Although the decline of the political leadership of the Muslim community in this country had started after the arrival of the British, but after that, due to the policy of “divide and rule” of the British, this community started disappearing in the face of time. Because the remaining gap was completed by the Lord Viceroy on 14 August 1947 by giving approval to the creation of a religion-based nation on the call of the Muslim League.
The country of India was divided and a new country emerged which was named Pakistan. But the story does not end here because geographically Pakistan was formed in the direction of west and east. Which later emerged as the nation of Bangladesh in 1971 on the basis of language.
At the same time, the biggest question facing the Muslim community was whom should they consider as their homeland and where should they go. In the same dilemma, on the call of Gandhiji/Nehru/Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, a place to stay was being found in India also. But the Muslim community of that time chose Pakistan/Bangladesh/Hindustan as per their convenience.
What has been the economic, social and political condition of the Muslim community in India since 1947?
When the top leadership of Congress (Gandhi/Nehru/Maulana Azad) gave the call, a large number of Muslim communities remained in India. They considered this as their homeland and started living and dying here. But the condition of this community was not normal because a section always looked at it with suspicion. That is why this community lost its leadership and social status and started becoming a victim of economic backwardness.
In most statistics released, if any community is lagging behind day by day, it is the Muslim community. However, many times the Central Government has formed many commissions and committees to assess the economic, social and educational status of this community. In which the report of Ranganath Mishra Commission, Kundu Committee and Sachar Committee confirmed that indeed the condition of this community is worse than that of Dalits and tribals. However, the government which made such efforts faced the charge of appeasement politics.
What is the condition of Muslim community in recent times?
Ever since the BJP-led Narendra Modi government came to power in 2014, the feeling of insecurity among the Muslim community has increased, although it is not that the insecurity was not there before. But in recent times, mob lynching, ghar wapsi, love jihad, temple-mosque dispute, killing by cow protectors, incited mob lynching, communal tension, proclamation of Hindu Rashtra etc make the Muslim community feel insecure.
Although Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appealed many times from the public platform not to indulge in violence, there is still a feeling of insecurity in the Muslim community due to the statements of BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leaders.
What is the attitude of the Muslim community in recent times?
Ever since the Supreme Court of Judiciary has given its verdict in the Ram Janmabhoomi and Babri Masjid case, this community has welcomed the decision and maintained silence. However, the silence of this community is pointing towards many things like disappointment with the judiciary, disappointment with the government and disappointment with the administrative system. This is the reason why this community has become completely silent and now it neither expresses political nor public reaction.
Why was the Muslim community so marginalized?
There are many reasons for this which are as follows:
- Not creating one’s own political leadership
- Blindly trusting the so-called secular parties
- Moving away from education
- Just wasting time in proving oneself to be a true Indian.
- Not modernizing madrassas
- Being away from modern education
- Staying away from technical education
- Following the words of clerics literally
- Due to misleading propaganda by RSS/Vishva Hindu Parishad/Bajrang Dal/BJP/Shiv Sena
- Government’s indifference and neglect
- Non-availability of reservation on the basis of economic and educational backwardness
- Cutting scholarship/fellowship in the field of education
And so on.
The Muslim community of India does not need to be disappointed because the Indian Constitution is alive to protect them and as long as the Constitution of India remains alive, it will continue to assure the Muslim community in this country that the Muslim community are also respectable citizens of India.
The second important role is of Indian culture and society because every culture, civilization or community in the world is suffering from the period of transition. However, India is the only nation which has kept most of the culture, civilization and community of the world alive. Therefore, today after Indonesia, the largest number of Muslim communities in the world reside in India.
The third important role will have to be played by the government here because if we really want to make India a world leader, then no nation can progress by marginalizing such a large Muslim community. World Guru will be a distant thing.