By TCN News,
New Delhi: Seventeen candidates, who were selected in Civil Services 2016 through Zakat Foundation of India were felicitated at a glittering ceremony in the over packed auditorium of New Delhi’s India Islamic Cultural Centre on Sunday. Certificates of inscription for ZFI Fellowship were handed over to them by Justice Rajinder Sachar, former chairman of the Prime Minister’s High Level Committee on socio-economic status of Muslims.
In a PowerPoint presentation the ZFI President Dr Syed Zafar Mahmood reminded the audience of Surah Al-Asr (Chapter 103 of Holy Quran) in which God says that man is in loss except those who have faith in Him and carry out good works for social amelioration. He also recollected article 16(1) of the Indian constitution which says that there shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the state.
Dr Zafar Mahmood added that individual and the community’s fate can be changed for the better through perseverance. The rain drop falling in the ocean has a choice of comfortably sitting inside a shell in the ocean bed and silently basking in the personal glory of being a pearl though incapacitating itself of useful activity thereby diluting the ocean’s activism. Alternatively, the rain drop can choose to mix with the vibrant waves and supplement the oceanic vibrancy and positive energy.
He recounted the Sachar Committee’s finding that Muslims are lagging in educational, economic and social fields behind every other socio-religious community. This is basically because of thorough under-representation of Muslims in the country’s governance. Legislative under representation is caused by reservation of Muslim pre-dominant constituencies for scheduled castes. But in executive services under the government – which account for more than 90% of India’s governance – Muslims are under represented as they don’t appear in the UPSC competitive examination in sufficient number and that too after proper preparing.
Dr Mahmood went on to disclose that this was the reason why Sir Syed Ahmad Khan had established in 1883 the Mohammedans Civil Services Fund Association through which candidates were sent every year to London to write the ICS examination. Today the community must revive this noble tradition of nation building.
The president of India Islamic Cultural Centre, where the program was jointly organized with ZFI, Mr Surajuddin Qureshi thanked Dr Zafar Mahmood to agree to hold this annual ZFI event in IICC. He offered to collaborate with ZFI in its highly successful civil services project.
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