Educational, Economic and Social Status of Muslims in Western Uttar Pradesh (A Case Study of Aligarh, Bulandshaher, Meerut and Moradabad Districts)

Abstract

Marginalization and under-development of the Muslim communities in India has been the subject of public debates and discussions in recent years. Very few empirical research studies exist on the social, economic, and educational conditions of Muslims across the country. Need of the day is to gather more data on the situation of the Muslim community in order to effectively develop programs and influence policy-making that will promote their development and empowerment in India. Thus, the present study is an attempt to describe the educational, economic and social status of Muslims in western Uttar Pradesh. The districts of Aligarh, Bulandshahr, Meerut, and Moradabad in western Uttar Pradesh have substantial Muslim populations and were thus chosen for field work. This study also tries to identify local Muslim organizations and social activists working in these districts in order to enable NGOs and other similar groups to establish links and develop joint activities for the empowerment of Muslims in an informed manner. The study has used both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection. In order to document the views and perceptions of specific groups, the present study took recourse to questionnaire, interview schedule and focused group interview. In addition to this, the study has also taken into account some important secondary sources like official government data, reports, existing academic literature and the National Minority Commission. The study reveals that Muslim localities in urban as well as rural areas are considerably marginalized and discriminated against in terms of government resource allocation and left out of the development process. The deleterious impact of globalization and neo-liberal economic policies on vulnerable rural communities is obvious, and in particular, many rural Muslim families have been hit severely by these. It also shows that the situation of Muslims is quite similar to those of Dalits. Evidence suggests that the Muslims are treated like Dalits and second class citizens and are socially discriminated against. A host of factors, as the study points out, have been responsible for the marginalization of Muslims and thus the situation calls for urgent steps to remedy the situation and ameliorate their condition educationally, economically, socially and politically.