By S G Haque,
The Indian Government has admitted that the cases of human rights violation against minorities have increased and Indian Muslims, the largest minority community are the worst sufferer. Several communal riots instigated by Hindu nationalists, have caused heavy damages to the Muslims. Riots and violence against them have become a common feature. The Muslims are slaughtered mercilessly in communal riots and women raped and the agencies responsible for protecting the lives and modesty of women remain a silent spectator during communal riots. Today the global fever of terrorism is badly haunting the community. The innocent people of productive ages of the community are easy target of unscrupulous and communal elements. The broad daylight killings of Muslim youths by security agencies have become a routine job today. The number of Muslims in jails increases day by day.
When person like Justice Sachar talks about backwardness among Muslims and suggests doing special effort to educate Muslims, the communal elements brand the highly educated like IT and management graduates as terrorists and virtually closes the door of academic and employment opportunities for Muslim youths.
Indian Muslims have shorter life spans, worse health, lower literacy rates and irregular lower-paying jobs. Today, hardly 1 % Muslims is in government services, while this figure was about 30 % before partition. These are the findings of government’s own national sample survey.
The socio-economic status of Muslims is worst than the Dalits, the most backward community of India. Several studies and surveys have revealed the fact that the Indian Muslims, the second largest community are lagging behind and they cannot get rid of their poverty, illiteracy and other social ills without special and proper support. Every one of the nation is aware that the persons belonging to the Scheduled caste and Scheduled tribe communities were considered as most backward and downtrodden. Nevertheless, the constitutional support helped them to improve their condition. Today they are in a better position as compared to their fore fathers. Of course, the atrocities against them have not come to a complete halt and they are yet to join the billionaires club. But it is also a fact that besides constitutional provisions for reservation in education and jobs, there are special legal enactments to check the violence and atrocities against Dalits. The Government made a provision of separate courts for anti-Dalit cases. Unfortunately, there are no such constitutional and legal measures to protect or safeguard the interest of Muslims. While, the violent attack on Muslims are common. Several committees and commissions have studied the social and economic status of Indian Muslims since independence. But their reports failed to bring any material change in their lives. Because, no government showed the courage to implement the recommendations of such committees. The Sachar committee report was tabled and debated in the parliament with much fanfare. The UPA government made very tall promises to bail out the Muslim community from their worst and desperate plight. Several announcements were made to ensure the educational needs of the community. However, their promises failed to become reality. The UPA government did not make any concrete effort.
There are enough historical and documentary evidence, which show that the Indian Muslims felled prey to famous divide and rule policy of the British. They created an atmosphere of hatred and distrust between two largest communities of India by using the vested and communal elements and spreading rumors of forced conversion and demolition of temples in much planned manner, which has already been denounced by several eminent Hindu intellectuals and historians. The post 1857 era was worst for the Muslim elites. The British held Muslims responsible for the start of the freedom struggle. The aggressive and vigorously active role of Indian Muslims in the freedom struggle forced the British to teach a lesson to the community. They blatantly targeted Muslim religious leaders and intellectuals. Indian Muslim bore the brunt of British rage. They coloured the streets of Delhi with the bloods of Ulemas. They closed the doors of opportunity upon Muslims. The physical and economic insecurity marginalized the community. They introduced English as official language that led to the further marginalization of Muslims. The literacy rate of Muslims fell significantly to 20 % with in half-century span due to their anti- Muslim policies.
They were deprived of all administrative and judicial jobs in the government. The discriminatory policies of the British showed the door of deprivation and backwardness to the Indian Muslims.
The Muslims are facing multi pronged hurdles. In this peculiar and desperate situation of victimization and exploitation, no one seems willing to bail out the community from the crisis. Needless to say that the community leadership is totally ineffective.
It is high time that the policy makers should realize that the India cannot attain self-reliance and become a developed nation until all its organ develop fully and become healthier. The vast Muslim population is a vital organ of the mother India. So, there is a need to change the centuries old mindset and to do some serious efforts to help Muslims in getting rid of their much-debated crises. Keeping in view the larger interest of the nation, government should initiate steps to provide special constitutional and legal aids to help the Muslims in countering the frequent violence, discrimination and to ensure proper representation in education and employment by adopting the same policies and procedures the government used to uplift the Dalits.