A look at the lot of Muslims in India
India is nation of approximately 80% Hindu population. Hence, Hindus are a majority community here. All other religious communities, therefore, exist in minority. The largest of our religious minorities is the Muslim community.
INDIA BEING a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic country that it is, it faces the formidable task of keeping its many, varied people together, while at the same time focusing on development. When India was partitioned, our forefathers had decided that we would continue to be the multi-religious, multi-ethnic nation that we were before. This posed a unique challenge for those who governed this country. India is basically an amalgamation of many small nations, each replete with a separate language, socio-economic milieu, history, religion and people. Hence the leaders of this country were faced with the task of keeping all these different people satisfied, if not happy. In the 2001 census, the Muslim population was enumerated at over 13 million and the committee estimated that the Muslim population would touch 15 million by 2006. According to Indian Government the total percentage of Muslim in India is in between 15 per cent to 17 per cent. Since the independence of India in 1947 the percentage of Muslim in government census had remained the same, i.e. 12 per cent or less. Justice K. M. Yusuf, a retired Judge from Calcutta High Court and Chairman of West Bengal Minority Commission, says that in his view the total percentage of Muslims in India is at least 25 per cent.
Another reason that it is believed that the total percentage of Muslims in India is at least 25 per cent is because the increase of population in Pakistan after 1947 was almost 5 fold (Library of Congress). So, logically thinking, the Muslim population in India would also have increased at the same rate. The Muslim growth rate is much higher, across the nation, than other socio-religious communities. However, they do, according to the Sachar Committee report, have the most favourable child sex ratio among all SRCs (Socio-Religious Communities). The Muslim CBR or Crude Birth Rate is also higher at 30.8 per cent as compared to the national average of 25.9 per cent. As is obvious, population growth at this rate is worrisome for the country. This difference can be attributed to the lack of education amongst Muslims. Literacy and Education have emerged as the biggest problems amongst the Muslim community of India, in the Sachar Committee Report. According to the report, the literacy rate among Muslims in 2001 was 59.1 per cent, far below the national average of 65.1%. In urban areas, Muslim literacy rate stands at 70.1 per cent, while the national average is 79.9 per cent. That is a gap of 9.8 per cent, almost 10 per cent. The Muslim literacy rate in rural India is 52.7 per cent. However unexpectedly, Muslim women in rural India have a literacy rate of 50%, at par with women of other communities and higher than that of women from the SC/ST community. State level estimates show that there exists a literacy gap between the Muslims and the national average in the urban areas and amongst women. However, there are exceptions here too. Tamil Nadu and Kerala Muslims do better than their counterparts across the nation, and the gap in these two states is minimal. Looking specifically at primary education, the number of Muslim students who enroll at primary schools is lesser than those from other minorities, and is only ahead of SC/STs. This is so because of the poor standards of Urdu language education in schools. At an all-India level, 3 per cent of school-going age Muslim children attend Madrasas. This is because government-aided and private schools, mostly don’t teach Urdu. While there is a marked dearth of Urdu medium schools in many states, Non-Urdu medium schools teaching Urdu are also few and far between. Madrasas seem to be filling in the void left by the government education system. In this situation, it becomes extremely important to link these Madrasas to mainstream education systems somehow. Otherwise, students are left with no other option but to drop out after a certain class, as their Madrasa certificates are not recognised. That this lack of linkage between Madrasas and the mainstream education system is a problem is clearly seen from figures such as only 4% of the Indian Muslim population aged 20 years and above are graduates or diploma holders, lower than the national average of 7 per cent. Only 1.3 per cent of the students studying in the IIMs are Muslims, and 1.7 per cent of undergraduate IITians are Muslims, while the postgraduate figures from IIT are slightly better at 4 per cent of the students being Muslims. In the top medical colleges of the country, Muslims make for about 4 per cent of the students at the undergraduate level. Muslims constitute only 3 per cent in the IAS, 1.8 per cent in the IFS and 4 per cent in the IPS. Hence they are under-represented even in the civil services. There have been many suggestions to bridge this gap ever since it was exposed. One of them, is setting up community study centres by the government in urban settlements, where maximum of the Muslim population lives in one-bedroom accommodation. Then there’s the obvious suggestion of setting up high quality Government schools in areas of Muslim concentration, and exclusive schools for girls. However, all of these are long term suggestions. They would require monetary and high quality human capital, both of which are difficult to come by in our country. Hence we have to look for certain actions that will have an immediate effect. One of these is that there be a mechanism in place that links Madrasas to Higher-Secondary School Board so that those students who want to shift to mainstream education can do so after having passed from a Madrasa. Provision of equivalence certificates or degrees is another way to ensure that students from Madrasas are eligible for subsequent admissions into institutions of higher level of education. There should be flexibility so that Madrasa students can move across to mainstream educational institutions. This would also make them eligible for entrance tests and competitive exams. Another thing that can be done is that degrees offered by Madrasas can be recognised by Civil Services, Banks and Defense Services etc, subject of course to the existing framework of entrance tests. Modernization of Madrasas as provided by the 1990 government scheme, if implemented correctly, can work wonders for the benefit of Muslim education. Many NGOs and NPOs have for quite some time now, been working for the welfare of the minorities in India. CSSS (Centre for Study of Society and Secularism) has been working towards the unity, and better co-operation between the Muslims and Hindus under the aegis of Asghar Ali Engineer. They do this through seminars, lectures and publications. They study the various cases of communal violence and examine the real causes for their occurrence and actually prove how each of these incidents was actually political and not communal in nature. Mr. Asghar Ali Engineer is renowned social scientist and activists. Besides this, there are many individual documentary makers, theatre artists and other activists who very actively promote better understanding between the different Indian communities. Some of the main problems faced by the Muslim Minorities of India right now are things like renting houses, being identified as a Muslim, lack of security, always being looked upon with suspicion, highhandedness of other communities and basic discrimination. However, on issues like poverty and standard of living, while the Muslims fair badly, they are in a much better position than SC, ST and OBC communities. While, we have come a long way, we have a longer way to go to see 100 per cent integration of this country.
Another reason that it is believed that the total percentage of Muslims in India is at least 25 per cent is because the increase of population in Pakistan after 1947 was almost 5 fold (Library of Congress). So, logically thinking, the Muslim population in India would also have increased at the same rate. The Muslim growth rate is much higher, across the nation, than other socio-religious communities. However, they do, according to the Sachar Committee report, have the most favourable child sex ratio among all SRCs (Socio-Religious Communities). The Muslim CBR or Crude Birth Rate is also higher at 30.8 per cent as compared to the national average of 25.9 per cent. As is obvious, population growth at this rate is worrisome for the country. This difference can be attributed to the lack of education amongst Muslims. Literacy and Education have emerged as the biggest problems amongst the Muslim community of India, in the Sachar Committee Report. According to the report, the literacy rate among Muslims in 2001 was 59.1 per cent, far below the national average of 65.1%. In urban areas, Muslim literacy rate stands at 70.1 per cent, while the national average is 79.9 per cent. That is a gap of 9.8 per cent, almost 10 per cent. The Muslim literacy rate in rural India is 52.7 per cent. However unexpectedly, Muslim women in rural India have a literacy rate of 50%, at par with women of other communities and higher than that of women from the SC/ST community. State level estimates show that there exists a literacy gap between the Muslims and the national average in the urban areas and amongst women. However, there are exceptions here too. Tamil Nadu and Kerala Muslims do better than their counterparts across the nation, and the gap in these two states is minimal. Looking specifically at primary education, the number of Muslim students who enroll at primary schools is lesser than those from other minorities, and is only ahead of SC/STs. This is so because of the poor standards of Urdu language education in schools. At an all-India level, 3 per cent of school-going age Muslim children attend Madrasas. This is because government-aided and private schools, mostly don’t teach Urdu. While there is a marked dearth of Urdu medium schools in many states, Non-Urdu medium schools teaching Urdu are also few and far between. Madrasas seem to be filling in the void left by the government education system. In this situation, it becomes extremely important to link these Madrasas to mainstream education systems somehow. Otherwise, students are left with no other option but to drop out after a certain class, as their Madrasa certificates are not recognised. That this lack of linkage between Madrasas and the mainstream education system is a problem is clearly seen from figures such as only 4% of the Indian Muslim population aged 20 years and above are graduates or diploma holders, lower than the national average of 7 per cent. Only 1.3 per cent of the students studying in the IIMs are Muslims, and 1.7 per cent of undergraduate IITians are Muslims, while the postgraduate figures from IIT are slightly better at 4 per cent of the students being Muslims. In the top medical colleges of the country, Muslims make for about 4 per cent of the students at the undergraduate level. Muslims constitute only 3 per cent in the IAS, 1.8 per cent in the IFS and 4 per cent in the IPS. Hence they are under-represented even in the civil services. There have been many suggestions to bridge this gap ever since it was exposed. One of them, is setting up community study centres by the government in urban settlements, where maximum of the Muslim population lives in one-bedroom accommodation. Then there’s the obvious suggestion of setting up high quality Government schools in areas of Muslim concentration, and exclusive schools for girls. However, all of these are long term suggestions. They would require monetary and high quality human capital, both of which are difficult to come by in our country. Hence we have to look for certain actions that will have an immediate effect. One of these is that there be a mechanism in place that links Madrasas to Higher-Secondary School Board so that those students who want to shift to mainstream education can do so after having passed from a Madrasa. Provision of equivalence certificates or degrees is another way to ensure that students from Madrasas are eligible for subsequent admissions into institutions of higher level of education. There should be flexibility so that Madrasa students can move across to mainstream educational institutions. This would also make them eligible for entrance tests and competitive exams. Another thing that can be done is that degrees offered by Madrasas can be recognised by Civil Services, Banks and Defense Services etc, subject of course to the existing framework of entrance tests. Modernization of Madrasas as provided by the 1990 government scheme, if implemented correctly, can work wonders for the benefit of Muslim education. Many NGOs and NPOs have for quite some time now, been working for the welfare of the minorities in India. CSSS (Centre for Study of Society and Secularism) has been working towards the unity, and better co-operation between the Muslims and Hindus under the aegis of Asghar Ali Engineer. They do this through seminars, lectures and publications. They study the various cases of communal violence and examine the real causes for their occurrence and actually prove how each of these incidents was actually political and not communal in nature. Mr. Asghar Ali Engineer is renowned social scientist and activists. Besides this, there are many individual documentary makers, theatre artists and other activists who very actively promote better understanding between the different Indian communities. Some of the main problems faced by the Muslim Minorities of India right now are things like renting houses, being identified as a Muslim, lack of security, always being looked upon with suspicion, highhandedness of other communities and basic discrimination. However, on issues like poverty and standard of living, while the Muslims fair badly, they are in a much better position than SC, ST and OBC communities. While, we have come a long way, we have a longer way to go to see 100 per cent integration of this country.
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