India's Invisible Minority

This year due to a coincidence of the lunar calendar, Eid-ul-Fitr and Durga Puja, two major religious festivals of India, were celebrated within a week of each other in late September. After twenty-two years, I was able to witness both in my birth city of Kolkata (Calcutta, India). One common thread between the Pujas and Eids is the propensity amongst the faithful to shop for new clothes and gifts with the same fervor and joy as Christmas shoppers in my adopted homeland of United States. The area colloquially called New Market is the nexus of this buying spree in Kolkata. I had a few things to shop for my family and quite naturally gravitated towards where all Kolkata roads seemed to meet.

Fighting the heat and humidity of a late September afternoon and amidst the crushing crowds, I could not help but notice that the overwhelming majority of the signs strewn across the myriad of shops were Puja greetings, well-wishing those celebrating Durgautsov. Conspicuous in their absence were well wishes to the Muslim community on the occasion of their Eid. Muslims who make up over twenty percent of the population in Kolkata, have become its invisible minority, increasingly squeezed out of the public square in Kolkata and beyond.

In 1947, after India's bloody and tragic partition, many Muslims, particularly the elites, migrated to Pakistan leaving behind a political and social vacuum. Those who chose to remain Indian outnumbered those who opted for Pakistan. Yet Indian Muslims have been stigmatized as India's fifth column. The subsequent rise of the Hindu political identity marked by the Hinduvta movement, the lack of creative ideas in the Muslim community towards self-empowerment, the post-independence educational curriculum depicting Muslims as outsiders, Islamophobia, and violence in the name of Islam; all have contributed to marginalize India's Muslims.

Writing a book review in The Hindu, A.G. Noorani commented, "It (the Muslim problem) must be treated urgently and seriously as one of the national problems. Discrimination against Muslims has been a blot on India's record as a democracy. That blot must be erased with determination and speed by all Indians who cherish the Great Indian Ideal." Thus, the idea behind empowering Muslims in India should not be viewed as either appeasement to a voting block or solely an altruistic program to uplift one of India's most downtrodden socio-religious communities.

Persistent religious discrimination and recurring communal violence have marred India's ideals and values. It has diminished India's narrative of a secular state where multi-ethnic and multi-religious communities can safely and freely reside. The erosion of the constitutionally protected fundamental rights has been especially disillusioning for India's Muslim youth. The repeated failure of governments, both local and national, to take appropriate measures to protect the rights of minority citizens has prompted the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom to put India on its 2009 Watch List.

Despite the obvious need to correct the problem, religious fanatics and fundamentalists have espoused the notion that Muslim empowerment is a zero-sum game. In particular the Hinduvta movement has cultivated a mistaken notion that any gain to the Muslim community is a loss for the Hindus. But in today's globalized society, power resides not so much in unilateralism (shown to be glaringly ineffective by George W. Bush) but rather in effective mutuality and sharing between all who have a stake in a nation's future. Thus, the issue of Muslim empowerment should be as much a Hindu concern as it is a Muslim aspiration.

Empowering Muslims in India requires a three pronged effort with all of the parts working together in a holistic manner to convert today's challenge into tomorrow's opportunities. The first prong undoubtedly lies on the shoulders of India's Muslim community. Instead of succumbing to the political rhetoric being espoused by self-appointed leaders, Muslims must leave aside their cynicism and engage in the Indian political, social and cultural life with vigor and positivity. The Civil Rights movement in America can serve as an inspirational model. Integration will be more effective if Indian Muslims harmonize their Islamic identity with their Indian one.

Such integrative steps can happen only if India's state, local and central governments come forward with bold new proposals to correct the glaring deficiencies pointed out by the Sachar Committee Report. Although much of the grievances in the report were well known to Muslims, the Sachar Report is an eye opener to those who assumed away the Muslim problem or blamed it on some foreign conspiracy. The Sachar Report is poignant in its pathos that the disempowerment of India's Muslims is an Indian problem created by decades of neglect and abuse, which hangs as an albatross on India's otherwise vibrant democracy. Quite ironically, states like West Bengal and Kerala that boasted the most liberal governments were just as culpable in their lack of attention to Muslim empowerment as regions that hosted more religiocentric governments, like Gujarat. I was shocked to learn that in my birth state of West Bengal, Muslim representation in state public sector undertakings is exactly zero percent!

Other statistics are equally grim -- less than 4 percent Muslims graduate from school; 1 in 25 undergraduate students and 1 in 50 post graduate students in premier university and colleges are Muslims; although Muslims are nearly 14 percent of India's population their share in government employment is 4.9 percent; in India's security agencies, Muslim representation is 3.2 percent; only 2.1 percent of Muslim farmers own tractors; just 1 percent own hand pumps for irrigation; if Muslims do outnumber majority Hindus in anywhere, it is predictably as a proportion of the prison population (much like Blacks in America).

It will be a mistake to leave the task of Muslim empowerment to the goodwill of governments alone. As India transforms itself into a market economy, it is the private sector that will play a bigger role in both the economic and social transformation of India. India's big-business community can, if they choose to, play a positive role in empowering India's Muslim minority. One mechanism for creating an Indian corporate workforce that is reflective of India's socio-religious communities is through the voluntary adoption of the UN Global Compact. Launched in the year 2000 the Global Compact is an effort by the United Nations to usher-in a more sustainable, just and inclusive global economy.

To achieve this goal, the Global Compact outlined ten principles broadly classified in the areas of human rights, labor, the environment and anti-corruption. If the business community takes the necessary steps to apply these principles, it will inevitably lead to not only preserving the profit margins for the businesses but to a general well being of the society. By ending all overt and covert discriminations in labor practices, businesses can assist in empowering India's minorities. By adhering to higher environmental standards businesses can also help the poor (including but not limited to Muslims) who are usually the disproportionate victims of environmental degradation.

The issue of Muslim empowerment is not so much about the Muslim community as it is about India's future. A more educated Muslim community will constitute a more enlightened Indian work force leading to better business opportunity and a more sustainable growth for India's economy. The next step in India's economic evolution will likely not come on the backs of call centers and outsourcing. Rather it will come as result of higher paying service oriented jobs that require a large educated work force. An empowered Muslim community will also mean fewer security headaches and lesser social tension.

The Sachar commission recommends that 15 percent of all government funds be allocated to Muslim welfare and development. While this may work in the short run, in the long run Muslims need equal opportunities not quotas or handouts. This can come about via the establishment of "Equal Opportunities Commission" much like the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in the United States. Such a commission, armed with judicial powers, can greatly aid in empowering India's Muslim much like the EEOC continues to do for America's minority communities. These suggestions, among the many made by the Sachar report, are not difficult to implement provided governments and citizens alike make a commitment to change their mindset that for too long has regarded the issue of Muslim empowerment as a zero-sum game relegating them to become India's invisible minority.

Parvez Ahmed, Ph.D. is currently a U.S. Fulbright Scholar visiting Bangladesh. He is associate professor of finance at the University of North Florida. He is also a frequent commentator on Islam and the American Muslim experience. To read his articles visit, http://drparvezahmed.blogspot.com

 

Comments

[hart4Peece]

Thank you for an educational post on India, & Muslims.
Certainly taking the Equal Opportunity model from the USA is a good measure, at least in the short to intermediate term.

[SudhaV]

Muslim countries have not integrated their own kind- viz refugee problem from Bangladesh. How have they , ie Pakistan and Bangladesh integrated Hindus left behind after partition. The muslims in India are the same ethnic group as Hindus, Sikhs and Christians of India. The poor Hindus of India far outnumber the poor Muslims of India.

[Aroon]

What about the Hindus in kashmir? Nobody ever mentiones them. They are the real "missing" minority.

[mr101]

Here is some information on Kashmiri Hindus' miserable plight at the hands of Islamic/Pakistani terrorism:
==========
Islamic Terrorism and Genocide of Kashmiri Pandits
Genocide in Kashmir
http://www.kashmiri-pandit.org/sundry/genocide.html

* 400,000 Kashmiri Pandits, constituting 99% of the total population of Hindus living in Muslim majority area of the Kashmir Valley, were forcibly pushed out of the Valley by Muslim terrorists, trained in Pakistan, since the end of 1989. They have been forced to live the life of exiles in their own country, outside their homeland, by unleashing a systematic campaign of terror, murder, loot and arson.
* Genocide of Kashmiri Pandits has reached its climax with Muslim terrorism succeeding in 'CLEANSING' the valley of this ancient ethno-religious community.
* With the completion of 11th year of their forced exile, this peace loving, culturally rich community with a history of more than 5000 years, is fighting a grim battle to save itself from becoming extinct as a distinct race and culture.

And some videos:

http://www.youtube.com/user/rameshnaidoo#p/u/8/MdYLzqrRqb0
http://www.youtube.com/user/rameshnaidoo#p/u/7/FQ4JCGeQqqQ
http://www.youtube.com/user/rameshnaidoo#p/u/4/NXWWb1NTeu4
=====

Recall that Kashmiris were Hindus and Buddhists for over 4000 years before Islam arrived there some 650-800 years ago and people were converted.

[mr101]

Response, Part 1:

Dear Parvez, most Indian Muslims have Hindu ancestors.

That historical fact is also being confirmed by recent genetic studies such as the following:
>>
Traces of sub-Saharan and Middle Eastern lineages in Indian Muslim populations

Overall, our results support a model according to which the spread of Islam in India was predominantly cultural conversion

http://www.nature.com/ejhg/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/ejhg2009168a.html

[mr101]

The Sachar_com­mittee_rep­ort has many flaws in its approach, findings and recommendations.

Discrimination or Equal Opportunity – Parts 1 to 3.
Dr. Rakesh Sinha, India Policy Foundation
Oct2009
http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisplayArticle.aspx?id=851
http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisplayArticle.aspx?id=852
http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisplayArticle.aspx?id=855

Intro: "There was widespread disagreement over the methodology and conclusions of the Sachar Committee. AK Dubey, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, said “Sachar Committee has indulged in a statistical manipulation that needs to be understood. The approach it adopted to bring to light social and political truths were muddled” (Dainik Bhaskar, Delhi, 16 July 2009).

On grounds of assumed discrimination against Muslims and their backwardness, the Sachar Committee called for the establishment of an ‘Equal Opportunity Commission,’ based on its perception that instances of discrimination against Muslims by the State is on the rise.

The truth is that the Sachar Committee failed to adduce any facts or figures to establish alleged discrimination against Muslims. Even supporters of the committee acknowledge this (The Right to Equality, Communalism Combat, March 2008 p. 5). Yet the Sachar Committee Report, in its second chapter, legitimized the canards, communally motivated allegations, and fabricated stories of exceptional discrimination. It singularly failed to justify the need for Equal Opportunity Commission. Even the Urdu daily Hamara Samaj noted that the Sachar Committee has failed to explain how this Commission will be different from National Commission for Minorities (Hamara Samaj, 18 July 2009. p.1)"

[MosheDayanHero]

Sir V.S Naipaul, Nobel Prize winner

Beyond Belief: Islamic Excursions Among the Converted Peoples
Published by Random House, 1998.

Islam is in its origins an Arab religion. Everyone not an Arab who is a Muslim is a convert. Islam is not simply a matter of conscience or private belief. It makes imperial demands. A convert's worldview alters. His holy places are in Arab lands; his sacred language is Arabic. His idea of history alters. He rejects his own; he becomes, whether he likes it or not, a part of the Arab story... The disturbance for societies is immense, and even after a thousand years can remain unresolved; the turning away has to be done again and again. People develop fantasies about who and what they are; and in the Islam of the converted countries there is an element of neurosis and nihilism. These countries can be easily set on the boil."

Sir V.S Naipaul, Nobel Prize winner

Beyond Belief: Islamic Excursions Among the Converted Peoples
Published by Random House, 1998.

[Khirad]

Sounds a lot like Christian history - Europeans becoming part of a Semitic religion in its origin (with a whole lot of early pagan influence, of course). That being said, the paragraph there doesn't mention (though I'd imagine the book does) that the converts' own people had already rejected them. From which classes in Hindu society do you think great numbers of new converts came from? It was essentially the same sociological effect manifested in the earlier Buddhist and Jain movements - and what the progressive Hindu movements of the early 20th century sought to rectify.

[mr101]

"From which classes in Hindu society do you think great numbers of new converts came from?"

That's just a convenient theory, not a historically recored fact.

During the 1250 years before India's partition and post-colonial form of existence, all Hindus were subjects and essentially slaves to the invading Islamic and Colonial regimes (i.e. they lacked the power to set the rules), and those regimes drove wedges to divide people and rule, and thus likely accentuated the social divisions rather than trying to eliminate them. Keep also in mind that the Islamic invaders and European traders were at the same time taking and trading scores of slaves worldwide (in addition to exploiting, and in many case exterminating, the locals they were conquering), so they are supposed to be our models of equality? Are Islamic societies of today (where women are second class citizens and non-Muslims and Ex-Muslims are routinely badly persecuted) are our models of equality in society?

The caste system that existed in India (which was a rural society) prior to its invasion by Islamic invaders since the 8th century was typical of any region of the world at time: a farmer/car­penter/scu­lptor/fish­erman etc in any part of the world in those days naturally passed on his skills to his next generation, but the Indian system was also accepting of people rising from their familially acquired skills/stature to new ones.
(contd 1..)

[mr101]

(.. Contd 1)
Eg, Valmiki and Vyasa, the authors of Hinduism's two greatest epics, i.e. Ramayana and Mahabharata, were born as "lower" caste Hindus, but they rose to become scholars whose work would come to define Hinduism in many ways. What does that tell you?

Even as recently as 1946, in Muslim princely states in India with huge Hindu majorities, the top cadres of employees of the regime were predominantly Muslim, meaning that the Muslims rulers were imposing socio-economic incentives for Hindus to convert to Islam, which together with forced conversions probably accounts for most of the original Muslims of the Indian subcontinent from whom the present day Muslims descended.

[Tenjikuronin]

Yep, I agree.


Also, Pakistan and Bangladesh need to work harder to integrate their own minorities (Hindus, Sikhs, etc.) as well.

Pan-South Asian Problem.