When we are no longer called Muslim Indians but Indian Muslims

‘‘Kisi qaum ko doosri qaumein pada-likha nahin sakti’’ (no community can be educated by other communities), the Muslims will have to open schools and colleges for the empowerment of the under-privileged amongst them. The country cannot progress with the Muslims remaining educationally backward— hundred per cent education is needed.

I am not in favour of job reservation for the Muslims, but yes, I want reservation for them in the academic field, free education upto a certain level and quality education. Recently in Meerut, I happened to interact with a Jain leader who informed me that there was total literacy among the Jains which was due to the fact that the Jain community had its own schools and colleges. The Jain leader told me that educational empowerment was possible only because there were no pandits in the institutions. Unfortunately, the reverse is the case with Muslims; while we have mullahs aplenty, schools and colleges are missing.

A lot has been said about madarsa education and the modernisation of curriculum. But it is indeed regrettable that knowledgeable persons are talking about baseless issues (‘‘samajhdar log nasamjhi ki baatein kar rahen hain’’). Here too, the problem lies within. True, children have benefitted from madarsa education but installing a couple of computers in madarsas is not going to serve the purpose. There is no way out. Science and technology has to be accorded top priority for infusing change. While schools and colleges imparted scientific temper, madarsas taught students to become good human beings, which, I must confess, is very difficult. Three qualities are imbued in Islam—intellect, knowledge/education and spiritualism.

The curriculum system in the madarsas should allow freedom of thought to students who would then be able to gain knowledge of religion and world so that once they graduate from madarsas, they should become role model for Indians in spiritualism and humanity.

Having said that, I want that Muslims should be given their rights as Indian citizens—‘‘Musalmanon ko unka haq Bhartiya nagrik ki haisiyat se mile’’. They are not Muslim Indians but Indian Muslims. I was in Gujarat when violence broke out in February 2002. I was taken safely to the airport by a Hindu whom I did not know. Since good always emerges from evil, Gujarat has been been an eye-opener in several respects. True, Muslims bore the brunt of the violence but Gujarat has also weakened divisive forces which manifested in the NDA losing power at the Centre. Indeed, had the recent Delhi bomb blasts occurred 10 years ago, Muslims would have been massacred. That there was no backlash was solely on account of the majority community becoming mature. Not only should we thank Allah, Muslims should join the mainstream. India cannot move ahead without the Muslims. ‘‘Qaum ko samajhna chahiye India ek kishti hai aur woh is nao par sawar hain (They should understand that India is a boat and they are in it).’’

I am not aware how communal violence broke out in Mau as I was away in Africa. But in my address to the annual conference of Jamaat-i-Islami Hind in Azamgarh last Saturday, I emphasised that those who killed in Mau were human beings and efforts should be made to ensure there’s no repetition.

Nations have become big and communities have progressed because they have the luxury of complete freedom of thought, speech, religion and preaching, but no freedom of violence. Here, I would like to mention the US, notwithstanding the fact that I was deported from that country last year. I don’t know why it happened. Contrary to what has been said about the US reaction in the aftermath of 9/11, when I reached America I was informed by Islamic centres that immediately after the terror attack, they received calls from the police telling them that they were US citizens and were not responsible for the tragedy. I was told that the churches came forward to offer the churches to the Islamic centres if they were having difficulty in preaching. Instead of hounding Muslims, the American authorities tried to understand Islam and Islamic philosophy.