AIMIM to host conference on status of Muslims in UP

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said that talking about various aspects related to the Muslim community without backing it with credible empirical data were usually dismissed as rhetoric.

Lucknow: The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) will host a conference on ‘Muslims in UP – Development, security and inclusion’, in Lucknow on Friday.

The conference will dwell at length on a recent study on the current conditions of Muslims in terms of demography, challenges in education, including madrassas, participation in industrial sector, entrepreneurship, population aspects, criminalisation and incarceration.

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The study, which will be tabled at the conference, is based on data collected mostly from government reports available in public domain and from works of well-known names in the field of research.

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said that talking about various aspects related to the Muslim community without backing it with credible empirical data were usually dismissed as rhetoric.

“More than 80 per cent of the data used in the study has been picked from government records available in public domain. The remaining data has come from exhaustive academic works of leading researchers,” Owaisi said.

“The data available does not give a rosy picture of what the community is dealing with at present and more effort is required from all quarters to improve the situation.

“Muslims constitute 19. 25 per cent of the total population of Uttar Pradesh against the national figure of 14.23 per cent. However, 71.2 per cent of Muslims above 15 years are illiterate or educated below the primary level in the state as compared to the national average of 58.3 per cent. The educational profile of Muslims in 2019-20 as per PLFS shows that at least 40.83 per cent Muslims are illiterate as compared to the overall illiteracy rate of 34.01 per cent. Such data is essential to fix responsibility on those responsible for the state of affairs,” he said.

The conference in Lucknow is being held just ahead of the Assembly elections and while addressing the media, Owaisi said that the idea was to attract attention from all quarters of the society on the condition of Muslims in India.

“And what better a time than before the elections when issues related to communities and people get more attention,” he said.