Dr. M Waseem Raja,
We only talk of representation and education to Muslim youths in India, always forgetting a major chunk of them – almost 50% – who too need colleges and universities. The issue of university for Indian Muslim women is not any small issue, but has almost become an obligation as this is obviously related to our existence in India as an ‘enlightened qaum.
The issue of female education amongst Muslims has been smoldering strongly for quite long time against the backdrop of very pathetic show of Muslims on every front in India. The need of Muslim women universities and Muslim women’s colleges are felt more than ever today, than say 20-30 years back when most of them shied away from such outings.
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Today when the world opens with a click of fingertip, Muslim women are crying for attention from their male counterparts as how would you take them forward in 21st century global realities, where most advanced countries do not distinguish between men and women when it comes to providing quality educations. Indian women have been left in lurch for want of the attention they deserved.
An educated mother or so to say a highly educated mother is not only empowered for herself and could face the world alone, but she has the potential of transforming the world around her and provide great help to the poor illiterate Muslim women in her neighborhood. Educating them would remove darkness and backwardness from their lives.
If akabreen millat (Muslim leaders) do not have any guts to provide them any space for them to be educated/enlightened, we should also not be impediment in their way to get what they deserve best for them. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan turned his blood into sweat to ask from the qaum to get their young ones educated.
Although in his lifetime he could not do as much for women education per se, he showed the way nonetheless. One of his followers, Shaikh Abdullah (Papa Mian) could not be forgotten for what he did for the Muslim women education.
Women as an integral part of the community need their fair share in what we ask for ourselves. Education level among Muslim women is dismally low. We certainly need to demand for girls schools and women colleges as well in minority concentrated localities.
Abdullah College for women’s at AMU caters to such demand, but it can accommodate only few hundreds. There is certainly need for all women’s universities catering to Muslim. Community should not fear ill conceived fatwas in regard to Muslim girls getting educated at places like AMU.
(Dr. M Waseem Raja is assistant professor of History at the Aligarh Muslim University.)