ALIGARH CHAPTER

Symposium on Water Crisis

A symposium was held on June 6, 2003 to discuss “Water Crisis in Aligarh City and Its Solutions’ which was attended by a number of scholars, environmentalists, geologists and social workers. With a population of about 30 lakhs, Aligarh city is very old. It lies at Ganga Jamuna Duab covering an area of 5019 sq. km. With the average rainfall of the District being 739.8 mm, there is a continuous depletion of ground water table due to the increasing consumption of water.

Mr. Mohammad Serajuddin Khan, Assistant Coordinator, welcomed the speakers and introduced them to the audience and requested them to discuss the remedial measures for solving the problem of safe drinking water faced by the people living in the old city and also around the Aligarh Muslim University.

The first speaker, Prof. S.H. Israeli from Department of Geology, AMU, Aligarh, highlighted the world’s current environmental disasters, the scarcity of fresh water and its impact on the Third World countries. He also discussed how the water-born diseases kill at least one child after every five second. Referring to water problems related to Aligarh city, he said there was no water scarcity in Aligarh. However, due to the mismanagement and reckless attitudes of Municipal Corporation towards the defective water supply pipelines, faulty machines, worst drainage systems, safe drinking water has become a problem. He suggested that the old system of ponds is still most viable method of increasing the water level.

Prof. M. Sami Ahmad of the same Department focused on the ground water situation of Aligarh for which he had already done some valuable projects. He confirmed that ratio of drawing up water is increasing in Aligarh. He warned that if the trend is not checked, this might lead to severe water crisis in the decades to come. Prof. Sami proposed that the government must take up immediate steps of digging canals on both sides of G.T. Road as well as ponds around the city so that rainwater can be stored and the decreasing ground water level checked.

Dr. Shadab Khursheed, a Reader at Department of Geology, AMU, Aligarh while putting the data of addition and output ratio of ground water in Aligarh city warned that water crisis may occur in Aligarh in the near future.

Dr. Mrs. Faiza of Department of Wild Life Science, AMU, stressed the need for saving wetlands where the different types of species, animals and plants constitute the parts of unique ecosystem and also play some vital roles in improving the water quality of the region.

At the end, the president of the session, Prof. Mohammad Ajmal summarized the discussion and pointed out that only viable solution for checking the declining water level of Aligarh city and the University areas was that the government should come out with a feasible policy as soon as possible.

CHENNAI CHAPTER

A Brief Annual Report

The Chapter organized the following programmes during the year 2002-2003.

1.        A discussion on “We and Environment: A Social Commitment” was organized at D.A. Parpia Matriculation School on 22.8.2002

Dr. Sultan Ahmed Ismail, Deputy Director, Murugappa Research Institute, Chennai spoke on the occasion followed by a lively discussion/interaction with the audience.

2.        A number of group discussions with intellectuals were held on the subject of improving the activities of the Chennai Chapter, including the one during the visit of the Chairman Dr. Manzoor Alam sahib. A group has now emerged and is taking interest in promoting the activities of the Institute of Objective Studies, Chennai Chapter.

3.        Secretary General, Prof. Z.M. Khan sahib visited the Chapter between 04-02.03 and 07.02.03 and fruitful discussions were held on the subject of the activities of the Chapter. His observations and suggestions were made note of and are being pursued sincerely.

4.        A discussion on Islamic Studies in the Contemporary World was organized in association with the Centre for Islamic Studies, University of Madras at the Conference Hall, Department of Political Science, University of Madras on the 6th of February, 2003 at 4.30 p.m.

Prof. Z.M. Khan sahib, Secretary General, Institute of Objective Studies delivered the lecture which was presided over by Dr. P. Nisar Ahmed, Director, Oriental Research Institute and the Head of Department of Arabic, Persian and Urdu, University of Madras. The discussion that followed was very lively and useful.

5.        Many meetings were held at the Anjuman Himayat Islam, Chennai with selected people in connection with the Imdaad program. Information brochures regarding the program were distributed among selected groups and the response was good and encouraging.

It is hoped that with the initiative already taken, the activities of the Chapter will further be improved and it will become more active, Insha Allah. Steps are being taken to form small committees representing various disciplines to coordinate and formulate programs in a better way.

The Chennai Chapter proposes to organize a series of lectures on Islamic studies in association with the Centre for Islamic Studies, University of Madras besides the programs suggested by the Headquarters during the current year.

PATNA CHAPTER

Workshop on Inter-Community Relationship

A workshop on ‘Inter-Community Relationship in India’ was held on April 6, 2003 at A.N. Sinha Institute of Social Sciences, Patna. About 100 persons drawn from different segments of the society such as doctors, engineers, advocates, IAS, social thinkers, activists, media persons etc. attended the programme. Prof. Sachchidananda, a well known anthropologist and ex-Vice-Chancellor, Ranchi University, presided over the workshop. Mr. N.R. Mohanty, resident editor, The Hindustan Times, was the Chief Guest and Dr. A.A. Hai, ex-professor of Surgery, Patna Medica College and Hospital was the guest of honour. There were five resource persons, all very well known in their professional fields such as Mr. L. Dayal, IAS (Retd.), Prof. Shamshad Hussain, Prof. Imteyaz Ahmad, Mr. Azfar Hassan, Advocate, Dr. S.F Rab, Mr. M.T. Khan besides Dr. M.A. Quddus. Media coverage was also appreciable. The Hindustan Times, the Hindustan and the Urdu daily Quami Tanzeem very extensively covered the event.

There were five persons who contributed their papers.

Mr. Dayal, in his paper, “The Minority Community in India’s Pluralistic Society” referred to the words of Mahatma Gandhi that Indian culture is Indian. It is neither Hindu, Islamic or any other wholly. It is a fusion of all and everyone who calls himself an Indian is bound to treasure that culture.

Truly speaking Indian society has evolved through the ages comprising all lines and colours. It is multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-lingual. It has been so because of its tremendous assimilative capacity overcoming all sectarian differences. All segments worked together for the self as well as the nation, said Mr. Dayal.

Thus in this type of social development we do not find an evidence of minority-majority cleavage at any period of history right from the ancient Hindu period till the beginning of the British rule in India. Thus ethnic communities such as Aryans, Dravidians, Greeks, Parthians, Shakas, Kushans, Huns and several others while continually waging wars among themselves were setting down also at the social level and interacting with one another in an evolutionary process. A synthesis continued to grow which shaped Indian society leading ultimately to the development of philosophies, literature, architecture, music and also creation of tremendous wealth. There is no evidence of any community trying to trample over the cultural traditions of another community while there is ample evidence of a silent interaction overcoming all differences.

In this evolutionary process religion has never been a social determinant in India. Even rulers of the ancient and the medieval period did not use religion as a political factor. Even during wars for political and military reasons the rulers did not engineer divisions in the social community. Mr. Dayal cited the examples of Emperor Ashoka and rulers of the Sultanate and Mughal periods.

The essentially secular policy of Turko-Afghan and Mughal rulers made it possible for the different segments of Indian society to collaborate with one another towards overall social, cultural and economic development, remarked Mr. Dayal.

The non-communal nature of India’s social life during the period from the 14th to the 17th centuries is marked by two distinct manifestations: Firstly it was a golden age of Hindu religion and philosophy, the age of the Bhakti movement, when saints and sages like Ramanuj, Chaitanya, Nanak, Tulsidas, Surdas and Mirabai brought the Hindu Dharma to the doors of every household in India. The process was in no way interfered with either by the rulers or by Muslims in the society. This was matching with the policies of Hindu Rajas in Malabar coastal region and in Gujrat during the 8th-10th centuries who provided full patronage to the Arab-Muslim settlers for their economic and religious life including the freedom to propagate their faith. Secondly during the 16th-17th centuries India attained good economic strength through qualitative performance in agriculture, industry, craftsmanship trade and export.

The above narration of historical events provides a lesson to us, i.e., it is partnership on equal terms amongst all segments in the society which leads to overall national development. This holds good for today also. Unfortunately the present minority and majority syndrome is playing havoc with the minority as well as the national development, said Mr. Dayal.

The minority-majority syndrome has emerged as a result of the British rule in India in two ways: (a) the Britishers indulged in re-writing the Indian history of the medieval period purely from communal angle; and (b) the planting of the British model of democracy in India in which numbers were more important than the fully participatory role of the people. This has been further compounded by the communal tinge in the implementation of the constitutional provisions and the declared official policies of the state for ameliorating the conditions of the weaker sections.

So as a result of all these developments the minorities are at the receiving end today, said Mr. Dayal. Nothing is going to ameliorate their conditions than their self-help by indulging themselves in getting education and vocational training. The emphasis on education is due to the fact that Indian Muslims are basically a non-agricultural community having little permanent assets in the family and the only factor which can carry them forward in life is education as also skills for urban oriented jobs, observed Mr. Dayal.

Mr. Dayal further said that the Muslim leadership is also responsible for the backwardness of Indian Muslims because it is not forward-looking. It is more concerned with religious issues and golden past of Muslim power than the challenges of the future. There has been inadequate effort towards removal of illiteracy, promotion of primary and secondary education, education of women and towards imparting skills for gainful employment. Persons like Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan who provided a right direction to the community in the changed circumstances after the fall of the Mughal empire need to be replicated today, remarked Mr. Dayal.

Dr. Shamshad Hussain, in his paper, “Psychological Empowerment of Muslims in India: A Product of Shared Responsibility of Minority and Majority Group” spoke on the Psychological empowerment of Muslims. Empowerment of minorities refers to make them aware both in knowledge and skill so that they are able to face the challenges of life successfully and lead a happy life. There are different kinds of empowerment. Psychological empowerment is one of them. It leads to other empowerments such as political, economic etc. because a healthy psyche is essential for achieving success in other fields of empowerment, said Dr. Shamshad.

The focus of psyche is on how we perceive ourselves in the light of the prevailing circumstances and it is more important than what other think about us. A dwarf does not feel disturbed over his height even if others pass unfavourable remarks but the moment he starts perceiving himself as a person of abnormal height his self esteem is affected and it hinders his growth and development. Minority groups whether they are Muslim or others have to feel that they have contributed a lot towards development and rich socio-cultural heritage of the country. Their identity is not to be lost even amidst odds some time. The psyche of minority groups is to be studied in the background of the psyche of the majority group which becomes significant contributor to the development of healthy psyche of the minority groups. It may be mentioned here that the problems being faced by the minorities are not the same for all and hence the psyche of the members of different minority groups would be of different nature, opined Dr. Shamshad.

For the speedy and healthy development in a country like India which is known for its composite culture and unity in its diversity, a strong identification of minorities with the majority and the vice-versa is needed. The positive and rewarding role of the majority will facilitate the personality development of minority groups and help them in giving a right direction to their thinking in solving the problems of life and setting a satisfying goal of life. If the majority fails to win the confidence of the minorities it will not achieve the target of optimum development and a harmonious living. Hence for the psychological empowerment of minorities a stimulating and rewarding atmosphere needs to be created, remarked Dr. Shamshad.

The focus of Dr. Rab’s paper was on British historians for spreading communalism in India.

The British historians while compiling historical data of the medieval period knowingly twisted the events in terms of the communities and not in terms of the ruling class and the ruled. Also they referred to the Hindus as native and to the Muslims as foreigners.

The writings of Western scholars like Sir Henry Main’s “Ancient Law (1861) and the village communities of the East and West” (1871) and Sri Alfred Lyall’s “Asiatic Studies” (1882) provide the best example of the anthropological data having been provided for the formulation of the colonial policy of sowing the seed of discord. These ideas of communal discord were further nurtured and strengthened by the writings of certain Indian scholars that led to the emergence of communal organisations on both sides, said Dr. Rab.

In fact, these two communities belong to common biological origins and having identical racial characteristics, they share many common socio-cultural features and functionally they are interlocked with each other. Rothermand, in his famous work, “Islam in South East Asia” (1975) has mentioned that there is hardly any region in India where Muslims do not represent all strata of society. These aspects of inter-community relationship provide us with some insight into the subject matter of inter-community linkages, opined Dr. Rab.

According to Mr. M.T. Khan the natural forces compel different communities to live together for their economic and non-economic mutual benefits. Since religion or cultural belief act as a base on which stands the super-structure of a community, it is highly essential that they are handled very carefully. They may make or mar the community’s inter-relationships, all depending upon how they are projected. The religion of a person is largely hereditary and therefore it is emotive and impulsive. For a very few persons it is a choice (i.e. study-based selection of religion) and therefore introspective and emulative in nature. Hence religion/cultural belief become very sensitive issues and hence they need careful handling through respect for one another. Hence the social role of religion must be highlighted, strengthened and projected. It will pave the way for positive inter-community relationship that will lead to all-out progress and development of all the communities, said Mr. Khan.

Mr. Azfar Hassan said that as we must confine ourselves to the nature of Hindu-Muslim relations, we would first have to identify the problems, before we could hope to find a solution. Hindus and Muslims have lived together in the Indian sub-continent for centuries, and will continue to do so. It is imperative therefore, that we look at history and ask some questions. Have Hindus and Muslims lived in harmony, or have they always been antagonistic to each other? Are their interests, economic, political, social, alike, or opposing to each other? Is communalism in the Indian Polity today a necessary and logical outcome of the historical and social developments of India, particularly during the medieval period of Indian history or could it have been avoided?

The answers to the above questions are given differently by different schools of political thoughts which are as follows:

i.         The Hindu Communalists

ii.       The Muslim Communalists

iii.      The Secular Nationalists

Mr. Hassan further said that the Hindu communalists defined the Indian Nation in such a manner as to exclude Muslims, Christians and Parsis from its purview. To be an Indian it was not sufficient to be born in India, it was also necessary to follow a religion which had its holy places in the territorial entity called India. India, according to V.D. Savarkar, must not only be your father land, (Pitrbhoomi) but also your Punya bhoomi (holy land) before you can have any claim to the Indian nationhood.

The Muslim communalists readily accepted the communal interpretation of Indian history and the ideology propagated by the Hindu communalists, as it suited their designs. The two nation theory, first introduced by V.D. Savarkar, was later taken up by the Muslim League. However, there was one important difference. While the Hindu communalists insisted that the Indian Nation was a Hindu Nation and Muslims were foreigners, who were either to be expelled or subordinated if they refused to be “absorbed” in the Hindu Nation, the Muslim communalists proclaimed the existence of two nations and demanded the creation of Pakistan for the Muslim nation.

The secular nationalists, on the other hand, hold that it was scientifically incorrect to define nationhood on the basis of religious beliefs. The secular nationalists argue that nationhood is linked to territory and all those born within the territorial boundaries of India are Indians, regardless of their religious beliefs.

From the beginning of the 20th century till the time of independence, these three streams of political thought, the Hindu communal, the Muslim communal, and the secular national, were competing for political space, said Mr. Hassan. The Hindu communalists were represented by the Hindu Mahasabha and the RSS, the Muslim communalists by the Muslim League, and the secular nationalists by the Indian National Congress and Communists. The Hindu and the Muslim communalists did not consider British colonial rule to be the main enemy of Indian society. The former believed Muslims to be the main enemy and the latter saw the Hindus as enemy and therefore, they both were willing to collaborate with the British Imperialism as and when required. It was only the secular nationalists who considered colonial rule to be the main enemy and strove to remove it for achieving freedom. After independence and the creation of Pakistan, the influence of the Muslim communalists which in any case was not really significant before 1937, declined very fast. The Hindu communalists were also largely marginalised as they had played no role in the freedom struggle and were seen to be collaborators with the British. Their role in the killing of the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi, made them very unpopular with the Indian people and led to a ban on their political activities for a while. Independent India declared itself a republic and adopted a secular Constitution which forbade discrimination against its citizens on grounds of religion, caste and gender and guaranteed them equality before law and equal protection of the law. This was no concession to the non-Hindu minorities, but the only way to hold together a diverse and plural entity, that was India, said Mr. Hassan. Although, after partition, the Indian Muslims were viewed by the Hindus with suspicion and mistrust, and were discriminated against in matters of public employment and distribution of State largesse, at least in the eye of law and in theory they were equal to Hindus, remarked Mr. Hassan.

Mr. Hassan further remarked that after the death of Nehru in 1964, the communal Hindus began to rise, and in 1977 they were able to overthrow the “secular rule” in collaboration with other parties. The late 1980s and the 1990s have witnessed the phenomenal rise of Hindu communalists who have frequently targeted Muslim lives, properties, even their places of worship.

One silver lining in the present dark communal horizon is the rise of another ideology which is challenging Hindu Nationalism. The Hindu society stratified into castes unlike being a homogenous monolith is facing the challenges from the Backward and Scheduled Castes and Tribes that account for 67% of the total population of India. The non-Hindu minorities which account for 17% of the population are also tilted towards them. Together they are challenging the upper castes who are 16% of the population.

Their recent assertion over the 80s and 90s in the North have shaken the Hindutava ideology. Their focus is on social justice instead of Hindutava demanding the reversal of centuries of oppression by the upper castes and restructuring the Hindu society, observed Mr. Hassan.