The (Muslim) community today has no political platform at the national level to voice its opinions and grievances. Some organisations do have pocketed of influence in different parts of the country; the Jamaat-e- Isami in UP, the Milli Council in Rajasthan and UP, the Indian Union Muslim League in Kerala and the Ittehadul Muslimeen in A.P. This vacuum has come in handy for the Congress, the Leftists and Mandalites who have been able to cash in on the community's illiteracy, ignorance and alienation ...

The Sikhs have the benefit of a political platform -the Akali Dal by virtue of their being concentrated in Punjab - and the Christians have the benefit of high education standards. But the Muslim community is neither concentrated in one particular area nor is it substantially literate. Further, the Muslims have virtually no middle class - which is the traditional breeding ground for politicians and revolutionaries ... In terms of population, barring Kashmir, there are only four (sic) Muslim majority districts in the country, including Moradabad in UP and Malappuram in Kerala. 

In these localized communities, the mullahs still hold the illiterate in their grip. Because of this, the mullahs have played a key role in influencing the Muslim policy adopted by successive governments at the Centre. In a way, they have become the route for various political parties to reach the Muslim masses ...

What is the Muslim community's lot after years of the so-called appeasement policy? Its literacy rate of 42% is much below the national average of 58%. Among Muslim women, the literacy rate is just 11% as against the national average of 39%. Only four per cent of Muslim students reach the high school stage and 2.9% the graduation level ... An enlightened national Muslim leadership should provide the platform to formulate a progressive agenda which integrates Muslim into the national mainstream, highlights their contribution and sidelines the extremist elements .. (Source: The Times of India, 9 September, 2000)