01-09-2007, 12:06 AM
Some Indian Muslims live in Middle Ages
WASHINGTON: To go from New Delhi to the Muslim majority area of Mewat in Haryana is to travel from the 21st century into the Middle Ages, according to Dr Omar Khalidi of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
In an interview to India Abroad, the Indian Muslim scholar who has authored a number of books on Indian Muslims, said that the recent Sachhar Committee report on the economic and social position of Muslims in India is based on âsolid, scientific researchâ. He said as the report had pointed out the largest segment of the Muslim population works in the informal sector and there is âclear evidenceâ that it does not have access to bank credit. Muslims lack employment in central and state governments because of educational poverty. They simply do not qualify for the jobs that exist in government, so they do not even apply for them. It is in the informal sector that they need credit, in the absence of which they will remain at the bottom rung. They need credit to develop their small businesses.
Khalidi said the feeling in the community is that Muslims are not seen as a major partner in governance. Politicians have neglected to provide state assistance to such of their communities as the one in Mewat, which depends on agriculture. He said surprisingly even in West Bengal, where a Marxist government has held power for two decades, Muslims are an underclass. To a question about madrassas, he said, âMuslim children donât go to madrassas because they love to but became of an absence of choice. If there were better schools providing modern scientific education in Muslim-majority areas, Muslim children would go there. If there is nothing else, of course, they will go to madrassas. It is a question of choices. It is better to go to madrassas rather than not to go to any school at all.â
Asked about the BJP allegation that the government is appeasing Muslims, he replied, âThe only way the BJP thinks it can win is to go back to the time of the Ayodhya temple issue when anti-Muslim sentiments were whipped up to a very high degree to help them win the elections. I think the BJP has realised that the Muslims are not going to vote for them anyway, so why bother even paying them lip service? Instead, as reported in the Indian media, they are indulging in inflammatory rhetoric, asking for a âvolcanoâ to âbun and killâ the alleged Muslim appeasement forever.â
He explained that it was wrong on the part of the BJP to see Muslims as a âthreatâ because Muslims in India are so âutterly poor that they cannot pose an economic challenge to any group.â He added, âMuslims certainly are not competing for jobs that upper-caste Hindus aspire to, because they are not advanced enough in education to compete. What the Muslims seek is improvement through education and similar measures that will bring them into the mainstream of Indiaâs economic development. None of them has any politically-related demands. These are demands for bread and butter and (they) are not related to the identity issue.â khalid hasan
WASHINGTON: To go from New Delhi to the Muslim majority area of Mewat in Haryana is to travel from the 21st century into the Middle Ages, according to Dr Omar Khalidi of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
In an interview to India Abroad, the Indian Muslim scholar who has authored a number of books on Indian Muslims, said that the recent Sachhar Committee report on the economic and social position of Muslims in India is based on âsolid, scientific researchâ. He said as the report had pointed out the largest segment of the Muslim population works in the informal sector and there is âclear evidenceâ that it does not have access to bank credit. Muslims lack employment in central and state governments because of educational poverty. They simply do not qualify for the jobs that exist in government, so they do not even apply for them. It is in the informal sector that they need credit, in the absence of which they will remain at the bottom rung. They need credit to develop their small businesses.
Khalidi said the feeling in the community is that Muslims are not seen as a major partner in governance. Politicians have neglected to provide state assistance to such of their communities as the one in Mewat, which depends on agriculture. He said surprisingly even in West Bengal, where a Marxist government has held power for two decades, Muslims are an underclass. To a question about madrassas, he said, âMuslim children donât go to madrassas because they love to but became of an absence of choice. If there were better schools providing modern scientific education in Muslim-majority areas, Muslim children would go there. If there is nothing else, of course, they will go to madrassas. It is a question of choices. It is better to go to madrassas rather than not to go to any school at all.â
Asked about the BJP allegation that the government is appeasing Muslims, he replied, âThe only way the BJP thinks it can win is to go back to the time of the Ayodhya temple issue when anti-Muslim sentiments were whipped up to a very high degree to help them win the elections. I think the BJP has realised that the Muslims are not going to vote for them anyway, so why bother even paying them lip service? Instead, as reported in the Indian media, they are indulging in inflammatory rhetoric, asking for a âvolcanoâ to âbun and killâ the alleged Muslim appeasement forever.â
He explained that it was wrong on the part of the BJP to see Muslims as a âthreatâ because Muslims in India are so âutterly poor that they cannot pose an economic challenge to any group.â He added, âMuslims certainly are not competing for jobs that upper-caste Hindus aspire to, because they are not advanced enough in education to compete. What the Muslims seek is improvement through education and similar measures that will bring them into the mainstream of Indiaâs economic development. None of them has any politically-related demands. These are demands for bread and butter and (they) are not related to the identity issue.â khalid hasan