India's Missing Muslim Women
By
Moin Qazi, New Age Islam
4 September
2023
Muslims
occupy an essential position in Indian society. They are the principal minority
of this country. According to the 2011 census, Muslims constituted 13.4% of
India's total population, with the majority in Lakshadweep, Jammu, and Kashmir.
Women empowerment is a contemporary issue in developing countries like India.
It is assumed that the development of Muslim society has sustained a setback
due to various factors, of which the 'Invisible' role and 'Marginal' social
position of women in the dynamics of Muslim society is vital. The rates of
women empowerment are in a vulnerable condition within the most prominent
Muslim minority. The lack of social opportunities for Muslim women is a crucial
issue needing urgent Action.
Indian
Muslim women are practically invisible across the country. What needs to change
to ensure they get their proper place in the community leadership in the
hierarchical ladder? Social structures have always played a role in widening
economic divides between those marginalized by gender, religion, caste, and
their intersections. Muslim women, who constitute only one-tenth of the working
women population in India, bore the brunt of hate campaigns, hiring biases, and
state-sanctioned demolition drives.
The
Missing Numbers in Education
Recent data
on higher education enrolment in the country showed that there were more women
than men from the Muslim community in undergraduate courses (AISHE 2021). Out
of 1,000 Muslim students in higher education, 503 are women. While the steady
equalizing of Muslim women and men in education should be lauded, we must
realize it is against the background of an absolute decrease of Muslims in
higher education.
The number
of students from the community in higher education decreased to 19.21 lakh (4.6
per cent) in 2020-21 from 21 lakh (5.5 per cent) in 2019-20. Furthermore, while
the ratio of women to men in education has increased, Muslim women are
conspicuously absent from the workforce. This might be due to a lag effect, but
it does not mean we can ignore the need for a bridge from education to
employment.
Despite
more Muslim women than men getting degrees, women are the most disenfranchised
group in the country. Not only are we subject to high levels of unemployment
and poverty, but Discrimination based on our faith, gender and ethnic
background hinders our entry into the labour market., it's not Discrimination
that is holding us back. British Muslim women have failed to grasp that
integration is the missing "key to success".
Pious women
(most of them wearing the headscarf) taking part in the public realm, leading a
professional life and engaging in activism for a more equitable society are
subjected to various definitions. While usually viewed as feminist or
Islamic/Islamist, these women are sometimes described only as Islamist or
fundamentalist. Although we see the term fundamentalist used less frequently in
recent years, the designations "feminist" or "Islamic
feminist" subject these women to a coarse categorization against their
will. This attitude reflects the view that the Muslim woman cannot be a subject
and that her ideas about herself cannot be reliable. As such, it ceases to be
seen in everyday life alone but gains currency in intellectual and academic
arenas. Thus, a social-scientific approach that claims to give priority to
understanding slips into self-denial from the very beginning.
Muslim
Women Are Not Monolithic
Treating
all Muslim women's problems as monolithically attributable to their religion is
a cul-de-sac. Some vast cultural differences and influences go beyond the
simplistic attention-grabbing headlines. Even in the diaspora, Muslims
perpetuate cultural strands of religious practice, believing that engaging with
communities, as opposed to some faceless spiritual body, might be more
productive.
Indeed,
Muslim women in India exhibit a slightly higher fertility rate than other
religious communities. However, the differences between these rates are
minimal, and only marginal growth is projected in the coming decades. The main
concern is why Muslim women remain deprived, poor, socially excluded, and at
the fringes of development even after seven decades of independence. Other
disadvantaged communities have made significant progress in the
post-independence era through proper policies. Still, we have overlooked the
progress of the Muslim community in general and Muslim women in particular.
According
to the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), 2018, every third Muslim in
India lives in multidimensional poverty based on nutrition, health, education,
living standards, and assets. Health scenarios are even worse among Muslim
women. Research evidence underscores that Muslim mother-child pairs are more
likely to suffer from malnutrition than other communities. Another significant
issue among Muslim women is high illiteracy, as the Sachar Committee report
emphasized. The gross enrolment ratio at the primary level is the lowest among
Muslims, even worse than SCs, STs, and other social and religious groups.
Another
significant issue is the low participation of Muslim women in the labour
market. According to the periodic labour force survey (2020-21), about 10% of
Muslim women participate in the labour market, the lowest among all religious
groups.
Several
endeavours are helping Muslim women emerge out of their shadows. Still, these
are undermined and treated with increased cynicism when it is morally hijacked
to underwrite even moderate idealistic campaigns. The situation is equally dire
in the second-largest demographic in India, with nearly 14 per cent of the
country's population. Here, economic reforms need precedence over gender
reforms. Improvement in gender conditions can automatically follow as a
byproduct of economic redemption. The biggest problems facing Muslim society
today are financial, and the worst sufferers are women. These problems will not
likely be solved with civil rights remedies, but they could be relieved with
public and private Action encouraging economic redevelopment.
Poor
Muslims are much poorer than poor Hindus and can easily be bracketed with the
lowest Hindu castes and Dalits. Muslims are stuck at the bottom of almost every
economic or social heap. The government has been aggressively pursuing the
agenda of reforms in the personal laws of Muslims. Economic backwardness is a
much more complex and bitter reality for Muslims. The State can't turn its eyes
off it, mainly when training so many telescopes on the community's social
condition. It will amount to questioning the purity of the nationalism of
Muslims, the same way the upper castes have questioned the purity of
spiritualism of the so-called backward castes.
The Indian Development Review (IDR) has done commendable work of collating
and researching, surveying, documenting, and studies undertaken by socially
conscious researchers whose intensive and detailed research throws enormous
light on the root cause of the malaise that Muslim women offer. These studies
have been analysed and examined to understand the problem.
Muslim
women from the middle and upper classes with higher education get excellent
placements with handsome salaries and perks. Those from low-income groups
struggle relentlessly for money and start working to compensate for the loss of
family income. The plight of middle and lower-tier women is tragic. The migrant
workers in the informal sector are the most disadvantaged because they lacked
social security apart from encountering numerous other challenges.
Since 1959,
several bills that would ensure essential safeguards such as fair wages,
pensions, and maternity and health benefits to domestic workers have been
introduced in Parliament. But none of them was passed as a law. Muslim women
are significantly under-represented in the workforce. According to the 66th
round of the National Sample Survey Organisation (2009–10), out of every 1,000
working women, only 101—a meagre 10 per cent—were found to be Muslim. As per
the 2011 Census data, the Indian worker population ratio of Muslims was the
lowest at 32.6; Hindus and Christians had a worker population ratio of 41 and
41.9, respectively.
The migrant
Muslim women workers also suffer from errors of omission. According to the 2011
Census survey, 67 per cent of the migrating population is women, and an
estimated 11 per cent of the women migrate with their families. This data
doesn't show that many women who migrate with their husbands and families
continue to work, even if they don't often see themselves as breadwinners.
Nonprofits
believe that only the government has the resources and adequately trained
workforce to undertake research at a scale in line with India's vast and
diverse geography and demography. Shreya says, "While we work among the
workers, we don't have the resources and reach you need to conduct a
comprehensive survey. It is the government's job. Even the most innovative
nonprofits can't undertake the kind of surveys that the government officials
can."
Most of the
present literature on the marginalization of Muslim women focuses on personal
law and constitutional frameworks rather than on their presence in the labour
force. There is also little conversation in the public domain about their
dreams, hopes, and ambitions.
Muslim
women have always been caught between political considerations and personal
marginalization. Internal factors, too, require systemic changes and are
limited until external factors are corrected. However, specific shifts in
existing structures can help create space for young Indian Muslim women.
What
Will It Take to Change This?
Increasing
Enrolment in Educational Institutions
A report
from the National Statistical Office reveals the abysmal literacy rate among
Muslims and the severity of their academic marginalization in India. According
to it, Muslims have the highest proportion of youth (ages 3-35 years) who have
never enrolled in formal education. The report also states that the Gross
Attendance Ratio (people attending a level of education as a proportion of the
population of the group) of Muslims is the lowest—100 per cent in primary
education—among various social and religious groups in India and drops to a
mere 14 per cent in above-higher secondary courses. One step in the right
direction would be to expand the scope of the Right to Education Act of
2009—which ensures compulsory primary education—to include secondary and higher
education.
Muslim
women face Discrimination in schooling because of their religious affiliation
and are less likely to enrol in school than Muslim men. According to the
report, the male literacy rate in India is 81 per cent, whereas the female
literacy rate is 69 per cent. An unpublished study draws parallels between
Muslim and Hindu women, stating that women from both communities tend to have
lower enrolment levels than men in Indian society because of various economic
and cultural factors. However, Muslim women also face Discrimination in
schooling because of their religious affiliation and are less likely to enrol
in school than Muslim men. Therefore, policy changes for the community to
encourage Muslims, especially women, to continue their studies and eventually seek
employment require rigorous and sustained efforts.
Muslims
still rely on Madrasas and Maktabs as Muslim women are the most
backward in education. Madrasas and Maktabs are left to be the
only refuge for their education. Bottlenecks of formal education need reform to
provide education to weaker sects at affordable prices. In addition, the
upgradation of Madrasas and Maktabs is necessary for ensuring
better learning conditions, especially for those who can't afford formal
education in school.
Ensuring
Equal Opportunities In A Professional Space
Beyond the
personal, psychological experience of feeling different from the majority,
there are measurable consequences for being the 'other'. While this may not be
the case for every woman in every working environment, in our white,
male-dominated business world, it is an all-too-common occurrence. When women
are excluded, companies lose out on their talent and remain deprived of the
contribution of a vital component of the workforce. Change can only come if
organizations start to listen, understand and devise solutions to address the
barriers women and other minority groups face. Such steps will go a long way to
creating a solid pipeline of diverse talent.
Celebrating
Female Entrepreneurs
Celebrating
women's role models through cross-media campaigns by national and State
governments can help eliminate stereotypes, build community, and celebrate the
successes of Indian Muslim women. This can also be translated to the private
sector through a sectoral campaign that brings female professionals and
entrepreneurs into the mainstream. This would help young Indian Muslim women
identify potential mentors and empower them to continue their journey from
education to employment.
Building
A Support Network Of Like-Minded Women
A platform
or an informal, inclusive support network to facilitate the exchange of ideas,
information, capital, and counsel between budding and successful entrepreneurs
needs to be set up.
While we
understand that changing this status quo may be slow and arduous, it is
certainly not impossible. Neo-colonialist sensitivities run deep in Muslim
societies, and many fruitful joint ventures can be sabotaged due to such
prickliness. Finding local partners and supporting indigenous role models can
minimize this effect.
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Moin Qazi is the author of the bestselling book,
Village Diary of a Heretic Banker. He has worked in the development finance
sector for almost four decades.
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/india-missing-muslim-women/d/130598