Muslims and Education in Bihar: some revealing facts

By Dr. Abuzar Kamaluddin

Despite many central and state government sponsored educational schemes for minorities, only 36% Muslims are literate in the state of Bihar.

Educational backwardness is a key factor responsible for the social cultural economic and political backwardness of the Muslim community in Bihar. Very few authentic studies are available on this subject. No serious effort has ever been made to know the actual condition of the community.

According to the 1991 census, the Muslim population in Bihar was 101.19 lakhs which formed 15.7% of the total state population. This constitutes 10% of the country’s total Muslim Population. During 1991-2001, the population of Bihar had grown by 28.4% and Muslim population slightly higher i.e 29% which constitute about 130 lakh plus which is 16% of the total population of the state. 84.5% of Muslim population lives in rural areas and 15.5% in urban areas. There are nine divisions in Bihar. The largest number of Muslim population is found in Purnea Division -26.76 1akh, followed by Tirhut Division- 21.5 lakh, Darbhanga Division- 13.01 lakh, Saran Division- 9.07 1akh, Patna Division 8.98 lakh, Magadh Division- 6.95 lakh, Munger Division- 5.68 lakh, Kosi Division- 4.80 lakh and Bhagalpur Division- 4.44 lakh. Out of 37 districts of the state, there are 14 districts, which have high Muslim - concentration ranging from more than three lakh to over seven lakh. The district with relatively higher Muslim concentration are all in the north Bihar. As a matter of fact, all the Muslim groups in the state are backward. According to census 2001, the literacy rate of all the 37 districts are a follows: Patna 63.82%, Rohtas 62.36%, Munger 60.11%, Bhojpur 59.71% Aurangabad 57.50%, Buxer 57.49% Jahanabad 56.03%, Kaimur 53.64%, Nalanda 53.64%. Saran 52.01%, Siawn 52.01% Vaishali 51.63%, Gaya 51.07%, Bhaglapur 50.28 %, Sheikhpura 49.01% Begusarai 48.55%, Lakhisarai 48.21%, Gopalganj 48.19%, Muzaffarpur 48.15% Nawada 47.36%, Samastipur 45.76%, Darbhanga 44.32%. Banka 43.40%, Jamui 42.74%, Madhubani 42.35%, Khagaria 41.56%, West Champaran 39.63%, Sitamarhi 39.38%, Saharsa 39.28%, East Champaran 38.14%, Supaul 37.8%, Sheohar 37.01%, Madhepura 36.19%, Purnea 35-51%, Katihar 35.29%, Ararai 34.34% and Kishaganj 31.02%. The literacy rate among Muslims is far less than the general literacy rate. According to a household survey conducted by the Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI) Patna, for the literacy rate among Muslims, the outcome was as follows: Patna 43.1%, Raohtas 41.9% Munger 53%, Kishangnaj 24% and Katihar 28.9%.

One thing that is clear from these figures is that the literacy rate in the high concentration Muslim areas is far less than the national average and it is less than the state average also. Despite many central and state government sponsored educational schemes for minorities, the number of illiterates among Muslims are as high as 64%. Primary to Higher Secondary 33.6%, in Higher education graduation, post graduation and Technical, the combined figure is 2.4%. It means only 36% Muslims are literate in the state of Bihar. As per census report 2001 literacy rate for Muslim is 38% and 44.4% among general population.

There are some other interesting statistics available about the type of educational institutions and presently school/college going students in the state of Bihar. 51.1 students opt for government institutions in rural areas and 53.9% in urban areas. 2% students opt for expensive private institution in rural areas and 7.6% in urban areas. 15.7% go to ordinary private institutions in rural areas and 24.6% in urban areas. Only 4.1% students study in minority schools in rural areas and 3.2% in urban areas. 24.1% of rural students and 9.0% of urban students go to Madrasa.

The educational facilities and standard of education in Urdu/ Hindi medium schools are far less in comparison to English medium institutions, which is reflected in the low level of performance of students of these institution in general education as well as other competitive examinations. Thus the problem of education is manifold- High mass illiteracy, low standard of education and low level of performance.

We have to tackle all these problems simultaneously, for which we need to adopt a multi-pronged policy to meet this challenge.

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(The writer is former vice-chairman Bihar Intermediate Education Council and a senior principal in B.R.A. Bihar University-Muzaffarpur)

Muslims at bottom of the social heap

Muslims at bottom of the social heap

JAYANTH JACOB

Posted online: Tuesday, April 18, 2006 at 0601 hours IST
Updated: Tuesday, April 18, 2006 at 1326 hours IST

muslim women NEW DELHI, April 17: Discriminated against and pushed to the sidelines, the Muslim community in India is at the bottom of the heap when it comes to benefits from Government-run welfare schemes, access to education, employment, even the system of credit, including bank loans.

This is the disturbing conclusion emerging from the initial findings of the Prime Minister’s High Level Committee, headed by Justice (retd) Rajinder Sachar, looking into the “social, economic and education status of the Muslim community in the country.� The final report of the committee is expected to be submitted in June this year.

Since August last year, the committee has collected data after visiting several states, holding talks with government departments in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Delhi, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, NGOs and Muslim organisations.

The data, accessed by The Indian Express, shows:

• 94.9 per cent of Muslims in Below Poverty Line (BPL) families in rural areas do not receive free foodgrains.

• While only 3.2 per cent of Muslims get subsidised loans, just 1.9 per cent of the community benefit from the Antyodaya Anna Yojana Scheme, a programme meant to prevent starvation among the poorest of poor by providing food grains at a subsidised rate.

• 60.2 per cent of Muslims do not have any land in rural areas. National average: 43%

• Just 2.1 per cent of Muslim farmers have tractors. With 15,25,000 tractors, India ranks No.4 after US, Japan and Italy

• A mere 1 per cent own handpumps.

• On the educational front, the picture is equally dismal: 54.6 per cent Muslims in villages and 60 per cent in urban areas have never attended schools. National average: 40.8 per cent in rural areas and 19.9 per cent in urban areas.

• Only 0.8 per cent of Muslims in rural areas are graduates.

• Although in urban areas, nearly 40 per cent of the Muslims now receive modern education, only 3.1 per cent of the community in urban areas are graduates. Just 1.2 per cent are post-graduates.

When contacted by The Indian Express, Justice Sachar said: “These figures are based on what people and organisations told us when we met them in the states. But they need to be analysed before arriving at any final conclusion. The committee is yet to submit its report�.

The committee also found shocking instances of discrimination against the community. These include cases of Muslims not getting loans from even nationalised banks and finding it difficult to sell or buy property.

“There is an implicit diktat that loans should not be given in specific areas dominated by Muslims because of the high probability of default�, the committee observed after its visit to Rajasthan between August 22 and 24 last year.

The committee also found inadequate number of government schools in the Muslim-dominated areas contributing to the low number of Muslim boys and girls attending the schools.

source: expressindia.com

Socio-economic development in 1990s

The gap widened during the 1990s
By C. Rammanohar Reddy

The differences in socio-economic development between Hindus and Muslims did not narrow during the 1990s, in at least one important respect the Muslim Indian on the average was worse off at the end of the decade than he was at the beginning.

The National Sample Survey Organisation made estimates of a few indicators in 1987-88 and many more for 1993-94 and 1999-2000. The results of a comparison across these three time points:

* Literacy rates for both Hindus and Muslims improved, albeit slowly, between 1993-94 and 1999-2000. But the gap between the two religious groups remained where it was in the rural areas, while it narrowed marginally in the towns and cities. The illiteracy rate for Hindus in the rural areas was 50 per cent in 1993-94 (Muslims: 54 per cent) and it had come down by the end of the decade to 44 per cent (Muslims: 48 per cent): a difference of 6 percentage points at both time points. But in urban India, the Muslim illiteracy rate that was as much as 14 percentage points higher in 1993-94 had narrowed a bit to 11 percentage points by the end of the decade.

* In rural India, Muslims seemed to be further marginalised in access to land during the course of the 1990s. In 1987-88, 40 per cent of rural Muslim households cultivated little or no land, compared to 34 per cent among Hindus. By 1999-2000 the proportion of households in both religious groups in this situation had risen, but the increase was much faster among the minority community: 51 per cent among Muslims and 40 per cent among the Hindus.

* The relative position of the members of the two main religious groups in employment status followed an unusual trend. In 1987-88, in the towns and cities, Muslims in the work force experienced lower unemployment rates than the Hindus (4 per cent versus 5.5 per cent), a situation that continued in 1993-94, but by 1999-2000, there was a reversal. Muslims on the average had by the end of the decade a slightly higher level of unemployment (5 per cent versus 4.7 per cent). This change was largely but not entirely on account of a deterioration in the position of working Muslim women. In the villages, however, Muslims who in 1987-88 suffered from a higher unemployment rate continued to do so in 1999-2000. The disadvantages that Muslims suffered in work, literacy and access to land was reflected in the relative levels of monthly per capita expenditure on items of consumption.

Compared to 1993-94, the proportion of both Hindus and Muslims who fell in the bottom 20 per cent of the population was greater in 1999-2000 in both rural and urban India.

But as the accompanying Table shows, a substantially larger proportion of Muslims fell in this class by the end of the decade. The deterioration in status was especially marked in urban India. The NSSO has made estimates for a number of other indicators (for example, worker participation and kind of employment) and has also presented information for individual States and according to gender.

But whichever group of indicators one looks at and whatever level of detail the comparison, the story is the same. The Muslims are on the average on lower rungs of the socio-economic ladder than the Hindus and the differences either remained the same or widened during the 1990s.

http://www.hinduonnet.com/2002/09/13/stories/2002091302781300.htm

Syed Najiullah : The Status of Muslims in India

The Status of Muslims in India
Syed Najiullah

Contrary to the popular perception that Muslims came to India through the west as the invaders, they appeared first in South India long before Mohammed bin Qasim entered Sindh in 712 A.D. They came as traders, married local women and settled in the Malabar region where they are known as ‘Mapillas’. The first Mosque was also built in Kerala in 629 A.D., itself at Methala, Kodangaloor. However the advent of the Muslims in the eleventh and twelfth century had major impact and changed the political map of the country. From the beginning of thirteenth century till the advent of the British Muslims dynasties ruled over major part of Indian sub continent.

The British considered Muslims as potential rivals because from them they have taken over the reigns of the India. This was evident from the writings of W.W. Hunter who was deputed by Governor General Mayo to conduct an enquiry into whether Indian Muslims were bound by their religion to rebel against the Queen. While denying that Islamic doctrine propelled Muslims to rebel against a non- Muslim ruler, Hunter wrote that , “ Muslims, a race ruined under British rule, harboured intense feelings of nationality’ and were prone to giving periodic expression of this in war like enterprise.� Particularly after the 1857 revolt the British followed a policy of preferring Hindus to Muslims in the administrative positions. However the necessity to counter the influence of the Indian National Congress has made the British to look towards Muslims. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan appreciating the utility of modern education grabbed the opportunity and aligned with the British for the development of education among his community.

The introduction of the element of democracy in the local bodies in India and the concept gaining currency as the best form of government, developed minority consciousness among the Muslim leadership which led to the formation of Muslim League in 1906 at Dacca. The apprehension of the Muslim leaders about the future of minorities in independent India ultimately led to the partition of the country. While the Muslims majority areas became home land for Muslim a large number of Muslims decided to stay back in the country of their birth. Thus the Muslims who have came to India as traders became rulers, then minorities and in the post partition India as vulnerable minorities because not only their numbers dwindled but also they lost a voice as they were continuously suspected as the people who are cause for the partition India.

Secular India

The partition of India made the Indian Muslims more vulnerable. “It has created an extra ordinary situation overnight. The creation of Pakistan rocked the secular outlook of the Hindus who began to nurse a sense of permanent injury. The Muslim community got a sense of insecurity, frustration and uncertainty out of independence and partition.� Nevertheless India remained secular mainly because of Mahatma Gandhi who became martyr for the cause of secular India. Jawaharlal Nehru’s commitment to secular India provided the necessary solace and security to the Indian Muslims. However, Muslims were concerned more about their security than rights and they did not go beyond the demand of protection of their life, property and cultural identity.

The Muslim leadership

The Muslims leaders always concerned with religio-culture issues rather than socio-economic development of the community. Moin Shakir aptly describes the role played by Muslim leaders. He says “the Muslim politics has been elitists… they all confine themselves to the discussion of Muslim Personal law, Character of Aligarh Muslim University and the status of Urdu. These problems being religio cultural in nature tend to make the discussion take on a communal hue, partly because separate cultural identity is cherished more strongly by community living in a setting that threatens to overwhelm it and partly because the premises, components and references in the argument, leave all other communities more or less out of the field.� The issues of education, unemployment, poverty, under representation of Muslims in elected bodies hardly figured in their agenda.

Policy of Appeasement

After the Nehru era, in the face of the challenge to the leadership Indira Gandhi made conscious efforts to create mass base for herself and started populist schemes targeting SCs, STs and minorities. Under this package while the SCs and STs got share in the poverty alleviation schemes and rural development programmes the Muslims got only the guarantee of secular policy and the promise of protection of their life and property. The successive governments also found it prudent to address the symbolic and emotional issues of Muslim which can be encashed easily in terms of political gains rather than concentrating on their socio-economic development.

As a result the real issues of poverty, education and employment were never addressed. The sentimental issues like ban on a book offending the sentiments of Muslims, holiday on Miladun Nabi and haj subsidy were projected as the signs of their commitment towards the Muslims. These issues instead of accruing any substantial benefit to Muslims gave credence to the rightist propaganda that Muslims are being appeased.

Thus even after 50 years of independence ‘the pampered community’ remained as the most backward community economically and educationally which is evident from the following data.

Education among the Muslims:

Muslims are the most backward community educationally. The 1986 New Education Policy also recognized Muslims along with Neo- Buddhists as ‘the educationally backward community’. A comparative analysis of the data on the levels of literacy among different communities shows that Muslims are lagging behind all the communities in literacy. The data available from the Census 2001 is given below.

Table 1

Literacy Rate among Religious Communities Census 2001