ministries that deal with social sectors and disadvantaged sections of population and a number of other key stakeholders.
[Pervez Bariis a senior Journalist based at Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. He is associated with IndianMuslimObserver.com as Bureau Chief (Madhya Pradesh). He can be contacted at pervezbari@eth.net]
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November 4, 2013, 1:45 am
By Abdul Hafiz Lakhani
Ahmedabad: Believe it or not the high drama of Sadhbhavna Upvas was camouflaged as a ‘New Service’ in official documents .The question is was it Modi’s ‘New Service’ to buy skull caps with government money to create stereotyped Muslims appear in his meetings or is it much deeper. Such details will be released periodically under the heading of Kachcha Chittha (details of misdeeds) about Modi and his government in Gujarat.
ANHAD and other other civil society groups have joined hands together to ‘expose’ misleading facts about Modi.
A joint press statement said, We, Anhad and other secular organizations, strongly believe that our democracy and secularism is directly under threat. The spectre of the country’s descent into fascism stares at us. The long reign of the UPA has not halted or arrested the march of the communal fascist forces; indeed there seems today to be a greater acceptance of ideas that we would call fascist. The strident demands for death penalty , the impatience with rule of law; the acceptability among the young urban people of a man as a potential Prime Minister, under whose watch minorities were systematically targeted, this desire for a strong authoritarian leader, all again point to the circulation and reception of fascist ideas.
There have been several riots at least since last year across the country. On the one hand, one sees local-level riots engineering machinery gearing up, and on the other the cleansing and anointing of Modi as the development man.
The rise in the power of the middle class via a corporate media, which aggressively pushes the agenda of ‘corruption-free efficiency’ – whose poster boy is Narendra Modi – at the cost of issues of social justice, secularism and democracy movements, is further pushing the Indian polity towards the Right.Modi is being projected nationally as a leader who is clean, charismatic and a visionary. An image of a new leader is being created by hired PR agencies and event management companies. The new leader is going to change the face of India and solve all problems. The facts show otherwise.
[Abdul Hafiz Lakhaniis a senior Journalist based at Ahmedabad, Gujarat. He is associated with IndianMuslimObserver.com as Bureau Chief (Gujarat). He can be reached at lakhani63@yahoo.com or on his cell 09228746770]
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November 20, 2013, 9:10 pm
By Shaykh Luqman Ahmad
Islamic scholars occupy a special place in Muslim society. They are often considered to be amongst the elite of our faith. In one tradition, the Prophet (SAWS) stated; “One Scholar is harder against the devil than a thousand worshippers”. In another tradition; “The Scholars are the inheritors of the Prophets”. The Quran states that people are elevated by their religious knowledge “Allah will rise up, to (suitable) ranks (and degrees), those of you who believe and who have been granted (mystic) Knowledge. And Allah is well- acquainted with all ye do.” Quran 58:11 As the preservers, and often times interpreters of sacred law, Islamic scholars deserve our respect, support, and our gratitude.
Additionally, scholars of Islam are responsible for upholding the sacred trust that accompanies the acquisition of sacred knowledge; which is to explain the religion clearly and concisely and not cover up any part of it, “Those who conceal the clear (Signs) We have sent down, and the Guidance, after We have made it clear for the people in the Book,-on them shall be Allah’s curse, and the curse of those entitled to curse” 2:159. In today’s turbulent times a, the role of Muslim religious scholars and qualified teachers takes on a special significance for three reasons, the first being; the scarcity of people available who possess sound and accurate islamic knowledge, It was related in the hadith of Anas ibn Malik that the Prophet (SAWS) said: “From among the portents of the Hour are (the following): 1. Religious knowledge will be taken away (by the death of Religious learned men). 2. (Religious) ignorance will prevail. 3. Drinking of Alcoholic drinks (will be very common). 4. There will be prevalence of open illegal sexual intercourse”. The second reason is the responsibility to stand as barriers between ignorant Islamic leadership and the Muslim people themselves; “Verily, Allah does not take away knowledge by snatching it from the people but He takes away knowledge by taking away the scholars, so that when He leaves no learned person, people turn to ignorant as their, leaders; then they are asked to deliver religious verdicts and they deliver them without knowledge, they go astray, and lead others astray”.
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Some Islamic scholars find themselves either woefully unfamiliar, or subtlety indifferent to America, American people specifically, and in the process, Muslims Americans who are socially integrated into our country’s fabric. Some, due to their ignorance of American culture and her people, and often operating from abroad, have managed to demonize virtually every aspect of American culture and way of life. Sports, birthdays, Thanksgiving, family photos, decorating homes, designer clothing, thikr beads, wearing jeans, baby showers, attending graduation ceremonies, saying what’s up brother to a stranger on the street, being in a good mood during Christmas season, gospel music, wedding rings, visiting graves of relatives, bereavement practices, women entering Masaajid, loving one’s country, and a host of other things have ended up on the haram list of one scholar or another.
Some Muslim Americans find themselves apologizing for being born in this country of ours as if it were a curse. The average Muslim, especially the convert, who simply wants to worship his or her Lord, and live an Islamic lifestyle, is often left in an almost perpetual state of confusion. Scholars, as they learn more about American society alternately prohibit things in one instance and then make them permissible according to their own evolutionary knowledge of our country, our culture and our way of life.
Anti American oratory has surreptitiously made its way into the modern canonical dialogue of Islam. Many American Muslims have been morally blackmailed into having to repudiate American culture in order to find acceptance as Muslims by immigrant scholars. Even today, rhetoric from a minority of Muslim scholars and some imams are replete with anti-American invectives or rallying cries against so called ‘western culture’ or values. It is ironic however, that from an Islamic theological perspective, morality has no hemispheric basis; “to Allah belongs the east and the west, wherever thou turnest, yr shall find His (God’s) Face”.
Islam for many Muslim Americans has become too complicated to be user friendly. The dozen or so, often conflicting spheres of scholarly influence has created a virtual merry-go-round of Islam in America, and we need to do something about it. Understanding how to apply Islamic law and morality, in the United States, require a thorough understanding of the shariah, the culture norms of the people, as well as the inclusion and consultation of indigenous American Muslim imams, laymen and intelligentsia.
The famous 14th century jurist, Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya alluded to this issue very succinctly; when commenting of the necessity of understanding people’s cultural practices, he said: “This is a major foundation that every mufti (legist) or ruler needs; he must be both well-versed (in peoples traditions) as well as matters of command and prohibition and then apply them both simultaneously. Otherwise he will do more harm than good. If he is not intimately aware of an issue in which people have particular understanding, a transgressor will appear to him as the transgressed and the truth will appear to him as falsehood and vice versa.”
Ibn Qayyim went on to say: “Because of his ignorance of the people, their traditions, their conditions and their habits, he will not be able to distinguish (between truth and falsehood), Thus, it is imperative that (the scholar) understands the machinations of the people, their deceptions, their cultural traditions and their habits because fatwa (religious rulings) change with the changing of time, place culture and condition, and all of this is part of the religion of Allah.”- Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (D. 751 A.H.) quoted from: “Ii’laan al-Muwaqqi’een an Rabbil aalameen” vol. 4, p. 157
American Muslims need to realize that this is our country, and for indigenous American Muslims, and others who intend to stay here permanently, this is our homeland. We don’t have a “back home” to go to. So we need to be certain that the teachings of Islam in this country are not tainted by anyone’s political prejudices, cultural sensitivities, or ignorance about America and our way of life. Granted, this is a difficult topic. Nevertheless, it is one that must be addressed if we have any hope from curbing the undercurrent of extremism that still germinates in the minds of some of our youth. As Muslim Americans, our first duty is to our Lord, and our number one priority is our own salvation. As American Muslims, we have the god given right to look out after our own spiritual self-interests.
[Shaykh Luqman Ahmadis the Imam of Masjid Ibrahim Islamic Center, Sacramento California. He is also a national shura member of MANA (Muslim Alliance of North America) and an Executive committee member of NAIF (North American Imams Federation). He is also Executive Director of the Lotus Tree Institute, a center for research and traditional Islamic learning based in Sacramento California. He can be contacted at imamabulaith@yahoo.com]
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