Activities of the IOS Chapters

KOLKATA CHAPTER

Books Released

The releasing ceremony of the under mentioned important publications of the IOS took place in the seminar hall of the Holte Heera Holiday Inn in Kolkata on 28 February, 2004 at 6.00 P.M. The books were (1) Marginal Muslim Communities in India by Dr. M.K.A. Siddiqui, (Ed.) (2) Voluntary Association of Muslims in Kolkata by Dr. M.K.A. Siddiqui, (3) Life in the Slums of Calcutta by Dr. M.K.A. Siddiqui & Y. Hossain, (4) Hindi & Bengali rendering of Dr. Siddqui;s (a) Racial Affinities of Hindu & Muslim Population in India, (b) Western Factor in Hindu-Muslim Relationship by Mr. Seraj Khan Batish, Mr. Y. Hossain and Dr. Sk. Makbul Islam.

The ceremony was presided over by Dr. M. Manzoor Alam, Chairman, IOS. Hon’ble Justice Shyamal Kr. Sen, Chairman W.B. Human Rights Commission was the Guest in Chief and Prof. M.M. Chakraborty, ex-vice Chancellor, Jadavpur University and an eminent scientist was the Guest of Honour.

Hon’ble Justice Sen released Marginal Muslim Communities in India, Prof. M.M. Chakraborty performed the releasing ceremony of Voluntary Associations of the Muslims in Kolkata and Life in the Slums of Calcutta. Mr. Nesar Waris Jt. Secretary of W.B. Human Rights Commission released the Hindi and Bengali rendering of (a) Racial Affinities of Hindu & Muslim Populations in India and (b) Western Factor in Hindu-Muslim Relationship.

Speaking on the occasion Prof. M.M. Chakraborty praised the devotion of the IOS to scientific studies on the society, peoples and their culture. He said that Muslims had a glorious past and they are responsible for excellent work in the field of culture and civilization. Tajmahal and G.T. Road alone bear testimony to this. It is true that educationally they have lagged far behind and this is largely responsible for their difficulties.

Hon’ble Mr. Justice Sen recounted his role in releasing a number of publications of the IOS last year in Kolkata Book-Fair. Though they were small book-lets, their value is undoubtedly very great. They will lead to the development of scientific thinking and remove wrong notions. He praised the author’s scholarship and devotion to a noble cause. He was similarly full of appreciation for the publications being released today. He paid glowing tribute to the authors of these books in doing research in the fields of social conflict and socio-economic problems of the backwards. Muslim culture is very important in the context of Indian culture and civilization, he remarked.

The Chairman Dr. Manzoor Alam appreciated the presence of important personalities on the occasion. He laid extraordinary emphasis on protecting the constitution which was referred to by the honourable chief guest and spelt out very briefly the activities and preoccupations of the IOS in developing a vision of the future. He said that the various chapters of the IOS are involved in working on well thought out problems including empowerment of the underprivileged, on which 9 volumes are to be released very shortly.

Earlier Dr. Siddiqui spoke on some of the main activities of the Kolkata Chapter and presented a summary of all the three books and referred to Hindi and Bengali translation of the series on Hindu-Muslim Understanding, released on the occasion.

Marginal Muslim Communities in India by Dr. M.K.A. Siddiqui, (Gen. Ed.) is a volume that consists of ethnographic profiles of forty, out of over a couple of hundred little known or less known communities, each living in isolation, segregation and exclusiveness, in remote and obscure regions of the country. Some of them are almost unknown and find no mention in available ethnographic literature.

These forgotten and forsaken people of diverse backgrounds of tribes and castes, belong to various levels of culture, including hunting and gathering, nomadic, pastoral, fishing, peddlery, snake charming and a number of occupations of extremely marginal nature.

Having suffered from subservience and subordination for millennium, they have remained wedded to lowly and less lucrative occupations and continue to suffer from poverty and deprivation. Being weakest among the weak, they generally continue to live in sub-human conditions, often in distant and remote areas of the country.

The history of origin of these people is reflected from their varied ethnic, regional, linguistic and socio-economic backgrounds, including their customs and manners. These also provide information on the generally unknown and unrecorded process of change in their beliefs and practices.

An urge for elevating their social status appears to have drawn them to the egalitarian creed almost through a self-propelled action. However, considerable removal of the stigma of social inequality could not lead them to the desired economic uplift. This was due also to their age-old exclusiveness and isolation.

Peeping out of curiosity into the inner life of the people and interest in exotic customs and manners is not the real motive behind this study. The main objective is to acquaint ourselves with the estranged segments of our own society and to get informed about the kind of life they are compelled to live and to remind ourselves of our duties towards our less fortunate brethren.

The modest volume entitled, Voluntary Associations of the Muslims in Kolkata by Dr. M.K.A. Siddiqui is based on a survey and analysis of various types of associations of the Muslims, big or small, some of which are not of exclusive character, and are open for other citizens. The Institute’s previous work entitled “Institutions and Associations of the Muslims in Calcutta”, was designed to include both institutions and associations, but while the former was adequately dealt with, data on the later i.e. associations were inadequate.

Institutions are permanent forms or conditions of procedures, characteristic of a group and its activities. They are handed down to the people from traditions as integral parts of their culture. Associations on the other hand relate to groups of people and are consciously built or organized by groups for the pursuit of common interests.

Voluntary associations, as agencies of social action are of interest to us because they reflect people’s perception of their own problems, their consciousness or lack of consciousness of the same, their aspirations and goals, and throw considerable light on their social history.

This book is based on an extensive survey of some 466 associations, widely distributed in the city’s 41 wards. They were categorized, according to their stated objectives, into five main categories namely educational and literary (13.13%), social welfare (43.13%) sports and recreational pursuits (37.12%), Religio-cultural (5.15%) and professional (1.27%). The areas of their activity are not exclusively limited to these categories.

Only 52.36% of the associations are registered and 46.64 are unregistered or in the process of registration. There has been a phenomenal increase in the number of associations since 1960. Only 8.58% of the associations were formed prior to 1960 while 91.42% were formed after 1960.

While a few associations like the Mohammadan Sporting Club (1891), the Muslim Institute (1902), the Khilafat Committee (1919), Anjuman Mofidul Islam (1905), Calcutta Muslim Orphanage (1892), Oriental Chamber of Commerce, Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Hind (1919), The Iran Society (1945), Bazm-e-Ahbab (1920), the Islamia Hospital, Delhi Club etc are better known and more stable associations most of the associations reflect the socio-economic level of the Muslims of this city about two third of whom live in the slums of Calcutta, overwhelming majority of whom are self employed and are craftsmen. We may not be unjustified to expect the problems of housing, health, education and employment to reflect in the objectives of the associations as dominant factors. But adequate perception of the problems remain unreflected.

As agencies of social change, voluntary associations are undoubtedly most important and potentially most effective. They emerge as a result of the felt needs of the people, demanding collective action. They are formed by individuals and groups who feel the pulse of the people, demanding collective and corporate action and are ready to assume responsibility for solving the perceived problem. They also mobilize resources and undertake and execute certain programmes, with zeal and enthusiasm which is generally lacking in state sponsored programmes.

Life in the Slums of Calcutta by Dr. M.K.A. Siddiqui & Y. Hossain is the study of one of the 5511 slums or bustees of Calcutta, based on intensive survey, done in 1998. Bustees are in the form of enclaves in various ecological zones of the city. The more chronic ones, as in the case of our study, are situated in larger areas, in the outer rim of the Central Business District (C.B.D) technically known as the ‘area of transition’.

The plight of the bustee dwellers of Calcutta can be imagined from the fact that nearly half the total population of the city is compressed into about one eighth of its total land space. Bustees are indeed among some of the darkest spots in our great city as areas of poverty and miserably substandard housing condition. Life in the bustees is however, well organized. On account of extreme overcrowding of the people, Calcutta is often called ‘a city of slums’. Socio-economic studies of the slums are, however, few and far between, though some useful data have been collected by CMPO and CMDA, on several aspects of the city’s problems, including bustees. Their focus is, however, mainly on the ‘area’ rather than the people. The present report on a  selected bustee, namely Parsi Bagan, in North Calcutta, is based on living condition of the people including literacy, education, economy, occupational pursuits and housing condition. These, statistically presented, give a gloomy picture of the life of the people who are otherwise hard working craftsmen in need of some little encouragement.

An observation of a few relevant aspects of the life of the bustee people, which have been statistically presented and shown in quantitative terms, will bring home the fact that beyond a mere cosmetic treatment of generalized nature, at huge cost, often with external aid, very little real change has occurred in the bustee under our study. The huts remain where they were and the bustee dwellers continue to live in sub-human conditions. There is no evidence of any development plan for either housing or education of the bustee people. Educational uplift is the crying need of the bustee people, but so long as they remain in the present state, they can not aspire to improve their educational status.

PATNA CHAPTER

Social Change in Rural Bihar

The Patna Chapter of the IOS organized a lecture on 14.12.2004. Mr. Afroz Iqbal, lecturer, Department of Sociology, Patna University spoke on “Social Change in Rural Bihar”. Dr. Imteyaz Hassan, assistant co-ordinator of the IOS, Patna Chapter, while welcoming the guest speaker and the audience, highlighted the role of the Institute of Objective Studies, Delhi in ameliorating the conditions of the people placed in disadvantageous position in life through study and by carrying out researches on their problems. He said Mr. Afroz’s talk on “Social Change in Rural Bihar” will focus on different dimensions of the problem of social change for the benefits of the people at large. The learned speaker highlighted different bases of social change such as structure and function of society, social relationships, modifications in ways of doing and thinking of people, theological and non-theological beliefs, division of labour, economy and technology. These factors are responsible for social change. There are different way through which social change may be seen such as caste system, religion, education, family, marriage, kinship, fashion, modernization, rationality etc. After the talk of the speaker members from the floor put up questions or made comments. Mr. M.T. Khan referred to the rate of divorce, rural crimes, litigations and resistance to changes in the rural sector. He was of the view that in the absence of authentic data it was very difficult to deliberate on the issues referred to. However, circumstantial evidences suggest that they are on the higher side. The participants especially Dr. I.H. Hassan and Mr. Afroz Alam spoke about new kinds of blind faith that is rampant in the present society with the difference that the past blind faith was pure and simple while the present one is a rationalized faith. For example ministers and other high profile persons use lucky rings and other “auspicious” articles or signs on their body for success or warding off failures and mishaps. So is the case with cow dung and “Gau-mutra”.

Dr. Md. Rahmatullah, while noting the social changes through education, economic progress and modernization, wanted to know the saturation point of such kinds of changes. He himself, then, gave the answer. According to him the marital relation has been the worst victim. There are examples of high profile husbands and wives who, after suffering from the feeling of who is taller of the two in careers, have entered into mutual conflicts leading to divorce. Dr. Md. Nasir raised an interesting point when he said that as a result of social changes, a sense of competition has developed among young persons especially those from the rural sector and it has been accompanied by stress and strains also. In some cases a situation has developed in which failures in the planned career has led to achieving impossible success in the unknown areas.

Mr. Z.S. Jafri who presided over the session summed-up the entire discussion and wished that many more such sittings are organized in future.

Activities of the Ta’awun Trust

Inauguration of Mobile Medicare Unit

In its ongoing relief and rehabilitation efforts spread across the country the Ta’awun Trust under the patronage of Dr. M. Manzoor Alam launched a Mobile Medicare Unit on 1st April, 2004. The Mobile Unit was inaugurated by Mr. I.H. Khan, former Registrar, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. This Medicare Unit is meant to effectively cater to the medical requirements of the poor and the destitute in and around the area of Jamia Nagar, Okhla. It will provide best medical aid by qualified doctors at the very doorsteps i.e. in Mohallas and colonies wherever poor people live. Inaugurating the service Mr. Khan hoped that the Ta’awun Trust would continue to cater to the needs of the people of Delhi by setting up more welfare and social activities. Addressing the gathering he urged the donor institutions and organizations to come forward and donate generously for the cause of the suffering people. The function was well attended by people and prominent social workers of the area.

Ta’awun Trust from its very inception and within short span of its existence of about two decades has served vulnerable sections of Indian society particularly the Muslims. In India, natural calamities like floods, famines, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes in coastal areas are usual and common and they make people suffer for centuries. We have not been able to achieve substantial progress to mitigate human sufferings to the extent desired. In addition, repeated social strifes, communal conflicts are also common. Under these circumstances the Ta’awun Trust has been playing its role like a drop in the ocean within its economic capabilities and other resources.