Stay Connected via "AMPIndia"

Dear Friends,

We all can witness the tremendous growth of AMP over the past year, both in terms of geographical coverage and scale of activities. This achievement would have not been possible without the efforts of AMP’s unique & diverse team of professionals and students spread across India, who are constantly engaged in numerous activities of AMP, giving shape to the one common dream.

We are proud that the scale of voluntary work has crossed all social and cultural boundaries. At the same time, we understand the fast pace and competent life of today’s era and the limitations it has set on our members to be updated about each and every activity of AMP.

To overcome this difficulty and to keep every member aware of all the big and small happenings in AMP, across the nation, we have come out with a simple and effective SMS scheme called “AMPIndia”. “AMPIndia” shall act as a link between all the chapters of AMP as well as be a common platform to share all general announcements concerning AMP.

To join this SMS group, please type on your mobile ON AMPIndia and send it to 9870807070;

Alternatively, click on the below link to subscribe:

http://labs.google.co.in/smschannels/subscribe/AMPIndia

We are a group, and it’s your right to know what all the group members are up to. Welcome aboard!

Thank You!

Read more »

AMP organizes an open Discussion on Women’s Reservation Bill

By Syed Najeeb-ur-Rahman

AMP is a non-political and non-sectarian organization, which endeavors to promote social welfare, community spirit and knowledge in our society. It is founded by a group of citizens in India who are professionals from various fields. AMP stimulates us to come forward and make that visible difference in lives of people and subsequently the whole nation. AMPians envisage a progressive Community which would form the foundation of an ideal society, a great nation and a peaceful world.



On Saturday the 20th of March,2010, Association of Muslim Professionals had organized an open Discussion on the ‘Women’s Reservation Bill’ which is to be presented in the Lok Sabha. This discussion was held at Urdu Markaz at Imamwada, Bhendi Bazar.

Women’s Reservation Bill is a contentious issue today, with many backing it and also people vehemently opposing it, In this light there was felt a need to analyze the facts of the matter, there needed to be deep study and greater understanding of the issue before we could take a stand on it. A pressing need was felt to sensitize the ordinary people especially the minorities on such an important issue. As such AMP took an initiative to provide a neutral platform for people concerned to come and discuss about the bill. It was clarified that AMP is providing an unbiased platform where People were invited to come and share their free opinion whether in favour or against, about what they thought about this bill. It was made clear that the discussions would proceed in a mature way without being directly critical towards and organization or individual and with mutual respect towards all.


The discussion was aimed at understanding what the views the Minorities have about the Women’s Reservation Bill and analyzing how beneficial or disadvantageous it is in the interests on the Minority community. Intellectuals, academicians and social activists had been invited to share their views.

The seminar started with ‘Tilawat’ by Maulana Mohammad Shoaib Koti. Mr.Aamir Idrisi , President AMP had coordinated the event and explained the objective of this event. There was a presentation by Mr.Sohel Ajani, Executive Council Member AMP, on the background of The Women’s Reservation Bill. Mr.Ajani spoke about how th bill was first introduced in the Parliamnet in 1996 and the various stages of its journey till the present Rajya Sabha where it was approved on 9th March,2010.

This was followed by a presentation by Mr.Tausif Mirza (Project Coordinator, AMP) about the history and the status of Women in Politics. He spoke about how women have always been empowered and how they have even ruled kingdoms like the famous Egyptian Queen Cleopatra to Razia Sultana in india and also Chand Bibi, Rani Laxmibai etc. He spoke about the present political heavy weights like the UP Chief Minister, Smt.Mayawati, Jayalalitha, the Railway Minister Mamta Banerjee, Vasundhra Raje Scindia ex-CM Rajasthan, Ms.Sheila Dixit the Delhi CM to Ms.Sushma Swaraj the Leader of Opposition which is a very responsible. He further said that none of these women have come through reservation but on the basis of their own political strength. Thus one can infer that had all the women been suppressed then these women might not have been able to come up with their own might but then yes certain sections o women are still being suppressed.

After the presentation the attendees were given about 5 minutes each to present their views. Various aspects were discussed including the present situation of women, their aspirations and their concerns and the concerns regarding the Minority Community as a whole. Further discussion were held about the remedial steps to be taken for the betterment of the women in the community.

The various points which came to the fore was that with the reference of history it could be seen that women in india especially Muslim women were never oppressed (except a few instances). It was agreed by the women present that the Muslim women have always been empowered but unfortunately the media has always portrayed a wrong picture as indicated by Mrs.Gazala Azad.
According to Mr.S.M.Aon who has done extensive research on the reservations and its implications, the concept of reservation itself needs to be discarded. The idea of reservation is to create a level playing field for those deprived but it has been observed that in reality the only people who stand to gain are those from the middle and Upper middle classes. The ones who are backward or deprived are still neglected and the actual benefits do not reach them. He said that infact reservation is the suppression of abilities and skills of the people who are actually deserving.

According to Maulana Daryabadi, it was irrelevant whether the Bill is passed in the Lok Sabha or not. In any situation the ruling party stands to gain. As it wanted to prove a point and it has done so by introducing the bill.

Some people said that the Bill is nothing but political opportunism as the ruling party wants to create its stronghold among the women and those opposing it in the name of neglect of backward classes, dalits and Muslims are actually concerned about securing their own seats and nothing more.

Some like Ms.Sameena and Ms.Shadab said that it was also discussed that we need to make our women capable first and only then can we derive the benefits of reservation as there are hardly any females in the Muslim community who can stand to gain considering their present detachment from the political scenario. Some suggestion came up about educating them, grooming them and making them capable for this task. Some schemes run by the government like the ‘Scheme for Development of Leadership of Minority Women’ were also referred to in one of the presentation.
Maulana Shoaib Koti raised concerns that now is not the time to plan and prepare, the situation is very critical and we need to act now in the larger interest of the whole of community.

As per Maulana Burhanuddin some of the points raised were that there are chances that the bill may be approved and it is more or less a conspiracy against the Muslim community to keep them out of power. He had done extensive research on the same and provided Statics from the various committee reports (like Sachar committee & The Ranganath Mishra Committee) were referred to and it was observed that as per the current trend of reservation for SC/ST, it was observed that mostly the places where there are Muslim majority is always reserved for SC/ST while where there is no Muslim majority such places are left open, as such the Muslims cannot compete and win and this is an indirect way and a planned process to keep them out of power.


It was echoed across that such conspiracy will again be hatched on the back of the Women’s Reservations and places where a Muslim leader can win might be reserved for Women and with no relevant Muslim women leadership we are bound to lose those seats. In light of these discussions one fact which was discussed was that the Reservation for Muslims were presented as a Bill during the early years of the parliament but it was put in cold storage. Even the recently constituted high level committee constituted by the Government like the Sachar Committee and the Ranganath Mishra Committee Report have verified the fact that the conditions of Muslims today is even worse than the Dalits and other backward classes and recommendations were made for reservations for Muslims.

Some views echoed were that we can push for acceptance of the bill with amendments such as further reservations within reservation for Dalits, backwards classes and Muslim women, and then later on ask for the implementation of the Muslim Reservations. While some vehemently said that we need to ask for the implementation of the Muslim Reservations which has long been pending with the Government and is long over-due and then later on we can talk about Women’s Reservation Bill.

Further it was seen that this is like a do or die situation for the Muslim and it was agreed upon unilaterally that the BILL IS NOT AT ALL ACCEPTABLE IN ITS PRESENT FORM. The need was felt for all the Muslim organizations and people to come together on a single platform to vehemently oppose the Women’s Reservation Bill in its current form and even if it has to be passed there should be reservation for Muslim Women as per their ratio in the population. AMP said that its aim has always been to bring all people on one single platform and it will continue its efforts to bring together all the Muslims together so that we can emphatically present our view-point to the concerned administration.

People from various walks of life including Social activists, professionals, Community leaders, political activists were invited to be a part of this discussion. The attendees included Gazala Azad, Shadab Siddiqui, Samina Asgarali, Nigar Usmani, Meher Tabassu, Shamim Shaikh, Maulana Mahmood Dariyabadi, Mohammad Shoaib Koti, Sayed Abdur Rahman Milli, Burhanuddin Qasmi, Syed Mohammad Moonis, Sayed Nizamuddin, Shakeel Dad Khan, Abdul Quyyum, Sayed Farman Ali, M.A.Khan, Tahir Qureshi, Mushir Ansari, S.M.Aon, Arshad Qasim, Farid Khan, Rizwan Ahmed Qasmi, Mustaqeem Makki, Maqbool Alam, Zuber Azmi, and some more.

Mr.Syed Najeeb-Ur-Rahman (Najeeb) Executive Council Member and Head P.R. & Communications, AMP presented a final brief and essence of the entire discussions and asked for people to come together for the betterment of our Community, its children, women and men. He also presented the vote of thanks as well to all participants.

The workshop was like a learning space for the participants as well as the space to share vision. The main focus of the Workshop was to get feedback and suggestions from the participants and intellectuals and try to have a creative approach. Individual opinions were invited with the idea of taking a collective view of the discussions and come out with a mutually agreeable mandate which would be conveyed to the agencies concerned.

AMP has declared that An online petition will be submitted to the government, UPA and the relevant authorities concerned and a signature campaign will be conducted to gather mass support to sensitize the authorities about the feelings of the Muslim Community and it has requested whole-hearted support from all in the community. AMP will drive these views through letters, communications, and press conferences.

This program conducted by AMP is one more step in its endeavour towards its Social Consciousness and Social Responsibility and its obligations towards the Community and service to the society. Such Knowledge Development initiatives taken by AMP including its Weekly Workshops across the Mumbai city have created a lot of good-will amongst the community and has endeared AMP to a good section of the society both in the academic and bureaucratic circle.
The participants appreciated the efforts of AMP in organizing this seminar and providing a platform fo them to showcase their views. They also appreciated the way this discussion was conducted in a very congenial and mutually respectful environment.

Syed Najeeb-ur-Rahman is a member of Association of Muslim Professionals, Mumbai.

Read more »

An elaborate REPORT – A discussion on Communal Harmony

Association of Muslim Professionals (AMP) had organized a Discussion on Communal Harmony. The program titled “Building Trust and Partnership among communities in India” was conducted in association with the American Centre at the American Centre Auditorium, Mumbai.

Noted Human Rights Activist Ms.Shabnam Hashmi was in town and considering her contribution and efforts towards Community Service and welfare and in order to make the most of her presence in the city AMP had organized an ad-hoc Seminar on Communal Harmony inviting experts on the subject to a discussion on the same.

The invites consisted of people from different communities and various sections of the society.
The discussion was divide in 4 parts
1) Present communal scenario, the rise of Communal Forces and violence in India..
2) Suppression of voices of Democracy & Communalism..
3) Prevention of Communal Violence
4) Steps to be taken to develop Trust, Harmony & improve relations between communities.
Ms. Shabnam Hashmi,Founding & Managing Trustee ANHAD was the special guest for the event.

Mr.Javed Akhtar was the Chief Guest for the event but unfortunately he was unable to make it as he was suffering from Conjunctivitis.

Adv. Irfan Engineer- Dir. Institute for Peace Studies & Conflict Resolution, Centre for Study of Society & Secularism; Mr.Kumar Ketkar- Editor, Loksatta; Mr.Suresh Khopade(IPS)-Special Inspector General of Police-Maharashtra State & Adv.Zubair Azmi were the guest speakers for the event.

Ms.Christine, Consul – Public Diplomacy at the American Centre initiated the proceedings welcoming the guests on behalf of The American Centre and handed over the proceedings to Mr.Syed Najeeb-Ur-Rahman, Head P.R. & Communication of AMP who had hosted the event.

Mr.Syed Najeeb-Ur-Rahman (Najeeb) started with introducing the guests and welcoming them on the dais.

Adv.Irfan Engineer shared his knowledge about the advent of communalism starting with the history of India till today. He said that religion cannot be correlated with communalism. He reiterated that had religion been the base of communal vent then India, which has more than 2000 years of history of religion, should have witnessed Communal Violence since so many years. But he said communal violence is a recent phenomenon just about 2 decades old.
He said that The British Policy was responsible for the creation of communal identities for their own benefit and presented it to India as this suited them to rule India.
He said that the fanatic ideology of certain saffron parties since pre-independence, to push non-Hindus out in India was influenced by the likes of Mussolini and shaped by rise of Fascism & Nazism.



He said that apart from giving more power & authority, we should make the policemen and government officials more accountable for any communal violence.

He informed about the ineffectiveness of the bill against communal violence and said that it was unacceptable in its current form and said that we need to ask the government to include the amendments proposed by the Minority community.
He informed all about the Press Conference on 9th March at the Press Club to discuss about the Communal Violence (prevention) Bill.

Speaking about the suppression of voices of Democracy and Secularism and the medias role, Mr.Kumar Ketkar, said that we tend to discuss Communalism but not Terrorism.
He said that Terrorism had started raising its head since before 1970 but it was only in the 70s when Terrorism was started to be linked with Communalism. The term was first used together against Sikhs in 1979-80.

He further said that everyone speaks about Muslim Terrorism but people seems to have forgotten the serial transistor bombing in Delhi in 1981-82. He said that the attack on Sikhs need to be condemned but even the killing of thousands of innocent people including Sikhs at the hands of Khalistani people (who incidentally were Sikhs) need to be condemned as well. He said that creation of Muslim Fundamentalism wer5e certain sections of the US State who used them against the Soviets in Afghanistan.

He said that terrorism has been raising its head since last two decades. He said that initially they were known as militants, then were named as extremists, then fanatic, then fundamentalists and then as terrorists. He further that we need to be realistic and not romanticize religion or culture. He said that though we say that every religion preaches peace & harmony but history has it that since the very beginning most of the wars were waged based on religion.

He said that there are various steps to communalism. The initial phase starts with prejudice, then passive communalism, then active communalism which leads to violence and which further leads to partition of he minds. He said that communalism is being reared as well by the products of liberal secular democracy which are namely : Media, Academic institutions and political parties.

He said that media starts shouting in the name of censorship when it has to be restrained and show some sanity. He cited the example of Saamna which openly promotes and encourages violence but still no action is taken against them, which shows that media and political support go together.

He also reminded how Hussain was hounded out of India and also referred to the Shimoga issue.
He said that an educational reform is required to change the mindset of the people. Individual bodies need to act as well.

He said that the main culprit is the Middle Class. It has been seen that people who undertake act of vandalism and resort to violence are mainly from the middle class. He said that poor people have no time for violence as they are fighting it out with themselves in their daily lives.

He said that the poor have less stake in riot, infact they want to coexist. It is the middle class who when considering the poor, does not wish to talk about equality as they do not want the poor to become equal to them and at the same time when they look at the rich they start talking about equality.

He said that the way out is to Change the norms of media and to change the education standard so that we have more refined minds to think around.

Speaking about prevention of communal violence, Mr. Suresh Khopade, spoke about his understanding of how to contain the communal violence . He shared his valuable experience in implementing Mohalla Committee across Bhiwandi & other regions. He explained about the reasons for communal violence which mainly happed because of our History, Education, Provocative Speeches, Criminal Justice system, Elections. He shared the case study of 2 victims of the riots on Bhiwandi and who were the actual culprits. He further discussed the model on which the Mohalla Committee functions. He suggested increase of celebration amongst communities during religious and national festivals to increase harmony and participation of communities in sport activities to increase harmony.

When discussing about steps to be taken to develop trust, harmony and improve relations between communities Adv.Zubair Azmi had a very simple and basic suggestion. He advocated interaction between communities.

He said that we need to interact freely, openly and with due respect. He reiterated that till the time people are enclosed within their shell it will be difficult for them to understand eachothers view-point.

He shared his a couple of his own experiences about how a proper interaction was able to make the other person understand his aspect and in-turn that person appreciated this gesture.

Then Mr. Aamir Idrisi, President of AMP came up to the dais to give a brief about what AMP is all about its mission, vision and objectives.

He spoke about the various projects undertaken by AMP, the projects and Workshops already conducted and the ongoing projects like the Employment Cell, The Career counseling cell and Help centre and future projects of AMP as well. He also spoke to the audience especially about AMPs Skill Development Lecture and Skills Development Workshop and also about the AMP Skill Development Centre and the Scholarship fund.



Finally Ms. Shabnam Hashmi was invited on the dais. She highlighted the atrocities which are being done on Muslims & other minorities all over the country. She cited the Gujarat carnage and said that still there exists low-level discrimination which goes unreported except for a few organizations like hers (ANHAD) and Adv. Irfan engineers (Inst. Of Conflict Resolution). She said that not just people are allowed to come back only if they agree to the terms of VHP but also they are reclaiming the graveyards of Muslims. She said that the general perception is that “people will not let you live with dignity nor let you die with dignity”.

She expressed her concern of having very few Muslims who are involved in the fight for minorities while the battle for dignity, justice to minorities are fought mostly by secular hindus.
She said that the web of fanaticism is very vast with RSS and its affiliates running about 4000 Shishu-mandirs and 6000 NGOs run by them.

She said that we do not have to fight identity politics but we need to fight for democracy, secularism & equality. She rai8sed a questioned as to how there could be any peace without proper justice?

She said that minorities are being forced to a corner by fascist forces. The people who are going back to their homes in riot affected areas are being forced to negotiate their terms with the RSS. She said that there is no harm in a dialogue but we need to be clear about our ideology if we want to setup a dialogue with RSS.

She also said that no religion should interfere in state. Talking about secularism in the state police she said that the real test of secularism is not having places of worship of all religions in a police station but having no places of worship of any religion. She reasserted that religion should have no role to play in the state.

She said that we cannot refer to history and relate the wars with religion as the wars fought in history were to increase the territories and loot kingdoms and not to reassert religion.

She also questioned the intentions of certain other countries who donot want peace in this region and are talking about peace on one hand but constantly supplying arms to neighbouring countries on the other hand.

She said that we have to be careful of not just the normal enemy and problem creators within the country but we have o be on the lookout for international enemies as well.

She said that all we want is to live in a secular, democratic country. Taking a shot at certain politicians she said that, no one needs any passport to enter any state or city within India. Duty of all citizens to work towards peaceful society. She said that all of India is for everyone. She said that there is no need to be afraid of anyone. People who are fascist are actually cowards. We need to stand up against them.

She said that the maximum anyone can do is ‘kill you’ and nothing more. ‘if you have this mindset once and for all then you wont be ever afraid of anything.

Mr.Farid Khan, AMP Member, gave the vote of thanks and appreciated everyone for contributing with their time and presence.

This was a very engrossing discussion and the audience was totally captivated by this. Infact they wanted this to go on but we had to curtail it due to time constraints.

We are thankful to the American Centre for having allowed us to conduct this event at their premise. We are specially thankful to Ms.Tasneem Kalsekar, Cultural Affairs Specialist for her kindness and cooperation.

Read more »

Bandra Relief Appeal

Dear Friends,

As you have been informed earlier and are very well aware about the humongous tragedy in Bandra where a major fire broke out at Behrampada slums, Bandra (E), early Thursday morning.

It was a heartrending site to see so many people rendered homeless. Those affected have been temporarily accommodated in make-shift tents under, along the skywalk, some of them have been accommodated in huge tents constructed on the open ground adjacent to the National Girls Junior College while still some have been temporarily put up in National Girls Junior College itself. There were also quite a few who were camping on the roads.

AMP members were there for 3 days providing Relief services working in association with members of AAA Foundation the community service arm of Zodiac. They were working relentlessly to provide relief to the fire victims and a set of Mat, shirt (Zodiac branded), Maxi (night gown) for ladies and lungis for men were distributed.

As you must be aware, most of the people including many women and innocent children, have lost almost everything in fire It was quite embarrassing to see women and young girls lying on the floors and along the roads, it was extremely touching to see young children moving around aimlessly and tiny toddlers crawling around, and you couldn’t help feeling sorry for the dejected men.

At the same time, it was heartwarming to see quite a few of Relief committees working for the benefit of these Fire victims. It was observed that though quite a few organizations are helping with Food, clothes and utensils, as of now hardly any organization seemed to have donated any books. In fact National Girls College has already started its academics.

AMP has decided that we would donate a set of books including note books of 100/ 200 pages, and long books as well. The approximate cost per set comes to Rs.200. It has been observed that around 500 houses have been destroyed and some families have 2/3/4/5/6 kids as quite a few were staying together as joint families and even if take an average of 3 sets per house the approximate cost comes to Rs.3 lakhs (Rs.200 per set X 3 sets X 500 houses).

We hereby appeal every one to come forward and donate as much as they can so we can help the children of these affected families. We have been fortunate enough let us extend our compassion towards those lesser fortunate.

As we have already said, now is the time for us to show our humane side. Let us signify benevolence and show some gratitude towards our Creator and come forward to help those affected, irrespective of caste, creed or religion.

For further Assistance kindly call the numbers given below. We can send some one or arrange for the collections through our coordinators. Or you can email us at asso.muslimsprofessionals@gmail.com

Aamir Edresy - 9323792205
Syed Najeeb-Ur-Rahman - 9320078955
Shanul Sayed - 9920427532
Javed Sayed - 9892264067 / 9892108979

Association of Muslim Professionals.
Mumbai.

We are Indians, we are humans, We are one!!!

Read more »

About AMP

AMP is a national, community based, non-profit organization, dedicated to spread awareness about the constantly augmenting, global education and career opportunities, prevailing political conditions, our diverse society and ethnicity , vibrant civilization, changing economy, Islamic culture, and social responsibilities of Muslims, among Muslims and raising funds through charity. AMP seeks to exhort the Muslims, to volunteer in the mission of making the present Muslim society as a dynamic one, responsive to the changes taking place in day-to-day business of life and further shaping our community into a conscientious and responsible part of nation.

Further, as a group of independent professionals and zealous volunteers, we believe that it is our duty to serve the less fortunate section of our society and empower them through education, to make them feel confident and self-reliant.

AMP's PRIMARY focus areas include Education & Professional Empowerment for all; SECONDARY focus areas are Political recognition, economic awareness, social responsibilities etc.

AMP's Team:The core team behind AMP is a group of individuals hailing from the most diverse of backgrounds, enriched with good experience and capability to work inexhaustibly to execute AMPs project in favour and behalf of the masses. As the name AMP suggests, most of its members are professionals and experts in their concerned fields, but AMP is also proud of its composition of student and soon to be professional members. AMP has a policy of acknowledging the contribution of every member, who volunteers to serve the cause of the organisation.

Vision and Mission

Mission Statement:

To empower Mislims for the greater benefit of the society in general and nation as a whole
AMP Mission:

To bring together Muslims from all walks of life to interact and co-operate with an objective to educate, motivate,organize and inspire and instill confidence among our Younger Generation. We shall join hands to eradicate evil practices from our society which lead to untold miseries. Our objective is to see that the community puts its unspent energy to constructive use.

To play a Leading and Active role in the development & transformation of Muslims into a Responsible Community consolidating a stronger place for Ourselves in the Indian Socety & the Global Society at large.

AMP Vision:

To be a model Islamic Community which is:

* Advanced in Education
* Socially Progressive
* Culturally Vibrant
* Politically Influential
* Economically Dynamic

Read more »

Bandra Relief Report

Everyone was struck by this disastrous news about a major tragedy in Bandra. A major fire broke out at Behrampada slums, Bandra (E), early Thursday morning leaving a year-old child dead and 29 others injured. Over 200 firemen worked around the clock to douse the fire. Fire officials said around 500 hutments were gutted rendering 2,500 people homeless.

The fire broke out at 3.30 am in the slums near Bandra station. The fire brigade rushed in 24 fire engines, 10 Jumbo water tankers and eight water tankers to fight the fire, which was finally extinguished on Thursday afternoon.

The magnitude of fire was so high Atmaram Shinde, deputy chief fire officer, who camped at the spot all night and through Thursday, said, “After the 1991 fire at Oberoi Hotel, this was the biggest fire we have seen. We had to take the help of private fire authorities.”

Most of the people including many women and innocent children, have lost everything in fire and are in urgent need of food, clothes and shelter although they have made temporary tents in near by small ground majority are on the roads.

It was a heartrending site to see so many people rendered homeless. Those affected have been temporarily accommodated in make-shift tents under, along the skywalk, some of them have been accommodated in huge tents constructed on the open ground adjacent to the National Girls Junior College while still some have been temporarily put up in National Girls Junior College itself. There were also quite a few who were camping on the roads.

As you must be aware, most of the people including many women and innocent children, have lost almost everything in fire It was quite embarrassing to see women and young girls lying on the floors and along the roads, it was extremely touching to see young children moving around aimlessly and tiny toddlers crawling around, and you couldn’t help feeling sorry for the dejected men.

AMP members were there for 3 days providing Relief services working in association with members of AAA Foundation the community service arm of Zodiac. They were working relentlessly to provide relief to the fire victims and a set of Mat, shirt (Zodiac branded), Maxi (night gown) for ladies and lungis for men were distributed.

Some of our members had helped out the AAA Foundation in conducting Relief Activities over there. We need to thank them all for the hard work they have put in.

Firstly about AAA Foundation.
AAA Foundation is the Community Service arm of Zodiac. (The apparel brand)

The Relief Materials distributed were,
A set of- Mats, Shirts(Zodiac Branded shirts) , Ladies Night gown (Maxi) and Lungi.

Total Materials Disbursed.

Relief Materials Distributed	Total Quantity (in numbers)
Mats (Chatai)	1435
Lungis	1200
Shirts	1100
Maxi	757

The relief work got tremendous response with many people queuing up at the distribution counter which we had set up at National Girls Junior College and Polytechnic.

There was initially a huge gathering of people and things were kept under control with great difficulty and an enormous effort by our volunteers over there.

Javed Sayed, one of our AMP members got a call from one masjid in Goregaon East that there was a room full of articles including books, clothes etc) for the Fire victims which were collected over there. He immediately arranged for a Tempo at his own expense and had the relief materials personally delivered to Bandra. He camped there for more than 3 hours personally distributing the relief materials.

From AAA Foundation we had
Sameeya Shaikh - Trust Coordinator for all the Community Service Activities of Zodiac.
Ejaz and Azhar - Support Staff.
Taufiq Sahab and Sattar Sahab - Senior Gentlemen Associated with AAA Foundation.

From AMP we had Fairoz and Ejaz Patel helping out with the relief work.

We also had some local volunteers like Salim Bhai, Kalim Bhai who are associated with the National Girls Junior college, Mrs.Noori and Mr.Sikander and a couple of other girls and boys who were locals from the nearby areas helping us with the Relief Work.

All in all the things went well, I would not say smoothly but yes managed very well by the AAA/ AMP volunteers present there, inspite of the tuff challenges associated with this kind of Relief Work. These people worked relentlessly to try and reduce the sufferings of the innumerable people rendered homeless. It was deeply touching to see the state and suffering of, the so many men, women and innocent children. Some tiny toddlers, some school going kids, some of them quite aged, some expectant mothers, some injured. It was both moving as well as embarrassing to see families especially young girls lying sullenly , scattered on the floors of the school building, in make shift tents on the ground, below the skywalk and on the roadside.

There was a lot of burnt debris scattered on the roads, there were police personnel and an unending line of Fire Engines and Fire Brigade personnel camping there continuously since the start of the fire and finally the burnt houses of people which are no more worth staying and been termed as dangerous structures and would be razed down sooner or later.

Effective support from the ground administration:
The efforts of Fire Brigade personnel and the police personnel are truly commendable, they camped over there continuously and tirelessly, day in and day out and were quite vigilant and supportive as well.

At the same time, it was heartwarming to see quite a few of Relief committees working for the benefit of these Fire victims. It was observed that though quite a few organizations are helping with Food, clothes and utensils, as of now hardly any organization seemed to have donated any books. In fact National Girls College has already started its academics.

AMP has decided that we would donate a set of books including note books of 100/ 200 pages, and long books as well. The approximate cost per set comes to Rs.200. It has been observed that around 500 houses have been destroyed and some families have 2/3/4/5/6 kids as quite a few were staying together as joint families and even if take an average of 3 sets per house the approximate cost comes to Rs.3 lakhs (Rs.200 per set X 3 sets X 500 houses)

This report will be updated from time to time.

AMP aiming relentlessly to try and bring some difference in the lives of people. This is not the only task we are working on, there have been quite a few activities we have undertaken in the past and there will be various activities undertaken in future as per the need of the hour.

One factor is for certain in our endeavor…. Your continued support is invaluable to us and very vital for us to undertake our mission and achieve our vision.

We are Indians, We are human, We are one!!!

Read more »

Interview with Aamir Bhai on www.orkutheroes.com

Aamir Edresy is a man with the mission on orkut. Founder of Association of Muslim Professionals community Aamir is on the way to make an NGO for the noble cause of Muslim youths. Aamir Edresy is invited on Orkut’s hall of fame to give more from the assoc of Muslim professional and the future of this community which is one of very active community on orkut.
Welcome Aamir to Orkut’s Hall of Fame.

Its my pleasure that you invited me in this community. Thanks for such a warm welcome and the opportunity for an interaction. It will be my pleasure to talk about AMP, its Objectives, its Vision/Mission and My team. This will be a great opportunity for me to reach more and more people to help AMP. Thanks once again Zazo!!!

Infact its our pleasure to have you here with us. Can you please tell us about your professional and family background?

First of all I would like to say that, its a great idea to take interview like this. I was not aware of this concept before and it really rocks…Thumbs up to you Zazo. I come from a middle class business family. I am a Computer Science Graduate, Started my education from a Urdu Medium School and completed my graduation from Pune University. My parents wanted me to prepare for IAS after my graduation but I opted to go for job because of some personal reasons… And I still regret on my decision. I started working as a Lecturer in Saboo Siddik Engg College in Mumbai. After That I joined a small Software company as a Software Tester and gradually reached to a position of Team Lead. Currently I am working in a MNC as a Sr. Software Test Engg. I am married with one of the most wonderful, affectionate, considerate, intelligent and most importantly simple girl I found in the universe. We have a cute little daughter, and she has become the most important part of my life since last 3 years. In my free time I love to do social Work.

So how AMP(Association of Muslim Professional) started?

The importance of Social and Community service was always in my mind since my childhood days. This was because of my valued upbringing and my schooling system. Thanks to my Parents and Teachers!!!
Having an Organization which is Representative of all Muslims in India, and is as patriotic as any other Indian Organization, was/is my dream. After Sachar Committee Report it was always on top of my Priority list. We have seen the rapid growth of Internet technologies. It has touched life in many ways and it is impossible to imagine life without internet in today’s world. We have to make the best use of available technology for our community’s development. We want to utilize internet and technology to improve the life in some of the poorest parts in India.

I had many options to start with like Yahoo Group, Google Group, Orkut Community and many more. I found Orkut the best. AMP started on 6th December 2007 on Orkut.

http://www.orkut.co.in/Community.aspx?cmm=42562614

The driving motto of AMP is to urge the people to come together and pool their resources for maximizing the benefits to the Indian Society in General and Muslim Society in particular.

You will be surprised to know that many of our non Muslim brothers are also with us in this noble mission. Thanks to all of them.

Very soon we are going to register AMP as a NGO.

So is Muslim professionals community require any rule to follow for joining? Do you except memberships from all or a person should be only Muslim and professional. Can’t a student join it?

Nice Question Zazo. There are different membership types in AMP.

To become a basic member of AMP, one needs to be

1) Indian
2) Muslim and
3) Professional

that doesn’t mean that the person who doesn’t fall in all above category can not become a member. If someone is not Indian or not Muslim he should get recommended by at least 3 of our basic members or by a moderator and then moderators will think of taking him in or not. These members will be considered as our advisory members.

And yes, even students can become Member of AMP. Students are the biggest force for us. And they are the ones who will play important part in implementation of our programs Insha Allah.

We are also planning to start corporate membership. We will be having different membership types depending upon the donations. Please keep on visiting AMP Community to know details.

These rules can change in future.

What are the main discussions going on or i can say what is the objective of this community? How much you succeeded till now in Association of Muslim Professionals?

Aim:
We can bring together Muslims from all walks of life to interact and act jointly with an objective to educate, motivate, inspire and instill confidence in our young generation. We can join hands to eradicate miseries and evil practices from our society. Our objective is to see that the community puts its unspent energy to constructive use to make India the Super Power in the World.

Vision:
To be a model Muslim community which is:
* Educationally excellent
* Socially progressive and Culturally vibrant
* Politically influential
* Economically dynamic

Mission:
To play a leading and active role in the development and long term transformation of Muslim into a dynamic community taking its pride of place in the larger Indian society.

Currently we are focusing more on networking the people. Simultaneously we have formed some sub committees which will look after the specific tasks assigned.

We are also looking for some good people who can look after all the activities in other cities of India. Infact we have started it in some cities in India like Nasik, Pune, Bangalore, Aurangabad and some parts of UP etc.

We started on 6th December 2007 online and we are very close to 800 Members. I think this as a Big Success in a world of orkut communities where people only come for fun and Masti. In our community you will not find any single thread for fun/ masti/ jokes/ sheroshayri and games.

Offline also we have made around 500 members only in Mumbai. The list includes some big names from all walks of life.

All this has become possible because of all our dedicated and sincere members. I am very thankful to all of them. May Allah reward all of us for our efforts.

In start we want to work as a facilitator to other existing NGOs. Once we will feel that we are properly established than we will start our own projects Insha Allah.

Aamir what are your thoughts on Muslim society in general? Do you think there should be more development needed in some particular area ? If yes then what are those areas of development?

Very wast question indeed. Let me try to give precise answer.

The major issues of Muslims can be categorized into (compiled by one of the finest member of AMP)

1. Educationally Backward.
2. Health Issues
3. Security of Muslims
4. Issues related to Finance (Includes Zakat Management, Wakf Management, Need of more funds for Community development)
5. Social Issues
6. Less Media Representation
7. Lots of issues faced by Muslim Scholars (Alims)

Muslims may be portrayed world over as religious and devout but they are widely detached from the teachings of their own faith. The first word of the Holy Quran was not Namaaz (Prayers), Roza (Fasting), Hajj (Pilgrimage), Zakat (Charity), and certainly not Jihad (Struggle), which is bringing unwanted infamy to them. But, it was Iqra, which means Read.

The number of Muslims in India rank second highest in the world, only next to Indonesia, and almost equal to the population of the United States , if their population is tallied properly (Muslim leaders allege that Indian Muslims are deliberately undercounted). Dozens of countries have less population than Muslims in India, including next door neighbors Pakistan and Bangladesh. But what do Muslims feel about themselves – a rudderless boat or critical mass.

At the beginning of the 21st Century, the stories of India’s success are reported very wildly but Muslims of India seem to be suffering from the hellishly helpless syndrome, which is leading them to the current state of colossal intellectual inertia and nudging them to radicalism and extremism. I can state that it is the best of the time for India, but it is the worst of the time for Indian Muslims.

Who is to blame? State and central governments, Hindus, creation of Pakistan syndrome, discrimination, Islamophobia, Sangh Parivar? The litany of negative excuses will go on as they are recounted at most of the Muslims Meetings.

In my view, nobody should be blamed but Muslims themselves. If Muslims had any respect for the first word of the Quran, they would have had sent their children to study at the nearest government schools, pathshalas, madarsas, colleges, or
universities, where almost free education was available, whether they were giving in Urdu or Hindi, Kannada or Bangla, Tamil or Telugu. Although these schools might not have had good chairs to sit on or clean sheets on the floor to squat on, the graduating students would have had the ability to move on further and mentor their next generations as the parents of Dalits and Backward groups have been doing.

And the solution to all these starts with Education..Iqra…

Iqra does not mean teaching only Arabic and Urdu, or Quran and Hadith or producing only Hafiz and Maulana, who may know all the by laws of the Jannat (heaven) and hereafter, but ignorant of the constitution of the country where they are currently
breathing in. All world languages are God given. Iqra also means to educate your kids to become a good wage earner, a nice human being, an exemplary role model for the society, a scientist who could develop medicines for dreadful diseases, The current world is also God created, and it has been in existence for millions of years, and most likely it will prosper for another millions of years, Insha Allah. Are Muslims going to be simply a visitor to an ongoing worldly circus or will they also contribute and improve it?

Courtesy to someone (I dont remember the name) Muslim should start doing IQRA-giri.

Being educated and rich should be fashionable among Muslims too.

And one more thing,

I would like to request all my Hindu brothers and sisters to help at their best to uplift condition of the Muslim Community. India can not become a Super Power leaving its 13-18% population in misery. No one likes to have an uneducated neighbor, friend and countryman.

Its duty of all Hindus and Muslims to unite and help each other to make more powerful India.

What are your future plan in developing the community “Association of Muslim Professionals”? Where you will concentrate more in spreading the words? online or offline?

I will start with a Sher of Galib

Hazaron khwahishen aisi ke har khwahish pe dam naikle
Bohat nikle mere arman phir bhi kam nikle

Till now the journey is very good Masha Allah. And we hope and pray for even better days to come. Currently our focus is Mumbai and Maharashtra. We will Insha Allah reach out to whole India

As I told you earlier we are focusing more on networking. We want to reach and work in each and every Muslim basti/area/mohalla.

Muslim lacks knowledge and information. You know the schemes as simple as Pre metric scholarship scheme by government of India doesn’t reach to Muslims properly. We want to fill up that gap by having our representative in each and every area.

As per our vision statement we want to start working towards Educational, Economical, Social and Political empowerment of Muslims in India.

We have formed sub committees to plan out our activities in Educational and Economical Fields. There are some best of Minds heading those committees. And Insha Allah very soon you will see some good projects running.

On ur question to online and offline ppl, I would like to tell u that Online ppl will be used as resources for implementation of our projects and offline ppl (mainly) will be benefited by those projects.

In AMP active people have a chance to cooperate with each other in carrying out their missions - of uplifting the Muslim condition without physically being in one place.

For example in scholarship program, we can connect sponsors and the students even though they are in different parts of the world. Similarly, members from Mumbai can raise money for a coaching center in Delhi in matter of days. Without use of internet, this is not possible for people of Mumbai to heed to the advice of someone they didn’t know or had never met.

Moderators and most of the active people of AMP have never met each other but are able to work collectively using the technology available to us.

How you manage your time in Doing this social work and handling the community Association of Muslim Professionals?

Thats the main reason to go online and we have taken help of Orkut.
Its really fantastic!!! May god bless the inventors of Orkut.

Aamir who is your idol? or you dont have any?If you have, Please share that outstanding personality who really inspired or motivated you.

Thank you for asking this question. I will give you the list of people who have inspired me. All for diffrent reasons which is very clear to everyone in the world.

1) The Great Sir Sayyed Ahmed Khan
2) Shri Dhiru Bhai Ambani
3) Mr. Mohammed Yunus from Bangladesh
4) Mr. Narayn Murthy

Aamir what is your favourite pass time? any likes or dislikes?

Passtime, what is that . Really speaking I dont get free time to do anything else.
Though if have time I like to sleep so much….I like to listen old hindi songs and gazals with good lyrics.

Coming to my last question I want to ask that what help support or contribution you expect from the members of AMP?

A- 1) Time
2) Money
3) Resources

4) Contacts
5) The smallest thing one can give is 2 hrs per week to teach in some school

Thank you Aamir for giving your time and effort in making such a nice and informative interview. I wish the readers will get the message of AMP and all other noble works you are doing. Our best wishes and prayers are with you.

Read more »

AMP 1st Meeting

Dear Friends,

We have put this message on home page of our commmunity on Orkut.

---------AMP 1st MEETING----------
Dear Members,

AMP is planning to have its first members meet on 19th April at Byculla or Kurla at 6pm.

Kindly watchout this space for latest updates and feel free to mail us at: asso.muslimprofessionals@gmail.com

---------------------------------------

------Agenda for now is

Introducion to each other(Personal and Professional)
Goals of AMP
Vision and Mission of AMP
Registration
-- Name
-- Activities to be included
-- Type of Organization to be formed
-- Members
-- Advisory Council
Fund Raising
Membership
-- Membership Drive
-- Membership Type
-- Who should be contacted for membership
-- How to cover whole Bombay
Activities to start with
-- Making incharges and committees for each activity

Next Meeting
-- Target Members
-- where to organize
-- who all should be called

People can suggest changes in agenda.

Read more »

On Building Young Muslim Leadership from Grass-roots

On Building Yong Muslim Leadership from Grass-roots

Not only from friends of the Muslim Community but within the Community itself, one always hears a litany of lament that the Muslim Community lacks leadership. This has a nugget of truth when leadership is identified with political status as it is normally done. But there is no lack of leadership in the theological domain or even in religious affairs in the field of education and to a lesser degree in the economic field.

Apart from Muslim politicians, the Muslim society often turns towards its religious leaders for guidance. This creates the impression, which is rather mistaken that the Muslim society is basically in the hands of the Mullahs and practices, within the larger framework of democracy, a form of Mullahcracy!

Considering that religious faith is the core element of Muslim identity, it would indeed be surprising if the Community as a whole was not inclined towards religion, even those who were only culturally Muslims turned towards religion; when they faced situations of discrimination. Some problem arises because most religious scholars and functionaries continue to live in the past and have a generally conservative outlook and do not quite understand the way the larger national society is managed. Their hold on the masses also opens the Community to the charge of embracing extremism and rejecting liberalism and modernization. However, given its religious sensitivities, the Muslim community, which is living in a hostile environment, resists all propositions for ‘reforming’ Islam made by ill-informed and even basely motivated intellectuals and stoutly resists attacks on Islam, per se, the Holy Quran and the Holy Prophet. But it responds to economic, social and cultural changes, not only in the Muslim majority states but Muslim minority countries. The process of change, however, is relatively slow in the latter because a minority always, everywhere, tends to be conservative.

There is an understandable reason for the prevalent level of orthodoxy in Muslim India: the overall sense of insecurity in the mind of the Community which has been living for decades in a state of siege. No doubt the Constitution grants them equality of citizenship and freedom of religion, for historical and psychological reasons the Muslim Indians constantly experience victimisation as physical, religious, cultural, economic and social targets. This is further strengthened by political under-representation and economical deprivation. In the circumstances, there is a strong urge at least to hug its religiosity and express it in various ways.

Orthodox or liberal, modern or obscurant, no one can take away the rights of the religious group as human beings, as a minority and as citizens. The modern state, even if does not proclaim its secularism from the housetop, can not deny equality and justice to a community, only because it appears to be orthodox.

The theologians with all their piety and moral influence, and the Mullahs with all their proximity to the grass-roots cannot be a substitute for politicians. At critical times, the religious ‘leaders’ also enter politics. Get their reward in the form of seats in the legislatures or in the party hierarchy. But they are largely useful for themselves because they simply lack the necessary legal knowledge and political experience. They fail to keep the Community together because of sectarian differences. In other words, they cannot unlock the doors of power and manage the pressure of change. And that is why political leadership is, in the final analysis, important for the future of the Community.

Few Muslims in politics can take a bold, independent stand and remove obstacles and impediments the Community faces, not the least of which is the memory of Muslim rule and dominance, particularly, its dark aspects which are emphasized and publicized endlessly by the anti-Muslim forces. Their path is also impeded by the course of political development under the British which culminated in the division of the county and the fact that at the critical time during 1945-1947 virtually the entire Muslim public opinion in what is now India stupidly supported the idea of Pakistan. Since the more vocal supporters migrated to Pakistan in search of greener pastures, the Muslim Indians faced a vacuum and indeed became leaderless. Those who took off Jinnah caps to put on Gandhi caps were looked upon as unreliable both by the Hindus and the Muslims. In the first 15 years after independence the community simply did not know which way to turn for support and succor. Inevitably it took shelter under the existing power structure. To survive, it learnt to keep mum even on its legitimate grievances, to accept whatever came its way, to speak humbly and softly, seek favours and to crawl its way into the durbars of the new rulers.

Along with democracy had come an electoral system based on first-past-the-post principle which did not allow any aggrieved and oppressed section freely to choose its representatives, who may sincerely and selflessly project their concerns and seek viable remedies. Muslims who entered the legislature and became Ministers, by the grace of political parties, with few exceptions represented their parties and not the Community. Nearly all persons who dominated political parties generally looked upon Muslims with hostility or suspicion. They nursed an overall apathy towards them and tended to overlook their miserable condition, ‘let them stew in their own juice and pay for the sins of their forefathers.’ The Muslims living in their ghettos had no option but to accept every affront, all injustice and suffer patent inequality. Few had the courage to raise grievances in the councils of power; fewer tried to seek remedies and invoke understanding or sympathy of the powerful. Muslim legislators or Muslim Ministers knew which side of their bread was buttered and always kept on the right side of the party and the government. They refused to knock loudly, lest it upset the ‘Malik’, even while their people were being butchered.

Muslim masses had to accept as their representatives those imposed by the system and built up as living evidence of secularism. Their personal ambition coupled with relative incompetence came in their way. If they raised inconvenient questions, they would be cut to size or dropped in the next reshuffle or denied tickets in the next election. The masses were kept divided in the name of sects and denominations and even baradaris, a form of Muslim casteism. This was not only encouraged by their religious or social leaders but also promoted from outside by political parties. Each party wanted a slice of Muslim votes to further the interests of its core social constituency. This we see happening even today. This disunity in the Community which it often laments makes it impossible for it to act unitedly, even at the local levels such as elections to panchayats or municipalities.

With democratic experience every social group in the multi-group Indians society has mastered the technique of breaking the monopoly of powerful groups which control national parties and forming state and regional parties with itself at the core and in the driving seat. The Community never mastered this political strategy or developed its own brand of ‘camouflage’ politics, though it has learnt to see through the mask of secularism and social justice, worn by political parties.

1971 was a water-shed and since the 70’s, Muslims have gradually stabilized economically and politically. The younger generation has overcome the burden of partition. But given the electoral system and the open hostility or fake secularism of political parties, Muslim masses had no option but to support the party which made the sweetest promises and assured physical security. Their political strategy was reduced to vote for the strongest secular party across the board, through-out a state. In the 1990s, however, they began to differentiate between one constituency and another and to practice tactical voting, constituency-wise depending upon the winnability and record of candidates. Now the third change is taking place; preference to Muslim candidates in Muslim concentration constituencies. No Muslim party or Muslim-core party has ever registered its presence in the vast expanse of north India. And even the parties the Muslim vote for sometimes put up token Muslim candidates from unwinnable seats. If the ruling party or coalition has some Muslim members, it gives rise to an illusion that the Muslims have become king-makers! In reality Muslim ministers were fobbed off with minor portfolios. In a nut-shell, the political field has so far been a barren wasteland for the Community. This explains why during the last 50 years it has not benefited as it should have from welfare and development schemes at the local level. Some times it receives a morsel but that too as an act of charity or benevolence.

This sad state was put by the Sachar Committee in all its starkness before the nation. But it ignored the continuing thread of bias, prejudice and historical animus in the government machinery when it seeks remedies.

No doubt an important factor is the inability of the Community to throw up a political leadership which has knowledge and experience, which is selfless and committed, which is courageous and uncompromising. The residue of the feudal order which has passed into history, the propertied class and a few bureaucrats are largely self centred. The affluent who sometimes contribute to religious charities cannot provide leadership. The well-placed elite suffer no disability, except perhaps in times of communal carnage. They can get things done for themselves and for their families, including admission and jobs for their progeny. Their interest lies in keeping on good terms with the people who run the system. They are rarely inclined to speak for the masses who suffers deprivation, with no primary school in their villages and no jobs even as chaprasi, driver or clerk.

Even if some practicable ideas are distilled from the Sachar Report, the Community lacks the leadership to monitor its implementation at various levels, to ensure that development funds, set aside for the Community reach the deserving, that the Community gets appropriate share of state expenditure on welfare and development, at least in the operational area. Those in the power structure, the elite and the affluent, the theologian and the Mullahs cannot even monitor local distribution.

What then is the solution? My only hope is the Muslim youth who are not just literate but educated enough to be assertive, bold enough to speak to the authorities face to face and demand due share, ask for transparent accounting, expose corruption and oppose diversion. Since the system silences individuals, the community needs to set up institutions to disseminate information about openings and schemes and to service the potential beneficiaries, to file their applications and pursue their cases.

A positive asset the Community has is Masjids. Masjid was the Community center to begin with in the time of the Holy Prophet and has been gradually reduced to a place of worship and no more. Resources of the Masjid, its space, its income from wakfs and donations can provide a base for their ‘reverse modernisation’ and restoration of their original function. The Masjids in villages, qasbas, mohallas and towns can establish or encourage a committed team of local youth to establish Information-cum-Service Centres in their premises, fight injustice level by level. This new Muslim leadership will arise from the grass-roots and gradually build the network upwards, as it acquires confidence and experience. This is the only hope.



New Delhi
1 April, 2007 (Syed Shahabuddin)
Home

Read more »

Muslims Must Focus on School Education

Muslims Must Focus on School EducationBy M. Hanif Lakdawala
If Muslims wait another five or 10 years, they are going to lose millions of children.
Sixty years after independence, with 40 per cent of its population under 18, the community is now confronting the perils of its failure to educate Muslims, notably the poor.

If Muslims continue their apathy for another five or 10 years, they are going to lose millions of children to illiteracy. No doubt more Muslim children are in school than ever before, but the quality of Muslim managed schools has sunk to extremely low levels, as government schools have become reserves of children at the very bottom of the social ladder.

The children in Muslim managed schools come from the poorest of families, who can’t afford to send them their young ones to other schools.

Indian Muslim community is now confronting the perils of its failure to educate Muslims, notably the poor. Muslims in India have a long legacy of weak schooling, even as they have promoted higher education.

A cursory look at the Muslim managed schools reveals that while more children were sitting in class, vast numbers of them could not read, write or perform basic arithmetic, to say nothing of those who were not in school at all.

Education experts debate the reasons for failure. Some point out that children of illiterate parents are less likely to get help at home; the Trends Research and Analysis Centre (TRAC) survey shows that the child of a literate woman performs better at school. Others blame longstanding neglect, insufficient public financing and accountability, and a lack of motivation among some teachers, to pay special attention to poor children from lower castes.
Education is a long-term investment. Muslim community has neglected it, quite criminally, for an enormously long period of time.

Education in modern India has become a crucial marker of inequality. Among the poorest 20 per cent of the Muslim population, half are illiterate, and less than 2 per cent graduate from high school, according to Census data. By contrast, among the richest 20 per cent of the Muslim population, nearly half are high school graduates and only 2 per cent are illiterate. Just as important, at a time when only one in 10 college-age Indians actually go to college, higher education has become the most effective way to scale the golden ladder of the new economy.
What are the remedies? we at the mohalla level of our Muslim community should:
1. Increase Enrolment: Recruit unemployed Muslims and pay them to recruit children who have never been to school.
2. Mohalla education committee: Identify Muslim majority localities and form Mohalla education committee with a brief to keep the school and its principal accountable to the community.
3. Raise finance locally and spend it on local schools. TRAC survey reveals that the participation of parents and local Muslims in enhancing the facilities in local schools is very dismal. Unless and until local Muslims get involved in providing the basic infrastructure and monitor the quality of education imparted to children in schools, the level of education cannot be ensured.
4. Making school committees accountable using RTI: School committee is a statutory body. TRAC survey reveals that with few exceptions, school committees are not justifying their role. Using Right to Information, local Muslims must build pressure on school committees so that they are more proactive and take care of infrastructure and quality of education issues.
5. Feedback on teachers’ performance through strengthening parents’ teachers association: One of the major issues is the laidback attitude of the teachers since they are permanent employees they take everything for granted. Only local Muslims, by strengthening the parents’ teacher association and making it proactive, can apply pressure on teachers to perform on quality education parameters.

More serious issues like absent or corrupt teachers, low quality of instruction, building repairs and new construction required, cannot be handled directly by children. So parents’ teachers association should interact with children directly and launch their school-improving activities.
6. Removing the apathy of Muslim parents: The reason for parents’ apathy is not only the intense pressure of poverty, which is serious enough, but people’s firm belief that schools and education is the business of the government. If a child failed in a class, the parents would simply assume that the child ‘did not have brains’, cuff him over the head and send him to work. Local Muslims should conduct parent workshop to keep them informed on various issues and also educate them.
7. Organizing children forums fortnightly: It’s always better to hear from children to know more about their problems both at home and schools. Children forums can be used for mobilising parents, obtain information about what was going on in school and homes and so on.
8. Making school worth going to: TRAC survey reveals that the most important reason why dropouts happen - more important than even poverty - that school is simply not worth the trouble.

Parents today are aware of the importance of education as never before. Even the poorest parents send their children to school if the state provides free education. Often in the process, the family has to lose vital income. But if this parent finds that after four years of schooling, the child can’t even write his name, then he has every reason to withdraw the child from school and put him to more remunerative work. On their part, children too are not keen to go to school if the school is shoddy or is not run efficiently.
9. Ensuring the participation of children in making their classroom and school worth going daily: To improve the condition of classrooms, the school and the quality of education, the children need to be first motivated to do voluntary work. The duty of cleaning the school compound should be assigned to students. Children should be motivated to plant saplings around the schools and also start kitchen gardens. The funds generated should be reserved for school improvement. Working with limited funds, children should be coached to make simple educational aids and decorate each classroom so that the atmosphere changes from dreary to colorful and inspiring.
(The writer can be reached at mhl@rediffmail.com)

Read more »

Courage of my truth

Courage of my truth
By Bilkis Yakub Rasool Bano

Today I stand before you vindicated. For my truth has been heard. For 20 days I was cross-examined in a courtroom in Mumbai and the courage of my truth saw me through. On Friday January 18, 2008 the Honorable Sessions Judge in Mumbai pronounced a judgement that has finally meant some closure to a long and very painful journey that was forced upon me and my family. Of course, many wounds will never heal but I am stronger today, and for that I am thankful.

For the last six years I have lived in fear, shuttling from one temporary home to the other, carrying my children with me, trying to protect them from the hatred that I know still exist in the hearts and minds of so many people. This judgement does not mean the end of hatred but it does mean that somewhere, somehow justice can prevail.
>> Read more
http://www.twocircl es.net/2008jan21 /courage_ my_truth. html

Read more »

What a 'LOVELY' Justice ! With You Babri Masjid !

What a 'LOVELY' Justice ! With You Babri Masjid ! -Dr.M.K. Sherwani

www.hindustantimes. com(India) 25.2.08

------------ --------- --------- --------- -------

The Liberhan Commission that was set up to fund outthe truth behind the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992needs more time to wrap up its report.

The one-man commission comprising the former chiefjustice of the Madras High Court, Justice (retd) MSLiberhan, has asked the Home Ministry for anotherextension to be able to submit its report on itsfive-point terms of reference.

"The government has received another request for anextension from the commission," a senior home ministryofficial told HT. "It has promised to submit itsreport this time," the official said but was quick toadd that this wasn't the first time that such anassurance was being given.

The commission was set up in 1992 by former primeminister PV Narasimha Rao within weeks of thedemolition of the mosque.

The panel had been originally tasked to submit itsreport within three months.

But that was 15 years ago.

The commission has since been allowed over 42extensions, turning it into the longest inquiry conducted by any commission in the country.

The inquiry has already cost the public exchequernearly Rs 720 lakh.

On the other hand, the Srikrishna Commission thatprobed the riots following the Mumbai bomb blasts in1993, did its job in five years.

The ministry is yet to take a decision to extend theLiberhan Commission's tenure but officials contend ithardly has a choice. "If the government does notextend the tenure, the commission would wind upwithout submitting a report and leave the governmentopen to the charge of not just burying the truth butalso wasting public funds," the home ministry officialsaid.

Read more »

Jamiat in Jeopardy: Uncle-Nephew Strife Splits LeadingIndian Ulema Body

Jamiat in Jeopardy: Uncle-Nephew Strife Splits LeadingIndian Ulema Body
By Yoginder Sikand

The recent split in the Jamiat ul-Ulema-e Hind, theleading body of the Indian Deobandi ulema, hasreceived considerable coverage in the Urdu press. Mostof those who have written on the subjected havelamented the split and have called it entirelyavoidable. Many commentators have labeled it simply asa fall-out of a nasty struggle for power between thePresident of the Jamiat, Maulana Arshad Madani, andhis nephew and the Jamiat's General-Secretary, MaulanaMahmud Madani, both of whom have traded heated chargesagainst each other of being allegedly engaged inanti-Jamiat activities.'If God forbid, the Jamiat has split, then itsconsequences would be no less hurtful for the Muslimsof India than the partition of the country', writesAziz Burney, editor of the Urdu "Rashtriya Sahara",obviously somewhat exaggeratedly. Another notedcommentator on Muslim affairs, Shahid ul-Islam,comments that, 'The split in this great 90 year-oldorganisaton bodes ill for the Muslims and is a matterof great shame for them'. 'The message that goes outto the public from this', he says, 'is that Muslimleaders do not care at all for Muslim unity, and thattoo, at a time when Muslims all over are under attackand thus need to be united'. Likewise, writing in theUrdu "Hindustan Express", Shahabuddin Saqib notes that"While the Jamiat seemed to be promoting Muslim unity,inside personal rivalries have divided theorganisation' . In an equally caustic lament, MuftiMukarram Ahmad of the Fatehpuri Masjid in Delhi,opines that the split in the Jamiat suggests that'Division and strife have become the special featureof this [Muslim] community. None is willing tocooperate with others honestly and with goodintentions'. Critiquing those who were quick tosuspect an 'external' or non-Muslim hand behind thesplit in the Jamiat, the Mufti firmly asserted, 'Thisis simply a fight for power and pelf'.The split in the Jamiat, lamentable though it is, isnot entirely unexpected. Nor is it something novel.Strife began brewing between Arshad Madani and MahmoodMadani soon after the death of the President of theJamiat, Asad Madani, last year, with each of themcontending to take his post. But this is not the firstsplit in the Jamiat, it should not noted. The firstdivision in Jamiat ranks occurred way back in the1960s. This centred around two Maulanas contending forthe post of President of the organisation: Mufti Atiqur-Rahman Usmani and Maulana Fakhruddin, the Shaikhul-Hadith of the Dar ul-Uloom Deoband. At that time,Asad Madani (brother of Arshad Madani and father ofMahmood Madani) was the President of the Uttar Pradeshunit of the Jamiat. It is said that he backedFakhruddin in the presidential election and played akey role in defeating Atiq ur-Rahman. In turn, Atiqur-Rahman claimed that the elections were not fair. Hepointed out that the Majlis-e Muntazima orAdministrative Council of the Jamiat had appointed himas Acting President, although he had declined this.Consequently, he refused to accept defeat. It is saidthat a large section of Jamiat leaders were actuallyin his favour. Following this, Asad Madani took overthe Jamiat's office, forcing Atiq ur-Rahman to formhis own separate Jamiat. He appointed one Mufti Ziaul-Haq as President, who later migrated to Pakistanand settled there, and soon his wing of the Jamiat wasrendered defunct.This tussle is also said to have been one of thereasons for the growing differences between QariMuhammad Tayyeb, then rector of the Deoband madrasa,and Asad Madani. Qari Tayyeb is said to have supportedMufti Atiq's candidature, perhaps one reason beingthat he was related to him. Following this, QariTayyeb sacked Asad from his teaching post at Deoband.Mutual acrimony between these two senior Deobandileaders finally led to the split in the Deobandmadrasa itself in 1980, when Asad Madani's supportersmanaged to shunt Qari Tayyeb out of the madrasa (withpolice and Congress help, so it is said), forcing himto set up a parallel madrasa in Deoband, headed by hisson Maulana Salam Qasmi.The Jamiat split again in 1988, when Asad Madani, whoby then had become the President of the organization,dismissed Maulana Sayyed Ahmad Hashmi from the post ofGeneral- Secretary. The reason, some say, was thatAsad Madani was allegedly apprehensive of Hashmi'sgrowing popularity. Another reason was that Hashmi hadalso become a Member of Parliament, which Asad Madanialready was, having been nominated to the Rajya Sabhaby the Congress. Asad Madani argued that the Jamiatcould not have two Members of Parliament from twodifferent political parties. Consequently, Hashmi wasremoved from the Working Committee of the Jamiat,following which he formed his own Milli Jamiatul-Ulema-e Hind, which proved to be simply aletter-head organization. The Jamiat split yet againsoon after, in the early 1990s, when a senior Jamiatleader, Maulana Fuzail Ahmad Qasmi, founded his ownself-styled Markazi Jamiat-e Ulama-e Hind after he wasaccused of embezzlement of funds allegedly got fromabroad.That the Jamiat has split yet again should thus comeas no major surprise, simply because it is no noveldevelopment. Numerous ulema-led groups in India havewitnessed such splits, and these have been primarilyover questions of struggle for power, pelf andleadership and not over ideology. Despite the emphasison consultation (shura) in normative Islam, manyulema-led organizations are dictatorially- run, withpower and access to resources concentrated in thehands of a single supreme leader and his coterie, whooften include his close relatives. Succession to thepost of leadership is often decided by this smallcoterie, not democratically, and this has given riseto what critics who condemn as the n-Islamic practiceof hereditary succession. This is certainly the casewith the Jamiat today, with leadership of theorganization being sought to be restricted to thenarrow circle of the Madani family. In this, ofcourse, the Jamiat is hardly unique. The sameprincipal may be seen to be at work in succession tonumerous madrasas as well, although these are meant tobe community-instituti ons and not private concerns,being funded by money donated by members of thecommunity.As long as power and resources remain concentrated inthe hands of a single supremo and his small circle offamily and supporters, accountability to therank-and-file or the community at large is given shortshrift, succession is limited within a certain'ruling' family and the principle of shura is givenmere lip-sympathy to, the personality cult or, as itis called in Urdu, 'shaksiyat parasti' (literally'personality worship') that is so characteristic ofmany Muslim religious organizations cannot becontained. And, inevitably, splits and dissensionswill continue to occur unabated, as the Jamiat case sotragically illustrates.

Read more »

TURMOIL IN MUSLIM ORGANIZATIONS IS HARMING ALL INDIAN MUSLIMS

TURMOIL IN MUSLIM ORGANIZATIONS IS HARMING ALL INDIAN MUSLIMS By: Kaleem Kawaja It is no secret that today India's Muslim community needs much help from the Community's major organizations and parties in order to lobby with the government and political parties to develop and implement programs to uplift the much depressed and backward community. There are about a half dozen such organizations in India that are more than fifty years old, that have much credibility with the Muslims as well as the government, the majority Hindu community, media and the nation's power structure. Over the years India's major political parties have sought the help of these organizations in the electoral arena. Thus when the average Muslims in India hear of intense turmoil, infighting and cut-throat power struggle in the top leadership of these organizations, that shocks them. Such turmoil also reveal some basic structural problems in these venerable and respected organizations. Some of the problems that have come to the surface are: certain family's dynastic stranglehold on these organizations; certain individual's dictatorial control on these organizations; inability of the ordinary members of these organizations to rise to the top leadership on the basis of merit and service. In the last few years we have watched at least three major Muslim organizations of Muslims in India go through serious turmoil. The Muslim Majlis Mashawarat of New Delhi experienced turmoil about two years ago in which a segment of Mashawarat split from the parent body and formed a separate organization laying claim to the parent Mashawarat. Majlis Ittihad Muslameen (MIM), Hyderabad, experienced major problem a few years ago when in 1993 a section of MIM broke away to form the Masjid Bachao Tahreek. Now we see the venerable Jamiat ul Ulema Hind, New Delhi, split due to intense power struggle between its President and General Secretary. In the case of Mashawarat, those who broke away are people of credibility, with the media reporting that they were encouraged by some Muslim politicians from South India who were being shut out by North Indian Muslim leaders from the top rungs of the organization' s leadership. In the case of MIM the stranglehold of the Owaisi family on the organization for three generations, and their domination of the top rungs of MIM leadership is cited as the reason for the turmoil in MIM. Currently one Owaisi is an MIM member of parliament and another is a member of Andhra Pradesh Assembly representing MIM. Their father Salahuddin Owaisi was the long time MIM President and member of parliament from Hyderabad, who ensured that his various sons became top leaders of MIM in their young age. And their grandfather was a long time Head of MIM. In fact the resentment of this total dynastic control of MIM has become so serious that Hyderabad's major Urdu newspaper Siasat is openly building opposition to MIM in the community in Hyderabad city. The Masjid Bachao Tahrik accused MIM of not being orthodox enough in defending the religious rights of Muslims. That resulted in MIM adopting several uncalled for sectarian programs. Some recent instances are: Physical attacks in public on Tasleema Nasreen, and public agitation forcing the government to ban the showing of the movie "The Messengar" on the life of prophet Mohammad in movie houses in Hyderabad. In the case of Jamiat ul Ulema, again the souce of the problem is the stranglehold of the Madani family on Jamiat's top leadership for three generations. About 90 years ago Maulana Husain Madani was among the founders of Jsmiat who reigned as its President for many years. He was succeded by Maulana Asad Madani as the Head of Jsmiat for many years. Asad Madani who died last year ensured in his lifetime that his brother and various sons acquired top leadership positions in Jamiat. After his death his brother Arshad Madani became the President and his son Mahmood Madani became the General Secretary of Jamiat. Since then the Madani uncle and nephew have been involved in cut-throat power struggle to become the sole power in Jamiat. That led to the recent fireworks and split of Jamiat itself. About ten years ago the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) whose following is largely in Kerala and Tamil Nadu experienced a similar blowup in its top leadership. That resulted in a split in IUML and the formation of the National League led by Sulaiman Sait, the long time Head of IUML Such turmoil in the top rungs of India's major Muslim organizations greatly demoralizes rank and file members of these organizations. It creates much loss of credibility, following in the community and their ability to represent the Muslim community and negotiate on behalf of the community on the serious issues of the community. The net looser is the entire Muslim community in India whose interests are seriously harmed. It appears that bringing more internal democracy in the Muslim organizations and doing away with the dynastic control of the organizations by certain families can go a long way in removing the buildup of internal frustrations that result in periodic blowups. Another useful step will be term limits for the heads of these organizations.

--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
The writer is a community activist in Washington DC. He can be reached on mailto:kaleemkawaja@hotmail.com

Read more »