Nawab Shah Mohammad Shoaib Khan is a descendent of the last emperor of Moghul dynasty Mohammad Sirajuddin Bahadur Shah Zafar. Nawab Shoaib is fighting against the Government of India in many legal cases at different levels. To him, the secret of solving the economic problems of Muslims in India lies in hard labour and strong relations with countrymen. In an interview with Delhi-based Rabita Islamic News Agency (RINA), Nawab Shoaib talks about the economic problems of Indian Muslims and their solution –RINA.
Q: How do you think Muslims are backward in India?
A: Indeed, Muslims are economically backward in India and the Sachar Committee report reflects this facts.
Q: What are the reasons of their backwardness?
A: In my view, there are historical and communal reasons operating behind this backwardness. This backwardness of Indian Muslims started in 1857, and not in 1947. That was the time when Englishmen broke Muslims’ backbone by confiscating their properties and distributing it among people. They devastated Muslims’ other economic means, for example, handicraft guilds, trade and employment opportunities. Then, ever since 1947, the Muslim economy became a victim of communal mentality rampant in the country. So, wherever Muslims tried to surge economically, their assets were either incinerated or looted. Jamshedpur, Moradabad, Meerut, Bhiwandi, Darbhanga, Aligarh and Gujarat are a few witnesses to such happenings.
Q: This means that Muslims did try to uplift themselves economically, at least after the independence of the country in 1947?
A: Indeed. Whenever Muslims got a spell of five or ten years, they tried to make rapid economic strides but communal forces and the police made them return to zero-point through riots and loot.
Q: In your opinion, didn’t Muslim organizations try to protect Muslims economically?
A: Firstly, no (Muslim) organization has ever been able to execute any economic blueprint prepared by them. Secondly, if any organization made any attempt, it was confined to carrying a ‘First Aid Box’.
Q: What do you mean by that?
A: They remained busy in striving for protecting Muslims’ lives and existence, instead of paying attention to economy. And I have no hesitation in saying that their criminal negligence is also one of the reasons behind Muslims’ backwardness.
Q: How do you think Muslims’ economic backwardness can be removed?
A: Different people present different solutions. But in my view, there is only one solution to this problem: they should maintain stronger relations with their native brethren by making them partners in their economic enterprise. And, they will have to do this unilaterally because it is their requirement and not Hindus’ or Sikhs’ as they are already stronger economically.
Q: How shall economic problem get solved by maintaining stronger relations?
A: Becoming stronger economically and making progress is a need for every individual and he struggles for it. Achieving economic progress is first dream of every individual for which he deploys various means and finds out some path of his economic progress in one field or the other. But the real requirement is that of protection and security of assets and capital and, in my view, this is impossible until our non-Muslim brethren help us in this venture. However, once our relations become brotherly, our assets shall not be looted, instead our brethren will be inspired for its protection, especially when they will be a partner in this business.
Q: Has there ever been such unity in India?
A: During seven hundred years’ rule of my esteemed family, the very same philosophy prevailed. You will have also noticed Hindu journalists’ role in demolition of Babri Masjid. But in case of Gujarat 2002 riots, there were Teesta Setelvad and Mahesh Bhatt who came forward to maintain communal harmony.