Whats this all about ?
Problems bedeviling the community Illiteracy and unemployment are largely responsible for backwardness among Muslim youths in India, especially Uttar Pradesh. A lot is being done on the religious front, but very little on issues related to education and socio-economic development and growth of Muslims. A majority of 15 lakh odd child laborers in Uttar Pradesh are Muslims. Unable to afford the high cost of education, every year thousands of Muslim children drop out of school. (A national survey conducted in Year 2002 reveals that the drop out rate is the highest among Muslim.)
How do we do this ?
Its as simple as it gets: Take it from the community, give it back to the community.
1. Seek contribution from the community in terms of time, money, expertise just about anything to create a pool of resources.
2. Use this pool of resources judiciously for the welfare of the community.
Premise: Explanation Its not difficult actually. There's nothing to lose; since we would be starting from scratch, any achievement, no matter how small, would be a gain.
Why us? If not us, then who?
Its our social and moral responsibility to do something for our community.
We are young and bright. We have the ability and also the resources.
The generation preceding us and the one after us cant be expected to do anything in this regard.
Which leaves us with the government and we already know what they have done so far.
But I am busy! Irrelevant: Working smart and not hard is the key word The bare minimum in terms of time and money is what one has to put in: Rs. 100 a month and half an hour in our meetings, held once in a month. (Of course, you can pitch in with a lot more)
What can we gain ? Nothing
There are no tangible benefits here, only Sawa'ab. Students availing our services will pass the baton to the next generation; even if they dont at least their generation and hopefully, those after them would be educated. Some clarifications:
1. Aaghaz Foundation does'nt have any political affiliations.
2. No one has any vested interests here. Alhamdulillah, we all are doing fairly well in life.
3. Transparency is the key word. Accounts, records etc can be checked any time.
4. No personal gains.
5. The decision-making authority in Aaghaz Foundation vests with an Executive Council. But this doesnt imply that the Foundation belongs to an individual or group. We are all cogs in the machine. So you can be as much a part of Aaghaz as we are.
Pitfalls
1. Criticism: No one is infallible; we all learn from our mistakes.
2. Error of judgment - can happen, but we have to be prepared for it.
What can we achieve ?
1. Eradicate illiteracy from the minority community.
2. Empower the community by making it self-reliant.
3. Establish self-sustaining structure for posterity.
