MUSLIM VISION OF SECULAR INDIA: Destination and Roadmap MUSLIM VISION OF SECULAR INDIA: D���������� ��� R������ An Approach Paper aimed at 1. Presenting a Muslim Perspective of India’s national goals and policies; and 2. Developing a Comprehensive National Plan for Socioeconomic, Ideological and Political Empowerment of Muslim Indians so that they can play a meaningful role in the national and global affairs Dr. Javed Jamil Mission Publications M����� V����� �� S������ I����: D���������� ��� R������ Author: Dr. Javed Jamil Copyright: Mission Publications First Edition 2016 All Right Reserved (The views expressed in the book are the author’s own and the facts as reported by him, which have been verified to the extent possible, and the Publishers are not in any way liable for them.) Publishers Mission Publications Address for correspondence: 284, A Pocket, Sarita Vihar, New Delhi-76, India Ph: 91-8130340339 Email: [email protected] Table of Contents Preface Report on release of “Muslim Vision of Secular India: Destination & Roadmap” Part A: Muslims Part of the Nation Introduction “Minority”, “Second Largest Majority” or/and “Part of Majority”? Special Position What has gone wrong? The power game by the political parties The game played by Muslim political leaders The inefficient role played by the traditional religious scholars (Ulama) The selfishness of Muslim intellectuals Sachar, Mishra and Kundu: Partial Reports, Partial Recommendations, Minimal Implementation Limitations of Sachar Committee Report Summary of Recommendations Follow-up action taken SACHAR COMMITTEE REPORT & STATUS OF FOLLOW UP ACTION (as on 31.01.2013) (Provided by the Ministry of Minority Affairs) Analysis Time to reverse the tide Realise their real potential Objectives to be achieved Ultimate Aims of Muslim Vision Changes in Government Policies and Economic Ideology Required Radical steps required to drastically reduce Economic Disparity Social Evils in India Right to Health Part B: Empowerment of Muslims: Holistic Approach I: Ideological Empowerment of Muslims Religious Education – Applied Islamics Mosques the Islamic Centres Unity of Muslims The Fourth Estate: Let Muslims also own it Countering Negative Campaign Terrorism versus Tyranny Radical West much bigger threat to peace than “Radical Islam” Recent anti-Muslim campaigns in India Stop being apologetic and defensive II: Social Empowerment Modern Education to be remodelled and expanded Health Infrastructure Urban Development Rural Development Reservations for Muslims Empowerment of Youth Empowerment of Women within Islamic framework NGO Sector Minority Welfare Schemes of Ministry of Minority Affairs III: Economic Empowerment of Muslims Scope of Islamic Economics in India Dynamic Theory of Economics: Wealth Generation “Peoples’ Corporate India” Economic Relations with Muslim Countries Islamic Finance Blueprint of the Action plan for establishing “Peoples’ Corporate India” dominated by but not exclusively Muslims. \ Management of Awqaf Properties IV. Political Empowerment Give Muslims Role in Governance Delimitation of Seats Proactive rather than reactive politics needed Security Issues: Psychological, Physical and Social Part C: Roadmap Need for a National Level Organisation of Muslims Goal AIMS Secretariat Consultative Committee Last Word The man behind the book Theory of Economic Fundamentalism Peace Economics Universal Theory of Relativity Jamil’s Islamic thought: Applied Islamics A Man of Impact Works Cited Table of Figures Table 1 National rural and urban poverty rates by religious groups Table 2 Urban poverty rates among Muslims vis-à-vis overall poverty rates in major states in the country Table 3 Relative poverty and poverty rate difference between Muslims and overall poverty in urban areas in selected states of India Table 4 Poverty among Muslims in Mumbra Table 5 Indian Government's direct tax collection in 2009-10 (Apr-Mar) Table 6 List of States of India by projected own tax revenues of their governments Table 7 Massacres After 15 August 1947 (Independent India) Table 8 Casualties in communal clashes during the period 1968-80 Table 9 Wars in last 150 years Table 10 Deaths related to Naxalite violence Table 11 Violence involving NDFB Table 12 Attacks attributed to National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) Table 13 Fastest growing industries in the world Table 14 List of Assembly constituencies with high population of Muslims but reserved for SCs and constituencies with high population of SCs but are unreserved Table 15 Year-wise funds released by Department of Justice Figure 1 Distribution of total liquid net worth in the world per person in 2012 Preface We are not necessarily what others think of us. They have their own coloured glasses tinged with their own biases, ideological proclivities, perceptions and interests. We, Muslims, must learn to view ourselves through our own glasses. The only condition is that these glasses should be able to correct our myopic as well as hypermetropic vision. The problem with Muslims has been that for too long now they have been judging themselves and determining their goals and priorities on the basis of what others think or decide. We have forgotten that we have our own strengths and weaknesses which are often vastly different from the strengths and weaknesses that others find in us. We have our own ideological foundations, our own goals and our own ways to reach the destination. We have our own vision of the world which unfortunately we have stopped expressing and implementing. The result is that we are being perpetually kept by certain forces – external as well as internal, in an unrelenting grip of inferiority complex. We are being made to keep believing that we are a lost community having hardly any appreciable strength and that our future is doomed unless we follow a certain course of action and toe a certain line. We have to learn to reject without fail such an attitude of deception towards us. This however does not mean that we must reject others’ views about us altogether. Criticism often provides a unique opportunity to re-examine and refresh our approach; and if we find the criticism unwarranted it can engender a new vigour in our hearts and spirits. We must learn to make a systematic analysis of what others say and deal with the issues without being overawed or apologetic. Indian Muslim Community is no different. In recent years, the community and its leaders seem to have forgotten to see anything beyond what Sachar committees are showing them and plan what Rangnath Mishra commissions are planning for them. There have been initiatives at small scales in different fields. But there has been hardly any national plan and national effort on the part of Indian Muslim Community to determine their own course of action, enlisting the governmental support where it is required and engaging in their own endeavours where they can and must help themselves. This work is perhaps the first of its kind as it approaches the issues of Muslims in a comprehensive way just as the Planning Commissions do for the nation and from the perspective of Muslim way of thinking. Muslims are no ordinary minority. They are not even a significant minority. They are about 180 million people. These numbers demand a big planning followed by a big effort. This approach paper endeavours to view the whole spectrum of Muslim life in the country. I have taken care not to present Muslims as a community that cannot simply survive without help from outside. I have purposefully tried to present them as a social unit, which has huge potential not only to make themselves a dynamic, vibrant and prosperous community but also a people that can and must play a meaningful role in national and international affairs. They have a strong belief system and a religion that talks of “promoting good and campaign against evils” for the peaceful existence of the whole mankind. They have their own perspective with which they view the world. This Approach Paper presents their viewpoint regarding various aspects of the system, which is in force within the country and outside. The quality of system is extremely important because changing individuals or society at large is not going to deliver if the system is not right. A good system must be peace-promoting and health-protective and must guarantee security to all the sections of the people. The system must be in a position to assert itself and set the things right whenever they go wrong. I know there will be people who will object to the approach adopted in this paper. Some of them will criticise it because of their preconceived notions developed on account of the influence of the existing ideologies. Some may argue that it is not desirable to change the course of history and Muslims must only try to benefit from what exists. I personally do not believe in continuing with the status quo and feel that ideological and social campaigns must be run to seek changes for making a healthier, purer and more peaceful world. There is no reason why we should endorse anything not good for society at large. We cannot simply become pawns in the hands