[Reader-list] Why I am against Jamia Millia's Moniroty status

[Rakesh Iyer]

Dear Yousuf

I appreciate the views presented in this article, and I would just like to
add one more thing to this.

P.Sainath, the well known rural-affairs Editor of "The Hindu: had recently
given a lecture at IIT Madras, where he said something very important:
"Don't let school and college  interfere with your education". Education
really comes from learning with a diverse pool of people whose interests,
backgrounds, cultures, ideas and values are different, for that's when one
realizes the importance of humanity itself in a way. It can really open our
eyes to a whole set of new ways of life, which would not have been possible
if only a particular kind of people were getting education at a particular
place.

The problems with making Jamia a "minority institution"are not just that
those you mentioned. It will lead to a complete ghettoization of a community
which has already been systematically targetted for doing so, and has been
branded communal because of the same reason. This will not help in such a
situation whatsoever. What is required is the ability to open out and reach
to other sections of the society, and it's important for the Muslims as much
as it's important for the other communities too. In Sainath's words, we
should not allow Jamia to interfere with the education of the students
there, for this is wrong.

And hence, I oppose this decision. Education can never be and should never
be in this way. I am for reservation, and I am fine with spreading religious
and cultural values in educational institutions, but I am totally against
making any institution being a minority institution. If the Indian state so
feels, let it have religious teachers teaching culture and religion to all
state-led schools and make it a part of Right to Education, with the
condition that the idea is not about proselytization but about teaching
children what the real meaning of religion is, what culture is and how it
can change and why it should. But minority institutions (or for that matter,
even those among majority like the Saraswati Shishu Mandir) should be
banned, and we should throw away such concepts themselves.

Rakesh