Thought from the Founder
Dear Readers, Asalam Alaikum,
Welcome to the IMRC 2010 Annual Report. It is our utmost pleasure to let you know that the current year 2011 marks the 30th Anniversary of IMRC’s relief work to support Muslims and minorities in India. From its very inception we considered education as our primary goal to solve the myriad of problems that Muslims face. In the quest of this goal we established a reputable university in India; and that itself is a very difficult task when you don’t have any funds at hand. (It takes about $40 million for a good infrastructure). Thanks to your support and confidence we established a dream campus at a fraction of the cost.
At JIT, our goal is to provide the highest quality of education at the most affordable cost. Knowing an unchecked corruption faced India, we have made honesty, integrity and sound ethics as a central theme in our curriculum. Consequently, we envision a new generation of highly skilled future leaders who are independent thinkers with immense creativities and good character. We also aim to make this campus sensitive to the clean environment that will eventually meet all the requirements of a “Green Campus”, Inshallah.
Further in this arena of education, in the past 30 years IMRC has built hundreds of schools and supported over 200,000 Muslim and some minority students. However, we must recognize that it is very miniscule compared to the 40 million Muslim children who still need our support. We need to fight the vicious cycle of poverty to overcome this problem.
While we take some satisfaction in the fact that there is a definite awakening in all walks of Muslims; no matter how poor they are to send their children to school. The current figures show about 80% of Muslims families enroll their children into KG but 70% of them drop out by the time they reach the 10th grade and only 2% manage to enroll in college.
It is very disheartening to read these statistics from the Sachar Committee report.
Granted the Indian Constitution is one of the best in the world as it guarantees free education to all citizens 6-14 years old. But what good is it when there isn’t anyone willing to implement it. The poor Muslims who are struggling to feed their families just one square meal a day, could only afford to send their kids to government schools. Their desire is to enroll them in Urdu medium schools as it is their right to pursue education in their mother tongue. The government’s total disregard to support these schools in the past 50 years has brought them down to nothing. Last year I visited several such schools and there is not one good thing I could relay to you about them. The dilapidated condition of these facilities brought tears to my eyes. I found each and every one of them with a building in a deplorable condition. The rooms, if any, were dark without any ventilation, with almost 50 students squished in a space which could barely accommodate 20. With the government policy of not replacing the retired teachers in Urdu medium schools has now left many students without any teachers.
Finally I could not help but recall one inspirational speech by my mentor late Dr. Ismael Farooqui (BTW we have dedicated the JIT library in his good name). In this speech he reminded us to change our habit of hoarding to the one of giving if we desire to change the condition of this Ummah. This advice is in fact manifested in what earlier Muslims had given to India when they settled here. With their tremendous investment in their communities they had affected every faucet of human life. From art to architecture, from food we eat to the civility in languages and poetry. In short the fruits of their hard work and sacrifices gave us the culture and civilization which we enjoy in todays India. Now it is our turn. As Stephan Grellet has once said:”I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good thing, therefore, that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again”.
While I recognize your unmatched generosity in the past 30 years, much more still remains to be done. I conclude with this reminder to myself and everyone “All you have shall someday be given, therefore, give now that the season of giving may be yours and not your inheritors” (Khalil Gibran)
Regards, w’salam
Manzoor Ghori
Executive Director
Thank you.
