*By Mansoor Durrani for TwoCircles.net
Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today – Malcolm X
Humans are not blessed with the same level of intellect, opportunities, health and wealth. Educated and wealthy folks are a great asset to any society. They are blessed with the capacity to punch (if they choose to) above their weight in all aspects of life, including social projects.I grew up listening stories from my father’s generation of how Muslim Indians – as a community – were orphaned when their crème de la crème left for Pakistan.
So in the midst of riots, self-doubt and social turmoil, the two post-partition decades of the 1950s and 1960s were spent in search of survival and self-rebuilding the community albeit without the much needed financial or intellectual horsepower because that engine had already crossed the border into Pakistan.By the time the community began to regain some confidence and gather some resources, the oil boom in the Arabian Gulf region arrived. Already deprived of many economic opportunities (not just by the government biases but also their own lack of education and skills), hordes of Muslims rushed to the Gulf for earning petrodollars.
A reasonably large number of these Muslim migrants were highly educated and skilled. On the face of it, this move was a perfectly legitimate option for their economic empowerment. And if a fair share of the oil riches were utilized for the purposes of social infrastructures (schools, hospitals, media and research organisations, vocational centres), it would be a great boon for
the community and the country. But it later emerged that this wave of educated-Muslim exodus from India left the community orphaned for the second time within two decades!The Gulf-based NRIs and their families thoroughly enjoyed a much better lifestyle, education, healthcare etc. And they also sent home some savings for building houses, buying cars and gadgets acquisition. All these were perfectly reasonable ways of utilising their hard earned money. However, over a period of time, the dazzle of luxurious lifestyle began to blind the NRIs of their social responsibilities back home.
Those who were not as fortunate, as some of us living and earning in the Gulf, required extensive mentoring, handholding and heavy (not light) financial support. What some folks back home received, instead, were crumbs and leftovers mostly in the form of 2.5% mandatory charity (zakah) that Muslims are supposed to donate annually on their savings. Very few of us got past this threshold. Over the past four decades, Muslim Indians have earned billions of dollars of tax-free money in the Gulf. Where have most of these funds gone? Upper-middle-class professionals – as mentioned above – have built nice and cosy houses, bought flashy cars – both used only once or twice a year when they visit their extended families. And more privileged among us have spent on farmhouses, exotic European and North American vacations, expensive jewellery, watches, designer clothes etc. Educating our kids in the Western Universities is another perfectly reasonable thing to do. But we have “settled” our kids in European and North American nations because it is “hard for our kids to go back and live in India”! And what the parents themselves do when they retire from their high-earning jobs in the Gulf?
Well, they “spend time with their kids in Europe or the US”!Of course, some of these NRIs and PIOs also write blogs, forward emails and WhatsApp messages on the pathetic state of their community on social media, including Facebook!! And yes, they also give suggestions!!!Barring a few exceptions, this petrodollars opportunity running over four long decades has largely been squandered. Yes some families are far more educated and affluent; yes some families may have “secured the future” of their coming one or two generations, but the community as a whole has been left behind because they were deprived of both the money and the minds of NRIs – which is clearly evident in its current socioeconomic state.At a leadership program in Stanford University last month, I got introduced to very bright scientists, researchers and PhD scholars who commit a certain number of years of their lives for teaching in the villages of Africa and Latin America! It is only on the back of such commitments and sacrifices that Allah elevates and empowers communities and nations.
Is there a way for us to undo, at least partially, the damage already done? Maybe, this is the last and final opportunity for those who are still able to earn petrodollars to rise up to the multiple challenges back home. Whining about the majority community and governments not doing enough for us does not cut it anymore. Constantly “begging for mercy or help” puts us only in the lowest of the low categories. Instantly opening up our purses and stepping up on the plate for a prolonged phase of handholding and mentoring is the only option left for us if we genuinely wish to regain some respect and dignity – both individually and collectively!Probably, this point can be understood a bit better by the example of an affluent father who blows up all his money and energy on his personal indulgences and pleasures or reckless business ambitions; and then expects others to pay for even the most basic needs of his own kids, including education. Now take an aerial view of this example and then, hopefully, my point becomes clearer!!If such a man is not an ideal and responsible father, is such a group an ideal and responsible community?So no more crumbs or leftovers for our underprivileged folks; we must step up.
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The author talks the walk. A world-class school www.e-p-s.in <www.e-p-s.in/> based in Bhopal is entirely set up and supported by him since 2003. *