India: Tackle Muslim societies then terror
Atul Chatterjee
August 29, 2008
A lesser known fact is that conversions in India into Islam began while Prophet Mohammed was alive. Arab traders came by ship to the southern coast of India and spread the religion. Many centuries later it came overland through the north west.
The result has been that Muslims in India are not a homogenous lot. There are Bohras, Ahmediyas, Ismailis and many other communities. Further they are often still divided along what were originally casteist line and many maintain some Hindu traits.
In this article we are making the following assertions
1. Promote Muslim women especially from the lower strata
2. Tackle madrassas
Sania Mirza is the first Muslim woman to have ever reached such a high tennis ranking in tennis. (ATP 27 in 2007) She was the target of a fatwa, a few years ago, that effectively described her skirt as inappropriate. While there was a large public outcry (specially in the press) about the fatwa what was less noticed was that Muslims including at the premier Deoband decried the fatwa. Also a subsidiary question is how many Muslim women in India take part in sports ?
So one must not assume that the clergy itself is a solid block. But undoubtedly it is a top down approach where the clergy at the top (Deoband and other important leaders) who decide matters. If policies are targeted at Muslim girls they will have to be done carefully.
The approach of the government has been to provide free text books and uniforms to children. That is not enough as it only is a sort of ´average´ approach. It does not recognize or train high performers.
One reason that sports should be chosen is that a talented person with inputs can rise to national levels within four or five years. (rising to the level of a Sania Mirza is exceptional). This would aid in bringing more members into the mainstream. Also the lower strata seizes opportunities and is likely to do bigger things.
While education is touted as a leveler it has the disadvantage that it takes a long time to absorb. Again the approach should be to identify high talented students and fast track them. Also it is important for them to have an end use of education. Teaching seems to be the most important.
The idea is to promote Muslim women, that would attack the closed mind set of the common Muslim. The Koran accords a different status for women e.g. a womans evidence is not equal to that of a man. This approach would make people interpret religious texts more with the world around. This would advance their thinking and help the community move forward.
(Problems also arise because many Muslims believe that Islam supersedes the constitution of India.)
One example of an advanced community are Ismailis who are advanced, girls and boys study together, in schools run by the Aga Khan Foundation, which also has more than a sprinkling of other Muslim communities and Hindus.
This Foundation has the financial muscle to open a couple of hundre schools. Also it has the capability of absorbing students from other Muslim communities in an atmosphere where there is more open engagement. (Their schools employ non-Muslim teachers and they are not particularly sectarian in their approach.)
Azim Premji the owner of the IT company Wipro is also an Ismaili, most of his foundation´s work is directed at teacher improvement in government schools.
There is little cohesion between the various Muslim communities to tackle Muslim problems. Besides the clergy Muslims do not have another line of social leaders cutting across communities, most Muslim politicians are allied to the clergy.
In the middle east and north Africa is has been worked out that primary education and then further, is the key to developing an open mind that does not take up to terrorism. So billions are being spent by governments to take up these issues seriously.
Madrassas for school children provide segregated education and most of it is religious. In 1986 the India government tried to introduce English, Maths, Science and Hindi into their curriculum. It was rejected as ´state´ interference.
Madrassa are free, they basically teach the Koran and Urdu language. The drop out rate from madrassas is reportedly high (statistics not available) and students search for a vocation. Part of the reason is the limited nature of education. However the ulema (clery) and lack of alternatives.ensures this system persists
The Muslim girl child in this segregated context of madrassas is often deprived of education, boys are provided low grade education.
The SSA (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan) program for primary education is assisting 8000 madrassas. These are obviously going to remain for time to come, but it should be possible to run training programs/workshops for students, and teachers if they are willing.
The major part of discussion of terror in India is limited to RDX, IED and cross border terrorism, while that has its importance, "soft" factors remain uncovered. Segments of Indian society that assist this are not being tackled, nor is there discussion in various forums.
The result has been that Muslims in India are not a homogenous lot. There are Bohras, Ahmediyas, Ismailis and many other communities. Further they are often still divided along what were originally casteist line and many maintain some Hindu traits.
In this article we are making the following assertions
1. Promote Muslim women especially from the lower strata
2. Tackle madrassas
Sania Mirza is the first Muslim woman to have ever reached such a high tennis ranking in tennis. (ATP 27 in 2007) She was the target of a fatwa, a few years ago, that effectively described her skirt as inappropriate. While there was a large public outcry (specially in the press) about the fatwa what was less noticed was that Muslims including at the premier Deoband decried the fatwa. Also a subsidiary question is how many Muslim women in India take part in sports ?
So one must not assume that the clergy itself is a solid block. But undoubtedly it is a top down approach where the clergy at the top (Deoband and other important leaders) who decide matters. If policies are targeted at Muslim girls they will have to be done carefully.
The approach of the government has been to provide free text books and uniforms to children. That is not enough as it only is a sort of ´average´ approach. It does not recognize or train high performers.
One reason that sports should be chosen is that a talented person with inputs can rise to national levels within four or five years. (rising to the level of a Sania Mirza is exceptional). This would aid in bringing more members into the mainstream. Also the lower strata seizes opportunities and is likely to do bigger things.
While education is touted as a leveler it has the disadvantage that it takes a long time to absorb. Again the approach should be to identify high talented students and fast track them. Also it is important for them to have an end use of education. Teaching seems to be the most important.
The idea is to promote Muslim women, that would attack the closed mind set of the common Muslim. The Koran accords a different status for women e.g. a womans evidence is not equal to that of a man. This approach would make people interpret religious texts more with the world around. This would advance their thinking and help the community move forward.
(Problems also arise because many Muslims believe that Islam supersedes the constitution of India.)
One example of an advanced community are Ismailis who are advanced, girls and boys study together, in schools run by the Aga Khan Foundation, which also has more than a sprinkling of other Muslim communities and Hindus.
This Foundation has the financial muscle to open a couple of hundre schools. Also it has the capability of absorbing students from other Muslim communities in an atmosphere where there is more open engagement. (Their schools employ non-Muslim teachers and they are not particularly sectarian in their approach.)
Azim Premji the owner of the IT company Wipro is also an Ismaili, most of his foundation´s work is directed at teacher improvement in government schools.
There is little cohesion between the various Muslim communities to tackle Muslim problems. Besides the clergy Muslims do not have another line of social leaders cutting across communities, most Muslim politicians are allied to the clergy.
In the middle east and north Africa is has been worked out that primary education and then further, is the key to developing an open mind that does not take up to terrorism. So billions are being spent by governments to take up these issues seriously.
Madrassas for school children provide segregated education and most of it is religious. In 1986 the India government tried to introduce English, Maths, Science and Hindi into their curriculum. It was rejected as ´state´ interference.
Madrassa are free, they basically teach the Koran and Urdu language. The drop out rate from madrassas is reportedly high (statistics not available) and students search for a vocation. Part of the reason is the limited nature of education. However the ulema (clery) and lack of alternatives.ensures this system persists
The Muslim girl child in this segregated context of madrassas is often deprived of education, boys are provided low grade education.
The SSA (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan) program for primary education is assisting 8000 madrassas. These are obviously going to remain for time to come, but it should be possible to run training programs/workshops for students, and teachers if they are willing.
The major part of discussion of terror in India is limited to RDX, IED and cross border terrorism, while that has its importance, "soft" factors remain uncovered. Segments of Indian society that assist this are not being tackled, nor is there discussion in various forums.
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