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3-DAY WORKSHOP ON
EMPOWERMENT AND CAPACITY BUILDING OF MUSLIM WOMEN,
HELD ON 10-12 MAY 2011 AT THE DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT
CENTRE, BOPAL, AHMEDABAD, GUJARAT
The Centre for Study of Society and Secularism, Mumbai
organised a 3-day workshop at Bopal, Ahmedabad in
collaboration with ActionAid from 10 to 12 May 2011. The
workshop was meant to educate Muslim women not only on
their Qur’anic rights but also on their civic rights as
citizens of India, the importance of secular education,
especially for Muslim girls, so as to make them capable
of availing the opportunities and the facilities
available to them, especially under the New 15-Point
Programme of the Prime Minister. The workshop was, in
fact, a sequel to the one organised on 2-4 December 2010
at Gandhinagar.
 The
aim of the workshop was also to assess the impact of the
December 2010workshop, at which the participating Muslim
women were exhorted to realise the need for letting
their children, girls especially, receive secular
education(besides religious education) so as to make
them compete for better paying jobs. At the said
workshop they were made to understand the schemes
announced by the Government of India under the Prime
Minister’s new 15-Point Programme. They were told that
the implementation of the programme was in the hands of
the State Government and if the State Government was not
doing enough to pass on the benefits to the Minority
Communities to whom the 15-Point Programme was meant,
the community should fight for its rights.
Rationale of excusive workshop for Muslim women
It is well documented
that the Muslim community in India is backward due to a
variety of reasons; poverty being the oft cited reason,
which is a result of poor asset ownership and
educational backwardness. The urge to maintain religious
identity coupled with or exacerbated by the dictates of
the religious leaders asking Muslims to stay away from
secular education (and co-education in the case of
girls), has been preventing the community from taking
advantages of educational (and hence the employment)
opportunities available to others. However, Muslim
community in India is not homogeneous and there are wide
gaps in the socio-economic conditions of south Indian
and north Indian Muslims. South Indian Muslims have made
sizeable contribution to meet the educational needs of
the community, despite objections from some of the
clergy and conservative sections of the community.
Muslim
men keep insisting that Islam has given more rights to
women than has any other religion; and rightly so.
Unfortunately, however, the cumulative biases which
existed in the Arab-Islamic culture of the early
centuries of Islam infiltrated
 the
Islamic tradition and undermined the intent of the
Qur'an to liberate women and make them free and equal to
men. Consequently, Qur'anic teaching notwithstanding,
Muslim women continue to be subjected to diverse forms
of oppression and injustice, often in the name of Islam.
Many of Quran’s women-related teachings have been used
in the patriarchal Muslim society against, rather than
for, women. Many Muslims when they speak of human
rights, either do not speak of women's rights at all, or
are mainly concerned with how a women's chastity may be
protected.
If
women, in general, are the targets of violations of
human rights, Muslim societies have made the lives of
their women much more difficult. Muslim women face
problems in marital relations, inheritance, maintenance
on divorce, polygamy, dress and conduct etc. Female
children are discriminated against from the moment of
birth, as the community believes that it is not
necessary for a girl to get educated (besides religious
education) and many a girls gets married even as a
minor.
A major
hurdle for Muslim girls in India is accessing secular
education, which alone can make them qualified enough to
compete for better-paying jobs in today’s world. Fatwas
are issued against co-education even in Madrasas.
However, despite fatwas, a large number of Muslim girls
are trying to avail the benefits under the Prime
Minister’s 15-point programme to pursue higher studies
in the fields of medicine and engineering. Muslim women
have tolerated oppression for long and there are
indications that a growing number of Muslim women are
beginning to demand their rights.
If the above
represents the general scenario, Muslims of Gujarat have
suffered great injustice during and after the 2002
violence that rocked the State. The
 wounds
might have healed but the scars are still there. Reports
indicate that the extent of rehabilitation of the riot
victims falls much short of the needs of the survivors
and their families. Members of the community, whose
roots are in Gujarat and who have nowhere else to go,
have taken the nightmare in its stride and have
reconciled to the ground realities. The reported
statement of Maulana Ghulam Mohammed
Vastanvi, who went on to become the Vice Chancellor of
Darul Uloom Deoband (in an interview with Times of India
in January 2011) that Gujarati Muslims were not
discriminated against and that ''all communities''
prospered in the state represents this trend. While
describing the 2002 Gujarat riots ''a blemish for
India'' he asked the community to move on. It is besides
the point that his comments created a lot of
controversy.
With a view to creating awareness among the Muslim women
of their rights under Quran and as citizens of secular
India, the CSSS had organised a workshop in December
2010 at Gandhinagar, where they were also exhorted to
make their children receive secular education so as to
become equipped for taking up remunerative jobs. They
were apprised of the measures introduced by the
 Government
of India under the Prime Minister’s new 15-point
programme for helping the Minorities. Case studies from
some of the other States were brought to their notice
with evidence of substantial achievements of Muslim boys
and girls availing the facilities and opportunities made
available by the Government of India under, especially,
the 15-point programme.
The present workshop was meant to act as a follow up
measure to the December 2010 workshop; as to know if the
December 2010 workshop has had any effect on the
participants.
Participants
As many as 43 participants (41 Muslim women and 2 men)
attended the in the workshop. The December 2010 workshop
prompted the NGOs working in Gujarat to glean more
information as to how they could help the community. The
NGOs deputed their representatives from Himmatnagar,
Kheda, Panchmahal, Anand, Vadodara, and Ahmedabad
districts.
Resource Persons
The participants were addressed by the following
resource persons:
1.
Dr Asghar Ali Engineer, Chairman CSSS
2.
Ms. Geeta Oza, Janvikas Manch
3.
Mr. Govind Parmar, Advocate & Civic Rights
Activist
4.
Mr. Vijay Parmar, CEO, Janvikas Manch
5.
Ms. Manisha Tyagi, Project Office, Janvikas Manch
6.
Dr Vasundhara Mohan, CSSS
Collaborators
The workshop was held by CSSS in collaboration with
Ahmedabad-based NGOs Janvikas Manch, Niswan, and Aman
Samudaya. Mr. U. Hozefa of ActionAid acted as the
coordinator in approaching the NGOs, identifying local
resource persons and arranging venue for the workshop
and accommodation for out-station participants.
Proceedings of the workshop
Dr. (Mrs.) Vasundhara Mohan, Executive Director, CSSS
and Mr. Hozefa U explained to the participants the
context of the workshop. Detailing the reasons
 behind
the backwardness of the Muslim community in India, they
exhorted the NGOs to work for the betterment of its
socio-economic conditions by dispelling the myth that
Islam stood in the way of secular education. Because of
such myths and religious fatwas, the poorer sections of
the community were denying itself the opportunities
available for its economic upliftment. They also said
that when the Muslim community in Gujarat has been
taking steps to rebuild its lives after 2002, it should
know the opportunities available and the benefits
extended by the Government and try to avail them. This
workshop was intended to create awareness among the NGOs
on these aspects so that they could go back to their
areas of operation and help the community.
Dr Asghar Ali Engineer, Chairman, CSSS addressed the
participants on the following topics:
1.
Historical status of women in Arabia
2.
Differences between Sharia and Quran
3.
Muslim women’s rights under Quran
4.
Muslim women in India and modern challenges
Dr Engineer’s lectures enabled the participants to
appreciate that while the Qur’anic teachings were
divine, Shariah was man-made and hence was prone to
misinterpretations, which were often anti-women. Dr.
Engineer asked the participants not to take every word
of the so-called religious leaders (Mullahs and Maulvies)
as true and engage them in dialogue till they provide
answers based on Quran.
In her address to the participants, Ms. Geeta Oza of
Janvikas Manch stressed on acquiring education suitable
for securing remunerative employment. She was followed
by Dr. (Mrs.) Vasundhara Mohan who explained the avenues
of employment available for the educated as well as
housewives.
Advocate Mr. Govind Parmar spoke on Violence against
women both within and outside the family. With regard
to the latter, he referred to the instance of
victimisation of women in the Naroda Patia area during
2002 communal riots. He
 enlightened
the participants on the various constitutional and legal
provisions of the law against gender-based violence. He
said that there were a number of statutes that have been
in existence since long and which protect women against
violence. Individuals and NGOs should become of aware of
such laws and be prepared to fight.
Mr. Vijay Parmar spoke about leadership perspectives. He
differentiated between political and religious
leadership and that in the civil society, emphasising on
the importance of leadership in the civil society if the
citizens were to achieve and enjoy their civic rights.
At the same time, it is the duty of the leadership in
the civil society to fight for the rights of his or her
fellowmen.
Ms. Manisha Tyagi spoke on gender issues. She said that
a girl child is always
 discriminated
in the Indian society irrespective of religion to which
she belongs, although the reasons for such
discrimination and the extent and field of such
discrimination may vary. In an interactive session, she
called on the participants to write down their views on
issues connected to gender viz., the problems faced by
girls, fields and extent of discrimination etc., which
they might have experienced themselves or have to come
to know of. There was an enthusiastic participation in
the exercise.
Feedback
At the end of the workshop, the participants expressed
their views on the status of socio-economic conditions
of Muslims in Gujarat post-2002. Interestingly, none of
the 41 women participants was burqa-clad. While some of
the participants were first-timers, there were those who
had attended the December 2010 workshop. The following
are some of the points made out by them:
1.
Slowly, but surely, an awakening is taking place
in the community, with regard to education.
2. The
community now believes that unless it gives proper
education to its children, there is no way out of the
poverty in which the community is steeped
3. Even
the poorest Muslims do not have more than 2 to 3
children, as they have since realised that burdened with
poverty they cannot support a large family
4. Triple
Talaq still continues to haunt married women and the
scourge was being abetted by the Mullahs
5. The
December 2010 workshop has helped them become aware of
the benefits available under the 15-point programme and
with the help of NGOs, the community has started
exhorting the families to send their boys and girls to
schools/colleges by availing the benefits extended by
the 15-point programme
6.
Janvikas, an Ahmedabad-based NGO, has brought out
a pamphlet and poster in vernacular giving the salient
features of the Government of Gujarat Resolution (No.
P.R.E/1120-149-K) announcing the implementation of the
Government of India’s Free and Compulsory education
programme, with effect from the academic year starting
June 2011.
7.
ActionAid India, Gujarat office has also brought
out a booklet on Muslim Women’s Rights in the Holy Quran
and the Constitution of India (both in English and
Guajarati languages) for the benefit of the community.
8. The
participants declared that the present workshop
enlightened them on the rights of Muslim women under
Quran and they were now well-equipped to confront the
Mullahs and Moulavis if they try to tender wrong advice
on matters affecting their lives and education and
employment aspects of their children.
9. The
participants requested that at least two such workshops
be organised each year.
At the end of the workshop, Dr. Mohan summed up the
proceedings of the workshop and expressed her happiness
at the enthusiastic participation by Muslim women from
different parts of the State and their response. She
once again asked the Muslim women to understand that if
they were to improve their socio-economic conditions,
there is no alternative to good education of both boys
and girls. She asked them to avail the opportunities
available under the new 15-point programme for
minorities in the field of education and employment,
including skill-improvement with the help of NGOs.
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