Thursday, December 31, 2009
Friday, December 25, 2009
Central Madrasah Board, Muslims And Government
Once again, central government’s proposal on central Madrasah board has been rejected unanimously. Ulama and various Muslim organizations expressed their great concern on government’s move to introduce central Madrasah board.
Muslim is only one nation in India which, since independence, is struggling for a place in the society. The history of modern India tells the story that despite the changes and the transformations of Indian societies from a place to another and escalated democratic values across the country and the glob is not appeared a good approach for Indian Muslims are being pressured in the garb of reformations and in the name of modernizations, to give up their historical, religious and social identities.
In modern India which starts since independence, Muslims generally and their religious places and institutions particularly, are on target by the Hindutva separatism organizations and its sympathizers, who are using all means to convert Muslims into Hinduism and by shutting their religious institutions, and Mosques, they are forcing to remove their religious identities from their daily lives.
Indian society can be seen in two sections concerning Muslims. First section believes that Indian Muslims, who converted into Islam by sword and by might during Mughal rules on India, from nature, is Hindu. RSS and others, the sisters or puppets of this organization, are from 1st section. Such history is being taught to innocent Hindus in the shakhas are in lakhs. Their religious and political leaders and their volunteers, who are prepared particularly against Muslims, are working on the directions. Central governments, state governments, media, police, NGOs and educated class of the country, are aware of existing of such organizations and their hatred work. Which kind of action can be taken against them, is before every on of us. For weeks, Urdu newspapers and some English newspapers are highlighting and publishing the report that a new organization from right-wing of Hindutva has opened a new war against Darul Uloom Deoband in Utter Pradesh and this organization, every day, is trying to disturb communal harmony. Having been the information of such incident is taking place in Utter Pradesh, neither central government nor state government of UP nor English national media took it seriously. Moral and political support of secular powers and inability to work against them provided them platform to open a new war against prominent Muslim institution. In short words, this class wants from Muslims to concede what it seeks from them, means, shut their Madarsas, Mosques, give up their religious identity and join them.
Second section or second class is called seculars. Their work and their ton of talk with Muslims are democratically but their purpose also is same as first class thinks and does against Muslims. This second class which is secular wants to take action for Muslims upliftment. For this purpose, it wants to take some steps will help to remove poverty and illiteracy from Muslims. Sachar commission was also appointed to judge the condition of Muslims on various levels across the country in order to do something for them. It is unavoidable that this second class ignored Muslims and never placed Muslim’s demand. It talks of Muslim’s welfare, promises of implementing the recommendations of the commissions for a better future of Muslims and etc but the result is zero. It didn’t help to Muslims in any ways. In violence, in bomb attacks, in poverty and in illiteracy Muslim society is totally leaved behind by such secular forces. Batla house encounter, fake encounters in Gujarat, encounters of Muslims by Hindutva organizations in Gujarat, promise of reconstruction of Babri mosque in Ayodhya, justice to bomb blast victims are key issues of Muslims totally untouched by UPA government in its more than 5th year rules in center. Instead to solve the core issues of Muslims, and provide them all facilities for their rehabilitation in various fields, central government is introducing Madarsa board bill to capture Private Madarsas to shut Muslims’ religious identity from Muslim society. According Sachar committee report, only 3 or 4 percent Muslims go to Madarsas and 96% Muslims go to Universities and schools. These 96% Muslims need government help, institutions, facilities, and other helps to improve their educational level and able to get the admission in higher institutions, but government, instead giving them priority, trying to capture Private Madarsas, while these Private Madarsas are being run by Muslims not by the government. These Madarsas are epicenter of Muslims in their social and in their daily life. If government takes its control, the situation will goes worsen of Muslims religiously and historically. Indeed, secular forces also working on same direction which is selected by 1st section to snatch their historical and religious identities in India.
It is unbelievable that why Madarsas come under much attention by the central government when it goes to discus on education development in Muslim community, while schools and universities are the 1st choice of majority of Muslim parents as the survey of Sachar commission shows.
Muslim leaders should have to take lessen from past and ask the government that why it is forcing on a Madarsa board, although its 60 years denial towards Muslim increased poverty, illiteracy and unemployment in Muslim community in all over the country.
Can central government satisfies Muslims that proposed central Madarsa board will solve the issues are stand before them? Can government thrash Muslim’s fear that government’s Madarsa board is an effort to interfere in Muslim’s internal matter and such as the ways will be open for government to away Muslim generations from their Islamic and religious identity which is the demand of Hindutva groups. How Muslims believe on government’s honesty in increasing the reformations in educational field with bringing a Madarsa board which will revive Madarsa’s syllabus time to time which will give a chance to Hindutva sympathizers to change their syllabus? Can government clear its intention behind Madarsa board while lakhs of so-called religious Shakhas of Hindutva organizations are given free hand to teach what they want and build which kind of Shakhas they want to build in anywhere of the country?
If government is interested and has committed to change the condition of Indian Muslims, so it should have to come to Muslim’s areas and see from their own eyes the requirements of Muslims. Development in Muslim’s areas, financial help to minorities’ students and to poor Muslim families for higher education of their children, road construction and smooth electricity and water supply in Muslim dominated localities are the work of the governments which totally failed to address it.
Instead to address the issues are great factor of Muslims downfall in India, central government’s interest to waste its all energies on those who are just represents of 2% of their community, with ignoring 96% of the community will not help to the community and with that Muslim’s downfall can’t be stopped.
We will oppose of any move of government to take over Private Madarsas in its hand, if government has interest on Muslim’s upliftment it should have to cover all roots and fix all weaken points in Muslim community, and wide their working range, provide them justice, reservations, scholarships establish modern institutions, open medical colleges, and begin the construction in Muslim localities, but without taking significant steps, if it tried to take over these Madarsas., Muslims till their last drop of blood will oppose such move.
By Abdul Hannan
Muslim is only one nation in India which, since independence, is struggling for a place in the society. The history of modern India tells the story that despite the changes and the transformations of Indian societies from a place to another and escalated democratic values across the country and the glob is not appeared a good approach for Indian Muslims are being pressured in the garb of reformations and in the name of modernizations, to give up their historical, religious and social identities.
In modern India which starts since independence, Muslims generally and their religious places and institutions particularly, are on target by the Hindutva separatism organizations and its sympathizers, who are using all means to convert Muslims into Hinduism and by shutting their religious institutions, and Mosques, they are forcing to remove their religious identities from their daily lives.
Indian society can be seen in two sections concerning Muslims. First section believes that Indian Muslims, who converted into Islam by sword and by might during Mughal rules on India, from nature, is Hindu. RSS and others, the sisters or puppets of this organization, are from 1st section. Such history is being taught to innocent Hindus in the shakhas are in lakhs. Their religious and political leaders and their volunteers, who are prepared particularly against Muslims, are working on the directions. Central governments, state governments, media, police, NGOs and educated class of the country, are aware of existing of such organizations and their hatred work. Which kind of action can be taken against them, is before every on of us. For weeks, Urdu newspapers and some English newspapers are highlighting and publishing the report that a new organization from right-wing of Hindutva has opened a new war against Darul Uloom Deoband in Utter Pradesh and this organization, every day, is trying to disturb communal harmony. Having been the information of such incident is taking place in Utter Pradesh, neither central government nor state government of UP nor English national media took it seriously. Moral and political support of secular powers and inability to work against them provided them platform to open a new war against prominent Muslim institution. In short words, this class wants from Muslims to concede what it seeks from them, means, shut their Madarsas, Mosques, give up their religious identity and join them.
Second section or second class is called seculars. Their work and their ton of talk with Muslims are democratically but their purpose also is same as first class thinks and does against Muslims. This second class which is secular wants to take action for Muslims upliftment. For this purpose, it wants to take some steps will help to remove poverty and illiteracy from Muslims. Sachar commission was also appointed to judge the condition of Muslims on various levels across the country in order to do something for them. It is unavoidable that this second class ignored Muslims and never placed Muslim’s demand. It talks of Muslim’s welfare, promises of implementing the recommendations of the commissions for a better future of Muslims and etc but the result is zero. It didn’t help to Muslims in any ways. In violence, in bomb attacks, in poverty and in illiteracy Muslim society is totally leaved behind by such secular forces. Batla house encounter, fake encounters in Gujarat, encounters of Muslims by Hindutva organizations in Gujarat, promise of reconstruction of Babri mosque in Ayodhya, justice to bomb blast victims are key issues of Muslims totally untouched by UPA government in its more than 5th year rules in center. Instead to solve the core issues of Muslims, and provide them all facilities for their rehabilitation in various fields, central government is introducing Madarsa board bill to capture Private Madarsas to shut Muslims’ religious identity from Muslim society. According Sachar committee report, only 3 or 4 percent Muslims go to Madarsas and 96% Muslims go to Universities and schools. These 96% Muslims need government help, institutions, facilities, and other helps to improve their educational level and able to get the admission in higher institutions, but government, instead giving them priority, trying to capture Private Madarsas, while these Private Madarsas are being run by Muslims not by the government. These Madarsas are epicenter of Muslims in their social and in their daily life. If government takes its control, the situation will goes worsen of Muslims religiously and historically. Indeed, secular forces also working on same direction which is selected by 1st section to snatch their historical and religious identities in India.
It is unbelievable that why Madarsas come under much attention by the central government when it goes to discus on education development in Muslim community, while schools and universities are the 1st choice of majority of Muslim parents as the survey of Sachar commission shows.
Muslim leaders should have to take lessen from past and ask the government that why it is forcing on a Madarsa board, although its 60 years denial towards Muslim increased poverty, illiteracy and unemployment in Muslim community in all over the country.
Can central government satisfies Muslims that proposed central Madarsa board will solve the issues are stand before them? Can government thrash Muslim’s fear that government’s Madarsa board is an effort to interfere in Muslim’s internal matter and such as the ways will be open for government to away Muslim generations from their Islamic and religious identity which is the demand of Hindutva groups. How Muslims believe on government’s honesty in increasing the reformations in educational field with bringing a Madarsa board which will revive Madarsa’s syllabus time to time which will give a chance to Hindutva sympathizers to change their syllabus? Can government clear its intention behind Madarsa board while lakhs of so-called religious Shakhas of Hindutva organizations are given free hand to teach what they want and build which kind of Shakhas they want to build in anywhere of the country?
If government is interested and has committed to change the condition of Indian Muslims, so it should have to come to Muslim’s areas and see from their own eyes the requirements of Muslims. Development in Muslim’s areas, financial help to minorities’ students and to poor Muslim families for higher education of their children, road construction and smooth electricity and water supply in Muslim dominated localities are the work of the governments which totally failed to address it.
Instead to address the issues are great factor of Muslims downfall in India, central government’s interest to waste its all energies on those who are just represents of 2% of their community, with ignoring 96% of the community will not help to the community and with that Muslim’s downfall can’t be stopped.
We will oppose of any move of government to take over Private Madarsas in its hand, if government has interest on Muslim’s upliftment it should have to cover all roots and fix all weaken points in Muslim community, and wide their working range, provide them justice, reservations, scholarships establish modern institutions, open medical colleges, and begin the construction in Muslim localities, but without taking significant steps, if it tried to take over these Madarsas., Muslims till their last drop of blood will oppose such move.
By Abdul Hannan
State Madrasah Board Opposes Sibal’s Move
The centre's move to form a Madrasa Board at national level was outrightly rejected by Maulana Mufti Ahmed Devalvi, the president of the Majlis-e-Tahaffuz-e-Madaris Gujarat. In a telephonic talk with Mufti Fareed Kavi, a spokesman of Majlis, it seems that the idea of the central government will backfire at least in Gujarat.
According to Majlis, this move will hamper the originality of madrasah education and consequently madaris, plural of madrasah, will lose their identity and spirit as the forts of Islam. He further said that only three percentage (the Sachar Committee report says 4%) Muslim students were in madaris. ‘If centre wants to start madaris with some worldly course, it has been catering to the wide option of big percentage of remaining Muslim kids. This lot can be taped by centre,’ said Fareed.
Prior to this, a similar proposal was put forward by the NDA government by involving the Delhi-based Maulana Ilyasi, which was also opposed.
Devalvi expressed surprise over renewed efforts by the UPA government in this direction saying that the Muslim community was not making any demand for it and that he has written to HRD minister Kapil Sibal as well.
“Once the control of madaris goes in the hands of the government, these seminaries will lose their very spirit,” he said, adding that the religious content of the syllabus of some madaris in Bihar and West Bengal was diluted after they were affiliated to the boards set up by the respective state governments, “reducing them to the position of any modern school”.
He said madaris are for purely religious needs. “Madaris are teaching modern subjects like mathematics, sciences and computers, and some madrasah students join the mainstream educational institutions after completing their studies in the seminaries. Let the government set up modern schools and colleges on its own in areas where madaris are located, rather than eyeing madaris and their properties,” he added
The proposed Madrasah Board is not acceptable to us. It is better if the government constitutes a committee comprising of Madrasah heads and ulama to look into the details of what actually it wants before enforcing any decision on us” said, Mufti Asjad of Kashif-ul-Uloom adding there is a wide gap between the two drafts of the Madrasah board, one proposed by the Centre and other by the State. “Similar questions were raised in a meeting that was called in 2008 but the Government has not come up with any explanation till now.” said Maulana Vali of Bharuch.
Observing that only 4% Muslim children are taking admissions in the Madaris and the remaining 96% go to the schools run by the government and Muslim NGOs, Mufti Abdul Qayum asked “Why does the government which does not show any sympathy towards the Muslim schools and their managements and makes these run from one office to another for every small thing, is so restless in extending aid to the Madaris?”
It also transpired during the meeting that the managements have already decided to include modern education in their Madaris, the primary aim of the government. However fearing the interference from the government in the syllabus the Madrasah heads decline to receive the government aid.
“If the Government’s intention is to include the modern education in the Madaris then we have already decided to do so. But the proposed Madrasah board is vague that makes the intentions of the government unclear”, said Maulana Huzaifah of Bhavnagar.
Amid the strong opposition to the government’s proposal of Madrasah Board, Hafiz Muhammad Umair proposed, “ If the Government is really interested in helping the Madaris, it should first implement its own decision taken in 2004 to provide food grains on subsidized rates.”
The above argument serves an enough indicator to the stand of Gujarat, madaris heads regarding the Central Madrasah Board that the centre instead of being concerned about modernization of madaris should ensure better education and employment opportunities for the 96% Muslim students who do not attend madaris at all.
By Abdul hafiz Lakhani
With more than 100 Darul Ulooms in Gujarat, the state produces a considerable number of ulama and huffaz (plural of hafiz). Majority of them get employment in these madaris while others head to foreign countries.
A fresher from the madaris gets a starting salary of around Rs 3,000 with lodging and boarding facilities whether they are married or not. Unlike teachers of government run schools the teachers of madaris get their salary by the 10th of every month for sure. To support their income many of them are also allowed to take tuitions and lead prayers.
According to Majlis, this move will hamper the originality of madrasah education and consequently madaris, plural of madrasah, will lose their identity and spirit as the forts of Islam. He further said that only three percentage (the Sachar Committee report says 4%) Muslim students were in madaris. ‘If centre wants to start madaris with some worldly course, it has been catering to the wide option of big percentage of remaining Muslim kids. This lot can be taped by centre,’ said Fareed.
Prior to this, a similar proposal was put forward by the NDA government by involving the Delhi-based Maulana Ilyasi, which was also opposed.
Devalvi expressed surprise over renewed efforts by the UPA government in this direction saying that the Muslim community was not making any demand for it and that he has written to HRD minister Kapil Sibal as well.
“Once the control of madaris goes in the hands of the government, these seminaries will lose their very spirit,” he said, adding that the religious content of the syllabus of some madaris in Bihar and West Bengal was diluted after they were affiliated to the boards set up by the respective state governments, “reducing them to the position of any modern school”.
He said madaris are for purely religious needs. “Madaris are teaching modern subjects like mathematics, sciences and computers, and some madrasah students join the mainstream educational institutions after completing their studies in the seminaries. Let the government set up modern schools and colleges on its own in areas where madaris are located, rather than eyeing madaris and their properties,” he added
The proposed Madrasah Board is not acceptable to us. It is better if the government constitutes a committee comprising of Madrasah heads and ulama to look into the details of what actually it wants before enforcing any decision on us” said, Mufti Asjad of Kashif-ul-Uloom adding there is a wide gap between the two drafts of the Madrasah board, one proposed by the Centre and other by the State. “Similar questions were raised in a meeting that was called in 2008 but the Government has not come up with any explanation till now.” said Maulana Vali of Bharuch.
Observing that only 4% Muslim children are taking admissions in the Madaris and the remaining 96% go to the schools run by the government and Muslim NGOs, Mufti Abdul Qayum asked “Why does the government which does not show any sympathy towards the Muslim schools and their managements and makes these run from one office to another for every small thing, is so restless in extending aid to the Madaris?”
It also transpired during the meeting that the managements have already decided to include modern education in their Madaris, the primary aim of the government. However fearing the interference from the government in the syllabus the Madrasah heads decline to receive the government aid.
“If the Government’s intention is to include the modern education in the Madaris then we have already decided to do so. But the proposed Madrasah board is vague that makes the intentions of the government unclear”, said Maulana Huzaifah of Bhavnagar.
Amid the strong opposition to the government’s proposal of Madrasah Board, Hafiz Muhammad Umair proposed, “ If the Government is really interested in helping the Madaris, it should first implement its own decision taken in 2004 to provide food grains on subsidized rates.”
The above argument serves an enough indicator to the stand of Gujarat, madaris heads regarding the Central Madrasah Board that the centre instead of being concerned about modernization of madaris should ensure better education and employment opportunities for the 96% Muslim students who do not attend madaris at all.
By Abdul hafiz Lakhani
With more than 100 Darul Ulooms in Gujarat, the state produces a considerable number of ulama and huffaz (plural of hafiz). Majority of them get employment in these madaris while others head to foreign countries.
A fresher from the madaris gets a starting salary of around Rs 3,000 with lodging and boarding facilities whether they are married or not. Unlike teachers of government run schools the teachers of madaris get their salary by the 10th of every month for sure. To support their income many of them are also allowed to take tuitions and lead prayers.
Why Central Madrasah Board Be Constituted?
There are no opportunities in job sectors for madaris graduates. Doesn’t it indicate to their failure in modern time?
The social and economical backwardness of the Muslim community shares a direct link with madaris and their products; maulvis and mullas. Their only duty, they think, is to give fruitless education and label those having contemporary education as incomplete and non-practicing Muslims. Anyone breeding a view opposite to it should study well the real situation of madaris and the skills the maulvis get there.
Madaris are blind to the need of time. Whatever the advancement takes place in education world; these madaris have a centuries old tradition of insisting on their outdated syllabus. Qur’an, Hadees and Fiqh, the madaris take them as integral part of their education while the market value of these subjects resembles to nothing.
Justice M.S.A. Siddiqui, chairman of the National Commission of Minority Educational Institutions (NCMEI) had said in an interview to IANS that in the last 60 years of independence, no madrasah - including the great Darul Uloom at Deoband - has produced a single scholar. "I wonder whether these maulvis ever ponder over this. These people have a vested interest in keeping the community backward," he said.
While education is a must for advancement of any community the maulvis are not ready to accept it. Spend a long time, and experience every method to convince them about the advantages of contemporary subjects, you will find at last to have done a wild goose chase. No amazement, if they come on streets opposing the proposed Central Madrasa Board; a sincere effort by centre to modernize the madaris. Let the HRD minister Kapil Sibal announce that the board will not interfere in their system, why the heads of madaris be ready to accept the proposal? The managers of madaris are afraid their occupation over the institutions will be lost if they are affiliated to the government. ‘Modernization’ they think, is a poison for madaris syllabi. The reality is quite contrary to the notion as the madaris syllabus ruins the life of students.
Those becoming graduates through this syllabus are of no use. None of them one will find being employed as an engineer, a doctor or a scientist. Leading prayer-may it be daily, funeral, Eid or Jum’a- reading out Nikah, calling Azan or at high level to teach in a madrasah are the only options left for a graduate maulvi who spends one fourth of life pursuing education. Why should the step of the government to modernize the madaris under Central Madrasah Board be opposed if it provides with a larger scope of employment for madaris products. Besides enabling them to work shoulder by shoulder in employment fields, the modernization will be a means to be rich and serve the community in a better way. They will become a valuable asset for the community instead of being burden.
Majority of madaris teachers have the mere duty of collecting chanda (donations) from modern educated rich Muslims. Here, maulvis do not hesitate to approach educated ones and back in madaris they will not hesitate opposing them!
It is by time that madaris organizers be serious towards education and stop resisting modernization efforts done either by the government or the intellectuals. We hope to see madaris soon welcoming the Central Madrasah Board. This is the time when money has a great value and it is crucial to everything even to get our due rights. Providing students with modern education under the patronage of the government, responsible for improvement of every community, will be a laudable step towards reformation of madaris.
The social and economical backwardness of the Muslim community shares a direct link with madaris and their products; maulvis and mullas. Their only duty, they think, is to give fruitless education and label those having contemporary education as incomplete and non-practicing Muslims. Anyone breeding a view opposite to it should study well the real situation of madaris and the skills the maulvis get there.
Madaris are blind to the need of time. Whatever the advancement takes place in education world; these madaris have a centuries old tradition of insisting on their outdated syllabus. Qur’an, Hadees and Fiqh, the madaris take them as integral part of their education while the market value of these subjects resembles to nothing.
Justice M.S.A. Siddiqui, chairman of the National Commission of Minority Educational Institutions (NCMEI) had said in an interview to IANS that in the last 60 years of independence, no madrasah - including the great Darul Uloom at Deoband - has produced a single scholar. "I wonder whether these maulvis ever ponder over this. These people have a vested interest in keeping the community backward," he said.
While education is a must for advancement of any community the maulvis are not ready to accept it. Spend a long time, and experience every method to convince them about the advantages of contemporary subjects, you will find at last to have done a wild goose chase. No amazement, if they come on streets opposing the proposed Central Madrasa Board; a sincere effort by centre to modernize the madaris. Let the HRD minister Kapil Sibal announce that the board will not interfere in their system, why the heads of madaris be ready to accept the proposal? The managers of madaris are afraid their occupation over the institutions will be lost if they are affiliated to the government. ‘Modernization’ they think, is a poison for madaris syllabi. The reality is quite contrary to the notion as the madaris syllabus ruins the life of students.
Those becoming graduates through this syllabus are of no use. None of them one will find being employed as an engineer, a doctor or a scientist. Leading prayer-may it be daily, funeral, Eid or Jum’a- reading out Nikah, calling Azan or at high level to teach in a madrasah are the only options left for a graduate maulvi who spends one fourth of life pursuing education. Why should the step of the government to modernize the madaris under Central Madrasah Board be opposed if it provides with a larger scope of employment for madaris products. Besides enabling them to work shoulder by shoulder in employment fields, the modernization will be a means to be rich and serve the community in a better way. They will become a valuable asset for the community instead of being burden.
Majority of madaris teachers have the mere duty of collecting chanda (donations) from modern educated rich Muslims. Here, maulvis do not hesitate to approach educated ones and back in madaris they will not hesitate opposing them!
It is by time that madaris organizers be serious towards education and stop resisting modernization efforts done either by the government or the intellectuals. We hope to see madaris soon welcoming the Central Madrasah Board. This is the time when money has a great value and it is crucial to everything even to get our due rights. Providing students with modern education under the patronage of the government, responsible for improvement of every community, will be a laudable step towards reformation of madaris.
Call to the Community to Oppose "Central Madrasa Board" and Save Madrasas
The Madrasa as an institution has always been an eye-sore for the Sangh Parivar. They see it as the defence line for Muslim identity and an obstacle to eventual assimilation of Muslims in the Hindu fold. Under the NDA government the madrasas particularly in border areas were looked upon as cradle for terrorists and shelter for militants. As a result, many madrasas including Nadwat-ul-Ulama were subjected to search. Following 9/11 the US authorities added a new word to their lexicon-‘Deobandi’ because they were told that the Taliban had been trained in ‘Deobandi Madrasas’ in Pakistan. These madrasas had been established by the old boys of the Darul Uloom and had no connection whatsoever with Deoband. But, all embassies and intelligence agencies put the Darul Uloom and other Madrasas on their radar. Though, Home Minister Advani admitted that no madrasa manager or teacher anywhere in the country had been prosecuted for any subversive activity, the local police continued to harass them. Harassment has stopped but suspicion lingered about their purpose and their funding. At one stage, government tried to place its own teachers in the madrasas in the name of ‘modernization’. Very few madrasa responded to the bait. This may well be the conceptual origin of the proposed Central Madrasa Board.
History
The National Policy on Education, 1986, updated in 1992, had two centrally sponsored schemes. They were the Area Intensive Programme for Educationally Backward Minorities and Financial Assistance for Modernization of Madrasah Education. These schemes were launched during 1993-94. Under the 10th Plan these two schemes were merged to form the Area Intensive and Madrasa Modernisation Programme. These schemes are now sought to be replaced by a Central Madrasa Board which seeks to coordinate, regulate and control all madrasa education in the country.
The Central government has never reviewed the impact of its Madrasa Modernization Programme, whose basic aim was to provide teachers to Madaris for subjects like English, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies.
The Central Madrasa Board Bill, drafted during the first UPA Government (2004-09), was ready for introduction but it was not introduced for whatever the official reason. Nearly all well known Jamias, Darul Ulooms and Madrasas in the country, including the Jamia Nadwat-ul-Ulama, Lucknow and Darul Uloom, Deoband, were totally opposed to the very concept of a Central Board funding Madrasa education, laying down a uniform curriculum and syllabus(even for non-theological subjects), and conducting common examinations. Not introducing the bill was a tactical move because of the fear of a negative impact on Muslim support for the UPA in the 2009 General Election.
Now, that the second UPA government has completed 100 days in office, the Bill brought out of the closet, has been circulated to the Muslim MPs for their views. The Bill is not yet quite in the public domain because the heads of nationally eminent Muslim organizations like the Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind ( JUH), the All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat (AIMMM), the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH), the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), the MJAH, and the All India Shia Conference (AISC) have not been taken into confidence. Nor have the views of Muslim educationists and opinion-makers been sought. The idea is first to placate the Muslim MPs, because they alone can raise a rumpus in Parliament.
Controversial Aspects
The community, as a whole, is not convinced about the need or urgency of the move. The first question they raise is to why the government is so anxious to bring all madrasas under a centralized administration. Even to the best of our knowledge, no such central board exists for the Sanskrit Paathshalas whose number far exceeds that of the madrasas. If the idea is to upgrade the standard of education in religious institutions and to make their products more employable than they have conventionally been, the same consideration applies to Paathshalas. The State Madrasa Boards have not distinguished themselves by producing any religious scholars of national repute since their inception or at least since independence. They have been working as attached and subordinate offices of government steeped in corruption, graft and nepotism like the paathshala. In some states, for example, in Bihar, official intervention in Madrasas was politically motivated so that the Government of the day or the party in power may secure the free services of a set of drum beaters in every basti or mohalla! But the standard of these Sarkari madrasas and the employment prospects of their output were so low that they did not acquire any credence or credibility in the community. Largely, it was the Azad (unaffiliated) madaris which refused aid, retained their autonomy, who produced the Ulema and religious functionaries.
But the Muslim community did realize that religious scholars who perform conventional functions should also have minimum knowledge about the country and the world at large and have some idea of the direction in which the world and the country are moving. Therefore, apart from receiving classical instruction in theology, they should acquire basic knowledge of non-theological subjects and current affairs.
This idea has been recognized by nearly all the leading madrasas and has flowered over the last 2 or 3 decades and many darul ulooms have taken pains to revise and prune their classical syllabus in order to teach non-theological subjects, essential in the modern context and pursue ‘contemporary education’. However, they have drawn a line between the two branches of knowledge and always focused on the essential purpose of the madrasas, which is not to produce administrators or engineers or doctor but religious scholars, and devoted only 25% of the academic time to contemporary subjects. At the other extreme, in West Bengal the affiliated madrasas have all been converted into high and secondary schools under the state madrasa board and allotted less than 10% of the academic time to what it calls ‘Introduction of Islam’, which covers all branches of theology-Tafsir, Hadith, Seerat and Fiqh. One can easily realise that this deformed and distorted education cannot produce any Islamic scholars worth the name, West Bengal has thus killed Madrasa Education.
Unaffiliated Madrasas in UP and Kerala, for different reasons, have followed a common strategy to achieve the objective. Primary instruction is prohibited in Urdu, in UP, which is the mother tongue of nearly 100 % of Muslim students. Muslim students are normally enrolled in local madrasas where they study up to the primary level. Then most of them take primary examination as private candidates and enter normal schools.
In Kerala, school enrolment is nearly universal and all Muslim boys and girls have double enrolment. During the first five years they spend morning hours in the local madrasas and the rest of the day in schools. At the end of 5 years, those who aspire to become Aalim, stay with the madrasa system while a large majority moves on to the general school. These examples show that neither the Muslim community nor the managers of the madrasas are blind to the changing circumstances and the aspirations of the young muslims they are trying as best as they can to give theological instruction to every child at the impressionable age of 5-10, to lay the foundation of his or her Islamic identity.
During the last two decades, there has been a very fortunate development. The senior products of the madrasas, comparable to graduates are accepted by several well known universities like the AMU, the JMI, the JNU and the Jamia Hamdard for the master course in several subjects, or a course in Tibb. Some universities require them to take a one year bridge-course in order to familiarize themselves with the new subjects of study as well as improve English which is often the medium of education. Such products have found their way into government service, including the central civil services, mass communication system, government media and as translators in the foreign service. This development has opened a new horizon for the madrasa products without affecting the autonomy of the institution or diluting its basic purpose.
Why emphasis on Madrasas?
Another important question that arises in the Muslim mind relates to the fact that only 4% of the Muslim students at the secondary level are enrolled in madrasas while 96% study in schools and colleges and receive certificates and degrees. What the community fails to comprehend is the selective approach. Most of the Muslim youth armed with university degrees are unemployed or they take jobs far below their entitlement. Why is it that the government is so anxious about improving the prospects of the madrasa products, while totally ignoring the wide spread unemployment among educated Muslim youth?
Why no Schools in Muslim Areas?
The Government launched Sarava Shiksha Abhiyan and is now implementing the Right to Education Act. But even at the lowest level, the benefits of universalisation are yet to reach the community in their villages and mohallas.
Why does the government not care to establish adequate number of schools according to national norms. If they exist they are generally treated like step-children. Muslim parents are eager to send their children to schools of minimum quality in the neighbourhood, even braving other linguistic and social obstacles. A legitimate question is addressed to the government as to why it does not provide minimum educational facility and at least primary education of minimum acceptable quality to Muslim children. The most cases Muslims have no option but to attend maktabs in local masjids.
Outline of the Bill
Let us now have a glance through the Bill. Though the Long Title only mentions coordination and standardization of non-theological education, the Act goes far beyond clearly shows under the Bill that the Board will be established by the Government will not enjoy academic or administrative autonomy. There is no compulsion, no doubt, and the Board shall affiliate why the madrasas which volunteer for the ‘honour’ to receive the ‘benefits’. But once affiliated, the Board can disaffiliate them or take disciplinary measures for not following its instructions. However, affiliation entitles the madrasas to receive grant-in-aid from the Central or the state governments.
Among the list of subjects to be taught, theology does not have any priority. Instead of fiq‘h, philosophy is mentioned.
The senior products are not guaranteed admission to colleges or universities or government institutions, far less employment.
The Act does not lay down any qualification for the selection of the Chairperson of the Board or the method of selection or appointment (Section 4). Theoretically, it can be a non-Muslim. In any case, he shall be a person who enjoys the confidence of the government in power. Read with the provision for the appointment of Registrar (Section 14) who is to be nominated by the government in consultation with the Chairperson, it is clear that the decisions of the Board shall be taken, whatever the procedure laid down, by the Chairperson and the Registrar both of whom shall toe the line of the government.
The Board shall have 11 additional members (Section 4 (1)), all of them nominated. 7 of them shall be ‘renowned’ Muslim religious scholars belonging to various sects and denominations. The draft mentions a ‘Deobandi’ and a ‘Barelvi’ while there are no such sects as they are both Hanafis. It shall have Ahl-e-Hadith, Shafeis as well as two Shia scholars, one belonging to the Bohra community. Thus the Bill lacks a sense of proportion and seeks to divide the community. In addition, the Board shall include three Muslim educationists including a woman as well as a Muslim philanthropist (why?). No member will have any representative status, as the head of a Muslim organization, Jamaat or institution. The members will serve at the sweet will of the government and may be removed by the government before completing their term of three years.
The Board shall have several Committees. The most important is the Curriculum Committee with 5 including the Chairperson of the Board as its head and the Registrar as Secretary (Section 35).
The government shall nominate or appoint all other officers or employee. The Rules and Regulations of the Board shall be formulated by the Government.
The Board shall hold an Annual Meeting; prepare an Annual Report as well as an Annual Statement of Accounts, duly audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, to be submitted for presentation to the Parliament.
Section 18 (1) lays down the general duty of the Board as the standardization of the non-theological aspects of Madrasa system for its ‘comprehensive, systematic and integrated development’. But this is no more than a mask. Nowhere does the Act lay down the proportion of academic time and energy to be devoted to non-theological instruction. It is presumed that standardization by the Board will universally apply to all affiliated madrasas of the country. One wonders if it is possible and practicable.
The Act goes further to empower the board to ‘emphasise the liberal, universalist and contextually pro-active genius of Islam’. It does not even clarify whether the general education in the Madrasas shall be compatible with basic Islamic doctrines.
Sub-section 18(1) (w) speaks of ‘programmes for the consolidation of the inclusive society marked by religious and cultural diversity through proper interfaith understanding’. This is as political an objective as could be and can possibly clash with the basic tenets of madrasa education.
Finally, it provides under sub-clause (ee) for ‘adoption of a non-polemelical approach to other religions and non-sectarian institutions in a state of fidelity to the Islamic spiritual tradition’. One does not understood what this means. But, it is obvious that any instruction for da`wa shall come under a ban.
The Board shall recommend not only textbooks in non-theological subjects but also the prescribed reading material.
Chapter V relating to finance, accounts and audit does not lay down that the affiliated madrasa shall be wholly funded by the government or the Board; it speaks of donations, gifts, etc., which are normally available to the madrasas. The funds of the Board shall be allocated as grants to affiliated madrasas for their maintenance and development and for such other purpose as may be prescribed including remuneration and honorarium. Again, nowhere does the Bill say that the remuneration and honorarium to the teaching and non teaching staff of the affiliated madrasas shall match those admissible to those of government schools and colleges.
The Budget of the Madrasa shall be subject to approval by the Board. The financial procedure as well as the audit procedure is the same as generally applicable to government institutions but it will be beyond the capacity of an average madrasa to fulfil the formalities. In addition, the madrasas shall submit periodical reports and returns to the Board, for compilation and submission to the central government.
It is said that the country has more than 100,000 madrasas but the figures may be misleading. The government has not done its home work to quantify the number of Maktabs and what the Bill calls primary, upper primary, secondary and higher secondary madrasas.
“...In contrast, Muslim women with a literacy level of 50% have been able to keep up with women of other communities and are much ahead of the SC/ST women in rural India.” SACHAR REPORT
If the past experience of the number of institutions which volunteered to receive government grant under ‘Modernisations Programmes’ is a guide, the total number of madrasas affiliated to the Board may not exceed a few thousands. But this also raises a question on the double affiliation of the Madrasas which are already affiliated to some state boards. The Bill is also silent about the organic relationship between the Central and State Madrasa Boards.
Conclusion
The Modernisation Programme having failed, the Government now wishes to take over the entire madrasa system. No doubt, the teachers who are ill-paid may be better paid. But for hundreds of years the community has supported the madrasa system and will not easily succumb to the lure of money or official status. The community knows that affiliation to a Government Board is an embrace of death which will not merely distort and devalue the system. Ultimately it will kill it. The Community realizes that the AMU and the JMI have lost their status as minority institutions. It also knows that despite Article 30, it is not easy to set up minority schools and colleges because of deliberate obstructions, which even the NCMEI has not been able to tackle with any success. Essentially, the madrasas are minority institutions. Nearly, all of them are also wakfs in law. The Bill totally ignores both these crucial aspects. Even the Right to Education Act does not recognize the functioning madrasas as equivalent to schools for the purpose of universalisation of education.
Virtual takeover of the madrasas by the government will amount to gross interference in the religious affairs of the community and a violation of the Constitution.
The madrasas are all modernizing themselves and introducing non-theological subjects, at their own pace and in response to the felt needs of the community. They cannot be rushed into divesting themselves of their autonomy and their real purpose for the production of Ulema and religious functionaries.
Muslim organizations as well as leading Ulema and eminent Madrasas have already taken a position against the official move. There may be an odd voice here and there, enticed by monetary prospects, but just as the move to take over and regulate madrasas in Pakistan, at the instance of the USA after 9/11, under President Musharraf failed, so will this move. Insha Allah!
Muslim India requests the government not to interfere in the madrasa system but as well-wishers simply create a Madrasa Development Fund which may be drawn upon by some madrasas at their option for their development. And no more.
By Syed Shahabuddin
History
The National Policy on Education, 1986, updated in 1992, had two centrally sponsored schemes. They were the Area Intensive Programme for Educationally Backward Minorities and Financial Assistance for Modernization of Madrasah Education. These schemes were launched during 1993-94. Under the 10th Plan these two schemes were merged to form the Area Intensive and Madrasa Modernisation Programme. These schemes are now sought to be replaced by a Central Madrasa Board which seeks to coordinate, regulate and control all madrasa education in the country.
The Central government has never reviewed the impact of its Madrasa Modernization Programme, whose basic aim was to provide teachers to Madaris for subjects like English, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies.
The Central Madrasa Board Bill, drafted during the first UPA Government (2004-09), was ready for introduction but it was not introduced for whatever the official reason. Nearly all well known Jamias, Darul Ulooms and Madrasas in the country, including the Jamia Nadwat-ul-Ulama, Lucknow and Darul Uloom, Deoband, were totally opposed to the very concept of a Central Board funding Madrasa education, laying down a uniform curriculum and syllabus(even for non-theological subjects), and conducting common examinations. Not introducing the bill was a tactical move because of the fear of a negative impact on Muslim support for the UPA in the 2009 General Election.
Now, that the second UPA government has completed 100 days in office, the Bill brought out of the closet, has been circulated to the Muslim MPs for their views. The Bill is not yet quite in the public domain because the heads of nationally eminent Muslim organizations like the Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind ( JUH), the All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat (AIMMM), the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH), the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), the MJAH, and the All India Shia Conference (AISC) have not been taken into confidence. Nor have the views of Muslim educationists and opinion-makers been sought. The idea is first to placate the Muslim MPs, because they alone can raise a rumpus in Parliament.
Controversial Aspects
The community, as a whole, is not convinced about the need or urgency of the move. The first question they raise is to why the government is so anxious to bring all madrasas under a centralized administration. Even to the best of our knowledge, no such central board exists for the Sanskrit Paathshalas whose number far exceeds that of the madrasas. If the idea is to upgrade the standard of education in religious institutions and to make their products more employable than they have conventionally been, the same consideration applies to Paathshalas. The State Madrasa Boards have not distinguished themselves by producing any religious scholars of national repute since their inception or at least since independence. They have been working as attached and subordinate offices of government steeped in corruption, graft and nepotism like the paathshala. In some states, for example, in Bihar, official intervention in Madrasas was politically motivated so that the Government of the day or the party in power may secure the free services of a set of drum beaters in every basti or mohalla! But the standard of these Sarkari madrasas and the employment prospects of their output were so low that they did not acquire any credence or credibility in the community. Largely, it was the Azad (unaffiliated) madaris which refused aid, retained their autonomy, who produced the Ulema and religious functionaries.
But the Muslim community did realize that religious scholars who perform conventional functions should also have minimum knowledge about the country and the world at large and have some idea of the direction in which the world and the country are moving. Therefore, apart from receiving classical instruction in theology, they should acquire basic knowledge of non-theological subjects and current affairs.
This idea has been recognized by nearly all the leading madrasas and has flowered over the last 2 or 3 decades and many darul ulooms have taken pains to revise and prune their classical syllabus in order to teach non-theological subjects, essential in the modern context and pursue ‘contemporary education’. However, they have drawn a line between the two branches of knowledge and always focused on the essential purpose of the madrasas, which is not to produce administrators or engineers or doctor but religious scholars, and devoted only 25% of the academic time to contemporary subjects. At the other extreme, in West Bengal the affiliated madrasas have all been converted into high and secondary schools under the state madrasa board and allotted less than 10% of the academic time to what it calls ‘Introduction of Islam’, which covers all branches of theology-Tafsir, Hadith, Seerat and Fiqh. One can easily realise that this deformed and distorted education cannot produce any Islamic scholars worth the name, West Bengal has thus killed Madrasa Education.
Unaffiliated Madrasas in UP and Kerala, for different reasons, have followed a common strategy to achieve the objective. Primary instruction is prohibited in Urdu, in UP, which is the mother tongue of nearly 100 % of Muslim students. Muslim students are normally enrolled in local madrasas where they study up to the primary level. Then most of them take primary examination as private candidates and enter normal schools.
In Kerala, school enrolment is nearly universal and all Muslim boys and girls have double enrolment. During the first five years they spend morning hours in the local madrasas and the rest of the day in schools. At the end of 5 years, those who aspire to become Aalim, stay with the madrasa system while a large majority moves on to the general school. These examples show that neither the Muslim community nor the managers of the madrasas are blind to the changing circumstances and the aspirations of the young muslims they are trying as best as they can to give theological instruction to every child at the impressionable age of 5-10, to lay the foundation of his or her Islamic identity.
During the last two decades, there has been a very fortunate development. The senior products of the madrasas, comparable to graduates are accepted by several well known universities like the AMU, the JMI, the JNU and the Jamia Hamdard for the master course in several subjects, or a course in Tibb. Some universities require them to take a one year bridge-course in order to familiarize themselves with the new subjects of study as well as improve English which is often the medium of education. Such products have found their way into government service, including the central civil services, mass communication system, government media and as translators in the foreign service. This development has opened a new horizon for the madrasa products without affecting the autonomy of the institution or diluting its basic purpose.
Why emphasis on Madrasas?
Another important question that arises in the Muslim mind relates to the fact that only 4% of the Muslim students at the secondary level are enrolled in madrasas while 96% study in schools and colleges and receive certificates and degrees. What the community fails to comprehend is the selective approach. Most of the Muslim youth armed with university degrees are unemployed or they take jobs far below their entitlement. Why is it that the government is so anxious about improving the prospects of the madrasa products, while totally ignoring the wide spread unemployment among educated Muslim youth?
Why no Schools in Muslim Areas?
The Government launched Sarava Shiksha Abhiyan and is now implementing the Right to Education Act. But even at the lowest level, the benefits of universalisation are yet to reach the community in their villages and mohallas.
Why does the government not care to establish adequate number of schools according to national norms. If they exist they are generally treated like step-children. Muslim parents are eager to send their children to schools of minimum quality in the neighbourhood, even braving other linguistic and social obstacles. A legitimate question is addressed to the government as to why it does not provide minimum educational facility and at least primary education of minimum acceptable quality to Muslim children. The most cases Muslims have no option but to attend maktabs in local masjids.
Outline of the Bill
Let us now have a glance through the Bill. Though the Long Title only mentions coordination and standardization of non-theological education, the Act goes far beyond clearly shows under the Bill that the Board will be established by the Government will not enjoy academic or administrative autonomy. There is no compulsion, no doubt, and the Board shall affiliate why the madrasas which volunteer for the ‘honour’ to receive the ‘benefits’. But once affiliated, the Board can disaffiliate them or take disciplinary measures for not following its instructions. However, affiliation entitles the madrasas to receive grant-in-aid from the Central or the state governments.
Among the list of subjects to be taught, theology does not have any priority. Instead of fiq‘h, philosophy is mentioned.
The senior products are not guaranteed admission to colleges or universities or government institutions, far less employment.
The Act does not lay down any qualification for the selection of the Chairperson of the Board or the method of selection or appointment (Section 4). Theoretically, it can be a non-Muslim. In any case, he shall be a person who enjoys the confidence of the government in power. Read with the provision for the appointment of Registrar (Section 14) who is to be nominated by the government in consultation with the Chairperson, it is clear that the decisions of the Board shall be taken, whatever the procedure laid down, by the Chairperson and the Registrar both of whom shall toe the line of the government.
The Board shall have 11 additional members (Section 4 (1)), all of them nominated. 7 of them shall be ‘renowned’ Muslim religious scholars belonging to various sects and denominations. The draft mentions a ‘Deobandi’ and a ‘Barelvi’ while there are no such sects as they are both Hanafis. It shall have Ahl-e-Hadith, Shafeis as well as two Shia scholars, one belonging to the Bohra community. Thus the Bill lacks a sense of proportion and seeks to divide the community. In addition, the Board shall include three Muslim educationists including a woman as well as a Muslim philanthropist (why?). No member will have any representative status, as the head of a Muslim organization, Jamaat or institution. The members will serve at the sweet will of the government and may be removed by the government before completing their term of three years.
The Board shall have several Committees. The most important is the Curriculum Committee with 5 including the Chairperson of the Board as its head and the Registrar as Secretary (Section 35).
The government shall nominate or appoint all other officers or employee. The Rules and Regulations of the Board shall be formulated by the Government.
The Board shall hold an Annual Meeting; prepare an Annual Report as well as an Annual Statement of Accounts, duly audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, to be submitted for presentation to the Parliament.
Section 18 (1) lays down the general duty of the Board as the standardization of the non-theological aspects of Madrasa system for its ‘comprehensive, systematic and integrated development’. But this is no more than a mask. Nowhere does the Act lay down the proportion of academic time and energy to be devoted to non-theological instruction. It is presumed that standardization by the Board will universally apply to all affiliated madrasas of the country. One wonders if it is possible and practicable.
The Act goes further to empower the board to ‘emphasise the liberal, universalist and contextually pro-active genius of Islam’. It does not even clarify whether the general education in the Madrasas shall be compatible with basic Islamic doctrines.
Sub-section 18(1) (w) speaks of ‘programmes for the consolidation of the inclusive society marked by religious and cultural diversity through proper interfaith understanding’. This is as political an objective as could be and can possibly clash with the basic tenets of madrasa education.
Finally, it provides under sub-clause (ee) for ‘adoption of a non-polemelical approach to other religions and non-sectarian institutions in a state of fidelity to the Islamic spiritual tradition’. One does not understood what this means. But, it is obvious that any instruction for da`wa shall come under a ban.
The Board shall recommend not only textbooks in non-theological subjects but also the prescribed reading material.
Chapter V relating to finance, accounts and audit does not lay down that the affiliated madrasa shall be wholly funded by the government or the Board; it speaks of donations, gifts, etc., which are normally available to the madrasas. The funds of the Board shall be allocated as grants to affiliated madrasas for their maintenance and development and for such other purpose as may be prescribed including remuneration and honorarium. Again, nowhere does the Bill say that the remuneration and honorarium to the teaching and non teaching staff of the affiliated madrasas shall match those admissible to those of government schools and colleges.
The Budget of the Madrasa shall be subject to approval by the Board. The financial procedure as well as the audit procedure is the same as generally applicable to government institutions but it will be beyond the capacity of an average madrasa to fulfil the formalities. In addition, the madrasas shall submit periodical reports and returns to the Board, for compilation and submission to the central government.
It is said that the country has more than 100,000 madrasas but the figures may be misleading. The government has not done its home work to quantify the number of Maktabs and what the Bill calls primary, upper primary, secondary and higher secondary madrasas.
“...In contrast, Muslim women with a literacy level of 50% have been able to keep up with women of other communities and are much ahead of the SC/ST women in rural India.” SACHAR REPORT
If the past experience of the number of institutions which volunteered to receive government grant under ‘Modernisations Programmes’ is a guide, the total number of madrasas affiliated to the Board may not exceed a few thousands. But this also raises a question on the double affiliation of the Madrasas which are already affiliated to some state boards. The Bill is also silent about the organic relationship between the Central and State Madrasa Boards.
Conclusion
The Modernisation Programme having failed, the Government now wishes to take over the entire madrasa system. No doubt, the teachers who are ill-paid may be better paid. But for hundreds of years the community has supported the madrasa system and will not easily succumb to the lure of money or official status. The community knows that affiliation to a Government Board is an embrace of death which will not merely distort and devalue the system. Ultimately it will kill it. The Community realizes that the AMU and the JMI have lost their status as minority institutions. It also knows that despite Article 30, it is not easy to set up minority schools and colleges because of deliberate obstructions, which even the NCMEI has not been able to tackle with any success. Essentially, the madrasas are minority institutions. Nearly, all of them are also wakfs in law. The Bill totally ignores both these crucial aspects. Even the Right to Education Act does not recognize the functioning madrasas as equivalent to schools for the purpose of universalisation of education.
Virtual takeover of the madrasas by the government will amount to gross interference in the religious affairs of the community and a violation of the Constitution.
The madrasas are all modernizing themselves and introducing non-theological subjects, at their own pace and in response to the felt needs of the community. They cannot be rushed into divesting themselves of their autonomy and their real purpose for the production of Ulema and religious functionaries.
Muslim organizations as well as leading Ulema and eminent Madrasas have already taken a position against the official move. There may be an odd voice here and there, enticed by monetary prospects, but just as the move to take over and regulate madrasas in Pakistan, at the instance of the USA after 9/11, under President Musharraf failed, so will this move. Insha Allah!
Muslim India requests the government not to interfere in the madrasa system but as well-wishers simply create a Madrasa Development Fund which may be drawn upon by some madrasas at their option for their development. And no more.
By Syed Shahabuddin
West Bengal Madaris Have Co-Education System
Narapatipara High Madrasah in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal is a double storied brick building with a large playground. It is surrounded by paddy fields and hectares of green farmland.
Its 320 pupils, many of them tribal children and first generation learners, come from the surrounding, largely poor, district of Nadia. The girls outnumber boys and they are taught together in classrooms with their rickety wooden tables and benches.
Lakhan Soren, 15, is one of the 80 Hindu pupils studying at the Narapatipara High Madrasah. "I like it here," he says. "Along with Arabic, I can study all sorts of subjects like history and geography."
His parents are not well-off and the madrasah is conveniently close to home. "I have to juggle work at home with studies," Lakhan says. "When I hear the bell ring, I know it is time to stop working and go to school".
Secular Madaris
The headmaster, Mohammad Saffar Ali Mondal says the pupils at Narapatipara High Madrasah are taught in exactly the same way as they are at any other secondary school in West Bengal.
The madrasah is one of 500 registered with the government. "They have the same syllabus, the same curriculum, the same management, the same appointment of teachers, both Hindus and Muslims, same pensions, benefits and pay. Everything is the same."
“As many as 25 per cent of Muslim children in the 6-14 year age group have either never attended school or have dropped out. This is higher than that of any other SRCs considered in this analysis. The incidence of drop-outs is also high among Muslims and only SCs/STs have a marginally higher drop-out rate than Muslims.” SACHAR REPORT
"There is an emphasis on Islamic studies in senior madrassas but not in junior high and high madrassas like ours," Mr Mondal says.
Narapatipara High Madrasah is typical of the more than 500 officially registered madrassas in the state. These madaris are quite unlike those said to be found elsewhere in India, and the rest of the world.
Traditionally madaris have been seen as centres for Islamic learning where girls are often taught separately from the boys. But in West Bengal some 40,000 Hindus study in them and they are co-educational, in fact there are more girls than boys in some classrooms.
The West Bengal Board of Madrasah Education (WBBME) controls and supervises these madaris and works according to the guidelines set by the state's school education department.
Abdus Sattar, the president of WBBME, says they fulfil the demand of poor, rural and backward communities where there is no school. "As for the secular nature of education... there's been a long tradition in the state for such education", he says.
Islamic Focus
This kind of madrasah was first established in 1780 by Warren Hastings, the first governor-general of the East India Company. The institution promoted the study of Arabic and its aim was to train Muslims to become officers for running the administration's revenue offices and judiciary.
The secular identity of the madaris was established in 1915, also under the initiative of the then British government. It introduced general subjects like history and English in the madaris, in addition to Islamic studies.
So does this mean that a madrasah affiliated to the WBBME is no longer a madrasah in the traditional sense of the school as we know it - a centre for Islamic learning?
Mr Sattar believes these madrassas are fulfilling the true meaning of the word. "Madrasah is an Arabic word and means educational institution. In Bengali, it’s known as Shiksha Pratisthan, in English, it’s called school, in Hindi, Vidyalaya and in Sanskrit, toll.
"It comes down to the question of what each individual school wants to teach its pupils," Mr Sattar says.
As a Muslim, he agrees, they have to preserve their culture, traditions and the Arabic language, but he says they have to also provide Muslims with modern education, to equip them for the 21st Century.
Sceptics
While Muslim and Hindu parents in poor rural communities are largely happy to see their children get an education, some academics and Muslim leaders do not agree with the concept of the WBBME.
Many do not agree with the secularisation of madaris
Suleiman Khurshid, the secretary of the Muslim Institute and a history professor says he is in touch with the Muslim community and its leaders across the state and as far as they are concerned they do not like this type of education.
"It is neither fully a madrasah system nor fully a secular system. For them a madrasah education means Islamic education - an education which has given them great scholars, academics and imams in the past."
Mr Khurshid brushes aside globalisation as an argument for changing a system which he says benefits the Muslim community. He says Muslims, like other communities, should be given an option of where they want to send their children to school. And he believes these registered madaris will not spell the end of the traditional madrasah.
It may not be a seen as a valid argument for change but several other Indian states including Tripura, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh have expressed an interest in the West Bengal model for madaris - suggesting that such schools may have a role to play in helping educate both Hindus and Muslims in remote rural areas across India.
By: Sunita Nahar
BBC
In the academic year 2009 alone 70 madaris were opened in West Bengal and 34 of them were exclusively for women.
Its 320 pupils, many of them tribal children and first generation learners, come from the surrounding, largely poor, district of Nadia. The girls outnumber boys and they are taught together in classrooms with their rickety wooden tables and benches.
Lakhan Soren, 15, is one of the 80 Hindu pupils studying at the Narapatipara High Madrasah. "I like it here," he says. "Along with Arabic, I can study all sorts of subjects like history and geography."
His parents are not well-off and the madrasah is conveniently close to home. "I have to juggle work at home with studies," Lakhan says. "When I hear the bell ring, I know it is time to stop working and go to school".
Secular Madaris
The headmaster, Mohammad Saffar Ali Mondal says the pupils at Narapatipara High Madrasah are taught in exactly the same way as they are at any other secondary school in West Bengal.
The madrasah is one of 500 registered with the government. "They have the same syllabus, the same curriculum, the same management, the same appointment of teachers, both Hindus and Muslims, same pensions, benefits and pay. Everything is the same."
“As many as 25 per cent of Muslim children in the 6-14 year age group have either never attended school or have dropped out. This is higher than that of any other SRCs considered in this analysis. The incidence of drop-outs is also high among Muslims and only SCs/STs have a marginally higher drop-out rate than Muslims.” SACHAR REPORT
"There is an emphasis on Islamic studies in senior madrassas but not in junior high and high madrassas like ours," Mr Mondal says.
Narapatipara High Madrasah is typical of the more than 500 officially registered madrassas in the state. These madaris are quite unlike those said to be found elsewhere in India, and the rest of the world.
Traditionally madaris have been seen as centres for Islamic learning where girls are often taught separately from the boys. But in West Bengal some 40,000 Hindus study in them and they are co-educational, in fact there are more girls than boys in some classrooms.
The West Bengal Board of Madrasah Education (WBBME) controls and supervises these madaris and works according to the guidelines set by the state's school education department.
Abdus Sattar, the president of WBBME, says they fulfil the demand of poor, rural and backward communities where there is no school. "As for the secular nature of education... there's been a long tradition in the state for such education", he says.
Islamic Focus
This kind of madrasah was first established in 1780 by Warren Hastings, the first governor-general of the East India Company. The institution promoted the study of Arabic and its aim was to train Muslims to become officers for running the administration's revenue offices and judiciary.
The secular identity of the madaris was established in 1915, also under the initiative of the then British government. It introduced general subjects like history and English in the madaris, in addition to Islamic studies.
So does this mean that a madrasah affiliated to the WBBME is no longer a madrasah in the traditional sense of the school as we know it - a centre for Islamic learning?
Mr Sattar believes these madrassas are fulfilling the true meaning of the word. "Madrasah is an Arabic word and means educational institution. In Bengali, it’s known as Shiksha Pratisthan, in English, it’s called school, in Hindi, Vidyalaya and in Sanskrit, toll.
"It comes down to the question of what each individual school wants to teach its pupils," Mr Sattar says.
As a Muslim, he agrees, they have to preserve their culture, traditions and the Arabic language, but he says they have to also provide Muslims with modern education, to equip them for the 21st Century.
Sceptics
While Muslim and Hindu parents in poor rural communities are largely happy to see their children get an education, some academics and Muslim leaders do not agree with the concept of the WBBME.
Many do not agree with the secularisation of madaris
Suleiman Khurshid, the secretary of the Muslim Institute and a history professor says he is in touch with the Muslim community and its leaders across the state and as far as they are concerned they do not like this type of education.
"It is neither fully a madrasah system nor fully a secular system. For them a madrasah education means Islamic education - an education which has given them great scholars, academics and imams in the past."
Mr Khurshid brushes aside globalisation as an argument for changing a system which he says benefits the Muslim community. He says Muslims, like other communities, should be given an option of where they want to send their children to school. And he believes these registered madaris will not spell the end of the traditional madrasah.
It may not be a seen as a valid argument for change but several other Indian states including Tripura, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh have expressed an interest in the West Bengal model for madaris - suggesting that such schools may have a role to play in helping educate both Hindus and Muslims in remote rural areas across India.
By: Sunita Nahar
BBC
In the academic year 2009 alone 70 madaris were opened in West Bengal and 34 of them were exclusively for women.
Did Maulana Azad Support Madrasah Board?
In the discussion on Central Madrasa Board, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad is often referred as the supporter of Madrasah Board. In this article, Maulana Wali Rahmani argues that Azad, instead of proposing a All India Madrasah Board under government, wanted to constitute an independent National Madrasah Board managed by Muslims themselves. All the excerpts, save the last one, have been taken from “Zikr-e-Azad” compiled by Maulana Azad’s close friend and rector of “Madrasah Alia Calcutta” Maulana Abdur Razzaque Malihabadi.
Contrary to common belief, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad never supported the formation of any madrasah board. It is amazing that some considerate writers too have the same opinion about Azad. Mr. Fairoz Bakht, in one of such articles has written, “Also Maulana Azad, along with Maulana Shibli Nomani, had tried to establish an All India Madrasah Board.”
My knowledge is limited; I could not know that Maulana Azad had ever proposed to constitute a board functioning as a part of the ruling system! Yes, I know Azad started a Madrasah when he was detained in Ranchi and during the period of Non Cooperation Movement, he had established a Madrasah in response to the Madrasah Alia Calcutta.
Notably, Madrasa Alia was considered a government Madrasah. Despite the madrasah being sovereign in its internal affairs, Maulana Azad was not satisfied with it at all. He believed that learning in Madrasa Alia (now Alia University) and having its degrees change the students’ direction of thought because Madrasah Alia does not aim at what the madrasa students are prepared for. Therefore, Maulana Azad instead of (supporting) “Government Madrasah” not only proposed for “Qaumi Madrasah” but also urged the students of Madrasa Alia through his influential speeches to detach themselves from the Madarsas. As a result, the students pledged to leave the Madrasa and they did.
The students of Madrasa Alia left facilities and opportunities over there and took admission in the ‘Qaumi Madrasa’ Maulana Azad had established in Masjid-e-Nakhuda. In his own words “it is the group which preferred ‘Deen’ (religion) to ‘Dunia’ (worldly pleasure) and left the splendid building and luxurious hostel of Madrasa Alia-having all means of comfort tools of adornment- merely to abide by the commandments of Almighty Allah and due to being true citizens of India. They left it while they had no clues as to where they were going and where they would stay.” The message, as his words convey, is crystal clear and why not when clarification and frankness was the nature of Maulana Azad.
The message Azad gave in the last of his statement must have been the result of his being influenced by the theme of the Qur’anic verse: “Whoever fears Allah- He will make for him a way out and will provide for him from where he does not expect and whoever relies upon Allah- then He Is sufficient for him.”(65-02)
This belief is the main treasure of a Muslim who, is provided with sustenance beyond the sources and means. It guides him on stranger paths and helps in critical situations. Maulana had a wish to see this faith stronger among the students of Madrasah; religious scholars and preachers of Islam in future.
Referring to what distinguishes these students from the government madaris graduates, Maulana says, “Truly this is the only group, which deserves to be called the true lovers of knowledge. They know that the modern education is a source of earning, it opens the doors to big jobs and posts and that only English can pave way to jobs ranging from a clerk post to the employment of Lord Sinha. On the other hand, religious education cannot guarantee for anything (material); even they cannot get adequate food through this. Yet, they have a secret but strong passion in their hearts which prevents them from running to the modern education. Though living with misery, they devote whole life for Arabic education.”
This “strong fervour”, is found only among Madrasah students and ulama. On this account, they have closed upon themselves all the ways of facilities and despite being aware of all the things, they preferred the Madrasah. The reason behind it, as Maulana says, is that “this passion aims at nothing save the quest for knowledge and the pleasure of Allah. It is the only Madrasah students all over India who seek knowledge for its real purpose.”
These attributes of madaris students and ulama Maulana have mentioned serves as an eye-opener. It does not only enlighten the situation but also gives the message that the knowledge should be sought for the sake of moral values and the pleasure of Allah, and that it should not be used as a bridge to achieve government jobs.
It does not mean that Maulana was not aware of the weaknesses of madaris or he was unfamiliar with the prevailing situation. Of course, these things were well known to him and he also pointed out them in his writing and speeches. Madaris should utilize them. Still there is a basic difference between the students of Madrasah and those who get knowledge from the other educational institutions, as Maulana pointed out. Remember the Non Cooperation Movement and read these sentences “No students of Aligarh left the college till they got satisfied after a two-hour long discussion with me whether they could earn money after leaving government education. Even some of them demanded I make a guarantee to this effect.”
A large number of high ranking students quit ‘Madrasah Alia’ and joined the Maulana’s ‘Qaumi Madrasah.’ Maulana said about them “Not one of them asked (whether their future would be dark). No sooner were, they were told about the commandments of the Shariah, they immediately surrendered and got ready to leave all worldly things.”
These words indicate what the view point of Maulana about these two kinds of educational institutions was. He believed there existed a basic difference between the products of both kinds of the institution: one is ever ready to accept the truth while the other is habituated to argue; one is obedient to the Shariah and the other is more concerned about their future instead of Shariah. In short, one longs for ‘wealth’ and the other one for ‘ends’. This is the view point of Maulana reflecting in his writings.
“The magnitude of the unfinished task can be seen from the fact that 46.8 crore (468 million) people over the age of 6 are still illiterate.” SACHAR REPORT
Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad has outlined the nature and characteristics of the two educational streams (governmental and private) in India. With this regard he wrote, “The biggest of the harms the government education in India caused to our national characteristics and identity is that the real purpose of education has disappeared from our eyes. Knowledge is a sacred trust from Allah and it should be gained only because that is knowledge; but the government universities have led us to a different path. It encourages knowledge as it is essential for government jobs. Now in India, knowledge is not sought for the sake of knowledge but for livelihood.”
On the contrary, Maulana found in Madrasah the gleams of hope and the true fans of knowledge. He said “I would like to bring this fact to your mind that in the darkness of this common insult to the knowledge, a light of the true love for knowledge has been shining. They are the groups of students in India who are seeking the ancient religious sciences and arts of the religious language in several Arabic Madarsas. Be sure! This is the only group which truly deserve to be called ‘the lover of knowledge.” This is his apparent view point which was repeatedly mentioned in his writings.
Unfortunately, the dream of Maulana could not come true. He had planned to make the Madrasah of ‘Masjid-e-Nakhuda’ a big ‘Qaumi Darul Uloom.’ For, the purpose, he had managed to enlist the services of the then prominent ulama. But due to his engagement in the freedom movement, the Madrasah failed to be a central Darul Uloom and gradually turned back to the previous form.
Maulana’s stand regarding the madaris is evident. I do not think, after these clarifications, there remains any need to say that Maulana did not nourish the proposal of ‘Central Madrasah Board.
Remember when Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru proposed the resolution to make education up to 7th standard compulsory for every child in government schools and thus pave way to its legalization, but Maulana opposed it and said “Education relates to zeal and tendency. It is such a delicate thing which cannot be forced.”
Maulana narrated this event to one of his friends, sighed and then spoke out “If this resolution is passed, madaris will be most affected by this. Muslims cannot tolerable this event.”
By: Maulana Muhammad Wali Rahmani
Translated from Urdu by Abdul Jaleel Qasmi
The writer is the Chairman of Madrasah Modernization Committee of HRD Ministry
Contrary to common belief, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad never supported the formation of any madrasah board. It is amazing that some considerate writers too have the same opinion about Azad. Mr. Fairoz Bakht, in one of such articles has written, “Also Maulana Azad, along with Maulana Shibli Nomani, had tried to establish an All India Madrasah Board.”
My knowledge is limited; I could not know that Maulana Azad had ever proposed to constitute a board functioning as a part of the ruling system! Yes, I know Azad started a Madrasah when he was detained in Ranchi and during the period of Non Cooperation Movement, he had established a Madrasah in response to the Madrasah Alia Calcutta.
Notably, Madrasa Alia was considered a government Madrasah. Despite the madrasah being sovereign in its internal affairs, Maulana Azad was not satisfied with it at all. He believed that learning in Madrasa Alia (now Alia University) and having its degrees change the students’ direction of thought because Madrasah Alia does not aim at what the madrasa students are prepared for. Therefore, Maulana Azad instead of (supporting) “Government Madrasah” not only proposed for “Qaumi Madrasah” but also urged the students of Madrasa Alia through his influential speeches to detach themselves from the Madarsas. As a result, the students pledged to leave the Madrasa and they did.
The students of Madrasa Alia left facilities and opportunities over there and took admission in the ‘Qaumi Madrasa’ Maulana Azad had established in Masjid-e-Nakhuda. In his own words “it is the group which preferred ‘Deen’ (religion) to ‘Dunia’ (worldly pleasure) and left the splendid building and luxurious hostel of Madrasa Alia-having all means of comfort tools of adornment- merely to abide by the commandments of Almighty Allah and due to being true citizens of India. They left it while they had no clues as to where they were going and where they would stay.” The message, as his words convey, is crystal clear and why not when clarification and frankness was the nature of Maulana Azad.
The message Azad gave in the last of his statement must have been the result of his being influenced by the theme of the Qur’anic verse: “Whoever fears Allah- He will make for him a way out and will provide for him from where he does not expect and whoever relies upon Allah- then He Is sufficient for him.”(65-02)
This belief is the main treasure of a Muslim who, is provided with sustenance beyond the sources and means. It guides him on stranger paths and helps in critical situations. Maulana had a wish to see this faith stronger among the students of Madrasah; religious scholars and preachers of Islam in future.
Referring to what distinguishes these students from the government madaris graduates, Maulana says, “Truly this is the only group, which deserves to be called the true lovers of knowledge. They know that the modern education is a source of earning, it opens the doors to big jobs and posts and that only English can pave way to jobs ranging from a clerk post to the employment of Lord Sinha. On the other hand, religious education cannot guarantee for anything (material); even they cannot get adequate food through this. Yet, they have a secret but strong passion in their hearts which prevents them from running to the modern education. Though living with misery, they devote whole life for Arabic education.”
This “strong fervour”, is found only among Madrasah students and ulama. On this account, they have closed upon themselves all the ways of facilities and despite being aware of all the things, they preferred the Madrasah. The reason behind it, as Maulana says, is that “this passion aims at nothing save the quest for knowledge and the pleasure of Allah. It is the only Madrasah students all over India who seek knowledge for its real purpose.”
These attributes of madaris students and ulama Maulana have mentioned serves as an eye-opener. It does not only enlighten the situation but also gives the message that the knowledge should be sought for the sake of moral values and the pleasure of Allah, and that it should not be used as a bridge to achieve government jobs.
It does not mean that Maulana was not aware of the weaknesses of madaris or he was unfamiliar with the prevailing situation. Of course, these things were well known to him and he also pointed out them in his writing and speeches. Madaris should utilize them. Still there is a basic difference between the students of Madrasah and those who get knowledge from the other educational institutions, as Maulana pointed out. Remember the Non Cooperation Movement and read these sentences “No students of Aligarh left the college till they got satisfied after a two-hour long discussion with me whether they could earn money after leaving government education. Even some of them demanded I make a guarantee to this effect.”
A large number of high ranking students quit ‘Madrasah Alia’ and joined the Maulana’s ‘Qaumi Madrasah.’ Maulana said about them “Not one of them asked (whether their future would be dark). No sooner were, they were told about the commandments of the Shariah, they immediately surrendered and got ready to leave all worldly things.”
These words indicate what the view point of Maulana about these two kinds of educational institutions was. He believed there existed a basic difference between the products of both kinds of the institution: one is ever ready to accept the truth while the other is habituated to argue; one is obedient to the Shariah and the other is more concerned about their future instead of Shariah. In short, one longs for ‘wealth’ and the other one for ‘ends’. This is the view point of Maulana reflecting in his writings.
“The magnitude of the unfinished task can be seen from the fact that 46.8 crore (468 million) people over the age of 6 are still illiterate.” SACHAR REPORT
Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad has outlined the nature and characteristics of the two educational streams (governmental and private) in India. With this regard he wrote, “The biggest of the harms the government education in India caused to our national characteristics and identity is that the real purpose of education has disappeared from our eyes. Knowledge is a sacred trust from Allah and it should be gained only because that is knowledge; but the government universities have led us to a different path. It encourages knowledge as it is essential for government jobs. Now in India, knowledge is not sought for the sake of knowledge but for livelihood.”
On the contrary, Maulana found in Madrasah the gleams of hope and the true fans of knowledge. He said “I would like to bring this fact to your mind that in the darkness of this common insult to the knowledge, a light of the true love for knowledge has been shining. They are the groups of students in India who are seeking the ancient religious sciences and arts of the religious language in several Arabic Madarsas. Be sure! This is the only group which truly deserve to be called ‘the lover of knowledge.” This is his apparent view point which was repeatedly mentioned in his writings.
Unfortunately, the dream of Maulana could not come true. He had planned to make the Madrasah of ‘Masjid-e-Nakhuda’ a big ‘Qaumi Darul Uloom.’ For, the purpose, he had managed to enlist the services of the then prominent ulama. But due to his engagement in the freedom movement, the Madrasah failed to be a central Darul Uloom and gradually turned back to the previous form.
Maulana’s stand regarding the madaris is evident. I do not think, after these clarifications, there remains any need to say that Maulana did not nourish the proposal of ‘Central Madrasah Board.
Remember when Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru proposed the resolution to make education up to 7th standard compulsory for every child in government schools and thus pave way to its legalization, but Maulana opposed it and said “Education relates to zeal and tendency. It is such a delicate thing which cannot be forced.”
Maulana narrated this event to one of his friends, sighed and then spoke out “If this resolution is passed, madaris will be most affected by this. Muslims cannot tolerable this event.”
By: Maulana Muhammad Wali Rahmani
Translated from Urdu by Abdul Jaleel Qasmi
The writer is the Chairman of Madrasah Modernization Committee of HRD Ministry
Central Board Will Help Dispel Misgivings
While many of the Muslim religious bodies have rejected the proposed Central Madrasah Board, a certain school of thought keeps on supporting it. The group also alleged those who oppose the formation of the board to be receiving financial help from Dirham and Dinar. Here is a report from Orissa in this regard.
Reacting to the All India Muslim Personal Law Board’s move to oppose Human Resources Development (HRD) Ministry’s decision to establish a Central Madrasah Board, its parallel outfit on October 20, launched a tirade against it.
The President of All India Muslim Personal Law Board Jadeed (New) Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan said that the CMB proposal should be welcome. “As fingers are being pointed at madaris over terrorism issues, proposal to set up a Central Madrasah Board has come at a crucial juncture since it would go a long way in dispelling misconceptions circulated by the divisive forces,” Maulana said according a report.
Maulana Khan also termed the Central Madrasa Board to be a good move by the HRD ministry. He said that it would help the madaris achieve financial security besides securing progress. “But All India Muslim Personal Law Board office bearers do not want it because of their personal interests,” Khan told media persons in Bhubaneshwar.
“A general analysis at the state level presents a better picture for Muslims. In as many as 10 out of the 21 selected states literacy rates among Muslims are higher than the state average. These include Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat...In Andhra Pradesh, for instance, 68% of Muslims are literate, compared to 61% for the state as a whole and 63% for ‘All Others’. When aggregate literacy levels among males and females are considered, Muslims (77% and 59%) are better off than ‘All Others’ (73% and 52%). But Muslim urban literacy levels are lower than all SRCs (Socio-Religious Communities) except SCs/STs among both genders.” SACHAR REPORT
The personal law board `Zadid’ intends to also oppose the proposed meeting on November 29 gathering by the old outfit.
Khan said if the old board gathers one lakh people to show its strength, it will mobilise five times the number to thwart the former’s move. ``Those who are at the helm of affairs in the old board get funds in `Dinar’ and `Riyal’ which is why they are not worried about the state madrasah boards. He also pointed out that 85 percent of them too think the HRD Ministry’s decision is a move in good direction.
Attacking All India Muslim Personal Law Board for terming the central board proposal as interference in religious matters, a senior Maulana Umar Noorani said that currently madaris are affiliated to the state boards. Hence a central body cannot become interference in any way. “The old board doesn’t include all schools of thoughts and represents only a fraction of the Muslims in India,” he added.
Notably, certain groups of Muslims have for long been acquiring financial aid from the state governments under the State Madrasah Boards. Surprisingly, the educational and infrastructural situations of those madaris have seen a declination since their affiliation to the boards
The `Zadid’ board also urged the Orissa Government to come up with a resolution in support of the HRD Ministry’s proposal of CMB and inform the Centre about it.
It praised the Naveen Patnaik Government for safeguarding the minorities and said security was never an issue for Muslims of Orissa. “This is not Modi Ka Gujarat, this is Orissa,’’ he said.
The `Zadid’ board’s state unit head Mufti Syed Ale Rasool requested Orissa Government to implement Sixth Pay Commission recommendations for madaris.
Reacting to the All India Muslim Personal Law Board’s move to oppose Human Resources Development (HRD) Ministry’s decision to establish a Central Madrasah Board, its parallel outfit on October 20, launched a tirade against it.
The President of All India Muslim Personal Law Board Jadeed (New) Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan said that the CMB proposal should be welcome. “As fingers are being pointed at madaris over terrorism issues, proposal to set up a Central Madrasah Board has come at a crucial juncture since it would go a long way in dispelling misconceptions circulated by the divisive forces,” Maulana said according a report.
Maulana Khan also termed the Central Madrasa Board to be a good move by the HRD ministry. He said that it would help the madaris achieve financial security besides securing progress. “But All India Muslim Personal Law Board office bearers do not want it because of their personal interests,” Khan told media persons in Bhubaneshwar.
“A general analysis at the state level presents a better picture for Muslims. In as many as 10 out of the 21 selected states literacy rates among Muslims are higher than the state average. These include Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat...In Andhra Pradesh, for instance, 68% of Muslims are literate, compared to 61% for the state as a whole and 63% for ‘All Others’. When aggregate literacy levels among males and females are considered, Muslims (77% and 59%) are better off than ‘All Others’ (73% and 52%). But Muslim urban literacy levels are lower than all SRCs (Socio-Religious Communities) except SCs/STs among both genders.” SACHAR REPORT
The personal law board `Zadid’ intends to also oppose the proposed meeting on November 29 gathering by the old outfit.
Khan said if the old board gathers one lakh people to show its strength, it will mobilise five times the number to thwart the former’s move. ``Those who are at the helm of affairs in the old board get funds in `Dinar’ and `Riyal’ which is why they are not worried about the state madrasah boards. He also pointed out that 85 percent of them too think the HRD Ministry’s decision is a move in good direction.
Attacking All India Muslim Personal Law Board for terming the central board proposal as interference in religious matters, a senior Maulana Umar Noorani said that currently madaris are affiliated to the state boards. Hence a central body cannot become interference in any way. “The old board doesn’t include all schools of thoughts and represents only a fraction of the Muslims in India,” he added.
Notably, certain groups of Muslims have for long been acquiring financial aid from the state governments under the State Madrasah Boards. Surprisingly, the educational and infrastructural situations of those madaris have seen a declination since their affiliation to the boards
The `Zadid’ board also urged the Orissa Government to come up with a resolution in support of the HRD Ministry’s proposal of CMB and inform the Centre about it.
It praised the Naveen Patnaik Government for safeguarding the minorities and said security was never an issue for Muslims of Orissa. “This is not Modi Ka Gujarat, this is Orissa,’’ he said.
The `Zadid’ board’s state unit head Mufti Syed Ale Rasool requested Orissa Government to implement Sixth Pay Commission recommendations for madaris.
Central Madrasa Board: An Attempt To Occupy More Waqf Properties
The apprehension expressed in the article that madaris under Central Madrasah Board will become government property, is based on a condition applied in Bihar that any madrasah under Bihar State Madrasah Board will have to be registered in the name of the governor. Nevertheless, Mr. Kapil Sibal did not mention the same condition.
The ongoing Central Madrasah Board debate while covering myriad aspects neglects a very important one. Madaris, plural of madrasah, are Waqf properties and hence cannot be used for any purpose contradicting the wish of the Waqif (donor).
In India, according to an estimate, there exist 1, 00,000 plus madaris and majority of them are run as minority institutions without gover
nment interfering in their management. A madrasah literally means ‘a place of education’ but nowadays it refers to the institutions imparting religious education to Muslim students. Any Muslim intending to pursue complete and comprehensive knowledge of his religion has no option but to resort to madaris; the largest NGO imparting free of cost education.
Madaris lands- besides those of hospitals, musafirkhanas, mosques, graveyards and dargahs- were donated by Muslim kings and landlords for the religious purpose. Their main objective was to equip the students with deep knowledge of the teachings of Islam.
The usage of the properties for a cause not serving Islam definitely goes against the will of the person who had made donation of the land. The managers of Waqf properties too, have no authority of letting the land be utilized for a cause going against the will of Waqif. The introduction of the Central Madrasa Board is supposed to pave the way for illegal occupation by the government over madaris and thereby harming the real end behind the endowment (waqf).
The Arabic word Waqf, literally meaning ‘to tie down’, implies to a form of property donation by Muslim individuals and institutions in the name of Allah for the benefit of the poor in the community. Waqf is a form of continuous charity (sadaqah jariyah), and the rewards for this type of charity continue even after the donor's death - for as long as people continue to benefit from the Waqf. In Waqf, the corpus cannot be inherited, sold, gifted, mortgaged, rented, lent, etc. because the subsequent transformation of the property for another cause not benefiting people will harm the very spirit of ‘continuous charity’. Waqf land will remain devoted only to the purpose mentioned by the waqif. Madaris, being Waqf properties, are no exemption in this regard.
Once, madaris are affiliated to the Central Madrasah Board the guarantee of them rendering religious service will elude. To take an example, the proposed CMB bill while giving no clarifications as to the concentration will be given on religious education, mentions in the list of subjects to be taught ‘philosophy’ instead of ‘Fiqh’. The centre by introducing the board, is trying to occupy also the Waqf lands devoted to madaris and then exploit them as per their will.
A startling 70% of Waqf properties have already been encroached upon by the government and some private corporate sectors. What the Sachar Committee report reveals is that the registered Waqfs all over India are 4.9 lakh and they cover around 6 lakh acres. A considerable number of them are located in city centres and their market value can be more than 1.2 lakh crore (1,200 billion) against the book value Rs 6,000 crore. Yet, the current income from these properties is only about Rs. 163 crores which amounts to a meagre rate of return of 2.7 per cent. The deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha, K. Rahman Khan has said that the Waqf boards are the third-largest landholder after the railways and defence.
The government must manage first to remove the encroachments over the Waqf properties already registered. This revenue alone will supply adequate funds required for the educational, economical and social uplift of Muslims.
Muslims cannot take risk of handing over the madrasa lands to the government and then see them too being exploited by the government officials. Declination of education status and negligence towards Islamic subjects are common in the madaris already affiliated to state madrasah boards. A waqif will surely be repenting over his decision to donate the land for madaris if they happen to see the situation.
By: Mufti Zafeeruddin Qasmi
The ongoing Central Madrasah Board debate while covering myriad aspects neglects a very important one. Madaris, plural of madrasah, are Waqf properties and hence cannot be used for any purpose contradicting the wish of the Waqif (donor).
In India, according to an estimate, there exist 1, 00,000 plus madaris and majority of them are run as minority institutions without gover
nment interfering in their management. A madrasah literally means ‘a place of education’ but nowadays it refers to the institutions imparting religious education to Muslim students. Any Muslim intending to pursue complete and comprehensive knowledge of his religion has no option but to resort to madaris; the largest NGO imparting free of cost education.
Madaris lands- besides those of hospitals, musafirkhanas, mosques, graveyards and dargahs- were donated by Muslim kings and landlords for the religious purpose. Their main objective was to equip the students with deep knowledge of the teachings of Islam.
The usage of the properties for a cause not serving Islam definitely goes against the will of the person who had made donation of the land. The managers of Waqf properties too, have no authority of letting the land be utilized for a cause going against the will of Waqif. The introduction of the Central Madrasa Board is supposed to pave the way for illegal occupation by the government over madaris and thereby harming the real end behind the endowment (waqf).
The Arabic word Waqf, literally meaning ‘to tie down’, implies to a form of property donation by Muslim individuals and institutions in the name of Allah for the benefit of the poor in the community. Waqf is a form of continuous charity (sadaqah jariyah), and the rewards for this type of charity continue even after the donor's death - for as long as people continue to benefit from the Waqf. In Waqf, the corpus cannot be inherited, sold, gifted, mortgaged, rented, lent, etc. because the subsequent transformation of the property for another cause not benefiting people will harm the very spirit of ‘continuous charity’. Waqf land will remain devoted only to the purpose mentioned by the waqif. Madaris, being Waqf properties, are no exemption in this regard.
Once, madaris are affiliated to the Central Madrasah Board the guarantee of them rendering religious service will elude. To take an example, the proposed CMB bill while giving no clarifications as to the concentration will be given on religious education, mentions in the list of subjects to be taught ‘philosophy’ instead of ‘Fiqh’. The centre by introducing the board, is trying to occupy also the Waqf lands devoted to madaris and then exploit them as per their will.
A startling 70% of Waqf properties have already been encroached upon by the government and some private corporate sectors. What the Sachar Committee report reveals is that the registered Waqfs all over India are 4.9 lakh and they cover around 6 lakh acres. A considerable number of them are located in city centres and their market value can be more than 1.2 lakh crore (1,200 billion) against the book value Rs 6,000 crore. Yet, the current income from these properties is only about Rs. 163 crores which amounts to a meagre rate of return of 2.7 per cent. The deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha, K. Rahman Khan has said that the Waqf boards are the third-largest landholder after the railways and defence.
The government must manage first to remove the encroachments over the Waqf properties already registered. This revenue alone will supply adequate funds required for the educational, economical and social uplift of Muslims.
Muslims cannot take risk of handing over the madrasa lands to the government and then see them too being exploited by the government officials. Declination of education status and negligence towards Islamic subjects are common in the madaris already affiliated to state madrasah boards. A waqif will surely be repenting over his decision to donate the land for madaris if they happen to see the situation.
By: Mufti Zafeeruddin Qasmi
Central Madrasah Board: Look At Past Before Making Decision
Today, the proposed Central Madrasa Board has become a hot potato among ulama and so-called Muslim intellectuals with the latter documenting thousands of pages favouring the board. It is a fact that the supporters are ignorant of the history of madaris and their goals.
Therefore, they are easy prey to the conspiracies hatched by anti-Muslim elements, hollow promises of the government and partial statistics of the media. No sooner did the union HRD minster Kapil Sibal propose the CMB these intellectuals were quick enough to voice for it, though they did not go through the draft of the proposal-and they cannot as it is still out of reach of public.
Let me say that knowledge of us Muslims about the importance of independent madaris is less than even 10% compared to that of RSS outfits in Hindus, Zionists in Jews and Templers in Christians.
History Of Madaris
It is a must to analyse in detail the history of madaris. The financial support for madaris was rendered by Islamic Bait-ul-Mal from the very first day of Islam till the decline of Ottoman Sultanate -Khilafat-e-Usmaniah- (1923). Hence, the end of Islamic rule from any region would mark the decline of institutions and madaris under its patronage. Spain, Turkey, Bukhara and Samarqand, educational centres of their time, not only became educationally barren but also Muslims and Islam too became history over there with the end of Islam in these countries. Prior to the decline of Mughal Empire, Delhi constituted the hub of knowledge seekers and more than one thousand religious madaris ran there. But what happened after the Empire came to an end? Besides the thousands of madaris under the Mughals, hundreds of others run by Nawabs ceased to exist. A short history of Islamic government patronized madaris.
History Of Madrasah Board
The Madrasah Board proposed by UPA Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal is no innovation. A deep study reveals it is similar to the British introduced Board of Central Madrasah. As soon as the East India Company got stable in Calcutta in 1780/81, it established Madrasah Alia Calcutta to serve its purpose. In addition to promising not to interfere in religious education the company started contemporary subjects in the madrasah. Since the madrasah was beneficial for the British they established scores of madaris on the pattern of Madrasah Alia.
An attempt to interconnect all the madaris resulted in formation of Board of Central Madrasah which is the first ever Madrasah Board of the world. It was exactly 72 years later that the HRD minister in BJP-led National Democratic Alliance Murli Manohar Joshi (RSS Sangh Pracharak) formed an institution named Madrasah Modernization in 1999-2000. But the open enmity of BJP towards Muslims became the obstacle to its success. Now, in the guise of a well wisher, the Congress government which believes in soft Hindutva policy wants to fill colours in the map already prepared by Joshi. To be precise, it is trying to fulfil the dream of RSS to modernize the madaris.
Analysis of History
These are two different histories. One is of Islamic governments sponsored madaris; they faced declination simultaneously with the declination of Islamic government and it caused an irreparable loss to them. Rather it obliterated madaris from surface of the earth.
The second history belongs to madaris under Madrasah Board which included contemporary subjects without the religious education being disturbed. The latter dates back to the establishment of Madrasah Alia by Englishmen.
The British government included modern sciences in madaris curriculum in order to propagate its imperialism. George Bush who is responsible for killing of lakhs of innocent Muslims had sanctioned millions of dollars for modernization of Islamic madaris before he made an announcement about the Crusade War. The American consulates distributed the amount among madaris unconditionally. Many Muslims belonging to a certain school of thought had their faith (Iman) refreshed through this bounty of Bush.
The RSS before conducting Muslim genocide in Gujarat did something similar in 1999. Murli Manohar Joshi, its special Pracharak and then education minister, allocated crores of rupees to include modern sciences in madaris. However, to Joshi’s disappointment, only few Muslims gave acceptance to the scheme.
According to a news item in a leading Urdu newspaper of New Delhi “Hamara Samaj” on November 14, 2009, a branch of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh namely “Muslim Rashtriya Manch” has admitted that they assist 20 madaris and run 16 others. The Manch also intends to purchase land in different states for establishing 200 more madaris where modern education will be imparted.
Asked by the media as to how the Muslim community which had rejected the government’s Central Madrasah Board proposal will accept any assistance in this regard, especially if provided by an organization associated with RSS, Mr. Joyal, a portfolio bearer of the Manch, said, “Since the government schemes meant for modernization of madaris are based on interest, muslims do not accept them as interest is prohibited in Islam. As for our programme, it is not based on interest.”
The significant reason why all madaris, except a few, oppose any assistance from the government is that they admit Darul Uloom Deoband as a model in this matter. The founder leader and the moving spirit of the Darul Uloom Qasim-ul-Uloom (The Distributor of Sciences) Hazrat Maulana Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi (1248/1833 - 1297/1879) had mentioned eight principals which also include the one cautioning Darul Uloom from taking any government assistance. Here are three principles related to donations and financial help from the government:
Some Important Principles for Madaris Mentioned by Maulana Qasim Nanautavi (RA)
(1)The participation of the government as also that of the affluent appears to be very harmful (for madrasah)
(2) So long as there are no regular means of income for this madrasah, it will go on like this, if it pleases Allah, provided we pin our faith in Him. But if some assured income is obtained, e.g., a fief or a commercial establishment or the promise of a staunch man of means, then it seems that this state of fear and hope which is the source of our appealing to Allah will slip off our fingers, divine succour will cease and mutual disputes will ensue among the functionaries.
(3) The donation of these people who can give as much as they can afford and do not expect fame from it seems to cause more prosperity (Barakah). On the whole, the donor's good faith appears to be the provision for greater durability.
Both kinds of madaris- those which are under madrasah board and those which are not- have been discussed and their advantages and disadvantages are known. Now, one should think why the Central Madrasah Board is being supported or opposed.
None of the students learning in present day madaris deserves to be called an aalim until they gain excellence in the following 23 sciences and arts:
(1). Ilm-un-Nahw: The Science of Grammar/Syntax
(11). Ilm-ul-Ishtiqaq: The Science of Etymology
(111). Ilm-ul-Bayan: The Science of Style (to expressing the various shades of a single meaning)
(1V). Ilm-ul-Mantiq: Logic
(V). Ilm-ul-Kalam: Islamic speculative theology
(V1). Ilm-ul-Adab: Literature
(V11). Ilm-ul-Jughrafia: Geography
(V111). Fann-ut-Tafseer: Commentary of Holy Qurán
(1X). Fann-ul-Hadees: Hadees
(X). Fann-o-Ásma-ir-Rijal: Unique art of research on people who relates Hadees to establish their authenticity
(X1). Ilm-o-Usool-il-Fiqh: The Principles Of Fiqh
(X11). Ilm-ul-Akhlaq: Ethics/Morals
(X111). Ilm-us-Sarf: The Science of Morphology
(X1V). Ilm-ul-Maáni: Semantics
(XV). Ilm-ul-Badee: The science of Rhetorical Figures
(XV1). Ilm-ul-Falsafa: Philosophy
(XV11). Ilm-ul-Hisab: Mathematics
(XV111). Ilm-ul-Tareekh: History
(X1X). Fann-e-Qirat: Arabic Phonology
(XX). Fann-o-Usool-it-Tafseer: Principles of Tafseer
(XX1). Fann-o-Usool-il-Hadees: Principles of Hadees
(XX11). Ilm-ul-Fiqh: Jurisprudence
(XX111). Ilm-ut-Tasawwuf: Sufism/Mysticism
Therefore, they are easy prey to the conspiracies hatched by anti-Muslim elements, hollow promises of the government and partial statistics of the media. No sooner did the union HRD minster Kapil Sibal propose the CMB these intellectuals were quick enough to voice for it, though they did not go through the draft of the proposal-and they cannot as it is still out of reach of public.
Let me say that knowledge of us Muslims about the importance of independent madaris is less than even 10% compared to that of RSS outfits in Hindus, Zionists in Jews and Templers in Christians.
History Of Madaris
It is a must to analyse in detail the history of madaris. The financial support for madaris was rendered by Islamic Bait-ul-Mal from the very first day of Islam till the decline of Ottoman Sultanate -Khilafat-e-Usmaniah- (1923). Hence, the end of Islamic rule from any region would mark the decline of institutions and madaris under its patronage. Spain, Turkey, Bukhara and Samarqand, educational centres of their time, not only became educationally barren but also Muslims and Islam too became history over there with the end of Islam in these countries. Prior to the decline of Mughal Empire, Delhi constituted the hub of knowledge seekers and more than one thousand religious madaris ran there. But what happened after the Empire came to an end? Besides the thousands of madaris under the Mughals, hundreds of others run by Nawabs ceased to exist. A short history of Islamic government patronized madaris.
History Of Madrasah Board
The Madrasah Board proposed by UPA Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal is no innovation. A deep study reveals it is similar to the British introduced Board of Central Madrasah. As soon as the East India Company got stable in Calcutta in 1780/81, it established Madrasah Alia Calcutta to serve its purpose. In addition to promising not to interfere in religious education the company started contemporary subjects in the madrasah. Since the madrasah was beneficial for the British they established scores of madaris on the pattern of Madrasah Alia.
An attempt to interconnect all the madaris resulted in formation of Board of Central Madrasah which is the first ever Madrasah Board of the world. It was exactly 72 years later that the HRD minister in BJP-led National Democratic Alliance Murli Manohar Joshi (RSS Sangh Pracharak) formed an institution named Madrasah Modernization in 1999-2000. But the open enmity of BJP towards Muslims became the obstacle to its success. Now, in the guise of a well wisher, the Congress government which believes in soft Hindutva policy wants to fill colours in the map already prepared by Joshi. To be precise, it is trying to fulfil the dream of RSS to modernize the madaris.
Analysis of History
These are two different histories. One is of Islamic governments sponsored madaris; they faced declination simultaneously with the declination of Islamic government and it caused an irreparable loss to them. Rather it obliterated madaris from surface of the earth.
The second history belongs to madaris under Madrasah Board which included contemporary subjects without the religious education being disturbed. The latter dates back to the establishment of Madrasah Alia by Englishmen.
The British government included modern sciences in madaris curriculum in order to propagate its imperialism. George Bush who is responsible for killing of lakhs of innocent Muslims had sanctioned millions of dollars for modernization of Islamic madaris before he made an announcement about the Crusade War. The American consulates distributed the amount among madaris unconditionally. Many Muslims belonging to a certain school of thought had their faith (Iman) refreshed through this bounty of Bush.
The RSS before conducting Muslim genocide in Gujarat did something similar in 1999. Murli Manohar Joshi, its special Pracharak and then education minister, allocated crores of rupees to include modern sciences in madaris. However, to Joshi’s disappointment, only few Muslims gave acceptance to the scheme.
According to a news item in a leading Urdu newspaper of New Delhi “Hamara Samaj” on November 14, 2009, a branch of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh namely “Muslim Rashtriya Manch” has admitted that they assist 20 madaris and run 16 others. The Manch also intends to purchase land in different states for establishing 200 more madaris where modern education will be imparted.
Asked by the media as to how the Muslim community which had rejected the government’s Central Madrasah Board proposal will accept any assistance in this regard, especially if provided by an organization associated with RSS, Mr. Joyal, a portfolio bearer of the Manch, said, “Since the government schemes meant for modernization of madaris are based on interest, muslims do not accept them as interest is prohibited in Islam. As for our programme, it is not based on interest.”
The significant reason why all madaris, except a few, oppose any assistance from the government is that they admit Darul Uloom Deoband as a model in this matter. The founder leader and the moving spirit of the Darul Uloom Qasim-ul-Uloom (The Distributor of Sciences) Hazrat Maulana Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi (1248/1833 - 1297/1879) had mentioned eight principals which also include the one cautioning Darul Uloom from taking any government assistance. Here are three principles related to donations and financial help from the government:
Some Important Principles for Madaris Mentioned by Maulana Qasim Nanautavi (RA)
(1)The participation of the government as also that of the affluent appears to be very harmful (for madrasah)
(2) So long as there are no regular means of income for this madrasah, it will go on like this, if it pleases Allah, provided we pin our faith in Him. But if some assured income is obtained, e.g., a fief or a commercial establishment or the promise of a staunch man of means, then it seems that this state of fear and hope which is the source of our appealing to Allah will slip off our fingers, divine succour will cease and mutual disputes will ensue among the functionaries.
(3) The donation of these people who can give as much as they can afford and do not expect fame from it seems to cause more prosperity (Barakah). On the whole, the donor's good faith appears to be the provision for greater durability.
Both kinds of madaris- those which are under madrasah board and those which are not- have been discussed and their advantages and disadvantages are known. Now, one should think why the Central Madrasah Board is being supported or opposed.
None of the students learning in present day madaris deserves to be called an aalim until they gain excellence in the following 23 sciences and arts:
(1). Ilm-un-Nahw: The Science of Grammar/Syntax
(11). Ilm-ul-Ishtiqaq: The Science of Etymology
(111). Ilm-ul-Bayan: The Science of Style (to expressing the various shades of a single meaning)
(1V). Ilm-ul-Mantiq: Logic
(V). Ilm-ul-Kalam: Islamic speculative theology
(V1). Ilm-ul-Adab: Literature
(V11). Ilm-ul-Jughrafia: Geography
(V111). Fann-ut-Tafseer: Commentary of Holy Qurán
(1X). Fann-ul-Hadees: Hadees
(X). Fann-o-Ásma-ir-Rijal: Unique art of research on people who relates Hadees to establish their authenticity
(X1). Ilm-o-Usool-il-Fiqh: The Principles Of Fiqh
(X11). Ilm-ul-Akhlaq: Ethics/Morals
(X111). Ilm-us-Sarf: The Science of Morphology
(X1V). Ilm-ul-Maáni: Semantics
(XV). Ilm-ul-Badee: The science of Rhetorical Figures
(XV1). Ilm-ul-Falsafa: Philosophy
(XV11). Ilm-ul-Hisab: Mathematics
(XV111). Ilm-ul-Tareekh: History
(X1X). Fann-e-Qirat: Arabic Phonology
(XX). Fann-o-Usool-it-Tafseer: Principles of Tafseer
(XX1). Fann-o-Usool-il-Hadees: Principles of Hadees
(XX11). Ilm-ul-Fiqh: Jurisprudence
(XX111). Ilm-ut-Tasawwuf: Sufism/Mysticism
Why fear the constitution of the New Central Madrasah Board?
“The affiliation of the madrasah with the Central Madrasah Board should be welcomed by the Muslim community but some self-interested organizers of the madrasah are creating hurdles for personal gains,” Mehfoozur Rehman, a senior Urdu writer argues adding that the Dars-e-Nizami, the syllabus, taught in most of the madrasah, has become irrelevant today and it needs reformation.
The idea of affiliating madrasah with the Central Madrasah Board has become a hot topic of debate among the Islamic scholars in India. The people associated with the madrasah in whatever way, are strictly opposing it. They think that madrasah are mighty pillars of Deen-e-Islam, and the formulation of the board is a conspiracy to demolish the very base of Islam. In their opinion, the madrasah will lose their religious significance and character on being affiliated- even though the affiliation with the Central Madrasah Board is optional- and practically they will become an unbearable burden on the Muslims and Islam. This harmless scheme may be responsible and helpful in making madrasah self-dependent and self-reliant. Yet, some honourable scholars have made this welcome reformation an issue for the protection of Islam and Islamic culture and civilization. But that apparently seems to be unrealistic and illogical.
“According to Census data, while only about 7 per cent of the population aged 20 years and above are graduates or hold diplomas, this proportion is less than 4 per cent amongst Muslims. Besides, those having technical education at the appropriate ages (18 years and above) are as low as one per cent and amongst Muslims, that is almost non-existent.” SACHAR REPORT
Let’s see this suggestion of the Central Madrasah Board in the words of Justice Mohammad Sohail Ejaz Siddiqui, the chairman of the central commission for minority educational institutions. He told the media in a particular interview: “We travelled all over the country in relation with the formation of Central Madrasah Board and visited the small-scale madrasah where poor Muslims’ children study. Ultimately, we decided to establish such an institution, where the Muslim students can study religious as well as scientific subjects simultaneously under the guidance of Central Madrasah Board. The teaching of all subjects up to STD XII according to CBSE pattern would be arranged there without any interference of the government bodies. It would be an autonomous body founded with the seed money (Rs.500 crore), a one-time assistance given by the government.”
The affiliation of the madrasah with the Central Madrasah Board would be optional: either of the parties can terminate the contract. The government or the Central Madrasah Board would not interfere in matters of the Islamic syllabus or their financial matters. They would be run by the Islamic scholars only. On being affiliated, the Central Madrasah Board would be responsible for providing efficient teachers and financial help to make them excellent educational centres. As an advantage, the students would obtain education up to STD XII according to the CBSE pattern making them eligible to be admitted into reputed universities. Another advantage would be that they would be taught by eminent scholars to enhance their knowledge and learning. All madrasah would function like light houses dispensing the darkness of illiteracy to enlighten our lives.
The bill for the Central Madrasah Board being presented by the central ministry for education will guarantee non-interference into the syllabi of madrasah. According to the bill, the basic duty of the Central Madrasah Board will be to create a complete package of syllabus for the modern education other than religious syllabus.
The eleven-member board being represented by different schools of thought and masalik will consist of seven scholars, three educationists and one intellectual. The bill assures the protection of rights and non-interference of any kind in the functioning of madrasah. But unfortunately, a particular group of scholars considers it “interference in Deen-e-Islam”. They are also trying to propagate that the concerned board will demolish the entire system of madrasah education. This is so because a particular group of Mullahs suffering from avarice have established their monopoly over the madrasah. They are vehemently trying to protect their personal interests by halting the opportunity for improvement of the Islamic institutions. They can even go to the extent of provoking Muslims and making it an issue of interference in Islam. Their social, intellectual and political status as well as their earnings and privileges are intact because of these madrasah only.
We often hear that different managers (mohtamims) of the madrasah administration are quarrelling to have control and possession over the madrasah on account of heavy amount of donations, alms and zakat deposited in the madrasah fund. The so-called organizers of the madrasah are totally against the affiliation with Central Madrasah Board. They cannot tolerate even a slight modification and reformation in the syllabus of the madrasah, even though it is extremely outdated and totally unsuited to the needs of the present age.
The age-old syllabus Dars-e-Nizami prepared by Mullah Nizamuddin Firangi Mahli about three hundred years ago is still being taught in the madrasah. It puts unnecessary emphasis on Fiqh. The British rulers had seized the power of Qazis and their courts when they came to power, but we are still trying to solve all issues with the same old method.
In the seventh century of Hijra, education was divided in two categories – worldly education and Islamic education. Our scholars are yet adamant on the same formation of education which was unsuitable at that time as much as it is today. Dars-e-Nizami has lost its significance and implication by the passing of time and it has no capacity to solve the problems of life. The students completing their education in madrasah have to get degrees of graduate or post graduate from modern educational institutions, only then they will succeed in their social life within or outside the country. Such people are also performing their religious duties and maintaining their high social rank and status obtained by high scientific education.
The facilities of learning modern scientific subjects along with the religious topics will obviously help the students in getting admission directly in degree courses in colleges and universities.
What is wrong with it? If we provide our youth a chance to acquire both religious and scientific knowledge in the same institution which will help them to live their lives on their own, instead of working as merely Imams and Moazzins, teaching in madrasah on meagre salaries or doing the work of fake exorcism to live in absolute destitution.
By: Mehfoozur Rehman
Translated from Urdu by Raihan Nezami
The Jews whom we call educated and civilized take religious education as water and air. Every child of them up to 10-years of age learns religious education.
Then the most intelligent and smart ones among them are selected for getting higher education of religion. Those who are relatively less brilliant are admitted into schools colleges to get contemporary education.
Islam Bamuqabala Ahl-e-Kitab, Mazi Aur Hal (Islam Vs People of the Book, Past & Present), pages 91, 92
The idea of affiliating madrasah with the Central Madrasah Board has become a hot topic of debate among the Islamic scholars in India. The people associated with the madrasah in whatever way, are strictly opposing it. They think that madrasah are mighty pillars of Deen-e-Islam, and the formulation of the board is a conspiracy to demolish the very base of Islam. In their opinion, the madrasah will lose their religious significance and character on being affiliated- even though the affiliation with the Central Madrasah Board is optional- and practically they will become an unbearable burden on the Muslims and Islam. This harmless scheme may be responsible and helpful in making madrasah self-dependent and self-reliant. Yet, some honourable scholars have made this welcome reformation an issue for the protection of Islam and Islamic culture and civilization. But that apparently seems to be unrealistic and illogical.
“According to Census data, while only about 7 per cent of the population aged 20 years and above are graduates or hold diplomas, this proportion is less than 4 per cent amongst Muslims. Besides, those having technical education at the appropriate ages (18 years and above) are as low as one per cent and amongst Muslims, that is almost non-existent.” SACHAR REPORT
Let’s see this suggestion of the Central Madrasah Board in the words of Justice Mohammad Sohail Ejaz Siddiqui, the chairman of the central commission for minority educational institutions. He told the media in a particular interview: “We travelled all over the country in relation with the formation of Central Madrasah Board and visited the small-scale madrasah where poor Muslims’ children study. Ultimately, we decided to establish such an institution, where the Muslim students can study religious as well as scientific subjects simultaneously under the guidance of Central Madrasah Board. The teaching of all subjects up to STD XII according to CBSE pattern would be arranged there without any interference of the government bodies. It would be an autonomous body founded with the seed money (Rs.500 crore), a one-time assistance given by the government.”
The affiliation of the madrasah with the Central Madrasah Board would be optional: either of the parties can terminate the contract. The government or the Central Madrasah Board would not interfere in matters of the Islamic syllabus or their financial matters. They would be run by the Islamic scholars only. On being affiliated, the Central Madrasah Board would be responsible for providing efficient teachers and financial help to make them excellent educational centres. As an advantage, the students would obtain education up to STD XII according to the CBSE pattern making them eligible to be admitted into reputed universities. Another advantage would be that they would be taught by eminent scholars to enhance their knowledge and learning. All madrasah would function like light houses dispensing the darkness of illiteracy to enlighten our lives.
The bill for the Central Madrasah Board being presented by the central ministry for education will guarantee non-interference into the syllabi of madrasah. According to the bill, the basic duty of the Central Madrasah Board will be to create a complete package of syllabus for the modern education other than religious syllabus.
The eleven-member board being represented by different schools of thought and masalik will consist of seven scholars, three educationists and one intellectual. The bill assures the protection of rights and non-interference of any kind in the functioning of madrasah. But unfortunately, a particular group of scholars considers it “interference in Deen-e-Islam”. They are also trying to propagate that the concerned board will demolish the entire system of madrasah education. This is so because a particular group of Mullahs suffering from avarice have established their monopoly over the madrasah. They are vehemently trying to protect their personal interests by halting the opportunity for improvement of the Islamic institutions. They can even go to the extent of provoking Muslims and making it an issue of interference in Islam. Their social, intellectual and political status as well as their earnings and privileges are intact because of these madrasah only.
We often hear that different managers (mohtamims) of the madrasah administration are quarrelling to have control and possession over the madrasah on account of heavy amount of donations, alms and zakat deposited in the madrasah fund. The so-called organizers of the madrasah are totally against the affiliation with Central Madrasah Board. They cannot tolerate even a slight modification and reformation in the syllabus of the madrasah, even though it is extremely outdated and totally unsuited to the needs of the present age.
The age-old syllabus Dars-e-Nizami prepared by Mullah Nizamuddin Firangi Mahli about three hundred years ago is still being taught in the madrasah. It puts unnecessary emphasis on Fiqh. The British rulers had seized the power of Qazis and their courts when they came to power, but we are still trying to solve all issues with the same old method.
In the seventh century of Hijra, education was divided in two categories – worldly education and Islamic education. Our scholars are yet adamant on the same formation of education which was unsuitable at that time as much as it is today. Dars-e-Nizami has lost its significance and implication by the passing of time and it has no capacity to solve the problems of life. The students completing their education in madrasah have to get degrees of graduate or post graduate from modern educational institutions, only then they will succeed in their social life within or outside the country. Such people are also performing their religious duties and maintaining their high social rank and status obtained by high scientific education.
The facilities of learning modern scientific subjects along with the religious topics will obviously help the students in getting admission directly in degree courses in colleges and universities.
What is wrong with it? If we provide our youth a chance to acquire both religious and scientific knowledge in the same institution which will help them to live their lives on their own, instead of working as merely Imams and Moazzins, teaching in madrasah on meagre salaries or doing the work of fake exorcism to live in absolute destitution.
By: Mehfoozur Rehman
Translated from Urdu by Raihan Nezami
The Jews whom we call educated and civilized take religious education as water and air. Every child of them up to 10-years of age learns religious education.
Then the most intelligent and smart ones among them are selected for getting higher education of religion. Those who are relatively less brilliant are admitted into schools colleges to get contemporary education.
Islam Bamuqabala Ahl-e-Kitab, Mazi Aur Hal (Islam Vs People of the Book, Past & Present), pages 91, 92
Readers' Column
Muslim Leaders Oppose Madrasah Board
Dear Sir,
Central Madrasah Board has recently become a moot point in the news. Indian government and other intellectuals are leaving no stone unturned to take ulama in confidence. Some Muslim scholars seem in favour, while the most of ulama, including Darul Uloom Deoband, Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind, etc. are against. I neither blindly support, nor oppose. But I suppose that the issue concerning madaris should be left on ulama; for they are the founders, managers and know better than others what goes in madaris favour and what goes against them. Also Madrasah issue is a religious matter for which ulama are on the alert. If we think about it, we may realize why they are rejecting the aids and facilities, being determined to live in privation. Of course, there are valid reasons, otherwise who can be so stupid to close the doors?
I wish Media Scan to take step towards this controversial topic by publishing an especial issue. You can convey the true facts to the world. I pray that your magazine becomes wide-reaching and all-embracing.
Abdul Jaleel, Bidar, Karnataka
Mention E-mail Addresses of Writers
Sir,
Grabbed the November issue of Media Scan, sunk into bed and ventured through it all in one go. Thoughtful editorial, mourning the grief of millions of rupees squandered on Diwali and melted into smoke, pushed for rethinking the festive celebration next time. Though, money extravagance this Diwali was all the same as before. Anyway, I am following the MS from the inaugural issue and the difference in each issue is discernable. It’s, definitely, getting better with each move. Yet it has a long way to go. At last, if God wills, perfection will follow. This time Nilofar Suharawardy on ‘Communication Gap’ was fabulous. Well-crafted article with wonderfully woven information.
What I want to suggest as an upholder of the spirit MS symbolizes, is that isn’t it worth trying to introduce a column for young talent get introduced? You can set down the topic for next month in each issue. It will, I assume, promote writing spirit among juvenile youngsters who, generally, unfold their concerns with razor sharp wit. It may well add to magazine’s popularity and extend its readership as well.
If establishment in ever-changing media is sought than one incontrovertibly, has to come with out-of-the-box stuff. Thanks for incessant endeavours and perpetual commitment contributed by you to initiate the MS. Oh, the thing I missed, I request you to mention the email addresses of all your writers, if possible, as to enabling readers confirm directly whatever comes to their minds online.
Looking for next issue.
Usama Imran Zakir, Moradabad, U.P.
usaqasmi@gmail.com
Correct The Few Grammatical Mistakes
Dear editor,
I read two of your issues and found them to be very interesting, though they are a little clichéd. Lastly I understand you have started this magazine with the idea of giving clean and startling news to the readers. But then the way you are presenting it is not very right (obviously in my opinion). Also on a cursory glance of the magazine I found quite a few grammatical and structural errors.
Talha Chowdhry, Jayanagar, Bangalore
Bring Something Special On Palestine Issue
Sir,
I am a regular reader of your esteemed magazine “Media Scan”. I find the magazine is improving with every issue; a sign that it will soon be choice of people. I want to suggest you bring something special on Palestine-Israel issue under your column “International”. Better will be if you come up with the views of some experts as to what may the ways out of this controversy. Many of the people do not know much about this topic of global importance. I think Media Scan will be a good means to make them aware about this.
Tauqeer Ahmad, Mumbai
Dear Sir,
Central Madrasah Board has recently become a moot point in the news. Indian government and other intellectuals are leaving no stone unturned to take ulama in confidence. Some Muslim scholars seem in favour, while the most of ulama, including Darul Uloom Deoband, Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind, etc. are against. I neither blindly support, nor oppose. But I suppose that the issue concerning madaris should be left on ulama; for they are the founders, managers and know better than others what goes in madaris favour and what goes against them. Also Madrasah issue is a religious matter for which ulama are on the alert. If we think about it, we may realize why they are rejecting the aids and facilities, being determined to live in privation. Of course, there are valid reasons, otherwise who can be so stupid to close the doors?
I wish Media Scan to take step towards this controversial topic by publishing an especial issue. You can convey the true facts to the world. I pray that your magazine becomes wide-reaching and all-embracing.
Abdul Jaleel, Bidar, Karnataka
Mention E-mail Addresses of Writers
Sir,
Grabbed the November issue of Media Scan, sunk into bed and ventured through it all in one go. Thoughtful editorial, mourning the grief of millions of rupees squandered on Diwali and melted into smoke, pushed for rethinking the festive celebration next time. Though, money extravagance this Diwali was all the same as before. Anyway, I am following the MS from the inaugural issue and the difference in each issue is discernable. It’s, definitely, getting better with each move. Yet it has a long way to go. At last, if God wills, perfection will follow. This time Nilofar Suharawardy on ‘Communication Gap’ was fabulous. Well-crafted article with wonderfully woven information.
What I want to suggest as an upholder of the spirit MS symbolizes, is that isn’t it worth trying to introduce a column for young talent get introduced? You can set down the topic for next month in each issue. It will, I assume, promote writing spirit among juvenile youngsters who, generally, unfold their concerns with razor sharp wit. It may well add to magazine’s popularity and extend its readership as well.
If establishment in ever-changing media is sought than one incontrovertibly, has to come with out-of-the-box stuff. Thanks for incessant endeavours and perpetual commitment contributed by you to initiate the MS. Oh, the thing I missed, I request you to mention the email addresses of all your writers, if possible, as to enabling readers confirm directly whatever comes to their minds online.
Looking for next issue.
Usama Imran Zakir, Moradabad, U.P.
usaqasmi@gmail.com
Correct The Few Grammatical Mistakes
Dear editor,
I read two of your issues and found them to be very interesting, though they are a little clichéd. Lastly I understand you have started this magazine with the idea of giving clean and startling news to the readers. But then the way you are presenting it is not very right (obviously in my opinion). Also on a cursory glance of the magazine I found quite a few grammatical and structural errors.
Talha Chowdhry, Jayanagar, Bangalore
Bring Something Special On Palestine Issue
Sir,
I am a regular reader of your esteemed magazine “Media Scan”. I find the magazine is improving with every issue; a sign that it will soon be choice of people. I want to suggest you bring something special on Palestine-Israel issue under your column “International”. Better will be if you come up with the views of some experts as to what may the ways out of this controversy. Many of the people do not know much about this topic of global importance. I think Media Scan will be a good means to make them aware about this.
Tauqeer Ahmad, Mumbai
Ministry May Review Sale of 12 'Risky' Drugs
The Drugs Technical Advisory Board (DTAB) is likely to deliberate on 12 drugs which are banned in several parts of the world but are still allowed in India.
The DTAB, which is the highest body on technical matters regarding the pharmaceuticals segment, under the Union ministry of health, is planning to discuss the matter, said a person closely associated with the body.
Drugs including those like nimesulide (pain/fever, side-effect -- liver damage), droperidol (anti-depressant, side-effect-irregular heart beat), furazolidone (anti-diarrhoeal, side-effect-cancer), nitrofurazone (anti-bacterial, side-effect -- cancer) are some which have been banned in several parts of the world, including the US and the UK.
Industry experts say the market potential for these drugs in India's Rs 34,000 crore domestic drug market ranges between Rs 2 crore and Rs 150 crore annually.
Says a senior research analyst with a securities firm in Mumbai: "Though there are no exact figures, we can say that the annual market for nimesulide is about Rs 150 crore at present. India is one of the very few countries to allow this drug to be marketed."
However, C M Gulhati, editor of Monthly Index for Medical Specialties (MIMS), a reference journal for medical practitioners, says the likelihood of these drugs actually getting banned appears negligible. "If at all they decide to ban, the casualties are most likely to be droperidol, oxyphenbutazone (painkiller, can cause blood disorders), as they have miniscule sales compared with the rest."
The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) Surinder Singh, who holds authority over granting approvals or banning drugs, could not reached for comment.
According to a consultant, internal medicine, at a leading corporate hospital based in Bangalore, drugs which are banned globally should also be banned in India. "A drug is banned when its risks outweigh its benefits and it is considered to be dangerous. So, if a drug appears dangerous for populations elsewhere, it would be risky for Indians also."
Says a senior consultant, internal medicine from a north-based hospitals chain: "There are several options available for any indication like fever or pain. So these risky medicines should be best avoided and safer alternatives should be taken."
These drugs can do more damage in a country like India where several people self-medicate and where drugs are sold without prescriptions, says a former administrator of the Maharashtra Medical Council.
Also, the system of reporting adverse drug reactions is nearly non-existent in India, said Gulhati.
"Doctors do not maintain proper patient records and also at times fail to seek patient information about use of certain medications, etc. Without proper patient data, it is difficult to report any adverse drug reaction. So it's tough to say that a drug should be banned in India only if the adverse reaction is reported here."
Courtesy: DNA Daily
The DTAB, which is the highest body on technical matters regarding the pharmaceuticals segment, under the Union ministry of health, is planning to discuss the matter, said a person closely associated with the body.
Drugs including those like nimesulide (pain/fever, side-effect -- liver damage), droperidol (anti-depressant, side-effect-irregular heart beat), furazolidone (anti-diarrhoeal, side-effect-cancer), nitrofurazone (anti-bacterial, side-effect -- cancer) are some which have been banned in several parts of the world, including the US and the UK.
Industry experts say the market potential for these drugs in India's Rs 34,000 crore domestic drug market ranges between Rs 2 crore and Rs 150 crore annually.
Says a senior research analyst with a securities firm in Mumbai: "Though there are no exact figures, we can say that the annual market for nimesulide is about Rs 150 crore at present. India is one of the very few countries to allow this drug to be marketed."
However, C M Gulhati, editor of Monthly Index for Medical Specialties (MIMS), a reference journal for medical practitioners, says the likelihood of these drugs actually getting banned appears negligible. "If at all they decide to ban, the casualties are most likely to be droperidol, oxyphenbutazone (painkiller, can cause blood disorders), as they have miniscule sales compared with the rest."
The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) Surinder Singh, who holds authority over granting approvals or banning drugs, could not reached for comment.
According to a consultant, internal medicine, at a leading corporate hospital based in Bangalore, drugs which are banned globally should also be banned in India. "A drug is banned when its risks outweigh its benefits and it is considered to be dangerous. So, if a drug appears dangerous for populations elsewhere, it would be risky for Indians also."
Says a senior consultant, internal medicine from a north-based hospitals chain: "There are several options available for any indication like fever or pain. So these risky medicines should be best avoided and safer alternatives should be taken."
These drugs can do more damage in a country like India where several people self-medicate and where drugs are sold without prescriptions, says a former administrator of the Maharashtra Medical Council.
Also, the system of reporting adverse drug reactions is nearly non-existent in India, said Gulhati.
"Doctors do not maintain proper patient records and also at times fail to seek patient information about use of certain medications, etc. Without proper patient data, it is difficult to report any adverse drug reaction. So it's tough to say that a drug should be banned in India only if the adverse reaction is reported here."
Courtesy: DNA Daily
Vajpayee’s Indictment May Discredit Liberhan Report
Five months after Justice Liberhan presented his report on Babri Masjid Demolition to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh; it has been tabled in the Parliament along with the Action Taken Report by the government. It is to be seen whether the recommendations of the report are implemented especially when opposition BJP has a habit to reject commissions’ recommendation and the Congress giving into its objection.
Liberhan Commission report on Babri Masjid took 17 years for its completion and five months to reach the Parliament after being handed over to the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on June 30, 2009. Now, let us see how long it will require getting those indicted by the commission, punished. More probable is that the report will be preserved as a historical document for a researcher.
All know who demolished Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992 and why? But in a democratic country like India, there are some legal proceedings to have someone punished. Within ten days of the demolition, the then Congress prime minister P V Narasimha Rao had set up the one-man commission headed by Justice Manmohan Singh Liberhan to probe the circumstances that led to the demolition of the mosque. Three month is the span of time the commission was expected to submit its report within. Extension after extension, as many as 48, and only after 17 years it could be possible. By the time the government had invested around Rs 8 crore for the commission. Yet, there seems no use of all the money spent. Perhaps the fact finding commission could not come up with anything new to people. That the karsevaks were the responsible for demolition and organizations like RSS, BJP, VHP and Shiv Sena etc. had created circumstances leading to the event is well known to all.
According to the latest news, till the magazine going to press, the report will be presented for debate on December 1, and what happens latter will remain to be seen. For now, it has distracted the attention from soaring prices of daily commodities, low price of sugarcane and government’s failure during the Mumbai terror siege.
The Liberhan report, indicts top BJP leaders including L. K. Advani, then U.P. Chief Minister Kalyan Singh (now not in BJP), and Murli Manohar Joshi. However, its indictment of Atal Bihari Vajpayee-who is considered liberal compared to other Sangh Parivar leaders-has invited criticism not only from BJP but also from some others. The former senior counsel of Liberhan commission Anupam Gupta who conducted majority of the examination hearings has said, “I am taken aback and astonished that a person who was never given the opportunity to explain his position may have been indicted.”
The statement of the Congress spokesperson Mr. Abhishek Singhvi in this context may give the BJP and others a chance to term the report biased and thereby reject it. While justifying Vajpayee’s indictment Singhvi said that he cannot escape the charge simply by saying that he did not know about the demolition. “Vajpayee should have changed his associate and political party way back in 1992 to escape the charge.” Did the statement mean that Vajpayee has been accused as he asserted to not alienate himself from BJP and its associate? Apparently, it is so.
It seems that Congress on one hand wants to appease the Muslim community by presenting the facts-though stale-about who was responsible for the demolition and on the other it paves way for BJP and its associates to discard it.
Already having a history of rejecting the Sri Krishna Commission report with no loopholes can BJP, Shiv Sena’s ally in Maharashtra, accept Liberhan report while its authenticity has been suspected by one who worked for the commission and later resigned owing to some differences with justice Liberhan on the way the commission functioned? Anupam Gupta also said that indictment of Vajpayee is a deliberate step meant for shifting focus away from Bharatiya Janata Party leader L.K. Advani who he said played a key role in the events leading to demolition of the mosque.
Surprisingly, Advani has been categorised under “the pseudo-moderates”-those who gave false assurances to court, people, nation and they were involved in the event as they could not have defied the diktat of the RSS; so, they were not the key players in the event- along with Vajpayee and Joshi. It was his Rath Yatra that had sparked the communal flare which ultimately burnt Babri Masjid to ash.
The 1029-page report makes “the radicals”-ex-RSS chief Sudarshan, Uma Bharti, Govindacharya, Kalyan Singh and S S Vaghela- core responsible for the event as all of them had the complete knowledge of the events and had the means to prevent the assault.
"...December 6, 1992 saw a state of Uttar Pradesh unwilling and unable to uphold the majesty of the law. The ennui flowed from the very office of the chief minister downwards and infected the state's minions down till the bottom,” the report reads.
Rashtriya Swamasevak Sangh, as a whole, is said to be the "author of the movement behind Ayodhya", while 68 individuals of Sangh Parivar have been fixed culpable for "leading the country to the brink of communal discord"
Yet the government’s Action Taken Report does not recommend any action against these 68 persons, in fact, it does not single any of them out. The union law minister Veerappa Moily said the Liberhan Commission was a fact-finding commission and that a follow-up action based on the commission’s conclusion may be expected. The ATR also talks of expediting the cases arising out of the demolition of Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid. Notably, as many as 49 cases against BJP/VHP leaders related to Babri Masjid demolition have been pending in Bareli and Lucknow courts.
The very Liberhan report, nevertheless, has given clean chit to the then Congress government Prime Minister late P. V. Narasimha Rao as it found that centre was crippled by the failure of the intelligence agencies to provide an analysis of the situation. Astonishingly, according to media report Rao had got informed about the demolition of the mosque the protection of which he had assured, after hours.
The report has suggested a “separate, special law providing for exemplary punishment for misuse of religion, caste, etc. for political gains or illicit acquisition of political or other powers.”
Singhvi, the Congress spokesperson, has said, without defining a time, that the government would act on the recommendations of the Liberhan Commission and a supplementary chargesheet may be filed. All the things depend on whether the report manages to get approval of the Parliament; something very difficult. Provided it does, one can merely guess as to how long time it will take filing chargesheet against the culprits and the subsequent execution. Only preparation of the report has taken 17 years. Judicial system in India is too slow. There are the examples that the court issued verdict in a case and by time the accused had died.
With all the top BJP cadres and strategists being accused, the opposition BJP will create every possible obstacle to the approval of the report in the Parliament. There are valid reasons to opine this. What happened with many other commissions’ reports including that of Justice Sri Krishna on Mumbai 1992-93 communal riots may be repeated with the Liberhan report. The immense efforts justice Krishna exerted to find out the culprits of the riots went fruitless; because the Shiv Sena termed the findings as partial and refused to accept it when presented during Shiv Sena-BJP rule in Maharashtra. Though the Congress later came into rule with NCP alliance, nothing but promise to implement the report was the portion of Muslim community. Still Congress utters the same promise and Muslims continue to be made fool.
If the culprits go unpunished, the Rs 8 crore spent on the commission will be useless. Nothing different can be expected given the ultimate result of the previous commissions’ report.
So far, the commissions have served mere a lollypop to Muslims. They are very effective tool to befool the community whenever it faces any riots or backwardness. The Muslim community would have been the most prosperous and fearless one in India had the recommendations of a number of commissions were implemented fairly. There is need to enact a law making the commissions useful. Whatever a person recommends after a thorough study of a matter has importance and valid reasons for being supported.
By: Staff Writer
Liberhan Commission report on Babri Masjid took 17 years for its completion and five months to reach the Parliament after being handed over to the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on June 30, 2009. Now, let us see how long it will require getting those indicted by the commission, punished. More probable is that the report will be preserved as a historical document for a researcher.
All know who demolished Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992 and why? But in a democratic country like India, there are some legal proceedings to have someone punished. Within ten days of the demolition, the then Congress prime minister P V Narasimha Rao had set up the one-man commission headed by Justice Manmohan Singh Liberhan to probe the circumstances that led to the demolition of the mosque. Three month is the span of time the commission was expected to submit its report within. Extension after extension, as many as 48, and only after 17 years it could be possible. By the time the government had invested around Rs 8 crore for the commission. Yet, there seems no use of all the money spent. Perhaps the fact finding commission could not come up with anything new to people. That the karsevaks were the responsible for demolition and organizations like RSS, BJP, VHP and Shiv Sena etc. had created circumstances leading to the event is well known to all.
According to the latest news, till the magazine going to press, the report will be presented for debate on December 1, and what happens latter will remain to be seen. For now, it has distracted the attention from soaring prices of daily commodities, low price of sugarcane and government’s failure during the Mumbai terror siege.
The Liberhan report, indicts top BJP leaders including L. K. Advani, then U.P. Chief Minister Kalyan Singh (now not in BJP), and Murli Manohar Joshi. However, its indictment of Atal Bihari Vajpayee-who is considered liberal compared to other Sangh Parivar leaders-has invited criticism not only from BJP but also from some others. The former senior counsel of Liberhan commission Anupam Gupta who conducted majority of the examination hearings has said, “I am taken aback and astonished that a person who was never given the opportunity to explain his position may have been indicted.”
The statement of the Congress spokesperson Mr. Abhishek Singhvi in this context may give the BJP and others a chance to term the report biased and thereby reject it. While justifying Vajpayee’s indictment Singhvi said that he cannot escape the charge simply by saying that he did not know about the demolition. “Vajpayee should have changed his associate and political party way back in 1992 to escape the charge.” Did the statement mean that Vajpayee has been accused as he asserted to not alienate himself from BJP and its associate? Apparently, it is so.
It seems that Congress on one hand wants to appease the Muslim community by presenting the facts-though stale-about who was responsible for the demolition and on the other it paves way for BJP and its associates to discard it.
Already having a history of rejecting the Sri Krishna Commission report with no loopholes can BJP, Shiv Sena’s ally in Maharashtra, accept Liberhan report while its authenticity has been suspected by one who worked for the commission and later resigned owing to some differences with justice Liberhan on the way the commission functioned? Anupam Gupta also said that indictment of Vajpayee is a deliberate step meant for shifting focus away from Bharatiya Janata Party leader L.K. Advani who he said played a key role in the events leading to demolition of the mosque.
Surprisingly, Advani has been categorised under “the pseudo-moderates”-those who gave false assurances to court, people, nation and they were involved in the event as they could not have defied the diktat of the RSS; so, they were not the key players in the event- along with Vajpayee and Joshi. It was his Rath Yatra that had sparked the communal flare which ultimately burnt Babri Masjid to ash.
The 1029-page report makes “the radicals”-ex-RSS chief Sudarshan, Uma Bharti, Govindacharya, Kalyan Singh and S S Vaghela- core responsible for the event as all of them had the complete knowledge of the events and had the means to prevent the assault.
"...December 6, 1992 saw a state of Uttar Pradesh unwilling and unable to uphold the majesty of the law. The ennui flowed from the very office of the chief minister downwards and infected the state's minions down till the bottom,” the report reads.
Rashtriya Swamasevak Sangh, as a whole, is said to be the "author of the movement behind Ayodhya", while 68 individuals of Sangh Parivar have been fixed culpable for "leading the country to the brink of communal discord"
Yet the government’s Action Taken Report does not recommend any action against these 68 persons, in fact, it does not single any of them out. The union law minister Veerappa Moily said the Liberhan Commission was a fact-finding commission and that a follow-up action based on the commission’s conclusion may be expected. The ATR also talks of expediting the cases arising out of the demolition of Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid. Notably, as many as 49 cases against BJP/VHP leaders related to Babri Masjid demolition have been pending in Bareli and Lucknow courts.
The very Liberhan report, nevertheless, has given clean chit to the then Congress government Prime Minister late P. V. Narasimha Rao as it found that centre was crippled by the failure of the intelligence agencies to provide an analysis of the situation. Astonishingly, according to media report Rao had got informed about the demolition of the mosque the protection of which he had assured, after hours.
The report has suggested a “separate, special law providing for exemplary punishment for misuse of religion, caste, etc. for political gains or illicit acquisition of political or other powers.”
Singhvi, the Congress spokesperson, has said, without defining a time, that the government would act on the recommendations of the Liberhan Commission and a supplementary chargesheet may be filed. All the things depend on whether the report manages to get approval of the Parliament; something very difficult. Provided it does, one can merely guess as to how long time it will take filing chargesheet against the culprits and the subsequent execution. Only preparation of the report has taken 17 years. Judicial system in India is too slow. There are the examples that the court issued verdict in a case and by time the accused had died.
With all the top BJP cadres and strategists being accused, the opposition BJP will create every possible obstacle to the approval of the report in the Parliament. There are valid reasons to opine this. What happened with many other commissions’ reports including that of Justice Sri Krishna on Mumbai 1992-93 communal riots may be repeated with the Liberhan report. The immense efforts justice Krishna exerted to find out the culprits of the riots went fruitless; because the Shiv Sena termed the findings as partial and refused to accept it when presented during Shiv Sena-BJP rule in Maharashtra. Though the Congress later came into rule with NCP alliance, nothing but promise to implement the report was the portion of Muslim community. Still Congress utters the same promise and Muslims continue to be made fool.
If the culprits go unpunished, the Rs 8 crore spent on the commission will be useless. Nothing different can be expected given the ultimate result of the previous commissions’ report.
So far, the commissions have served mere a lollypop to Muslims. They are very effective tool to befool the community whenever it faces any riots or backwardness. The Muslim community would have been the most prosperous and fearless one in India had the recommendations of a number of commissions were implemented fairly. There is need to enact a law making the commissions useful. Whatever a person recommends after a thorough study of a matter has importance and valid reasons for being supported.
By: Staff Writer
Control Commodity Prices
The Liberhan report tabled in the Parliament after its selective leak has for now diverted attention from soaring prices of the primary articles, Jharkhand Koda corruption scam, internal security and, Maoists issue; which otherwise would have drawn heated debate in the ongoing winter session of the House. Just few days ago, the farmers led by many opposition veteran leaders had staged a successful demonstration against the UPA government over the specification of low prices for sugarcane. This was not the only problem aam aadmi of India has been going through.
Despite promises from the UPA-11, the farmers remain the worst neglected aspect of the government. What they cultivate is of low value and what they have to purchase keeps on going higher in price.
The agitation of the North Indian farmers at Jantar Mantar was driven by the centre’s fixing low prices for their products of sugarcane. The Centre had brought in an ordinance specifying a meagre price of Rs 129.85 per quintal for sugarcane during the 2009-10 crushing season under the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP). The bill indirectly restricts the right of state governments to fix a state-assured price for sugar cane. Though, giving into strong protest from farmers it has withdrawn the bill, but the question remains why it has done so.
It seems that the government is not up to its words with the farmers. The 100-day plan of Dr. Manmohan Singh which had assured of food security could not avail much. The price hike is on by the passage of the time.
The 100-day plan of Dr. Manmohan Singh which had assured of food security could not avail much. The price hike is on by the passage of the time.
According to official data released on November 26, 2009, in the week ended November 14, the price of urad and poultry rose by 15 per cent, eggs by eight per cent, moong by six per cent, arhar by five per cent, fruit and vegetables by three per cent and milk and wheat by one percent compared to the corresponding week of the previous year.
Earlier in the week ended November 7 the price saw a hike of 102.47 per cent in potato, 38.24 per cent in onion, 27.03 per cent in pulses, nine per cent in urad, four per cent in mutton and moong and three per cent in condiments & spices, barely, wheat and bajra compared to the week ended October 31, 2009. As for the last three months, potato went up by 100%, onions by 42%, pulses by 29%, rice by 12% and wheat by 7%. This increase in price has made these items beyond the reach of aam aadmi. Here the claim of UPA government that its hand is always with aam aadmi turns out to be hollow.
The veteran BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi has alleged that in many of the cases there has been a hundred per cent rise in the price of commodities. "Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had himself claimed to control the economic recession and the price rise but people of the country know that during last three to four months the prices of the cereals, pulses, sugar and other eatables have swelled the most," Joshi said.
Actually, in recent times, we have become more and more a crass and irresponsible society where at the cost of the aam aadmi we act to support the wealthy and the rich. Whenever the airlines have gone on strike-majority of citizens travels through trains or bus-or the stock markets have fallen-which affects barely 1% of population- we create a national crisis and want immediate action! On the other hand we seem to be little concerned about issues pertaining to poor.
According to a 2007 report by the state-run National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS), 77% of Indians lived on less than 20 rupees per day. How a lone bread earner - usually Indians have a large family to take care about- manages even the meal is something to be given immense thought.
With around 42% of our population living below International Poverty Line India are going to emerge as one of the three biggest economies of the world! Two U.S. experts- Uri Dadush and Bennett Stancil- have opined that by 2050 India would become one of the three largest economies of the world with the U.S. and China. In an article titled “The G-20 in 2050” which was published in International Economic Bulletin, November 2009, of the think tank Carnegie Endowment for International Peace they predicted that “growing at a projected rate of 6.19 percent between 2009 and 2050, India would grow most rapidly among the G-20 group of world's leading economies thus making Indian economy 97 percent as large that of the US in terms of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP). They also noted that in dollar terms, India's GDP is expected to increase by 16 times from the current $1.1 trillion to $17.8 trillion by 2050.
In order to materialize this predication a long term strategy is needed to be made with emphasis on the development of aam aadmi. Until aam aadmi is not provided with reasonable-priced general articles, he cannot co-operate in giving a push to the economic growth of India. According to an estimate a common man in India spends about 45 per cent of his income on food compared to only 15 per cent spent by Americans. What type of
The subsidies given to the farmers over fertilizers and seeds should be increased. Farmers are instrumental to overall economic growth of India.
There are the reports of food grains getting rotten in the stocks of FCI. The government may intervene them in the market and bring the prices of rice and wheat down. We need an economic growth which is inclusive instead of being exclusive to rich.
Despite promises from the UPA-11, the farmers remain the worst neglected aspect of the government. What they cultivate is of low value and what they have to purchase keeps on going higher in price.
The agitation of the North Indian farmers at Jantar Mantar was driven by the centre’s fixing low prices for their products of sugarcane. The Centre had brought in an ordinance specifying a meagre price of Rs 129.85 per quintal for sugarcane during the 2009-10 crushing season under the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP). The bill indirectly restricts the right of state governments to fix a state-assured price for sugar cane. Though, giving into strong protest from farmers it has withdrawn the bill, but the question remains why it has done so.
It seems that the government is not up to its words with the farmers. The 100-day plan of Dr. Manmohan Singh which had assured of food security could not avail much. The price hike is on by the passage of the time.
The 100-day plan of Dr. Manmohan Singh which had assured of food security could not avail much. The price hike is on by the passage of the time.
According to official data released on November 26, 2009, in the week ended November 14, the price of urad and poultry rose by 15 per cent, eggs by eight per cent, moong by six per cent, arhar by five per cent, fruit and vegetables by three per cent and milk and wheat by one percent compared to the corresponding week of the previous year.
Earlier in the week ended November 7 the price saw a hike of 102.47 per cent in potato, 38.24 per cent in onion, 27.03 per cent in pulses, nine per cent in urad, four per cent in mutton and moong and three per cent in condiments & spices, barely, wheat and bajra compared to the week ended October 31, 2009. As for the last three months, potato went up by 100%, onions by 42%, pulses by 29%, rice by 12% and wheat by 7%. This increase in price has made these items beyond the reach of aam aadmi. Here the claim of UPA government that its hand is always with aam aadmi turns out to be hollow.
The veteran BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi has alleged that in many of the cases there has been a hundred per cent rise in the price of commodities. "Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had himself claimed to control the economic recession and the price rise but people of the country know that during last three to four months the prices of the cereals, pulses, sugar and other eatables have swelled the most," Joshi said.
Actually, in recent times, we have become more and more a crass and irresponsible society where at the cost of the aam aadmi we act to support the wealthy and the rich. Whenever the airlines have gone on strike-majority of citizens travels through trains or bus-or the stock markets have fallen-which affects barely 1% of population- we create a national crisis and want immediate action! On the other hand we seem to be little concerned about issues pertaining to poor.
According to a 2007 report by the state-run National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS), 77% of Indians lived on less than 20 rupees per day. How a lone bread earner - usually Indians have a large family to take care about- manages even the meal is something to be given immense thought.
With around 42% of our population living below International Poverty Line India are going to emerge as one of the three biggest economies of the world! Two U.S. experts- Uri Dadush and Bennett Stancil- have opined that by 2050 India would become one of the three largest economies of the world with the U.S. and China. In an article titled “The G-20 in 2050” which was published in International Economic Bulletin, November 2009, of the think tank Carnegie Endowment for International Peace they predicted that “growing at a projected rate of 6.19 percent between 2009 and 2050, India would grow most rapidly among the G-20 group of world's leading economies thus making Indian economy 97 percent as large that of the US in terms of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP). They also noted that in dollar terms, India's GDP is expected to increase by 16 times from the current $1.1 trillion to $17.8 trillion by 2050.
In order to materialize this predication a long term strategy is needed to be made with emphasis on the development of aam aadmi. Until aam aadmi is not provided with reasonable-priced general articles, he cannot co-operate in giving a push to the economic growth of India. According to an estimate a common man in India spends about 45 per cent of his income on food compared to only 15 per cent spent by Americans. What type of
The subsidies given to the farmers over fertilizers and seeds should be increased. Farmers are instrumental to overall economic growth of India.
There are the reports of food grains getting rotten in the stocks of FCI. The government may intervene them in the market and bring the prices of rice and wheat down. We need an economic growth which is inclusive instead of being exclusive to rich.
Fair Probe Need In Hemant Karkare's Death
The first anniversary of 26/11 Mumbai attacks reminded us of an India lacking security measures. It was the day when three top level security officers including Anti Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare were gunned down during the worst ever terror siege in 2008.
A complete year has passed but it is said that the real handlers of the attack are still untraced. The kind of assault which would have been impossible without a local guide, the police had said was done without local support. However, the familiarity of the terrorists with the area they were operating in may be negating this.
Former chief of the elite National Security Guards (NSG) Jyoti Krishan Dutt recently said, “The familiarity came through stay in the area or through recce and visit to the area or by looking at video clips. It is a matter of investigation. But they were very, very familiar.” The latest suspects in 26/11 attacks Headley and his Canadian associate Tahawwur Hussain Rana are alleged to have laid the groundwork for the strike.
Besides, it is also important to note that one of the terrorists at Cama Hospital where ATS chief Hemant Karkare, (ACP) Ashok Kamte and inspector Vijay Salaskar were killed had spoken Marathi, the local language. One might still remember that prior to his murder; Hemant Karkare reportedly had received myriad calls threatening him to face dire consequences. According to the relatives, Karkare was hurt by this and was pondering upon to quit as ATS chief. Importantly, in the independent India, he was the first investigating officer who had unveiled a vast network of Hindu terrorists; allegedly responsible for several bomb blasts which were earlier imposed on innocent Muslims. Some experts suspect these very elements to be behind the assault in which Hemant Karkare and others were removed.
Those having switched on their TVs when massacre at CST was on still can see Hemant Karkare talking to someone on mobile and putting on bullet proof jacket. For quite a considerable time noting about him was aired. The shocking news which hit TV screens after some time was that Karkare was injured and then succumbed to injuries in a hospital.
The widow of the late ATS chief, Kavita Karkare some days ago alleged that when his body was found, the bulletproof jacket was missing and the Right to Information (RTI) application too had not yielded any information on its whereabouts. It not only raises question about the quality of jacket but also paves way to suspicion whether Karkare had jacket on his body when the bullets passed into his chest. A TOI report dated November 21, claims that Karkare was not hit at all on his chest. ‘Sources said all the bullets hit Karkare on his neck and shoulder and not a single bullet hit him in the front or rear side of the body which a normal bullet proof jacket covers.’ Yet, why the jacket was not preserved may be asked.
As per the media reports, the call-details of Karkare too are not available. It raises question because even the calls of a common man’s cell are recorded and may be produced when needed.
All the concerns rose by either the families of the martyrs or experts, should be given due attention to ensure a fair probe and punishment to those associated in any way to the 26/11 terror attack. The local link and the hand of those afraid of Karkare’s investigation cannot be ignored in this context.
A complete year has passed but it is said that the real handlers of the attack are still untraced. The kind of assault which would have been impossible without a local guide, the police had said was done without local support. However, the familiarity of the terrorists with the area they were operating in may be negating this.
Former chief of the elite National Security Guards (NSG) Jyoti Krishan Dutt recently said, “The familiarity came through stay in the area or through recce and visit to the area or by looking at video clips. It is a matter of investigation. But they were very, very familiar.” The latest suspects in 26/11 attacks Headley and his Canadian associate Tahawwur Hussain Rana are alleged to have laid the groundwork for the strike.
Besides, it is also important to note that one of the terrorists at Cama Hospital where ATS chief Hemant Karkare, (ACP) Ashok Kamte and inspector Vijay Salaskar were killed had spoken Marathi, the local language. One might still remember that prior to his murder; Hemant Karkare reportedly had received myriad calls threatening him to face dire consequences. According to the relatives, Karkare was hurt by this and was pondering upon to quit as ATS chief. Importantly, in the independent India, he was the first investigating officer who had unveiled a vast network of Hindu terrorists; allegedly responsible for several bomb blasts which were earlier imposed on innocent Muslims. Some experts suspect these very elements to be behind the assault in which Hemant Karkare and others were removed.
Those having switched on their TVs when massacre at CST was on still can see Hemant Karkare talking to someone on mobile and putting on bullet proof jacket. For quite a considerable time noting about him was aired. The shocking news which hit TV screens after some time was that Karkare was injured and then succumbed to injuries in a hospital.
The widow of the late ATS chief, Kavita Karkare some days ago alleged that when his body was found, the bulletproof jacket was missing and the Right to Information (RTI) application too had not yielded any information on its whereabouts. It not only raises question about the quality of jacket but also paves way to suspicion whether Karkare had jacket on his body when the bullets passed into his chest. A TOI report dated November 21, claims that Karkare was not hit at all on his chest. ‘Sources said all the bullets hit Karkare on his neck and shoulder and not a single bullet hit him in the front or rear side of the body which a normal bullet proof jacket covers.’ Yet, why the jacket was not preserved may be asked.
As per the media reports, the call-details of Karkare too are not available. It raises question because even the calls of a common man’s cell are recorded and may be produced when needed.
All the concerns rose by either the families of the martyrs or experts, should be given due attention to ensure a fair probe and punishment to those associated in any way to the 26/11 terror attack. The local link and the hand of those afraid of Karkare’s investigation cannot be ignored in this context.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)