LYNCHING IS A MODERN FORM OF TRIBALISM, WHERE ENEMIESDIFFERENTIATED BY RELIGION, RACE, CASTE OR IDEOLOGY

ARE BRACKETED FOR ELIMINATION

Fascism is not defined by the number of its victims, but by the way it kills them.~ Jean-Paul Sartre, 22 June, 1953.

Mobs are taking over civic spaces in India. Public lynching, a barbaric form of political expression, seems to have become the new normal in India since the Modi government came to power at the Centre. The latest incident took place in a Mathura-bound train on Thursday, June 22. A 16-year old Muslim boy from Haryana, Hafiz Junaid, was lynched to death and his three brothers attacked, as they were travelling back home from Delhi after shopping for Sunday’s Eid. According to reports, 15 men wanted four young Muslims to vacate their seats. Upon their refusal, the Muslim men were abused with communal slurs, accused of being beef-eaters, attacked and thrown off the train when it pulled into a station.

There can’t be a more dangerous irony when the railways, considered the nation’s lifeline, become life-threatening for minorities. If passengers travelling together turn into violent mobs, the meaning of a jour-ney is destroyed. If religious differences become a norm for hate crimes, the culture of democracy is destroyed. Society turning fascist is a deeper moral crisis than the coming of a fascist state. A society can resist a fascist state. How to resist a fascist society? One of the survivors told journalists that the police ignored his requests for intervention. If law enforcers are reluctant to save people from mobs, the state fails in its moral duty. Deliberate inaction is the key to a democratic state relapsing into a fascist one.

A few weeks ago, a 55-year-old activist from Rajasthan, Zafar Hussein, was beaten to death allegedly by civic officials, after he tried to stop them from photographing women, including his wife and daughter, defecating in the open. The officials are part of the ‘Swachh Bharat’ (Clean India) campaign, whose idea of encouraging women to use public toilets (which in this particular locality were actually unus-able) is by shaming them.

Vasundhara Raje, the chief minister of Rajasthan, and the inspector general of police, Udaipur, pre-ferred to use the word “demise” for Khan’s murder in their June 18 tweets. “Scientific evidence doesn’t suggest murder,” the inspector general tweeted. Human evidence, that can’t be manufactured in a laboratory, shows otherwise.

Repeated attacks against Muslims and Dalits

The problem of official evasiveness regarding incidents of lynching goes back to September 2015, when a Mohammad Akhlaq was lynched by a mob in Dadri for allegedly slaughtering a cow. After a gap of several days, Narendra Modi called Akhlaq’s murder, “sad and undesirable.” He was quick to clarify that the Central government had no role in it. Having no role is one thing, having no responsibility, another. The prime minister added, “The BJP has always opposed pseudo-secularism. Today, when we are faced with such an unfortunate malady, the same debate has resurfaced. This can only be resolved through discussions”. The inconsistencies are glaring. The resolve doesn’t sound as fluent as the show of grief. The malady isn’t simply unfortunate, but politically constructed and not simply a condition, but a crime. There is silence on the question of punishing the guilty. Lynching isn’t occasion just for debate, but providing justice and reassurance. In August 2016, the prime minister did air his opinion about people indulging in “anti-social activities” in the name of cow-protection. But gau rakshaks seem to see themselves as moral vigilantes protecting a sacred order and the state has done little to disabuse them of that delusion.

The prime minister’s mention of “pseudo-secularism” earlier may sound puzzling in this context, but it reveals the heart of the problem. The secular objective of the Indian state is admired for surpassing the doctrine of neutrality, in an effort to safeguard the rights of minorities. But the Hindu Right considers it a “pseudo-secular” policy of “appeasement”. In contrast, the BJP proposes an anti-secular idea of secularism, where the state actively caters to Hindu sentiments. Since coming to power, the BJP government has unleashed the many dangers associated with majoritarian politics.

Students, writers, social activists and others holding dissenting views against the government’s ideology have been branded “anti-national”. In February 2016, the JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar, arrested on sedition charges, was beaten up by lawyers while he was being produced at Patiala House court. Exactly a year later, members of the ABVP attacked students and teachers conducting a seminar in a Delhi Univer-sity college, and later violently disrupted a peaceful protest march, intimidating and beating up professor and student alike. These were clear signs of a lynch-mob syndrome disturbingly spreading into civil spaces. De-monising people as “anti-national” fans paranoia and hate that becomes a trigger for a herd mentality to develop. Lynching is a modern form of tribalism, where enemies – differentiated by religion, race, caste or ideology – are bracketed for elimination. It is a frightening scenario, when people turn into government and law at the same time, deciding for themselves who, why and how to kill. It is the rule of sentiments taking over the rule of law. The lynching of deputy superintendent of police Mohammed Ayub Pandith near the Jamia Masjid in Srinagar on June 23 is yet another spillover of this dangerous symptom where people lose their moral bearings. If a community erases the distinction between sentiments and crime, it quickly degener-ates into a self-brutalising society.

No wonder, lynching has turned into a vigilante sport. In March 2016, two Muslim cattle traders were found hanging from a tree in Jharkhand, allegedly by cattle-protection vigilantes. In July the same year, cow vigilantes mercilessly beat up seven Dalit men for skinning a dead cow in Una district, Gujarat. More recently, in April 2017, Pehlu Khan succumbed to his injuries in Rajasthan after a mob attacked him for allegedly transporting cows. The Rajasthan home minister told reporters, “It is illegal to transport cows, but people ignore it and cow protectors are trying to stop such people from trafficking them.” The logic is chilling: Those who are lynched are on the wrong side of the law. Those who lynch are protecting the law. Using violence to protect the law was considered legal. The cow symbolises the sacred body of the nation, and extralegal measures will prevail against anyone even suspected of foul play.

The minister’s verdict puts all premises of law to shame. When people sense the government is will-ing to provide the alibi for murder, they become emboldened to take law into their hands. As Martin Luther King, Jr. said in his December 18, 1963 address at Western Michigan University, “It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me but it can keep him from lynching me”, so even though “morality cannot be legislated, behavior can be regulated.”

But what explains these repeated attacks against Muslims and Dalits? In Untouchables or The Chil-dren of India’s Ghetto, Ambedkar noted that even though “Roman law declared the slave was not a person”, the “religion of Rome refused to accept that principle.” Since “Hindu Law did not regard the Untouchable a person,” he added, “Hinduism refused to regard him as a human being fit for comradeship.” The denial of personhood is a key element to lynching. The body of the victim is denied any moral essence, deprived of rights, easily reduced to the body of a vulnerable animal. The denial of moral agency to the untouchable prevents Hindus from developing a sense of “public” or “social conscience”. That is why crimes like lynching are carried out with an easy absence of guilt. They are done in a spirit, to use Ambedkar’s words, “as though such lawlessness is lawful” (emphasis added). The new untouchables of this lynching nationalism are the Muslims and also those whose lives and ideas contradict and resist the Hindu nationalist project.

In May, this year, a bench in the capital’s high court pulled up the city police for its inaction when a woman dean of Delhi University, Ved Kumari, who was earlier abused and threatened by ABVP activists, was again held hostage in her office by students. The admonition had a Biblical ring to it: “You have thrown her to wolves. You are feeding wolves by not separating them from the sheep.” Lynch mobs, like wolves, prowl and hunt in packs. If nationalism is a Darwinian force that makes the law favour wolves, it will mean the constant fear and death of the sheep. The law and the government cannot sacrifice the nation’s sheep in the name of protecting its cows.

Manash Firaq Bhattacharjee teaches poetry at Ambedkar University, New Delhi. He is a frequent con-tributor to The Wire and has written for The Hindu, The New York Times, Los Angeles Review of Books, Guernica, Outlook and other publications.

THE IDEOLOGY OF MINORITY POLITICS IN INDIA:A PROLOGUE

“Equal rights, fair play and Justice are all like the air; we all have it or none of us has it”

-Maya Angelou American poet and civil right activist

Any political ideology has two elements – a world view and a plan of action. We can take Communism as an example. Karl Marx interpreted the history of the world hitherto as history of the class war. It was the core of the Marxian world view. Marx emphasised that the point is not in interpreting the world; but in changing it. He put forward class war and the dictatorship of proletariat as modus operandi for setting up of a classless society and eventual withering away of state. In context of conceiving an ideology for minority politics in India, we have the Herculean task of formulating a world view and devising an action plan. The world view sho uld be based on the empirical study of the around 70 years’ experience of the minorities in general and Muslims in special, in independent India. A thorough analysis of their participation in power structure, economy and social system should be endeavoured. An in-depth understanding of their position in emerging political matrix and changing socio-economic eco-system is a sine qua non for framing a world view for the ideology of minority politics in India. Such a compact world view is lacking the discourse on the subject, both in academic and political circles. A well-equipped think tank to carry out this endeavour is the need of hour. Formulation of a pragmatic action plan addressing political, social, economic and legal needs of the minorities should be done with involvement of academia, intelligentsia, activists and political class. The formulation and implementation of an ideology for minority politics is very vital for the bare survival of minorities in India. India is a rainbow nation. The convergence of diversities is the very essence of this kaleidoscopic nation with continental dimensions. India is microcosm of the world. The Drokpa tribe, inhabited in the northernmost territory of India, Ladak, is considered to be the decedents of Alexander the Great and as such pure Aryans. The Jarawa tribe, inhabited in the southernmost territory of India, Andaman Islands, are Negroid. Thus India has Europe and Africa within it. Firaq Gorakhpuri, noted Urdu poet, beautifully portrayed this syncretic nature in following lines: “Har tharef se caravan

“Har tharef se caravan Is mulk mein atha gayi Sab ko ghar milta gaya Hidustan banatha gaya”

(The caravans from each nook and corner Of the world came to this territory All of them were given home here Thus is Hindustan made)

Preserving the rich heritage of our composite culture and promoting harmony and spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities, is Fundamental Duty of every Indian under Art.51A(e) and (f) of our Constitution. Here lies the significance of pluralism in our social sphere and polyarchy in political structure. Pluralism and Polyarchy are the integral elements of our constitutional matrix. This duo-Pluralism and Polyarchy- should be basis of minority politics too. Here the Constitution and minority politics converge.

The concept of Polyarchy was developed by American political analyst Robert .A. Dahl (1914-2014). In his book, Democracy and Its Critics (1989), Dahl clarifies his view about democracy. To reach the idealdemocracy, according to Robert Dahl, requires meeting five criteria:

1. Effective participation Citizens must have adequate and equal opportunities to form their preference and place questions on the public agenda and express reasons for one outcome over the other.2. Voting equality at the decisive stage each citizen must be assured his or her judgments will be counted as equal in weights to the judgments of others.3. Enlightened understanding Citizens must enjoy ample and equal opportunities for understanding, discovering and affirming what choice would best serve their interests.4. Control of the agenda Demos or people must have the opportunity to decide what political matters actually are and what should be brought up for deliberation.5. Inclusiveness Equality must extend to all citizens within the state. Everyone has legitimate stake within the political process.

Robert Dahl calls politically advanced democracies "polyarchies". Polyarchies have elected officials, free and fair elections, inclusive suffrage, and rights to run for office, freedom of expression, alternative information and associational autonomy. Multiple centres of political power are the essential feature of polyarchy. The political system that our constitution envisages to evolve is Dahlian Polyarchy. In such a political ecology, the minority segments can effectively participate in power structure and decision making. Pluralism has a wider orbit as it includes both political and social aspects. It is a socio-political ambience in which members of diverse ethnic, racial, religious, or social groups maintain and develop their traditional culture or special interest within the confines of a common civilization. The concept of polyarchy and pluralism are the basic ideological premises of the minority politics in Indian context. Fortunately polyarchy and pluralism is the basic note of our constitutional symphony.

When the founding fathers of America framed the first modern constitution in the world, they wove pluralistic character as the warp and weft of their constitution. James Madison, the father of American Constitution, rightly observed “the very definition of tyranny is when all powers are gathered under one place”. So the founding fathers envisaged the even distribution of power. They devised three institutional principles for this purpose:. Separation of powers and checks & balances. Federalism. Bicameralism The Madisonian Democratic principles are imbibed by our founding fathers too. This was to ensure an even distribution of powers and to avoid a tyrannical turn of the republic.

Affirmative Action and Consociationalism are other two widely employed methods for actualising political pluralism. Affirmative Action is made operational in our constitutional scheme with reservation system. Art.16 (1) provides for equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the state. Art. 16(4) provides for the reservation of appointments or posts in favour of any backward class of citizens which, according of the State ,is not adequately represented in the services under the Sate. Reservation system is not an exemption to the principle of the equality of opportunity in the public services; instead it is an expansion of the principle. Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Communities are provided with reservation in public service under this Article of the Constitution. Promotion of educational and economic interests

of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other weaker sections and protecting them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation, is an injunction of the Constitution to the State under the Directive Principles of State Policy (Art. 46). Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are given reservation in the Parliament, State Legislatures, Local Self- Government Institutions and Co-operatives Societies under the Constitution. The Anglo-Indian community is assured representation in the Parliament and State Legislatures (Articles. 331 and 333). All these constitutional provisions are examples of Affirmative Action and Inclusive ethos. But, unfortunately, the Muslim community and other minorities are not given any reservation in the public services and legislatures. The Muslims in India can ensure their participation in power and decision making only through political mobilisation and social action.

Consociationalism is a form of democracy which seeks to regulate the sharing of power in a state that comprises diverse societies (distinct ethnic, religious, political, national or linguistic groups), by allocating these groups collective rights. The executive-power sharing is mainly characterized by proportional representation, veto rights and segmental autonomy for minority groups. Lebanon is the best example of consosciational democracy. Lebanon  is a  parliamentary  democratic  republic  within the overall framework of  confessionalism, a form of consociationalism in which the highest offices are proportionately reserved for representatives from certain religious communities. The 1943 National Pact, an unwritten agreement that established the political foundations of modern Lebanon, allocated political power on an essentially confessional system based on the 1932 census. Seats in parliament were divided on a 6-to- 5 ratio of Christians to Muslims, until 1990 when the ratio changed to half and half. Positions in the government bureaucracy are allocated on a similar basis. The pact also, by custom, allocated public offices along religious lines, with the top three positions in the ruling "troika & quot; distributed as follows:. The President, a Maronite Christian.. The Speaker of the Parliament, a Shi'a Muslim.. The Prime Minister, a Sunni Muslim. As the majoritarian politics gathers unprecedented momentum in current Indian political landscape, some sort of consociationalism should be demanded to ensure the participation of the minorities in power and decision making.A fair treatment of minorities is a sine qua non for prosperity,development and wellbeing of any nation. The Sri-Lankan experience vindicates this point. The ill-treatment of the Tamil minority by the Sinhalese majority led the country into a bloody civil war and hampered the development of a nation having great developmental potential. The non-accommodation of political aspiration of Madhesi people in Nepal has been a great roadblock in their endeavour to document a stable constitution. The well-treatment and accommodation meted by the Canadian State towards French speaking Quebec region, which ensured prosperity and tranquillity in Canada, is a paragon for other nations.

Pluralistic and polyarchic ethos are the basic matrix of our Constitutional archicture. If our constitution is compared to a majestic temple, the Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principle of State Policy are its twin towers, the Preamble is the sanctum sanctorum and the ideal of Justice is the deity. Justice- social, economic and political- is the final destination of our constitutional odyssey. The ideal of justice is soul of our constitutional jurisprudence. Robert Ingersoll, American thinker, rightly observed about the salience of justice: “sand shrouded Egypt, every crumbling stone of once mighty Rome and marble wilderness of Athens- all cry out that no nation founded upon injustice can permanently stand”. We cannot ignore this valuable lesson from history. Justice is the solid foundation of a nation. Once this foundation is shaken, the whole edifice nation will crumble.

The term Justice in the Preamble of our constitution is suffixed with its three aspects- social, economic and political. Socialism emphasised on economic justice and Liberalism on political justice. But our founding fathers deliberately placed social before economic and political and thus prioritised social justice over economic and political justice. Communities based on religion, ethnicity and language have a vital role in our socio-political life. So a just distribution of power amongst these communities is the gist of social justice. The ideal of secularism, another cardinal principle of our republic, also denotes equality among various religious communities as interpreted the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Ismail Faruqui v/s Union of India judgement (1995 AIR 605 1994 SCC (6) 360 JT 1994 (6) 632 1994 SCALE (2)100).This equality, fair play and justice could be achieved through pluralistic and inclusive politics, polyarchical power structure, a revamped Affirmative Action and Consosciationalism of, at least, minimal scale. The input or catalyst for these aspirations is the political mobilisation of minorities, especially Muslims in India.

In final analysis, the political mobilisation of minorities especially Muslims in India to achieve a pluralistic society, a polyarchiacal state and to realise ideals of justice, equality and fair play, would promote not the parochial interests of minorities; but the gist and spirit of our constitution. Mahathma Gandhi, the patron-saint of our republic, expressed his dream on India thus: “I shall work for an India in which the poorest shall feel that it is their country in whose making they have an effective voice…an India in which all communities shall live in perfect harmony.” The ultimate purpose of minority politics and political mobilisation of minorities in India is, or should be, the realisation of this dream of the father of our nation.

Faisal. C.K(Section Officer, Kerala House, New Delhi)

Students activism in campuses help to nurture emotional, intellectual and social cooperation among its fraternity.

The most memorable of our friendships shall be of those with whom we associated in our campuses. Friends share each other’s pain. And joys too. They co-celebrate with smiles and tears the different occasions in life. True friends are not merely who garland us with praise alone, but dole out the best critique when we deserve them. Empty praise from a friend is worse than a sincere curse from an enemy.

While Knowledge and Valour are two keys ingredients in envisioning a dream of an educational institution, Passion and Vigilance are crucial in sustaining the success in implementation of that dream. Students political movements, inevitable as they are in a democratic society, should play a significant role in achieving this dream, not shatter it altogether.

Author: Mujeeb Jaihoon is a UAE-based writer, orator and wanderer of Indian origin.

Students Activism should foster Dreams

Parents have a great influence on their children’s education because they are their children’s first teachers. The education that children receive is very much dependent on the education that their parents received. The literacy of parents strongly affects the education of their children because parents who have gone beyond a high school education are found to be more involved with their infants and children than those who did not finish high school. Parents with less education do not participate as often in their chil-dren’s education to some effect because they do not realize the importance of their interaction with their chil-dren in the matter of education. The findings of the study show that 19.8% of respondents had never gone to school, 22.2% of respondents had completed primary level, 29.6% of respondents upper primary, and only around 30% of respondents had completed secondary school or more.

There are several socio-structural and institutional factors like security, identity and equity, and the interplay of these dimensions at the core of the socio-economic and political processes that the commu-nity is exposed to on a daily basis, which are responsible for exclusion from education of Muslim girl child. The economic constraints have a major role to play in terms of decisions with regard to educating girls. Since in the community women’s roles are limited to child rearing and focused on marriage, women are not expected to contribute to income. Therefore spending on education seems like a poor investment. According to findings of the study, the average family income was Rs 6,284 with a very wide variation among the people. This shows an unequal distribution of wealth. It was also found that due to financial rea-sons around 26% of respondents would not like to continue education of their girl child if she dropped the school. Also, there are other factors which are responsible for exclusion of girl child from education like atti-tude toward education, family background, employment/occupational structures of families, lack of awareness about the importance of the education, insecurity of girl children, lack of parental cooperation to the school, helping hand to their parents, and lack of good Muslim leadership at grassroots level in the field of educa-tion.

In the past few decades, a number of attempts have been made to bring transformative changes in education especially for Muslim girls. But there is a need to work on this issue more actively and with good intentions. Muslim girls should receive equal education as Muslim boys and for this, Muslim leaders especially Ulema should come forward for improvement in education of Muslim girls because without educating girl the community cannot progress. The university Education Commission (1949) has rightly remarked that “There cannot be an educated people without educated women. Education of women is important particularly in a developing country since if a woman is educated it is much more likely to be passed on to the next generations as compared to a man being educated.” Also, there is a need to have a trust on girls that they can perform better in development process of a community if they are given space and hence communi-ty. People should be encouraged to provide free space for their girls to take decisions for themselves. For this there is a need to create awareness among community people about the girls’ role in development of a community. Government should take steps to provide more girls public schools and also initiatives should

In the current era of globalization, education has become the major agent of social change which functions as a mechanism enhancing the process of social, economic, and cultural development of communities. It leads to individual freedom and empowerment, which yields significant societal development gains and makes an individual self-reliant. Therefore, gender equality in education is not just a women’s issue, it is a development issue. However, inequality persists between women and men with regard to education in general and for Muslim women in particular. According to 2011 Census data, 48.1% Muslim women are still illiterate.

Since independence the Government of India has focused a lot on education. However, despite many efforts the disparity among various groups in education has not been eliminated. Muslims are the largest religious minority in India and constitute 14.4 percent of the population as per the Census 2011. They are also the most backward group in terms of education. The Muslim literacy rate is lowest among all the religious minorities and Hindus as well, as per the Census of 2011. About 48.1% of Muslim women are still illiterate. The backwardness of Muslims with regard to education, especially girl child education, has always been a grave concern.

Educational Upliftment of Muslim GirlsIs A Development Key of The Community:

be taken to open higher level and technical level institutes separately for girls in Muslim dense area. It was also noticed by Sachar Committee that Muslim-populated areas do not have schools, which also impair the educational mobility of Muslim girls. One of the main reasons behind low participation in girls’ education is financial constraints faced by the Muslim community. Therefore, financial support for girls’ education should be provided to help girls meet the educational expenses particularly for the Muslim community.In there are two main universities for Muslims in Northern India including Jamia Millia Islamia, New DelhAligarh Muslim University, Aligarh UP

The minority status of Amu was uplifted by the government but still Jamia Millia Islamia having seats for Muslims girl reserved. But these two universities were not sufficient for Muslims in Northern India. The population of Muslims in UP, Bihar depends upon on these universities. The universites need to establish for specialy Muslim for the reconstruction of their social and economic conditions.

The percentage of Muslims clearing the examinations has hovered around three per cent for last few years. In 2013, a total of 1,122 candidates had made it to the prestigious civil services, of which 34 or 3.03per cent were Muslims. In the 2012 UPSC result, only 31 Muslims could make it to the final list out of total 998 successful candidates which translates into 3.10 per cent. In the civil services, Muslims comprise about three per cent in IAS, 1.8 per cent in IFS and four per cent in the IPS according to authentic figures.

When you juxtapose this with the fact that Muslims comprise about 14 per cent of the population, three per cent seems to be a very disappointing figure. One would ideally expect that about 170-180 selected candidates should be Muslims, as per their population share.

What the above trend confirms is pretty simple. If the number of Muslim students appearing for these exams was increased from a paltry 0.21 per cent, which is the figure around which it currently hovers, then the number of Muslims clearing UPSC would increase exponentially, given their high success rate. But the question remains as to how more and more Muslims, boys and girls, can be persuaded to apply for these exams in the first place?

Literacy level among Muslims is lower than the national average and drop-out rates are higher. According to a report published in Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi, the dropout rates of Muslim students has shot up to 50 per cent between classes 8 and 9. The educational backwardness of Muslims is a self-evident reality that needs to be addressed by the Indian state through an appropriate mix of affirmative action, educational scholarships and expansion of higher education infrastructure by creating more Aligarh Muslim Universities, Jamias, etc. If this could be done and the number of graduates the community churns out catches up to the national average, the pool of Muslim students who would be eligible to apply for the UPSC exams would increase. The more they apply, the greater will be the number of students who crack the exams.

The only other way that Muslims can be mainstreamed and co-opted into the political and governance structures of the country is through the civil services. Ignoring this would come at its own peril and end up relegating Muslims to becoming the new Dalits of India, in terms of backwardness and discrimination. i

Ateeb Khan msf national Secretary

NAWAB Sirajuddaulah University in murshidabad: a just demand

The Indian Union Muslim League West bengal state committee was the first to raise its voice for the establishment of the NAWAB sirajuddaulah University in murshidabad. In fact the league MP from Murshidabad Late Abu Talib Choudhury and former mla Akm hasanuzzam gave voice to the demand in the house of parliament and legislative assembly. In 2006, West bengal state President Shahanshah Jehangir met Shri Pranab Mukherjee and then education minister of UPA1 Shri Arjun Singh to convince them to facilitate the establishment of a central university in murshidabad in the name of the great fighter against the British Murshidabad NAWAB Sirajuddaulah.

Recently the Muslim Students Federation and Muslim Youth league held a hunger strike Cum peaceful demonstration in front of district magistrate office in Berhampore and also a road block in nh 34 to demand the same. Murshidabad happens to be monetarily and educationally one of the most backward in the nation. Since Independence till 1977 Muslims share in government employments diminished from 13% to 8% in West Bengal. In any case, as indicated by Sachar Committee report submitted in 2006, now the rate is 2.1.According to Census 2001, Muslims constitute 63.67% of populace of Murshidabad.

The backwardness of the district can be traced to. Partition when the rich and elite migrated to Pakistan and the poor, illiterate and financially weak remained. While different groups changed their lives through organizations and government occupations, Muslims proved unable. They are presently rickshaw wallas, tonga wallas and farming workers.

Because of financial impoverishment the education advancement has not been up to the stamp. The quantity of grade schools in proportion with populace is low. Because of monetary backwardness, secondary school going understudies think that its hard to proceed. It's an endless loop. Education and financial backwardness are going next to each other.

Add up to grade schools in the area are 3174 and higher auxiliary madrasas are 500. Given the extent of populace the numbers are low. Required is more than 1000 secondary schools however there are only 500 as it were.

So poor are individuals that Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and Sarva Shiksha Mission did not get much accomplishment here as youngsters dropped after some underlying classes since guardians required cash to keep the home kitchen consuming. The kids are working in block fields or in development part or in fields or bidi making industry .

Murshidabad has been at the discriminating end with regards to educational development of the district. There is no high and quality educational establishment, no college in the region of Murshidabad which had a cosmic system of scholarly individuals, a core of training. In any case, after Independence, the legislature did not open any establishment. Unique Murshidabad has no establishment, no school. The administration workplaces have been moved to new area base camp Behrampur where Muslims are around 2-3%. This is in sharp contrast to the history of Murshidabad which once prided to be the Capital of bengal and also could boast about its intellectual and scholarly talents.

As per enumeration 2011 the proficiency rate of the Murshidabad locale (67.53%) is beneath the national level (74.04%). The aggregate proficiency rate in rustic region is 52.3% and in the urban territories is 68.3%.

Murshidabad region has 6% of the zone and includes 7.78% of the aggregate populace of West Bengal. According to Census 2011, the aggregate populace is 71.02 lakh and is required to cross 70 lakh and the proficiency rate is 63.88%. Murshidabad has a vast convergence of minority populace might be over 66% of the aggregate populace. It is instructively in reverse and the poor female proficiency rate involves concern.

The condition of training by and large and professional vocational instruction is exceptionally poor and that there is an appeal for professional preparing training and the local organization should give careful consideration around there.

The particular zones where individuals are intrigued to get preparing are PC, hardware, driving and car repair and support. An expansive level of individuals ar moreover willing to pay for the cost of preparing. New courses might be presented in the ITIs and if vital, these courses might be made charge based.After the formation of School Service Commission and educational awareness spreading among the community, Muslim youths have got some job in teaching field. Over one decade, Muslims boys are getting jobs in schools. In ratio to total population, however, it is very scanty. However a new generation of youths are going to college, who find it difficult to get admission in colleges or universities in kolkata. Also even if some manage to get admission, getting accommodation place is a tougher challenge, as they are refused by landlords due to their Muslim religious identity.

The establishment of the NAWAB sirajuddaulah University in murshidabad would boost the educational advancement of the district, create an environment of learning, motivate parents to educate their children, brighten up education opportunities for youths in the district and neighbouring minority dominated districts.

Sabir S Ghaffar