By Md. Ali, TwoCircles.net,
New Delhi: This was the meeting where you could have found more innovative and thought provoking ideas than the typical get together of Muslim ‘leaders’ which I have now become habituated to attend.
Few concerned students of Jamia Millia Islamia from its different departments came together yesterday under the open sky on the green fields of the university to discuss wide ranging issues concerning backwardness of Muslim in India particularly in the context of the Sachar Committee and Ranganath Mishra Commission reports.
L to R – Badre Alam making a point, Saira Mujtaba and Suhaib
From the socio-economic backwardness of the second biggest minority of India to caste politics and its repercussions on the larger Muslim politics to the diversity of the community- almost every thing was on the agenda of these enthusiastic students of Jamia.
Those who are not optimistic about the future of Muslims in India should meet these young minds to get inspired.
The meeting was first of its kind as an initiative by the students of this university which turned 90 last week.
As an organization this group of students is still in its formative stages. Essentially it was a brain storming session and also platform for the students to express their views on issues they were passionate about.
Some expressed the need to focus on the backwardness of the community the way it has been highlighted in Sachar Commission’s report.
While others emphasized the need to use the Sachar Report as a launching pad to go among the backward areas on the community a suggestion also came to take up Okhla as a case study and create awareness about the development activities or lack of them.
A very important suggestion came from Saira Mujtaba who talked about gender related issues and how they are usually ignored by the patriarchal guardians of the community.
The participants decided to meet next time very soon. Among those who participated in the meeting were Asad Ashraf, Sajjad Kargili, Ali Akhtar, Badre Alam, Sandeep, Zain Sher, Iram Fatima and Adnan Mahmood Sher.
[TCN Photos]