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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 8:56:24 pm

‘Save Sharia’ campaign feeds Hindutva politics

Mumbai: Prominent Muslims and others have slammed the All India Muslim Personal Law Board’s ‘Save India, Save Sharia’ nationwide campaign, alleging that it could deepen polarization while willy-nilly supporting the very forces the AIMPLB claims to oppose. Launched on Sep. 17 – coinciding with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 76th birthday – the AIMPLB’s 3-month-long campaign is aimed at mobilizing public opinion around protecting the Constitutional rights, preserving the Muslim Personal Law...

‘Save Sharia’ campaign feeds Hindutva politics

Mumbai: Prominent Muslims and others have slammed the All India Muslim Personal Law Board’s ‘Save India, Save Sharia’ nationwide campaign, alleging that it could deepen polarization while willy-nilly supporting the very forces the AIMPLB claims to oppose. Launched on Sep. 17 – coinciding with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 76th birthday – the AIMPLB’s 3-month-long campaign is aimed at mobilizing public opinion around protecting the Constitutional rights, preserving the Muslim Personal Law within the framework of safeguarding India’s pluralistic and democratic character. The AIMPLB leaders said they are soliciting support of people, intellectuals, activists, social and religious organisations who value justice, democracy, peace and the Constitution, to strengthen constitutional supremacy, the rule of law, justice and equality, religious freedom, social harmony and national unity. Around 100 progressive Muslim and non-Muslim intellectuals, activists, organisations and supporters have warned that what the AIMPLB presents as a defence of constitutional rights, religious freedom and Muslim identity "could deepen divisions, and may provide political ammunition to right-wing forces". The progressive have accused AIMPLB of selectively invoking Art. 25-30 of the Constitution related to Religious Freedom, while ignoring that these rights are explicitly subject to public order, morality, and health. Moreover, they conveniently bypass Articles 14 and 15, which guarantee equality before the law and prohibit sex or religion-based discrimination. “Following the 2024 Lok Sabha elections where civil society and opposition parties rallied under 'Save the Constitution', the AIMPLB's campaign inadvertently gave the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Sangh Parivar a platform to posture as defenders of constitutional norms. Ahead of crucial state assembly elections, this campaign reinforces false narratives and fuels propaganda that Indian Muslims reject the law of the land,” said the intellectuals. They pointed out how the so-called ‘God-given Shariat Law’ in India is nothing but man-made personal laws and ‘male interpreted patriarchal interpretations’, defended by the AIMPLB. In its September 2016 Supreme Court affidavit in the Triple Talaq case (Sayara Bano v/s. Union of India), the AIMPLB’s affidavit claimed divorce rights belong primarily to husbands because men allegedly possess ‘greater power of decision-making’ and ‘control emotions’. It even argued that without a quick separation option, a husband ‘may resort to illegal, criminal ways of murdering or burning her alive’ - a disturbing rationalization of domestic violence. Claiming these laws are divine, the AIMPLB admitted that “India is a patriarchal society, and therefore personal laws of all communities are aligned with the patriarchal notion...” The progressives countered that Muslim-majority nations globally including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Tunisia and Morocco have codified and reformed personal laws to protect women's rights. “Millions of Muslims live in secular democratic nations with uniform family codes without putting ‘Islam in danger’. The Muslim community’s current legal predicament in India is the direct result of the AIMPLB and conservative leaders failing to proactively reform and codify Muslim Personal Law,” said the progressives sharply. They said that genuine family law reform must guarantee Muslim women equal rights regarding minimum marriage age, abolition of polygamy, mutual divorce, equal inheritance, child custody, adoption, and a ban on female genital mutilation and halala. While secular political parties rarely support the rights of Muslim women, the BJP and the Hindu Right wing do so with an obvious motive: ‘communal polarization’, said the progressives. “The sangh parivar sheds crocodile tears for Muslim women while ignoring relentless hate speech (Love Jihad, Land Jihad…) and hate crimes like mob lynching, bulldozing homes, demolishing mosques or economic boycotts, with chants of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ to intimidate and strike fear. This accompanies state actions targeting Muslims: Waqf Amendment Act, draconian anti-conversion laws, and a weaponised SIR (Special Intensive Revision of Electoral Rolls) to disenfranchise vast sections of the electorate,” they averred. The progressives have sought the active involvement of all enlightened forces, civil society organisations and secular political parties to ensure that the demand for a gender-just, religion-neutral Uniform Civil Code is rooted in equality and human rights, rather than weaponized for communal division. Among the signatories to the appeal are: Naseeruddin Shah, Amol Palekar, Zeenat Shaukat Ali, Anand Patwardhan, Sultan Shaheen, Teesta Setalvad, Ram Puniyani, Tushar Gandhi, Mallika Sarabhai, Ratna Pathak, Feroze Mithiborwala, Anita Cheria, Zakia Soman, Jyothi Yedulla, Noorjehan S. Niaz, Madhu Bhaduri, et al.

Planning for Child's Education

Writer: Kaustubh Kale
Kaustubh Kale
May 16
2 min read

As the new academic year starts, many parents once again experience how quickly education costs are rising. School fees, tuition classes, books, uniforms, transport, extracurricular activities and other expenses keep increasing every year. As your child grows older, these costs only become bigger, especially when it comes to graduation, post-graduation, professional courses and foreign education.


A child’s education is not only an emotional priority for parents but also one of the biggest financial goals for any family. Every parent wants to give their child the best possible opportunities. But quality education, especially higher education, cannot usually be funded from regular monthly income alone. It requires proper planning, disciplined investing and an early start.


Setting Goal

A financial goal is any large expenditure that cannot be managed comfortably from current income. Your child’s higher education clearly falls into this category. Whether your child studies in India or abroad, whether they pursue medicine, engineering, management, law, finance, design, technology or any other professional course, the cost can be very large.


The important point is that today’s cost will not remain the same in the future. Education inflation is usually higher than normal household inflation. Fees for good colleges, professional courses and overseas education tend to rise significantly over time. This makes it necessary to plan early. Suppose your child is likely to start higher education in 15 years, and the estimated cost of that course today is INR 30 lakh. If we assume education inflation of 7% annually, the same education can cost around INR 83 lakh after 15 years. 7% is just for an example, because education inflation is much higher.


If the child wants to study abroad, the numbers can be even more significant because parents also need to consider tuition fees, accommodation, food, travel, currency fluctuations and other living expenses. A course that looks expensive today can become much more expensive by the time your child is ready for it.


Consistent Investing

To build a corpus of around INR 83 lakh over the next 15 years, consistent investing is essential. Assuming an annual return of 12% through a systematic investment plan (SIP) in mutual funds, you would need to invest approximately INR 18,000 per month to reach this target.


This SIP should be exclusively dedicated to your child’s education fund. Other goals such as retirement, home purchase, vacations or your child’s wedding should have separate investments. Mixing all goals into one investment can create confusion and may lead to shortfalls later. SIP can also be understood as “Sapna in Progress” - a dream that moves closer to reality with every disciplined monthly contribution.


Right Investments

For long-term goals like child education, saving money in low-return products may not be enough. To beat inflation and create meaningful wealth, parents should consider growth-oriented assets such as equity mutual funds, stocks and gold.


Final word

Your child’s education is one of the most important investments you will ever make. Start early, invest sufficiently and regularly. A well-planned education fund will ensure that when your child is ready to chase their dreams, money does not become the reason to compromise.


(The author is Chartered Accountant and CFA (USA). Financial advisor. Views personal. He could be reached on 9833133605)

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