Javeed Mirza*                     
“The need to be vigilant about unconscious prejudice and ill-formed stereotypes about Muslims is critical in today’s world, not least in India where Muslims comprise such a significant proportion of the citizenry and where tragic episodes of anti-Muslim violence have taken place since Independence in 1947. Some recent reports have revealed perhaps startling indications of the extent to which Muslim Indians lag in relation to their fellow citizens in economic level, education, and representation in key public sectors as well as in management positions in private businesses.” ___ Barbara Metcalf, the Alice Freeman Palmer Professor of History and Director of the Center for South Asian Studies at the University of Michigan, in her article Putting Muslim Personal Law in Perspective (in India in Transition).

Voicing the conditions of Muslim women in India, Uzma Naheed who comes from a family of the founders of Darul Uloom Deoband and is a member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), in an interview with Twocircles.net says, "We have visited all the states in India and we found Muslim women in miserable condition. I can feel their plight very well. They are neither opinion maker nor the decision maker. The most unfortunate thing is that they are not able to realize their loss. They don't know what kind of status they have got from Quran and the life of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)." She came down heavily upon the men folk of the Muslim community. She pointed out that “the most tragic thing is that Muslim women have accepted happily and internalized the kinds of roles their men want them to live with. They are told that this is what they are made to do and which they should be happy doing". She said the situation has gone so bad that they have surrendered their Rights to men. “You go and ask any women be it a simple women or any Aalima about the concept of Talaq in Islam. They will simply tell you that it is the Right of men. They don't have any idea whether even they have got some Rights or not."

Education of Muslim Women

A first-ever national survey of 10,000 Muslim and Hindu women in India covering issues like education, work, socio-economic status, marriage decision-making powers, mobility, domestic violence and political participation of Muslim women was conducted by Prof  Zoya Hasan of  Jawaharlal Nehru University and Ritu Menon and it culminated in a  landmarkbook, 'Unequal Citizens: A Study of Muslim Women in India'. It points that overall the Muslim girl child does face educational deprivation. The constitutional goal of eight years of schooling remains a dream with a Muslim girl getting barely 2.7 years of schooling compared to 3.8 years of a Hindu girl. About 59 per cent never get into school and less than 10 per cent complete it. In higher education, Muslim women have an abysmal share at 3.56 per cent, even lower than Dalit women (4.25). The authors note that Scheduled Caste women have probably managed a better percentage in higher education thanks to Reservation (Affirmative Rights). It also points out that Muslims are not uniformly poor and uneducated; they are better off in the South and also in the West and certainly better off than their counterparts in the North and East zones.  “The considerable better education levels of Muslims in the South, and to some extent in the West, belie the view that religion denies them education," point out the authors.

The authors note two features that are more specific to the Muslim community and may have operated to devalue continuing education for girls. The first is that Muslim men also have very low educational attainment in general. The study found that 26 per cent of educated Muslim women had illiterate husbands. This low male education level would create further pressures to impose ceilings on girls' education, so as not to render them "unmarriageable". In addition, the low age of marriage is a major inhibiting factor. At the national level, the mean age of marriage of Muslim girls is very low at 15.6 years, and in the rural north it falls to an appalling 13.9 years.  Jayati Ghosh in an article in the magazine Frontline titled Muslim Women in India explains the adverse implications of early marriage: it is usually associated with high early fertility, which affects women's nutrition and health status; it tends to reduce women's autonomy and agency in the marital home and to create conditions of patriarchal subservience that get perpetuated through life, and it thereby often reduces self-worth.
The 2011 Government of India’s Census data shows a rise in Literacy in India from 64.83% in 2001 to 74% in 2011. However at the National level both Muslim men and Women have the poorest Literacy rates of 67.6% and 50.1%.
The National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) said that 3 out of every 10 Muslims lived below the Poverty line living on less than Rs 550 (approximately $12) per month in the year 2004-2005 and that overall more than one-fourth of Indians live below the Poverty line.

Work force participation of Muslim working Women

The low work participation of Muslim women indicates that this may be less due to the force of religion per se than to the patriarchal structures and patterns as well as low mobility and lack of opportunity that define their lives. The work participation rate of women across communities tends to be low in certain regions, especially in the North and the East. In conservative and patriarchal areas like Bihar and U.P., where work is treated as a mark of low status, only poor women or those from high income groups go out to work. Thanks to land ownership patterns in rural areas and their exclusion from low-level jobs in urban areas, Muslim women's employment in the farm sector and elsewhere is low. We're told that first as Muslims and then as women, they are twice as disadvantaged in accessing jobs, even low-level jobs in the informal sector. This is borne out by National Sample Survey data that shows that only 8 % of uneducated Muslim women find employment as casual labor in public works, compared to 21 % of Hindu uneducated women. Through the 1990s, though women's employment percentage improved, Muslim women's number didn't go up, perhaps due to lack of skills.

Muslim Women’s Political Representation:

The abysmal representation of Muslim Women in India’s legislative body is an apt illustration of the odds that they face in life. The Elections commissions statistics reveal that since Independence in 1947, the Indian Lower house of Parliament (Lok Sabha) has had approximately 550 members elected 15 times (approximately every 5 years) to its body for a total elected strength of 8250. Of this total elected representatives, 549 were Women and among the elected women, 18 were Muslim. Elected Muslim Women Reps thereby made .03 % of the total elected Women Reps and .002% of the total Elected Reps. (The Muslim Women’s share of the Indian population is 7% and ideally 578 Muslim women should have been elected in proportion to their population strength).
In 2007 the National Commission Report on Religious & Linguistic Minorities, headed by Justice Ranganathan Mishra (former Chief Justice of India), stated that the lowest work participation rate of 31.3 percent at the national level was seen for the Muslim population preceded by Jains at 32.9 percent and Sikhs at 37.7 percent. Further, work participation rate of 9.2 percent among Jain women and 14.1 percent for Muslim women was the lowest in the country. The Commission said: “Since the minorities – especially the Muslims – are very much under-represented, and sometimes wholly unrepresented, in government employment, we recommend that they should be regarded as backward in this respect within the meaning of that term as used in Article 16 (4) of the Constitution.” The commission recommended 15 per cent reservation for backward minorities in education and jobs, with 10 per cent earmarked for Muslims (as they constituted 73 per cent in the total minority population in the country) and 5 per cent for other minorities. The recommendations are yet to be implemented.

Meeting the Challenge

The humongous nature of the problem in a community with approximately 80 million underprivileged girls and women poses a daunting task. It is not a problem that can be easily solved and needs multiple sustained efforts with hundreds of Partners working together over the course of one to two generations. I take comfort in President Obama’s observation that “..We live in a time of sweeping change” underscoring the point that new actors can very well shape International affairs and events. It is an audacity of hope. President Obama also mentioned that America’s security depends on Diplomacy and Development.  Indeed, good development work must precede diplomacy.
The Secretary of State Mrs. Clinton has brought new thinking and far reaching changes in the working of the State policies affecting the USA and the World at large. A very important new priority is the Support for Women. In the Quadrennial diplomacy and development review (QDDR) she states “We (USAID) support Women’s efforts to become financially independent, educate their children, improve their communities and help make peace in their countries.” She also added “we focus on Gender Equality and elevate investment in women and girls, which is important in its own right and as a way to maximize results across board”.
President Obama, Secretary Clinton and Administrator Shah have committed to rebuilding USAID as the world’s preeminent development agency. Towards this many reforms, Programs and strategies have been evolved and are in different stages of implementation. “Development Diplomacy” has been launched and Mission directors recruited for the same.   Among the initiatives launched are the 2011 initiative, the Global Partnership Initiative, the High Impact Initiative, Partners for a New Beginning initiative etc. Many of these initiatives attempt to forge alliance between Private Sector Partners, Civil Society, Government and support Social Entrepreneurship.  Some of the initiatives like the High Impact Initiative would also like to work with other UN agencies like UNESCO, UNCTAD, World Bank etc and synergize the work for max yield.
MEI India (Mass Education Initiative) is a registered non-profit, NGO established in the State of Andhra Pradesh in India and is focused on providing Literacy and Education to the underprivileged and marginalized sections of the Indian society with a focus on the Education of Women and Madrasa students. It was launched on December 8 of 2010 in Hyderabad wherein the Directors of Madrasas, Educationists from the Muslim community and community Businessmen participated. The speakers included Ms Katherine Dhanani, the US Consul General of Hyderabad and Mr M Ratan, the Inspector General of Andhra Pradesh state Police. It has thence been working to provide English and Computer Skills to some of the Madrasa institutions of Hyderabad and for the underprivileged women and students at large.

MEI Objectives

• To promote English language learning for all marginalized students from an early stage
• To promote Maths, Computer Biological and Social Sciences and Languages
• To prepare the Madrasa and Marginalized students for successful passing of the standardized X and XII grade exams.
• To promote the general education of Girls and that of Girls attending Madrasas.
• To support the establishment of Hostels for girls and Women to enable them to study.
• To promote market oriented Vocational skills in Madrasas and in Schools/Colleges.
• To promote Business Career and Entrepreneurial skills.
• To promote Soft skills, Personality development and provide Placement help.
• To encourage, motivate and guide students to earn scholarships and pursue higher studies.
• To promote Continuing Education to Marginalized Adults.
• To educate on Govt. Welfare Programs and promote Empowerment of marginalized Women and Men.
• To introduce social reforms to enlighten the masses and help them have a broader outlook towards modern life.

Projects

• Recruit and Train 100 English and Computer Science Teachers in batches of 25 each, giving Priority to Female Teachers.  These Teachers will be posted to teach at different Madrasas and Schools.
• To establish 5 centers at convenient locations in Hyderabad. Recruit 20 Part-time Teachers to Teach English, Math, Computer Science and General Sciences for passing out school and Madrasa students as well as those had already passed out and were unemployed and seeking to improve their learning and skills.  At these centers Soft skills, Personality development, Placement and Entrepreneurial Training to be provided.
• To establish 5 Vocational Training centers in convenient locations and Teach Vocational Training in market-demand subjects like Air-conditioning and Refrigeration; Mobile Phone repair; Tele  marketing; Hardware Repair; Networking; Autocad Training and those Vocational skills that Girls will find useful and marketable like Fashion Designing, Textile Designing, Interior Designing, Culinary skills, Cosmetology, Computer Skills, Journalism, Photography, Handicrafts, Candle Making and Soft Toys Making etc
• To establish a Nodal center from where Mentor Teachers will teach subjects and the same will be transmitted via Broadband to various Madrasas and learning centers in Hyderabad city and throughout the state of Andhra Pradesh.

PROJECT:  LITERACY TO ALL

Developing an Alliance with Technology based companies, Govt. Agencies and Foundations to bring LITERACY TO ALL and to enhancing the Educational experience of those with Low Literacy. Cutting edge developments in Technology like Tablets, Broadband, Mobility, Cloud Computing, TV and Radio make this doable. To develop a web based Online Educational Tool that will bring Customized and Interactive Literacy in the local language!
At this stage of its growth, MEI has very limited resources and it is looking for help from Philanthropic foundations, Institutional Education Supporters and Private and Public Agencies and individuals who prioritize the Education of the Poor. Muslim Women’s Education can be easily identified in the Indian context as one deserving the Highest Priority (from the indicators mentioned earlier).

Madrasa Girls Education

Part and Parcel of the elevation of Muslim Women’s Education is the support for and reform of the Madrasa Girls education. Madrasa Education has been criticized elsewhere. Read my article “Towards the Education of the underprivileged Indian Muslim” where I have pointed the flaws of the Madrasa education and suggested changes. Uzma Naheed, herself a product of  Darul Uloom points out the inadequacy of the present Madrasa system. She says that the curriculum and the syllabi which are being followed in girls Madarsa across India is not ideal for them. That curriculum was formulated for men 150 years back keeping in mind the needs, rights and responsibilities of men. It didn't take into account the complexities and differences between a man and a woman. The rights, responsibilities, complexities and status of women are not dealt with in detail in this syllabus.
An essay titled, “Aisha, the madrasah teacher” by Patricia Jeffery, Roger Jeffery and Craig Jeffrey of the University of Edinburgh focuses on madrassa education and rural Muslim girls in western Uttar Pradesh. It shows that the enrolment of girls is increasing in rural areas owing to the rising cost of education in other schools, and that given a choice most Muslims would prefer other options. It also shows convincingly that Muslims do want to educate girls, but if the resources are limited they prefer to use those resources to enroll boys elsewhere and the girls in madrassas. One can also infer in the article that other cultural factors are secondary and could be overcome if the major obstacle of costs could be overcome.
Given this reality, Dr Shabistan Gaffar, Chairperson, Committee On Girls Education, Government of India, believes that for Muslim women to come into their own in the field of employment, they must first have access to education, "The social tradition and misunderstanding that prevailed within the community regarding education has prevented many girls from being educated. Poverty is a huge additional deterrent." She also believes that there is a case to be made for strengthening the madarsa system in India, since these age-old institutions of learning have continued to serve as the last hope for Muslim girls to access an elementary education and break free from orthodox control. She says, "Madarsas are very misunderstood. I understand that there are apprehensions in the present scenario but we must not negate the fact that in areas where there is no infrastructure for basic education, it is these madarsas that are imparting at least some primary education to girls. There are many ulemas who have very modern attitude and they could be assisted to modernize the education they impart to their community, keeping Islamic traditions in mind as well. After all, we must not forget that our presidents like Dr Rajendra Prasad and A.P.J. Kalam got their elementary education in madarsas."

The Govt. allocation of Resources for Madrasas and for Minorities:

The scheme for providing quality education in Madrasas was allocated Rs.325 crore (approximately $ 67 Million) under the Governments  Eleventh Five Plan, but an outlay of only Rs.95 crore  (around $20 Million) was made over a period of three years. This is for a total Madrasa student population of around 5 Million! (See my article “Towards the Education of the Underprivileged Indian Muslim”). The total expenditure allocated by the Central Govt., for all of its Centrally sponsored schemes for the Minorities  for the Eleventh Five year Plan is Rs.7,000  crore (approximately $1.5Billion). This constitutes a minuscule 0.32 per cent of the total outlay and less than half of what was allocated had been spent in the first three years of the Plan period. It is obvious that the Indian Govt. has abdicated its responsibility of the Education and the Welfare of the Muslim community and expects them to fend for themselves.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Mushkilein mujh par padi itni/ki aasaan ho gayin
(So many problems have come my way/ that it has become easy to overcome them).
—Mirza Ghalib
Yes, the difficulties have accumulated.  The Resources and capacity building to meet challenges has developed infinitely more. The social and economic processes that confront marginal groups cannot be ignored and must be fulfilled with haste if we seek to live in a peaceful world. The 180 Million strong Muslim population is at its point of Nadir. The only way out is to overcome the problems afflicting the community….. Poverty, Illiteracy, Backwardness, Patriarchy and Despair.

The abysmal statistics of the Indian Muslim women... Lowest literacy rate among all segments of Indian society (50.1%); lowest participation in Higher education (3.56%); lowest participation in Jobs (8% for uneducated women and 14.1% for women in general); Political representation in the legislature of 0.03% among all elected women and comprising a miniscule .002% of the Total elected members, are clear indicators of the enormity of the problem. Compounded to this are Patriarchal relations in the Muslim household where women are totally subordinated to men’s will; violence perpetrated in the form of Dowry, Bride burning, communal killings are symptomatic of a huge malaise deeply embedded in Muslim society and by extension in the Indian society.
The first and the foundational step is to make the community Literate, especially the Children and Women. The next step is to make the Education relevant to their lives by helping the students pass the Standard exams that will permit them to undertake Higher Education studies and linking this education to the market needs i.e. introducing Vocational/Technical and Soft skills with career guidance. This will make them market ready. Simultaneously to teach Entrepreneurial skills and help get Micro credit and Loan/Equipment so the Entrepreneur can get their business operational.  The Education should also help broaden their vision and foster Friendship through intra-community activity.

In the Educational sector, approximately 4-5% of the Muslim Youth go to study in Madrasas. This low percentage when converted to numbers, becomes a significant 5 million strong. This sector has been much maligned and neglected. The youth here are bright. A good proportion here attends Madrasas to become a “hafiz” (one who has memorized the Koran). Memorization of 900 pages of the Koran is a tough task and reflects sharp mental acumen. These kids have many issues. Reforms in the Madrasa education are needed that will enable them to augment their learning with the learning of regular subjects and graduate with a Govt. recognized diploma that is also recognized in the job market and allows them to compete for jobs. Also linking their education to Vocational Training where in market oriented skills are taught so they end up having a livelihood skill and a capability to earn their living rather than become a pauper.

The Indian Govt. must be pushed to recognize the criticality of catering to the needs of this community before it becomes too late and becomes a National Security issue, due to accumulated grievances and deep frustration. The Implementation of the Justice Sachar committee and the Justice Ranganathan commission recommendations which encompass Affirmative Rights and Massive Resource allocation needs to be effected and augmented with a Support system that brings together all Govt. agencies to work on the welfare of the Muslim sector as one of High Priority.
It is not enough to depend on the Govt., but it is required that  Alliances be built with UN agencies, Private Agencies, Foundations and NGO’s  and to bring together these resources, along with the Learning experience that they have, to effect cumulative and rapid progress. This will enable the work to be taken on a war footing basis and bring in fast Literacy and Market readiness.

Incorporation of the latest available technology ... Tablets, Social Networking, Mobility, Cloud computing, TV, Radio, Broadband etc in the form of Web based Educational Tools that will allow each learner to learn in a customized and Interactive way at his/her pace, at their point of convenience and in their language.  We have the Technological capability and can muster the resources. What we lack is the Political will.
USAID has a mandate to bring Positive changes in its dealing with foreign countries and with People around the world.  The need for the initiation of Development policies that effect High Impact has been recognized. Also recognized is that a failure to do this will have adverse negative impact on our own Security. It must take up policies that positively impact the weakest chain in the link and prioritize its policies so that each work gives yields a chain of Positive results. For example, the educational development of women and their empowerment. Pursuing policies that show negligible impact and doing the same in a bureaucratic way is being inconsistent with the vision that President Obama and Secretary Clinton have outlined.
Executions of Projects outlined earlier are one way to go. The Projects can be worked on individually or collectively at one time. More ambitious Projects like PROJECT LITERACY with PPP (Public Private Partnership) can help considerably in bringing Mass literacy.

The collaborative effort of USAID and Philanthropic foundations combined with that of Governmental Agencies, the UN Agencies and the grass root effort of hundreds of likeminded organizations like MEI can meet the challenge and make Illiteracy and low levels of Education a relic of the 21st century.  The seemingly humongous problem can be broken down into bits and solved at the ground level through Vision, resources and a commitment for its realization.  The Utopia can be converted into a Reality.  I look forward to support from USAID in all possible ways. I will work to bring support from the Muslim community in India, the Indian Muslim Diaspora in the USA and the Middle East and in collaboration with USAID reach out to the foundations and corporations that have the Educational support of Marginalized women on their Agenda as an item of High Priority.

*Javeed Mirza is a multi-talented individual with strong skills in Education, Developmental Economics, Business and Technology, having actively pursued these subjects/careers for the past thirty years.  He is a dual citizen of USA and India. He was born in Warangal, AP (India) and came to USA in Nov 81. While in India he obtained Bachelors in Engineering (with Honors) from the Osmania University campus college. While in College he was a social activist and worked for Democratic rights of students and working people and campaigned for Civil Liberties.

In the USA, he did graduate study in Political Economy and has a PhD (ABD) in the subject from the New School University of New York; he also has a Certificate of Advanced study in Computers in Education from Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY. He taught Mathematics, Economics and Computers to Inner City High School students working for the New York City Board of Education for 13 years. In 1996 he started IT Consulting Company, TAJ Software, bringing 400 plus high quality IT specialists from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and other parts of the world to the USA. He was a founder member of EKTA-NY, an organization meant to foster friendship and unity among the diverse South Asian Diaspora of NY.