Think tank formed to articulate moderate Muslim views

A group of around 175 prominent Muslim leaders, former bureaucrats and academicians have together to form a think tank to highlight the voice of "progressive and modern" members of the community, who are "often unable to find a platform to express their constructive views to the nation".

The formation of the Indian Muslims for India First (IMIF), which has former Rajya Sabha Deputy Speaker and senior Congress leader K Rahman Khan, former Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi and former MP Shahid Siddique among others comes at a time the community is being targeted by rightwing groups following the Tablighi Jamaat episode.

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"The Muslim community in India has been at the centre of a lot of negative news as well. Due to poor education and limited exposure to the modern world and to India’s pluralistic social and cultural ethos, a large section of the community lacks in rationale thinking and scientific temperament to adjust to the new situations and challenges. IMIF plans to chalk out strategies to connect them to modern education and inculcate shared cultural values and thus contribute to the nation-building efforts," the think tank said in a statement.

One of the rationales behind forming the think tank is to bring back the focus on the voice of moderate elements, who are in the majority, to the forefront, as they believe that the radical views of a minority are getting amplified putting the community in a bad light.

Acknowledging that media engagement of Muslim community has been poor, it said, “as a result, the community’s real voice and concerns could not be well articulated and consequently an erroneous narrative leading to negative perceptions has been built over a period of time."

“We will strive to work with the intellectual and thought leaders of all communities and represent the voices of the educated and modern outlook of Muslims of the country in the public domain. We also strive to promote the cosmopolitan, pluralistic and secular fabric of India by culturally engaging with all communities. We hope that our sustained efforts at the grassroots level will bring about a constructive change for the community and the nation,” the statement said.

In the current circumstances of a countrywide lockdown due to COVID-19 lockdown, it said their immediate goal is to mobilise the community to assist the health administration, law enforcement and other government agencies in the fight against this pandemic.

The IMIF will also be coordinating with community NGOs, institutions and individuals to help the stranded people with food and other necessities and also liberally donate to PM-CARES and other charitable bodies.