Unfortunately, this perceived most important tool to empower is being denied to the Muslims. Going around the metros or even smaller towns and cities would make it explicit that the Muslims are more concern of fighting the battle of economic survival than empowering them. The streets and footpaths are crowded with Muslims busy hawking. Though it is said that education equips the society with the ability to think and decide what is good for them and what is bad at given situations, the images emanating are not so encouraging.

Nevertheless amidst this passive scenario, there is a flicker of hope. The Muslims are quite keen to provide better education to their new generation. They have come to realise the importance of education. But they are faced with two major hurdles. One coming from their religious leaders of their community and second, the systematic attack launched against them by the saffron ecosystem. While their religious leaders spend crores of money to construct Masjids, they are averse to building schools and colleges, especially for the girls. Muslim clergy must spread Islam or Islamic culture, but at the same it is also his responsibility to ensure that the children get a good education.

It is a bare fact that Muslims are educationally far more backward compared to their counterparts. They have hardly opened schools that impart quality education whereas members of other communities have opened chain of schools after independence of India. Curiously one will find a significant number of Masjids in metros or big towns and cities, but these areas do not have good schools. The families which have joined the middle class club prefer to send their sons and daughters to some good schools, preferably private schools paying hefty fees. This simply underlines that these people have come to understand the importance of education.

Those from the lower class still go to Madrassas which certainly cannot claim to be well equipped. Madrasas are the only educational institutions available to Muslim children, especially in areas where no schools have reached to the Muslim masses. Very often children go to the Madrasas not out of choice but due to non availability and inaccessibility of other schools. Quality of education imparted at these Madrasas is very low and is confined to religious education which in no way is associated with jobs or economy. The reason why the Muslims have turned vulnerable to RSS and BJP machinations and politics of hate owes to lack of education. The community leaders suffer with the lack of will power to take action or to work towards the benefit of the community.

A recent report on education in the Muslims underline though some kind of educational progress has been achieved, educational disparities for Muslim students in India persists. Muslim students have the lowest college enrolment rate among all religious groups in India, with only 11 out of every 100 Muslim students enrolling in higher education. A significant portion of Muslim students enrolled in the secondary level drop out of schools, with a rate higher than the national average.

The report, ‘Rethinking Affirmative Action for Muslims in Contemporary India,’ is the first comprehensive policy document of its kind in the last 10 years. In the post-2014 policy framework, Muslim empowerment is not treated as an exclusive concern. The changed official position on the affirmative action framework, especially with regard to India’s Muslim communities, cannot be understood without analysing the government’s policy priorities, and its vision of welfarism.

The report has four broad themes: First, it examines the changing nature of the state and its official perspective on social welfare, using the term ‘charitable state’ to describe these changes; Second, it maps out the contemporary policy framework and its implications for Muslims by critically engaging with official documents, mainly those published by NITI Aayog: Third, it surveys the educational and economic status of Muslim communities by analysing official data collected from different sources; and, Fourth, it explores the perceptions, expectations, aspirations, and anxieties of Muslims about their socio-economic backwardness and marginalisation, using data from the CSDS-Lokniti archive.

Many Muslim students come from low-income families, making it difficult to afford the cost of higher education. Recent reports indicate a decline in Muslim student enrolment across all levels of education, with a drop of 8% in higher education enrolment from 2019/20. The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) of Muslim students in seven southern states is generally higher than in other regions. The Muslim parents in South India are more concerned of the education of their sons and daughters than the Muslims of North India.

The highest Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) of Muslims was 9.79 per cent in 2019-20 but declined in 2021-22. However, as compared to the national average GER of 27.3 per cent, Muslims are far behind all other socio-religious groups. GER is a statistical measure that shows the level of participation in a specific level of education.

Muslim leaders like Sir Syed Ahmed Khan played a significant role in promoting education among Muslims. In 1875, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan founded the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College, which later became Aligarh Muslim University. The university aimed to provide modern education to Muslims and promote their social and economic advancement. Aligarh Muslim University is one of India’s most prestigious educational institutions, offering various courses in various disciplines. But unfortunately the modern Muslim political and religious leadership does not appear to be concerned of imperatives and urgencies of the education. These people are not even agile to the need for renovate and upgrade the existing educational institutions.

The Sachar Committee reported that the literacy rate among Muslims in India is lower than the national average. The report revealed that only 59 percent of Muslim children attend primary school, compared to 70 percent of the general population. The dropout rate is also higher among Muslim students. The report attributed these disparities to poverty, lack of access to education, and discrimination. No doubt poverty was acute in seventies and eighties, but what these leaders have done to provide a new dynamism in the era when the purchasing capacity of Muslims has substantially improved. What kind of mechanism they have evolved to meet the challenges in pursuing higher education. Perilously still today the representation of Muslims in higher education is relatively low, with only 4.9 percent of students enrolled in universities.

RSS and Narendra Modi are basically against empowerment of Muslims. They are aware of the fact Muslims cannot be pushed away. The best thing is to demoralise them, to make them feel alienated from rest of the Indians, especially from the Hindus. Even if the Hindus are not communalised or polarised, they try to create such an impression. No doubt this policy of RSS and Modi has worked miracle. A frustrated Muslim friend the other day blurted out: “What is the use of education, they wonder, if we are going to be declared foreigners and put in detention camps?” This losing of hope is the beginning of the degradation and dissipation of a vibrant community.

They are surrendering before putting a resistance. The new generation will have to be educated for countering the assault of the saffron ecosystem. Modi and RSS are aware of the importance of education which is why on the plea of overlapping of scholarships Modi scrapped a 13-year fellowship programme that allowed students from minorities to pursue M Phil and PhD degrees. The Muslim students are also not getting bank-interest subsidies to minorities studying abroad; cutback school scholarships for minorities.

The challenges Muslim education faces in India are complex and multiple. Muslim leadership should evolve their own mechanism to promote education and help the students, as was done by the Muslim scholars in the pre-Independence India. There is a need for more rigorous efforts to address the disparities and challenges faced by Muslim students. They should use the public fund for building schools and colleges and strengthen the educational infrastructure. These leaders should take inspiration from the Muslim girl students of Karnataka who stood firm against the orders of the rightist forces and forced the authorities to allow them to ear Hijab even in the colleges.

Schools beyond the primary level are few in Muslim localities. Exclusive girls' schools are virtually non-existent. It is quite sad that Muslim political leaders and religious leaders, especially in North India have failed to do their duty towards their community. Bihar, Bengal and Uttar Pradesh have sizeable population of Muslims but the Muslim leaders of these states have failed to meet the aspirations and expectations of the community members. The Quran also says “Verily! Allah will never change the condition of the people until they change it themselves (with state of Goodness)”. Islam places a high value on education, viewing it as a fundamental obligation for all individuals, irrespective of gender, age, or social status.

There are many families where none of members has done graduation... even studied till 10. They have no money to purse to study. Need to support family: Most of Muslims are economically weak. This puts great pressure on youth to start earning as soon as possible. It is quite amazing that Muslim adolescents have acquired proficiency in technical and mechanical work as they have been exposed to this world for earning to maintain their families. Madarasas prepare the students for religious jobs. Students coming out of these institutions find it tough to compete with other modern educated students. They can be Imam / muazzin in a masjid or teacher in Madrassa with low pay. (IPA Service)