Muslim Backwardness in Post-Independence India

Muslim backwardness in India can have many reasons with respect to post-independent India. Some of it which I see are as follows:

1.        Movement of official Language: to Hindi and English which was hitherto Urdu and Persian which hindered the mostly URDU Madarsa schooled students post-independence when Modern Education had not made its reach in the hinterland. (Very recently the Arabic and Persian has been excluded out of the language optional in the UPSC Civil Services as well citing less no. of students appearing and it does not make a news, but had it been Tamil or Sanskrit there would have a hue and cry)

2.       Migration of Muslim Elite to Pakistan during the partition:  Most of the well to do muslims from the country left for Pakistan and created a situation where there were lesser role models within the community who were progressive and educated to follow, which led to more conservative approach within the community.

3.       Rapid Industrialization: Most of the Muslims are engaged in the small scale business and post-independence there was rapid industrialization which hampered the subsistence of the Muslim artisans and small business class.  (e.g. Banarasi Sari Udyog and the state of the artisans, weavers of Bengal and Murshidabad)

4.       Lack of Political Participation: Post independent India saw less participation and say of Muslims in the mainstream politics in India. This created a vacuum to make the plight of the community to reach at the higher echelons of power.

5.       Less representation in services both public and private: There is a decline in the employment of Muslims in the services due to both non availability of quality talent and discrimination both.

6.       Ghettoization: Muslim localities are even today face the persecution in terms of basic civil amenities like water, school, hospitals, and banks and so on. Due to the fear of life due to frequent riots, muslims also preferred to live in area where they will be in majority due to safety concerns. This led to less intermixing with other communities, so less information, less modernization and so on.

7.       Non recognition of Madrasa Education in Universities and Services: This has led to a shift where now only 4% of the Muslims get their education in Madrasas and Maqtabs because most of the degrees which are given by madrasa boards are not recognised by many universities except a few like AMU, JAMIA etc. Same thing is with the services.

8.       Divide between Liberal Muslim Elite and Poor Muslims: There has been disengagement between the educated Muslim elite and Muslim Poor where very few elites have tried to provide the leadership for the upliftment of the poor.

9.       Mismanagement of Waqf wealth: There has been less Muslim officers in the civil services who can be appointed CEOs of the Waqf Boards. There is an arrangement in Tamilnadu for allocation of officers for Temple Trust Management same is the need at all India level, but Muslims are never a focus area for governments.

10.   SC/ST Presidential Order 1950:  This order excludes the SC/ST of Christain and Muslims while allows the same for Hindus, Budhists and Sikhs. (Yes, there are dalit muslims and Christians as well if you did not know , just like dalit Sikhs and Budhists, because India is a country of Castes and even Islam cannot change that in India). So, Muslims and Christians who are of the Dalit status cannot get the same benefit.

There can be other reasons as well but these are some which I can recall.