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Muslims of Bengal, who had a
brilliant history of independence, governance and political freedom along
with economic prosperity before Independence, are now facing economic
deprivation. Bengal had been under the rule of Nawab Murshid Quli Khan,
Ali Wardi Khan and Nawab Sirajuddaulah.
Bengal was famous by the name
of ‘Fertile Bengal’ on account of its agricultural products like jute
and paddy. District Barisal of East Bengal was called as the granary of
Bengal. This economic success and prosperity gave birth to the well-known
humanitarian and philanthropist of Distt. Hooghly of West Bengal, Haji
Muhammad Muhsin whose invaluable contribution and devotion to the
educational progress of Indian Muslims will be written in letters of gold
in the history of Indian Muslims. Before the partition of India there were
two provinces which were under Muslim rule, one of which was Bengal.
In spite of this glorious
heritage, Muslims of Bengal are now considered extremely poor and fit for
ordinary labour. In spite of being skillful in various artistic activities
or professions, Muslims of West Bengal are leading a life of poverty and
deprivation. Business groups are exploiting them by giving meagre wages.
Giving a sketch of Muslim
deprivation in Bengal, MKA Siddiqui writes: In Calcutta, which is one of
the biggest cities of India and where Muslims are 15 percent of the
population, 60 percent of rickshaw and hand-cart pullers, 90 percent of
bidi makers and 100 percent of those engaged in embroidery work are
Muslims. Their disproportionate employment in ordinary professions and
extremely low representation in profitable arts, crafts and services is
indicative of their social and economic condition. The number of Muslim
capitalists in West Bengal who can manage their own trade is extremely
low.
Bengal’s association with
Islam had started much earlier than its conquest in the thirteenth
century. Many Muslim thinkers and scholars are believed to have lived in
Bengal much before its conquest. Islam had spread widely in rural areas.
Many social, religious and political factors are believed to have given
rise to the spread of Islam in Bengal. The preachers of Islam got very
good opportunities in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries for
preaching and spreading Islam.
The noteworthy feature of the
1872 statistics of Bengal was that almost half of Bengal’s population,
i.e., 48 percent, was Muslim, the majority of whom lived in rural areas.
During the decade of 1941-51 political and historical factors changed the
boundaries of the country. This also affected the population of
present-day Bengal in India. A large number of Muslims left those regions
which formed ‘West Bengal’ after partition and migrated to the Eastern
part of Pakistan which subsequently came into existence as ‘Bangladesh’
in 1971.
According to the 1981 census,
the total Muslim population in West Bengal was 11,743,259 of which
6,100,517 were males and 5,642,742 females. The districts with high
percentage of Muslim population are Murshidabad, Malda, Dinajpur, South
Dinajpur, 24-Parganas and Hooghly where Muslims are between 40 and 60
percent but in Murshidabad, Malda and Dinajpur they are more than 60
percent.
The economic condition of
Muslims in West Bengal is not good. According to a survey, 70 percent of
Muslims are living below the poverty line. Their ratio in various
profitable trades and services vis-a-vis the total population is extremely
low.
Under these circumstances
there is a silver lining. Both the public as well as the Government are
taking initiatives to improve the worsening educational condition of
Muslims. As far as the Government is concerned, the Central Government has
set up a Minorities Commission to focus attention on the difficulties of
Muslims. Conditions have started improving , though not to the desired
extent. As regards the steps taken by the public, the All-India
Educational Move-ment has recently been established through the efforts of
former AMU VC Saiyid Hamid. This movement has organized various
conferences and seminars.
A body of Muslims has founded
in 1984 an educational trust-‘Islamic Educational and Welfare Trust.’
In addition to this, some other organizations have taken notable steps for
the improvement and welfare of Muslims.q |
