Members of the audience at the seminar on “Educational Empowerment of Indian Minorities" keenly listen to various speakers, who shed light on the development of Indian Muslims through education. –– Courtesy photo Syeda Amtul Saudi Gazette JEDDAH – A seminar on "Educational Empowerment of Indian Minorities"was recently held in Riyadh. Tahir Hussain Ansari, managing editor of Saudi Press Agency, said that the Indian education system was developed by Moulana Abul Kalam Azad and was enhanced by dynamic leaders such as Zakir Hussain, but Muslims do not benefit from their noble works. Ansari said that a healthy dialogue needs to be created between all political parties, so that they could move toward creating a better educational environment at all levels for Muslims in India. He also appreciated the efforts and contributions of "Jamia Markaz" in promoting education in India. Madhu Nair, an independent Indo-US journalist, said that he appreciated the moral education programs undertaken by the Muslims. Nair also said that Muslims should not wait for the government to provide them with facilities instead they should ask the government themselves to remove the hurdles that restrict their goals. He cited an example of the Muslim students of the Malappuram district in Kerala scoring high ranks in entrance exams. The seminar's moderator and an alumni of Jamia Markaz, Dr. Abdussalam, presented disturbing figures of Indian Muslims in the field of education. He said that 25 percent of Indian Muslims do not even see the doors of the school or they are early dropouts;17 percent do not study beyond the secondary classes; and only 3-4 percent pursue higher degrees. The average schooling of Muslim children aged between 6-14 is only 3.4 years. Shiekh Nizamuddin, convener of NRI Milli Forum, said that the religious, political and cultural aspects have pulled back Muslims from education. There is no point in blaming the government instead it is the duty of the Muslims to wake up from their hangover and move forward. He added that educational development of Indian minorities is a global compulsion. Stating facts, Nizamuddin said, the amount allocated by Saudi Arabia for education is almost equivalent to that of the US. Muzaffar Ansari from the King Faisal Foundation said:"What we require is not leaders but volunteers. Our tragedy is that our leaders do not realize the importance of education." He also stressed on the importance of girls' education. T.P Aboobakar, a senior engineer at Sabic, said that despite the central government executing their plans for the upliftment of the downtrodden communities, Muslims are sinking down in poverty and illiteracy due to a number of problems. According to the Sachar report, today Muslims have surpassed the Dalit community in terms of being educationally backward. M. A. R Saleem, president of Hindustani Bazm-e-Urdu, said that the NRI confederation also needs to work toward educating the minorities. He suggested that Sunday schools in mosques should be started to improve the quality of education. Najeeb Moosa, managing director of Aliya Food Products, pointed out that the commodification of the education is not serving the purpose of producing good human being; instead it's producing human machines with no moral values. Citing the examples of Indian Parliament Members, Moosa said, that half of them are post graduate degree holders but most of them have registers of crimes. He stressed on the need of having integrated moral-valued education with modern education to develop a responsible future generation. Mir Mohsin Ali, senior correspondent at yahind.com, said that the Muslim representation in print and electronic media at the national level should increase. He also highlighted the various career options in print and electronic media, which Muslim youth can opt. Earlier, the program started off with Basheer Baqavi reciting a few verses from the Qur'an followed by a welcome speech from Mujeeb Ur Rahman. Moulvi Ali Kunji, vice president of Markaz Riyadh Chapter, presented a memento to Ansari and Abdul Razaq Mavoor. Members from various Indian based educational and social organizations in Riyadh participated in the seminar, including Dr. Sheikh Muzaffar Saleem, assistant professor at KSU; K. N. Wasif, renowned writer in English, Urdu, Hindi, Marathi; Ahmed Ali, freelance journalist and photographer; Hyder Ali, president of Riyadh Tamil Sangam; Mohamed Ahraf V, secretary of MSSl; Akhtar Hussain Siddique, director of BIIS, AMU Alumni; Dr. Mohammed, principal of Banoo Iqra International School; Abdul Jabbar, CIGI; Obaid ur Rahman, president of Biswas; Sohail Ahmed, an alumni AMU; and Syed Zia ur Rahman.
