Will reservation help in bringing up the educational standards of Muslims?

Hello everyone

We have seen now and then, Muslim leaders asking for reservation for Muslim students in various institutes and colleges or at least in Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Islamia University. They argue that SCs and STs have been offered reservations since decades and in effect of this their economic and social condition has improved. Sachchar committee has pointed out that Muslims in India are very backward and are only well off than a very few communities (which was not the case when India became independent). So the point which comes to our mind is that why don't we get reservation and improve our social and economical standings. Let us analyze the effects of reservation.

Quota for Muslims in educational institutions will create a uproar in the country. This will further alienate Muslims from other communities of the country. Indian politics is generally presumed to be on either of two sides: BJP or Congress, or in other words Secular or Hindu nationalist. There is a grave danger of Indian politics getting polarized due to it which is obviously not in the favor of Muslims of this country.

I had always believed Reservations are like slow poison which handicaps the whole community in a long run. After reservations being made a reality, we will have non competent Muslim doctors, Engineers and I really think that should not happen.

Reserving 50% seats for Muslims in institutions like Aligarh Muslim University or Jamia or any other minority institution will only degrade the level of these renowned hubs of knowledge. Students who are not competent will get admissions which will bring down the overall standards of these institutes. Moreover the secular outlook of these institutions will be in danger if this happens. It will result in more and more alienation amongst Majority community(which is obviously not desirable). If this is implemented then in 10 years we may even see communal riots in these universities.

So now you may ask me, if not reservations, is there any other alternative??? I definitely think there is. We can have good Government Schools(I know it is rare, but locals should actively pressurize schools to improve their standards) in the predominantly Muslim localities whereby Muslim students can go and learn. We should have a dedicated team of Educated and Intellectual Muslim leaders who will constantly assess the performance of the schools and students and issue guidelines in case of any discrepancies. Well what I am talking about is a "Mass Reformist Movement" amongst Muslims. I am sure every locality will have at least 5 people who are very well educated. They should take the initiative and constantly keep track of performance of students.

I believe that there should not be any reservations but surely some kind of monetary help from the government. Because economically too, Muslims are backward and thus to have good schools and money for education, govt's help would be required. The money which comes from the central govt should be directly given to various Muslim committees but regular govt audits should be done to see how this money is spent. Awareness should be made amongst Muslims regarding this money coming from govt which will help people to keep a track on money spent by these empowered Muslim committees on education. And of course it will help political party in power to improve their vote base. (Well I don't believe in caste politics but this is a good enough initiative for political parties to pool some money for social welfare)

The scholarships given by the central govt of India to minorities are not completely utilized and in some cases the money has been returned back to the central govt by the state govts saying that there are not enough students of minority to give scholarship. (Thus I say that money should be directly given to Muslim committees)

Only by a Mass effort by the full Muslim community and especially Muslim intellectuals, can bring up the educational standards. No amount of reservations or monetary help will not bring in any effect if we don't rise up and fight against illiteracy and poverty.

"God helps those who helps themselves"

Comments are whole heartedly invited.

Mohd Zubair Saifi
E mail: saifi.zubair@gmail.com