State-owned banks in India have been accused of discriminating against the country’s Muslim minority.
India’s minorities watchdog has received a record number of complaints from Muslims who say they have been prevented from opening bank accounts.
India’s Muslim community is among the poorest in the country.
Some bankers say it is not so much their religious background, but their economic status that makes it hard for Muslims to get banking facilities.
The National Commission of Minorities says that there has been a 100% increase in the number of complaints it has received over the past year from Muslims who say they are being prevented from opening accounts in state-run banks.
Reports say the worst case took place in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, where some 90,000 Muslim students were unable to open accounts to deposit scholarship cheques given to them by the government.
Official reports frequently put Muslims at the bottom of India’s social and economic ladder – even beneath than low-caste Hindus.
Their economic status means they are often excluded by private banks, which prefer more well-to-do clients.
Already a number of reports have suggested that India’s Muslims fare poorly when it comes to getting access to quality education or employment opportunities.
This latest finding will add more pressure on a government which is seen as doing very little for the country’s largest minority group. India state-run banks ‘turn away Muslims’ 21 July 10 11:50 ET By Sanjoy Majumder, BBC News, Delhi
run by people committed to reviving time-tested methods of educating and transforming human beings. It is our belief that Islam offers a cohesive understanding of the world and a praxis for it that is able to cut through the illusion of contemporary nihilism and materialism.We recognize ignorance as the greatest weapon of the dark forces working in the world and believe that the light of true knowledge is the only weapon to dispel that darkness. This is our struggle, and our efforts are directed at spreading the light and wisdom of prophetic truths everywhere and to all peoples. Our aim is to teach the tools individuals need in order to live lives of guidance and adherence to sacred order and to restore broad-based pluralistic and true scholarship to its proper place as a first priority of Muslims.We believe the problems facing this generation are those very problems mentioned in our Prophet’s final sermon, upon him be prayers and peace: economic injustice, racism, the oppression of women, and the manipulation of natural order. We believe these human illnesses can only be treated through healing the hearts of humanity with spiritual truths of the impermanence of the world and the need to understand our purpose while we are here and act accordingly. This can only be done with sound and true knowledge. It is our goal to acquire and disseminate that knowledge
No comments:
Post a Comment