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[ COMMUNAL MATTERS - INDIA ]
of Muslims in rural areas were unemployed
as compared to 4 percent Hindus. In urban
areas, there is only one percentile difference
– 4 percent of Hindus are unemployed as
compared to 5 percent of Muslims.
There was also a controversial two-year
collaborative study by researchers at the
Indian Institute of Dalit Studies (IIDS)
and sociologists supported by Princeton
University’s Institute for International and
Regional Studies which brought out that
candidates with distinctly Dalit or Muslim
names were not called for interviews as
frequently as those with Hindu upper caste
names, their resumes being equal.
While it very difficult to evaluate the
extent of the bias based on the findings both
from the NSSO as well as the Princeton
study, there does seem to be some bias.
However without going into all the reasons
why more Muslims are unemployed, it
is difficult to arrive at any hard and fast
conclusion. At times the candidate himself
may not prefer a certain kind of job. Julio
Ribeiro gives an example from the police
force. He recounts his own experience
when he was DIG CRP (Central Reserve
Police). Acting on a directive from the
centre to hire more people from the
minority community, he hired about a
dozen young Muslim boys. “Within a
month their own leaders influenced them
to leave,” complains Ribeiro. And when
it comes to the poor representation of
Muslims in the Maharashtra police, he feels
it is because the state government has made
Marathi compulsory. “Mumbai may be a
cosmopolitan city, but it is the capital of
Maharashtra so we cannot say it is wrong to
make Marathi compulsory. But it is sad that
“
While family
background,the
circumstances, social
situation all play a part,
the psychological aspect
is also important.
Finally, it does depend
on how strong your
mind is. That is why the
masterminds always
pick on young people:
some of the members
of IM are teenagers.
”
even those who know Marathi are being
influenced by community leaders to give it
up, I have seen this myself.”
He believes that there is an urgent need
to get more Muslims on board, particularly
in the police force, “but the community,” he
says needs to look within itself.
Global terrorism and incorrect interpretation
of religious texts
Javadekar believes that the root cause of
home-grown terrorism is mostly because
of global terrorism. Terrorism has become
a world-wide political movement, fuelled
by religious misinformation. “The reason
is mainly global terrorism. You see what is
happening in the Middle East, in Chechnya,
in Indonesia…if injustice was the main
cause why should people from well-to-do
families also be caught?” He gives examples
of other downtrodden groups in India who
have not turned to terrorism to solve their
problems despite suffering great injustice.
Zeenat Shaukat Ali agrees that the
misinterpretation of Islam is a problem. “We
need enlightened interpretation of Islam, of
the text. Islam is a non-violent religion, but
there is misrepresentation, not just by non-
Muslims but also by Muslims.”
Ribeiro adds: “The biggest problem is
when someone thinks that only his own
religion is the only true religion.” He
believes that such feelings are exploited by
fanatics who indoctrinate people for their
own ends, by making wrong interpretations
of the religion. A combination of religious
fanaticism and feelings of religious
discrimination can be a potent combination
- for vulnerable people.
Criminals take to terrorism
And many of these people are criminals
- mass murderers, no less. “Anyone who
perpetrates violence is a criminal,” agrees
Engineer, quite unequivocally. And this is
borne out by the fact that the number of
criminal minded people accused in Indian
Mujahideen (IM) is high. Riyaz Bhatkal
(alias Mohd Riyaz alias Roshan Khan),
believed to be the head of (IM) is not just
linked to Lashkar-e-Toiba, the Pakistanbased
terror outfit, but has links with the
criminal underworld. He gave lectures on
Asghar Ali Engineer, the Director of Centre for Study of
Society and Secularism
Mohammed Naseem Siddiqui, Chairman of the
Maharashtra State Minorities Rights Commission
Julio Ribeiro, former Commissioner of Police (Mumbai)
and former Director General of Police (Punjab)
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