Muslims in Manipur: A look at their socio-economic condition

By Mudassir Rizwan, TwoCircles.net,



Muslims who are also called Pangal in local terminology came to the Manipuri region in the late 16th or early 17th century. They are also called Meitei-Pangal which means indigenized and acculturated or simply Manipuri Muslims. They settled in this land earlier than many other communities.



They have since remained part and parcel of Manipuri society. They were very much part of the various ups and downs witnessed by the region, as it evolved from its tribal nature to its present status.





As per the Census 2001 Muslims constitute 7% of the total population of the state. They are settled in different pockets such as Lilong, Yairipok, Sangaiyumpham, Kshetrigao, Moirang, Mayang Imphal, Thoubal, Bishenpur, Chandel and Churachandpur. A section of the Muslims in the state also are migrants from Bihar and UP.



The present socio-economic condition of the Pangals or Muslims in Manipur is pathetic. At least this is what one concludes from the statistics provided by the All-Manipur Muslim United Coordinating Committee (AMMUCOC), a Muslim representative body in the state.



According to the Muslim body, the literacy rate among Muslims is 58.6 percent (male 75 percent and female 41.6 percent) much below the state’s average of 70.5 percent (male 80.3 percent and female 60.5 percent).

Out of 1,35,000 people (the Muslim population in the state ) by the end of the year 1995 there were only 5,704 matriculates, 1,822 graduates in addition to 86 technical and professional graduates.

There are only 51 Class I Muslim officers including three women, 101 Class II officers and 1,270 and 1,663 employees belonging to Class III and IV categories respectively.



At the root of their pathetic condition, as the community leaders feel, is the fact that the successive governments have done nothing worthwhile to uplift the community educationally and economically.



It is evident from the fact that the twenty-nine officially recognized tribal groups have 20-seats exclusively reserved for them in the 60-member Manipur state assembly and up to 31 percent reservation in all government jobs.



But by contrast Muslims have been forced to recoil in their own ghettos without any kind of help from the government.



Although in December 2006 Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh did announce a four percent reservation policy for the Muslim community in government jobs. But this half hearted announcement hasn't bore satisfactory results.



Their subhuman living condition is characterized by ethnic rivalry. Rivalry between Pangals and Meiteis.



Meiteis are the privileged majority community of the state. They are the most educated and economically well-off community. The clash between them and the Pangals (Muslims) in 1993 is one of the well etched communal scars in the history of Muslims in the state.





TCN talked to Sitara Begum, President of All Manipur Muslims Women Development Organization (AIMMWDO). According to her it started due to wild rumors and misunderstanding between Meiteis and Meitei Muslims.



Although an altercation did take place between the Muslim groups and the Meitei youths belonging to People's Republican Army (PRA), the neighboring Meitei villagers spread the rumors of molestation of some Meitei girls by the Meitei Muslims.



In the riot which followed the rumors, 150 Muslims and 4 Meiteis died in the valley districts and 149 were injured. One hundred and one cases were registered by the police and 423 persons arrested in connection with the incident.



Fortunately, it ended abruptly though healing of wounds took a bit long.

And it is because of this fight between two unequal groups that according to Institute of Peace & Conflict Studies, North East India, militant Muslim groups like the People's United Liberation Front (PULF), Islamic Revolutionary Front (IRF), Islamic National Front (INF), United Islamic Revolutionary Army (UIRA) and United Islamic Liberation Army (UILA) came into existence in Manipur to protect their communities after the Meitei-Pangal clash that took 150 Muslim lives in 1993.



TCN talked to Azimuddin Choudhary, about the socio-economic conditions of the Muslims in the state. Mr. Choudhary is the General Secretary of Markaz Maarif and also runs a madarsa in Lolang.



He too expressed concern over pathetic socio-economic condition of the Muslims in the state. He stressed that they are in urgent need of quality education and economic empowerment.

So it is high time that the government must take concrete measures to ensure fair participation of Muslims in the economic and social mainstream. Otherwise the day is not far when they will be reduced to non-entity.


(With inputs from Delhi-based journalist Md. Ali)

Link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meitei_people#External_links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangal#External_links

Report card: Majority of Muslim Lok Sabha MPs remain silent, Owaisi again leader

By TCN News,

New Delhi: Muslim Members of Lok Sabha (Lower House of Indian Parliament) have again disappointed their constituencies as well as the community as majority of them remained tight-lipped not asking any question during the November-December 2009 Winter Session.

The session ran from November 11 to December 21 with 21 working days. According to official data available by January 2, 2010, of 29 Muslim Members of Lok Sabha 18 did not ask any question. However, once again, Asaduddin Owaisi, lone MP of All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslemeen (AIMIM) from Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh) laughed his way to the constituency retaining leadership of Muslim MPs with 41 questions.


This is the second time when TwoCircles.net is presenting the report card on the performance of Muslim MPs in the Parliament – the highest legislative body of the country – before the community and the country. No other media, Muslim or otherwise, has ever presented such report card. That’s why our last report card on July-August 2009 session of Parliament got much accolade from public and created flutter among some Muslim parliamentarians.


During the recent Winter Session, while 18 Muslim Lok Sabha Members did not ask any question, Asaduddin Owaisi asked the most – 41. This despite the fact that he was among the 32 MPs because of whose absence on November 30, 2009 the Question Hour was cancelled. These 32 MPs had questions listed against their name but were absent.


In good performance Owaisi is followed by BJP’s Syed Shahnawaz Hussain (Bhagalpur, Bihar) with 27 questions. Others whose questions touched double figure are J M Aron Rashid of Congress (19), M I Shanavas (Congress) 16, Monazir Hsasan of JD-U (11) and Badruddin Ajmal of AUDF (10).

As the ruling Congress has more Muslim MPs (10) in the present Lok Sabha, the party also has the largest share of ‘onlooker’ MPs (8 of 18 non-performers). Except J M Aron Rashid and M I Shanavas, all other MPs of the party – majority from North India including Asrarul Haq Qasmi and Muhammad Azharuddin, preferred to be silent.


BSP is the second top low performer as all four Muslim MPs of the party did not ask any question. The ranking is shared by Trinamool Congress (3 MPs) and Muslim League (2 MPs) – both parties are partners of the ruling alliance -- who also remained silent.


The session ran for 21 days. There were four Muslim MPs who remained present in the House on all these days but only two of them asked question -- BJP’s Syed Shahnawaz Hussain (21 questions) and Sk Saidul Haq of CPM (9 questions), the other two – Ismail Hussain (Cong) and Shafiqur Rahman Barq (BSP) did not have any question to ask.

The lowest performer in attendance was Mausam Noor of Congress (4 days).

Type of Questions

Questions are of three types:-

Starred, Unstarred and Short Notice Questions


A Starred Question is one to which a member desires an oral answer in the House and which is distinguished by an asterisk mark. When a question is answered orally, supplementary questions can be asked thereon. Only 20 questions can be listed for oral answer on a day.

An Unstarred Question: is one which is not called for oral answer in the House and on which no supplementary questions can consequently be asked. To such a question, a written answer is deemed to have been laid on the Table after the Question Hour by the Minister to whom it is addressed. It is printed in the official report of the sitting of the House for which it is put down. Only 230 questions can be listed for written answer on a day.

A Short Notice Question is one which relates to a matter of urgent public importance and can be asked with shorter notice than the period of notice prescribed for an ordinary question. Like a starred question, it is answered orally followed by supplementary questions.

---

Name: Mr. Abdul Mannan Hossain
Age: 57
Constituency: Murshidabad (West Bengal )
Party name: Indian National Congress(INC)

No of days present : 08/21

No. of questions: 0

[The report has been compiled by Mudassir Rizwan of TwoCircles.net Patna Correspondent]

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Patna police uprooting Muslim traders selling cane-made items, govt. silent

By Manzar Bilal and Mudassir Rizwan, TwoCircles.net,

Patna: Abdul Jalil (30) has been selling cane chairs and sofas made with cane in his open-air shop near Gandhi Maidan in Patna for years. Himself an expert in making cane-made items, Jalil has 10 employees to meet the demand for his items. His father has been doing this business for the last 40 years and following into his footsteps, Abdul Jalil along with his three brothers adopted the same trade.

He originally hails from Gaya district in Bihar but lives with his family in Phulwari Shareef area in Patna – the capital city. He has been able to earn Rs.10000-15000 per month which, according to him, goes up to 20000 in season such as in January-February in which demand for the products increases.





Abdul Jalil says their sofas and other cane items are bought not only by the people in the state but they are also transported to other parts of the country. Thus they were able to get better income.





Jalil is not alone in the trade in that area. In fact, there are several dozens of businessmen – almost all of them Muslims – who are involved in the trade and running shops like Jalil’s. Everything was going fine for them till a few weeks ago. But now they are much worried about their future.





About one month ago – all of a sudden, without giving any notice – the Patna Police forcibly stopped them from selling their goods at that place where they have been for decades, without giving them any alternate place. This ‘anti-encroachment’ or ‘city beautification’ drive has snatched the livelihood of hundreds of people.


“For the last one month the local police are not permitting us to open our shops. Police come here many times in a day and if they find any sofa at roadside, they beat the owner and also take the sofa with them. There is no surety that the owner will get back the item from the police station. Thus they lose at least Rs. 5000 which is a big loss for people like us. Therefore, we are frightened and put our goods inside the streets,” Abdul Jalil told TCN.





It is not only Abdul Jalil but there are many shopkeepers who told the same tale. They have been putting their shops everyday at roadside to sell the cane items. They buy cane from the market and made different types of beautiful pieces of furniture like sofas, chairs and tables. Some of them make these items at their homes and put here for sale while some others prepare it here itself.


Mashooq Alam, another sofa-maker and lone bread earner for his family, said: “I am doing this business for the last 18 years. I learnt it from my late father. My three children are pursuing education in schools and I have been fulfilling their needs from this business. But now it is getting difficult as police disturb us every day. They stopped us from opening our shops at the place where we have been doing the business for decades but they are not giving us any alternate place for our business.”





25-year-old Muzaffar Alam also seemed somehow worried. He said that just two years ago he started this business and was happy with it but now he is getting nervous as he has little saving to set up his shop in a new place as police is not allowing him to do the business here.


While we were talking to them, a police jeep arrived and traders got frightened. Some of them fled the scene leaving their shops at the mercy of the policemen. Some of them later said that though their shops were inside the street they feared the police would beat them.



Mashooq Alam


Whether the government will provide these traders with any alternative or just continue letting the police terrify them – and make money in the process – is to be seen.











Police jeep

Common Muslims don’t hope punishment to Babri culprits, criticize Muslim leadership

By TwoCircles.net,

New Delhi: Common Muslims, whether in the National Capital of New Delhi or state capital like Patna, have not taken as surprising the findings of the 17-year-old Liberhan Commission. They aren’t a bit hopeful that the guilty of Babri Masjid demolition will ever be punished. At the same time, they have no good words for the Muslim leadership for what they did during the decades-long Babri movement.



Asked to comment on the indictment of Sangh Parivar leaders in the Liberhan Commission report for the Babri Masjid demolition, Delhi and Patna Muslims said the culprits of the Babri demolition were known to all as all that happened on December 6, 1992 in Ayodhya was telecast throughout the world. Yet, the Liberhan Commission took 17 years to find out them.


On how much hopeful they are about the punishment of the culprits of the demolition indicted in the Liberhan report, an elderly Muslim in Patna said: Nothing will happen to the culprits. Like reports of other commissions in the last 60 years, this will also meet the same fate. A Delhi man in mid-thirties said: I am not sure anyone will be punished. The entire issue of a criminal case has been and will be politicized. The government was not ready to table the report but after the leak it did so unwillingly.




Asked to comment on criticism of Muslim leaders by the Liberhan Commission for “failing the community and not presenting a consensus and constant view on the dispute neither in the court nor outside,” common Muslims were evenly divided in their views about Muslim leaders.

While a Patna resident said the Commission’s comment on Muslim leaders is correct as they did not put the Muslims’ point strongly, and they just cared for their chair, another in the same city, capital of Bihar, describes the commission’s comment as wrong.


Similar division is seen in Delhi.


While an elderly Muslim in the National Capital says that to criticize Muslim leaders in this case is wrong and unjustified, a youth’s view on the issue is just opposite.


“As for criticism of the Muslim leaders, Liberhan Commission is true as Muslim leaders then did not guide the community correctly. They did not put the view of the community before the world clearly. I think there was something wrong on the part of Muslim leadership,” says the man.

(Inputs from Mudassir Rizwan in Patna and Mumtaz Alam Falahi in New Delhi)

Muslim leaders demand reservation, implementation of Sachar report

By Manzar Bilal and Mudassir Rizwan, TwoCircles.net,

Patna: Muslim leaders from across the country and heads of some political parties shared the dais of the newly formed Muttahida Milli Mahaz group in Patna on November 11 to reiterate the demand of reservation for the Muslim community and full implementation of the Rajendra Sachar Committee recommendations.

Thousands of Muslims had thronged the Krishna Memorial Hall in the capital city of Patna to attend the Insaf Rally organized by the Mahaz.





“Muslims as a community are most backward of all communities as Sachar Committee described and Ranganath Misra Commission recommended 10% reservation for Muslims. I ask the government that when a retired chief justice of India has recommended for Muslim reservation then why it is in doubt about implementation” said ex-MP and diplomat Mr. Syed Shahabuddin.

“There has been a propaganda that Muslims cannot be given reservation as a community while other communities have benefited in the past and Indian constitution has space for that” said Shahabuddin.





“Muslims should take part in politics but not form a Muslim party. Muslims should ask the political parties before voting as to how many tickets they give to Muslims and also if they support reservation for Muslims or not. If yes then vote and if not then no votes” he added.

He also demanded that government should give constitutional status to 15-point program so that its effect would be seen on the ground.





“It was propagated that Muslims have been appeased but Sachar Committee report has disclosed the reality. We politicians are really responsible for worst condition of the community. Secular parties should come up to take on Muslims problems because country cannot progress ignoring the Muslims” said NCP leader and MP Tariq Anwer.

The daylong program began with the recitation of the glorious Quran. It was presided over by former Bihar chief minister Dr. Jagannnath Misra and conducted by Congress leader Azmi Bari.





In his welcome speech, ex-minister of Bihar Mr. Akhlaq Ahmad informed the audience about objective and purposes behind the conference.

“We demand the government to put Ranganath Misra Commission report on the floor of Parliament in coming session. For that we gathered here and it is not last but first step in this regard. We will continue until our demands are fulfilled” he said.





Mr. E.M. Abdur Rahman, president of Popular Front of India, said: “Sachar Committee identified the sorry condition of Muslims but did not prescribe the solution which is sorrowful but Misra Commission recommended reservation for Muslims which is the real solution to the problem.”

“Communal forces say that if Muslims would be given reservation, the country would be partitioned again but we say that if Muslim would be provided with reservation, it would be in the interest of the country” Rahman said.





He also said that Muslims should make all efforts for getting reservation then no party can stop them from getting their constitutional rights.

“Muslims did not come from anywhere; on the contrary they have embraced Islam here and because of their good character they ruled over India for centuries. Muslims have struggled for freedom of the country along with other communities but after the independence they have been pushed behind and ignored in all spheres of life. Therefore, reservation is necessary to uplift them and include them in national mainstream” said Akhtrul Iman, RJD MLA.





RJD MLC Ghulam Ghaus said that he appealed to Mr. Nitesh Kumar, Chief Minister of Bihar, to give 5% reservation to Muslims on the pattern of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu but he refused to do so.

Former union minister Mr. Aslam Sher Khan who came from MP to attend the program said: “Bihar has played vital role in Indian politics so this program will leave positive impact all over the country. We have only two demands. First is to table Misra Commission report in Parliament and second is to implement Fatmi committee recommendations.”





“India is like a garden where various kinds of people are living. It is the responsibility of gardener to take care of all. But Muslims have been discriminated in independent India. Muslims will have to come forward to take part in government and then make all efforts to solve their problems” said LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan.

RJD supremo Mr. Lalu Prasad assured that he is with Muslims in this movement and will offer all kinds of help, if needed. He also told president of Muttahida Milli Mahaz to hold a program in Gandhi Maidan.





“Ranganath Misra Commission was set up by government and not by Muslims so government should put it in Parliament in next parliament session” he demanded.

Former union minister M. Ali Ashraf Fatmi who was also the chairman of Fatmi Committee, said: “Fatmi Committee has recommended for spending 7000 crore for welfare of Muslims in five years. Of them 200 crore for 5 campuses of Aligarh Muslim University in Murshidabad, Kishanganj, Malappuram, Bhopal, and Pune but so far only 50 crore has been granted for Murshidabad and Malappuram”





“We demand full implementation of Fatmi Committee recommendations and reservation on the basis of Ranganath Misra Commission” he said.

Notably, Sachar Committee disclosed that Muslims are lagging behind in education and their representation in government jobs is poor. On the basis of that, Fatmi Committee recommended various programs to meet educational problems of the community and Ranganath Misra Commission recommended many schemes to solve their financial problems. The commission also recommended 10% reservation for Muslims.





It was first time in Bihar when Muslim leaders irrespective of their parties and groups came together to press government to table Ranganath Misra Commission Report in Parliament and to implement Fatmi Committee recommendations.

It is to be noted that a national convention for Muslim reservation was organized at India Islamic Cultural Centre in New Delhi under the banner of Joint Committee of Muslim Organizations for Empowerment. The convention had appealed to attendees to start this movement in their areas to make it powerful.





Mr. Akhlaq Ahmad, the ex-minister of Bihar, who attended the convention, was inspired by this initiative and decided to take this ahead. On 13 June 2009 the first meeting about this matter was held in MLA Club, Patna where Muttahida Milli Mahaz was launched. Since then several programs were held in almost all districts of the state to create awareness among Muslims about reservation.

Mr. Tanveer Hasan, the convener of the Muttahida Milli Mahaz, said: “If our demand will not be fulfilled in next parliament session we will hold agitation before parliament in Delhi.”





A large number of people from across the state as well as outside of the state attended the program. The Krishna Memorial Hall was not enough space for people who came to attend the program which sent a message for politicians that Muslims are no longer to be ignored.

Dr. Ayyub Ansari, president of Peace Party, Shoaib Iqbal, Delhi MLA, Abdul Khaliq, national secretary of LJP, LJP leader Ezhar Ahmad, Pervez Ahmad, Zafar Emam, noted journalist Mr. Saeed Naqvi and several others also spoke on the occasion.