Economic Problems of Indian Muslims and Their Solutions

The last panel discussion of the series on “Problems of Indian Muslims and Their Solutions” was held on April 01, 2003 in the premises of the local chapter in which the participants threw light on the “Economic problems of Indian Muslims and their solutions”.

Initiating the discussion, Prof. Nasim A. Zaidi, former Chairman, Department of Economics, AMU, Aligarh said that one of the major problems before the educated Muslim youths was the biased attitude of the employers against them and advised that in order to solve this problem subjectivity must be replaced with the objective way of selection.

He said that in public sector, job avenues were shrinking whereas in private sector it was expanding. He, therefore, advised the youths to opt for professional education based on expertise and specialization so as to match the employment prospects.

According to Prof. Zaidi Muslims don’t emphasize quality of education; instead they focus on quantity which will worsen the employment problem. He said that if we want to get into the main stream of the employment market, we will have to prove our worth in terms of quality.

Medium of instruction at schools level is also a problem because of which Muslim students either helplessly or emotionally adopt Urdu or Hindi medium of instruction but these students barely compete with the English medium students particularly at higher level, like professional and technical education.

The speaker also stressed the need for exploring the avenues of self employment where one becomes master of his/her own ship by way of resorting to business tactics like fair dealing, honesty, soft-speaking, promise-keeping and goodwill development.

Prof. Shah Mohammad Waseem, former Dean, Faculty of Commerce, AMU, Aligarh was of the view that mere talking would not serve any purpose and we will have to do hard labour after knowing the ground realities with the help of undertaking surveys and collecting datas of drop out students, population above and below the poverty line, and the percentage of uneducated Muslims. On the basis of these datas separate steps, would have to be taken for all problems.

Charity development can be very much useful if funds are collected in mosques and distributed among the needy Muslims, he said. He also stressed the need for centralized collection and distribution of Zakat funds honestly and transparently. The speaker also exhorted the NRIs and rich Muslims of the country to donate generously for helping their poor brethren.

Prof. Humayun Murad emphasized the importance of excellence in each and every walk of life and suggested that mediocre and average approach must be done away with and Muslims must make efforts to excel in whatever capacity they are working.

Prof. Murad said that efforts must be made for community cooperative societies with a view to improving the position of skilled and professional persons. According to him all possible endeavours must be made to find the talented Muslim workers from all over and their skills must be developed.

The search for talents should also focus on Muslim women so that they may be placed suitably wherever required. He also asked to use their talents to get benefit from the proposed 33% reservation policy of the government for women.

Lecture on Conflict Resolution

Prof. Iqbal A. Ansari, an eminent scholar and a human rights activist, spoke on “Inter-Community Conflict Resolution in a Traditional Society” in the lecture hall of the local chapter on April 3, 2003 which was attended by a large number of teachers and students. Prof. Ansari emphasized the fact that while there are Hindus who are anti-Muslim, there are large number of Hindus who are peace-loving and believe in maintaining communal harmony. He also said that there are few things which Muslims can do for a better living together. Muslims would especially be well advised to get in touch with the saner elements of the Hindu society and try convinced them that they are as much interested in maintaining communal harmony as any other group. Such endeavours will certainly succeeded, said Prof. Ansari.

Multi-Media Presentation

On April 7, 2003, a Multi-Media Presentation was made in the lecture hall of the Institute which was attended by the people belonging to almost every walk of life from both old and new areas of the city.

Mr. Jamshed Akhtar, Project Director of an IOS-sponsored IMDAAD project, introduced the project under discussion in detail with the help of multi-media projector and said that basically the project was an attempt to network the Muslims nationwide for empowerment and business benefits and exhorted the audience to contribute their bit in whatever way it was possible so as to enable others to get the fruits of our endeavours.

Mr. Mohammad Muqim, Coordinator of the Chapter announced the collective desire of the audience to open a chapter of the project at Aligarh under the aegis of the IOS local Chapter and thanked the audience and the project director.

Symposium on Global Crisis and the Muslim World

The Institute of Objective Studies, Aligarh Chapter arranged a symposium on “Global Crisis” on April 26, 2003. A numbers of University teachers and young researchers were invited to participate in the programme which was initiated by Dr. Irfan Ahmad Khan, member of the Parliament of World Religions, Chicago, USA. In his introductory remarks, Dr. Khan focused on the scene of current global crisis and explained in details as to how it is connected with the capitalistic ideology where self-interest is sole criteria of judging the values. Referring to the current Gulf crisis, he felt that this is the beginning of the end of US hegemony over the world.

Mohammad Muqim, the coordinator of IOS, Aligarh Chapter, and also the moderator of the symposium, asked the discussants to put their viewpoints on the issues one by one. Firstly, Dr. Mohibul Haque spoke on the ineffectiveness of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) with regard to the colonial domination of Western power over the Muslim countries, especially the oil rich countries of the Arabian Gulf. He, however, felt that current politicization of the events and the involvement of masses may lead to a major democratic development in the region.

Dr. Abdul Majid Khan blamed the Muslim rulers for creating vacuum in their system of governance which helped the opponents of Islam to take advantages of the situation. He asked the Muslim intellectuals to frame new strategies on political, social and economic fronts in order to counter the current Western and US designs against the Muslim world. Speaking on the same line, Dr. Anjuman Ara Anjum, an active Muslim social reformer, said that the main reason for colonial domination in the Muslim countries is that Muslim rulers have lost their imani power (the power of faith). Sharing the concerns of the previous speakers, Dr. Hameedullah Siddiqui asked till how long the Muslim sheikhdoms in the Arab Gulf region be allowed to misuse the natural resources of the Muslim Ummah? He said that the capitalistic design of World Bank, International Monetary Fund and other similar organizations are not working on equal terms and with justice. We should, therefore, reconsider the terms and conditions imposed by such institutions. He further pointed that the time has come when the Islamic ideology needed to be emphasized and the natural resources of the Muslims world must be exploited for empowerment of the ummah.

Dr. Mufti Zahid Ali Khan was of the view that on the issue of Gulf War, the non-Muslim governments, including India, were more united against the US occupation of Iraq than many of the Muslim Arab states. Though India has been neglected by the Muslim rulers, he advised that a new climate of cooperation must be strengthened at this juncture.

Expressing his anguish over the pitiable condition of the Muslim world, the 90 year old Dr. Ahmad Surti, formerly a professor at Aligarh Muslim University, said that a change in Muslim temperament is a must in order to bring them into the scientific and technological mainstream. He said a new formula was needed to reconstruct our ideology, mind and get the essence of all these from the teachings of the Qur’an.

The last speaker was Dr. Abdul Haque Ansari, the President of Jam’at-e-Islami, Hind. He spoke on the global crisis in a broader perspective. He said, while there were no weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq, and the US ultimately claimed to be victorious in this war, there should be pressure from the Muslim governments, especially the custodian of Haram should come forward to force the US that democratic government must be formed in Iraq at its earliest.

We should also raise voices that the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) is now dead. Dr. Ansari further said that the US bombing in Afghanistan and Iraq has united the people of these countries.

Talking about the global crisis in the context of India, Dr. Ansari said that both India and Pakistan should now realize that the US is friend of neither. Both should put pressure on the US and its people that its military action is against the teachings of Christianity and Judaism. He said the majority of people in the West believe in this.

Addressing the young researchers on the occasion, Dr. Ansari asked them to concentrate on their researches, and write books on the issues facing the third world countries from the capitalistic powers. He said that Muslims could not tolerate the imperialism which has failed in the recent past.

At the end, Dr. Irfan Ahmad Khan presented his presidential remarks that contemporary global crisis should be discussed in the framework of universal peace to the world community irrespective of religion and community. He felt that the main issues facing the world are injustices towards the weakers, economic disparity, and misuse of natural resources of the earth. Referring to the Muslim community, Dr. Khan advised to concentrate on the inter-community relations with deep researches on their ideologies and philosophies. On the other hand, they should also come forward to interact with other communities of the world.

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