By Tanvir Salim,
The report by the Justice Rajinder Sachar Committee on the social, economic and educational status of Muslims across the country was presented to the Indian Parliament in November, 2006. It may have been an eye-opener to many, but for those among us who are aware of the conditions of Indian Muslims; its contents had nothing new to say. Muslims in India rank today among the most backward communities in terms of their economic, social and educational status. By some measures based on economic and social factors they are far behind the Dalits, the erstwhile “untouchables”, who were not even, granted a place in the Hindu caste hierarchy.
Muslims account for more than 13% of India’s population, yet they make up only 1.7% of the undergraduate-class in the seven Indian Institutes of Technology, India’s version of a ‘technology Ivy League’.
This underrepresentation is seen elsewhere too. Among the nation’s bureaucratic elite, Muslims comprise 3% of the staff in the Indian Administrative Service, and only 1.8% in the diplomatic corps.
Group Photo of Organizers and Visiting Poets on the occasion of Sir Syed Day celebration by AMU alumni in California on 30th October 2010.
It is an acknowledged fact now that Muslims, after living for sixty years in independent India, have been pushed to the bottom of the barrel. This has happened despite the fact that the country’s constitution has guaranteed equal opportunity to all citizens and is obligated to prevent discrimination on the basis of religion, caste and creed. Today, when India is vying to become the next superpower, the dilemma faced by Muslims, is that they have no significant role to play in the glory days of the nation that lie ahead. The Sachar Committee report simply tells us that we are not even on the team. So what should be the next step to correct this problem?
The committee’s recommendations are encouraging, but there is no guarantee that they will be implemented, and even if they are, those won’t be enough to move Muslims up to the next level. We should take steps on our own to ensure that these recommendations are followed upon. We have to seek control of our own destiny. Many initiatives need to be taken and should be undertaken by all who agree to the Sachar report and its proposals on the plight of the Muslims.
Because of its past achievements, and future possibilities, Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and its alumni can play a pivotal role in having the Sachar Committee’s recommendations acted upon. AMU as a university, and its alumni, could well move ahead with such an agenda, care must be taken in their approaches, which would most likely be different towards achieving the same goal.
The premises and intellectual infrastructure of AMU should not be turned into the de-facto platform to raise such issues. AMU is an educational institution and therefore should remain a centre for learning. The time demands it to adhere well to the methodologies that could turn it into a premier university. And so the effort to get the recommendations implemented should be initiated off the campus, by the well-wishers and alumni of AMU.
In no way we want AMU to be hijacked by self seekers, who in the pretext of taking up the Sachar Committee’s proposals would only aim at furthering their individual causes.
The AMU alumni have generally done well throughout the world. But it is sad to say, barring some exceptions, there are not many among them powerful enough to effect major changes. It is indeed a problem, but fortunately, the core of the problem hints of the solution.
Most of the AMU alumni are generally on the second tier when it comes to leadership responsibilities. The reasons for this are obvious. Due to the Muslim community being deprived in so many ways to begin with, AMU doesn’t get to admit the top scholars. And to add to it there are not so many of them available among the Muslims, but only a few who are snapped up by the elite Indian educational institutions. This creates a challenge to begin with at the supply-line of Muslim scholars.
Therefore the first step should be to create an infrastructure, at the ground-level, so that an improvement in the quality of the Muslim college entrants is ensured. We should work at the lower planes, such as in the “Mohallas”, to improve the quality of “what goes in”, so that “what comes out” at the later stage is even better. Only such acts could ensure an uplifting of the community in the broadest sense.
We will have to cherry-pick from the very micro level, in order to spot the brightest and smartest. Going by the axiom that “it takes a whole village to raise a child”, the AMU Alumni, as denizens of that “village”, should thus work on raising a few of those “children”, who will then have the opportunity to be another Dr. Abdul Kalam, the former president of India.
We don’t have to, nor should we wait for the government to implement what is in the Sachar Committee Report. From time to time, especially during election periods, the government will do its part. But that will be too late, and probably not enough. We should take our destiny in our hands, so that in future there is no need for specifically appointed committees to study the conditions of Muslims in independent and secular India.
Indian Muslims have spread all over the world. We have to pool our resources and work with a common focus towards the micro and macro-level objectives outlined above. Here in the United States, various alumni associations are working towards such goals. It wouldn’t be out of place to mention that the Aligarh Alumni Association of New England has acknowledged the proposals of Sachar Committee Report, and is in the forefront contributing towards the feeder-level, which I believe could be defined as the ground-level or the starting-block. We need others to follow suit. Let the good work begin.
(Tanvir Salim is a Nuclear Engineer by education and training and is presently settled in the United States. He is also the Patron of Ashfaq Husain Ansari Memorial Society in Gorakhpur, India. Can be reached at www.tanvirsalim.com)