population of over one billion. Islam isIndia's largest minority
religion.
India's Muslim communities tend to be more urban than rural. Inmany
towns and cities in northernIndia, Muslims are one-third or more of
the population. The largest concentrations of Muslims live in the
states of Bihar,West Bengal, and Uttar Pradesh. According to the
country's 2001 census there is 138.188.240 Muslims inIndia.
India's Muslims have played a historic role in shaping Indian society,
particularly in the medieval period in the areas of architecture,
calligraphy, miniature paintings, handicrafts, handloom, poetry,
literature in mystic humanism, culinary arts and sartorial fashions.
Not only does the Taj Mahal, the most famous symbol of India,
commemorate the love for a Muslim queen, but the very name India is an
Anglicized version of the Arabic name Hind which Muslim scholars
started using for the area beyond Sindh )roughly the east of Pakistan
today(.
InIndiathe biggest Indian minority is a victim of deprivation. Whether
it is legislative assemblies educational institutions, government
jobs, the problem of security in case of riots, representation in
political organizations, posts in policy planning and decision-making
groups or other pressure groups there is acute shortage of Muslim
representation everywhere, resulting in constant social tension and
problems in governance.
Some challenges the Indian Muslims face:
1. Communal riots againstMuslims are among the biggest tragedies of
this independent, secular democracy. Wherever Muslims have acquired a
relatively better economic position, these riots send them back to the
starting point. There have been 249 riots per year according to Indian
government statistics. Senior Indian journalist, Khuswant Singh notes
that in all communal violence that has taken place in India since
Independence in the 1940s, over 75 per cent ofthe causalities - in
terms of lives and property destroyed - were Muslim.
2. The second important problem is the state of present textbooks in
the Indian education system which have become very aggressive in
teaching Hinduism. This hits Muslims' faith, culture, civilization,
language and way of life. The educational syllabi have prescribed
course books in all states, which are replete with matters pertaining
to the faiths of the majority community, mythologicaland other stories
of Hindu gods and goddesses against the principles prescribed in the
Constitution. Obviously all these things are negations of Islamic
beliefs and teachings, especially about the Oneness of God Almighty.
Hence there is no doubt that these things are causing great concern to
the Muslims.
The rewriting of history is done in a way that continues to fuel the
non-secular, chauvinistic Hindu perspectives, causing the new
generation of Indians to shape their behavior towards minorities in a
very hostile way.
3. The economic problem:More than fifty percent Muslims are leading a
lifebelow the poverty line ascompared to thirty-five percent of Hindus
who live below the poverty line. Because of a generalenvironment of
hostility against Muslims, decent employment in the private sector is
becoming increasingly difficult for Muslims, while in the public
sectorthere is no encouragement for Muslims either. The future of
Muslim professionals and its working class, traders etchas been very
greatly affected.
Today very few Muslims are found in governmentjobs. A recent survey
shows that there are onlyeight Muslim police chiefsinIndia's 591
districts. That is .01% as compared to 12% of the Muslim population
inIndia. The situation of other departments is also worsening day by
day.
4. Education: The active discrimination Muslims face in the private
and public sector of the job market, has forced them to pay less
attention to school education which, inIndia, is connected with the
job market. In the educational field therefore, Muslims are very
backwards.
5. Urdu language. Another major problem of Muslims of India is thatof
the Urdu language. The Urdu language was born as a result of the
interaction and cohesion of different languages, nations, cultures and
civilizations and is a mixture of some old languages like Sanskrit,
Arabic, Persian, Turkish etc. Urdu is almost a deadlanguage now as far
as the medium of instruction is concerned. It is not tolerated even in
the primary and secondary stages of education.
The Muslims of India are very vulnerable in a country which describes
itself as the world's"largest secular democracy". Muslims today remain
poorer, lesseducated and less empowered inIndia.
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