Marginalia, Nida-e Haq

What the Indian Muslims are afraid of Are the Indian Muslims afraid of statues- big or small- being built across India, of new temples being built in every locality, or any icon being built to pay tributes to Hindu Gods and leaders? The answer is a simple NO. The Indian Muslim like every common Indian citizen is more concerned about having a roof over his and his family’s head, of providing two square meals to his family, ensuring education for his children and saving for the future, the dreams which are shared by all. Muslims form part of the farmers groups across the country who are committing suicide due to failed crops, the fear of loan default and poor price for his crop in the market. They are bothered by bad road connectivity of their village to the nearest health centre or school or market like everyone else. People tend to think about the common Indian Muslim at the time of elections, as a myth has been created that Muslims vote as a vote bank and are inf...

What ails the Indian Muslims. With every election season, community sympathisers, politicians of all hues (except a certain ones with a dominant hue) and the Muslims themselves start to ponder over the economic and social situation of the Muslims in India. Muslims in India numbering 172 million is the majority community besides being the third largest Muslim population in the world, after Malaysia and Indonesia. If 71 years after the independence, we are forced to still ponder over these issues, then it speaks a lot about the real situation of the Muslims in India. But the moot question is who is responsible for this sorry state of affairs of the community, the rulers or Muslims themselves. Data from the 2011 Census of India on educational level by religious community and gender has shown that 42.7% of Muslims in India are illiterate. This is the highest illiteracy rate for any single religious community in the country, while the illiteracy rate for the entire populat...