The decision to make Jamia a minority institution is an unfortunate step.It is a national institution and what is required is to strengthen its national character. What a pity that we cannot see beyond religion. KNPanikkar
On Fri, Feb 25, 2011 at 9:19 AM, manisha sethi <[email protected]>wrote: > Dear Friends, > please find below a statement of Jamia Teachers' Solidarity Association, > signed by several teachers of the University on the issue of minority status > to Jamia. This was released in Feb 2010 and questioned the dominant > discourse being put forth. The statement raises several issues about the > demand for minority status--all of which have been left unaddressed by the > votaries of the minority status. These questions remain relevant, indeed > need to be responded to even more urgently now. > ** > *Jamia Millia Islamia and Minority Status: Unresolved issues* > > The moot question facing us today in Jamia is how to best ensure Muslim > representation in our institution. This sentiment is entirely legitimate > given the fact that Muslims lag behind in higher education, as established > by the Sachar Committee Report. The debate remains whether minority status > for Jamia is the best recourse to realize this. The crucial thing to discuss > is if minority interests will be served better by granting minority status > or by retaining Jamia as its founders visualized—that is, a university that > will have a stake in the national mainstream. Jamia was envisaged as a space > of higher learning and critical thinking against the insularity and > isolationism of all kinds. The demand for minority status vitiates that > glorious history of Jamia as a secular inclusive space. > > Over years, Jamia has emerged as a centre for academic excellence, thus > enhancing the value of the university’s degrees, and making our students > genuinely competitive once they leave the university. The tag of minority > status will deprive them of this edge and render them unfit for wider market > and opportunities. If there is a diverse student population in Jamia, it is > because Jamia’s stature has grown in stature to be able to attract a larger > pool of talent. If today, we turn inwards, the worst sufferers will be our > Muslim students. In the current scenario, where Muslim youth already stand > stigmatized and suspect, degree from a ‘minority’ institution will mar, > rather than enhance their chances of success in life and career. Jamia has > the potential to emerge as an indisputable centre of cultural engagement > between different communities—as indeed its founders envisioned it—and as it > has emerged over the years. A turn towards ‘minority’ status will rob it of > its historical role in bridging the cultural gap between communities and its > vanguard role in breaking stereotypical assumptions about Muslims. > > Rather than isolationism, accepting OBC reservations will lead to manifold > increase in the resources and infrastructure as well as expansion in the > intake of students and teaching positions. The increase in the number of > seats will ultimately benefit students from the minority community. > Furthermore, the OBC issue has emerged out of a democratic churning and we > can ill afford to retreat in our shell, aloof from forging solidarities with > the democratic aspirations of other social groups. > > Those who think that the minority status will promote the interests of the > minority community will only be advocating a shallow minorityism at the cost > of securing genuine minority rights. > > Those in favour of minority status argue that the OBC reservations will > nullify Jamia’s internal reservation, and will in the long run, negatively > influence the intake of Muslim students in the university. A case is being > made out as though Muslim and OBCs are two mutually exclusive and opposed > categories, and as if Muslims are a monolithic and homogenous group with no > internal hierarchies. This is patently incorrect and academically unsound. A > large proportion of the Muslim population is OBC. It stood at 40.7 per cent > according to the 61st round of NSSO (2004-5), (in Bihar and UP, the > proportion of OBC Muslim population is much higher, standing at 63.4 per > cent 64 per cent respectively). > > > > While the Sachar Committee report has clearly established that the > educational level and representation of Muslims as a whole is low, the > condition of Muslim OBCs are worse off than those of general Muslims. A > larger percentage of Muslim OBCs fall in the law income category than the > general Muslims. (p. 213, SCR). The monthly per capita expenditure (mpce) > among general Muslims is Rs 833 while among the Muslim OBCs, it stands at Rs > 689. Illiteracy among general Muslims is 33.3 per cent; while among the OBCs > it is 38; in higher education, the proportion of graduates and post > graduates is 2.4 per cent for general Muslims and 1.9 per cent for Muslim > OBCs. > > > > *Are we to ignore the material, social and educational differentials > within the community and allow the most marginalized and deprived groups > (such as the Saifis, Julahas, Dhunias, Kunjras, and Hajjams included in the > OBC list) who could have probably benefited from the OBC reservation? * > > > > While the Right-wing has created a mythic discourse of ‘Muslim > appeasement’; the supposedly secular polity has also consistently evaded the > issue of genuine Muslim empowerment and distributive justice, happy only to > engage with cultural questions with a largely conservative leadership. This > is best exemplified in the State’s approach towards addressing the > educational needs of the Muslims. The 15-point Programme launched amidst > much fanfare by the present government to alleviate the educational > backwardness of the Muslims cannot see beyond madarsas (accessed only by 3-4 > per cent Muslim children). Even here, according to the Ministry of Minority > Affairs report, a mere Rs. 49.50 crore was allocated under the scheme to > cover 14539 Madarsa teachers across 14 states in 2008-09. This programme > remains silent about higher education, ignoring SCR’s recommendation to open > new centres of higher learning in Muslim populated areas, and the typical > strategy has been to hand out certificates of minority status (according to > the Ministry of HRD’s own press release dated 29 Jan 2008, so far 1000 > institutions have thus been deemed minority institutions). > > *The granting of minority status to Jamia would in one stroke allow the > Indian government, without spending even a single extra paisa, to claim a > surge in its budgetary allocation for minority education*. The resources > which would have come to Jamia as a central university, would instantly be > subsumed under the 15 point progarmme. > > > > Any genuine struggle for Muslim empowerment and rights should be to demand > and ensure the presence of Muslims in all institutions of higher education > rather than creating and limiting their presence in separate educational > enclaves. This is a demand that the state would only be too ready to grant, > allowing it to wash its hands off the more crucial and difficult task of > making higher education across the board more accessible to Muslims. We > caution the government not to perpetuate the politics of minorityism while > abandoning the cause of minority rights. > > > > > > * Sd/-* > > > > Prof. (Retd.) Shamim Hanafi, > > Prof. Azra Razzack, > > Dr. Farah Farooqi, > > Prof. M.S. Bhatt, > > Dr. Manisha Sethi, > > Adeel Mehdi, > > Tanweer Fazal, > > Dr. M. Ghazi Shahnawaz, > > Dr. Arshad Alam, > > Ahmed Sohaib, > > Dr. Arvinder Ansari, > > Dr. Kulwinder Kaur, > > Dr. Sarwat Ali, > > Prof. Farida Khan, > > Prof. Anwar Alam, > > Prof. Arif Ali, > > Prof. Inayat Ziadi, > > Prof. Sunita Zaidi, > > Prof. Durga Prasad Gupta, > > Mukul Kesavan, > > Prof. Sheena Jain, > > Prof. Madhu Khanna, > > Dr. Nuzhat Kazmi, > > Dr. P.K. Basant, > > Dr. Ajay Behera, > > Dr. Gomati Bodara, > > Dr. Pradyuman, > > Dr. Firdaus, > > Mujibur Rehman, > > Harpreet Kaur, > > Dr. Narendra Kumar, > > Dr. Samrendra Padmanabh, > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "humanrights movement" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > . > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/humanrights-movement?hl=en. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "humanrights movement" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/humanrights-movement?hl=en.
