Masjid One Movement’ Launched for Elimination of Muslim Backwardness

New Delhi: The All India Muslim Development Council (AIMDC) on launched the ‘Masjid One Movement’ with an aim to eradicate educational, economic and social backwardness of the Muslim community at the grassroots level. The council has developed software to collect the necessary data on each of the Muslim localities under a mosque. Speaking at the launch of the Movement at India Islamic Cultural Centre, former Union Minister for Minority Affairs K Rahman Khan called it an innovative approach and said if implemented properly, it will go a long way in eradicating the backwardness of the community. Referring to the well-known Sachar Committee report, which assessed the overall condition of the Muslim community, the former minister said the 80 per cent recommendations of the report is to be carried out by the community itself. “Backwardness cannot be removed by only relying on the government, the community needs to take major initiatives for this,” he stressed. He expressed concern over the state of Muslim youth saying despondency and helplessness are creeping in their minds. Mangalore-based Mohammed Imthiyaz, general secretary, AIMDC, introduced the ‘Masjid One Movement’ concept and software. He said masjid can be made the nerve center of developmental activities which will be a unit in this programme. Residents around the mosque can be broadly divided into four categories: affluent, middle level, needy, and badly needy, he said. The data of all these families will be helpful in charting the development programme.