IOS SILVER JUBILEE – III

Taking Stock

In this final piece on a quarter century of IOS, Chairman Dr Mohammad Manzoor Alam looks at the work that the Institute has done over the decades.

Looking at the nature of work IOS has done over the last 25 years, we can categorise it as a research NGO that also happens to have acquired an activist profile through supporting public causes.

Over the last quarter century the Institute has produced a huge number of books, booklets and research papers on economic, social, human rights, gender, and religious issues. It has organised a large number of seminars, symposia, discussions and round-table conferences, besides periodic evening lectures (Shaam-e-Muzakira) on issues of current and long-term concern. (Details will follow in an article by one of my senior colleagues at the IOS.)

Some of the issues that were discussed at our national and international seminar forum included: Socio-economic profile of different Indian communities, Statehood for Delhi, Dialogue among Civilisations, Language issues in India and Muslim situation in India etc. The discussions have helped shape opinion on vital issues of public and community life.

Major intellectuals, politicians, lawyers, academics, activists, ulama, journalists and women’s leaders from India and abroad have participated in these events (details of which will come in another article by another colleague) that have shaped the agenda for public discourse in India, providing a blueprint for action to people active in public life and to activists for public causes.

There is a plethora of public issues that IOS has supported. Being particularly focused on issues of Muslims and other minorities, Dalits and tribals, some of the major campaigns that it has backed are: abolition of TADA (a law under which innocent people, virtually all Muslims, were jailed and tortured for long periods without proper legal redress), campaign for enactment of laws on Equal Opportunity, Communal Violence, reservation for Muslims in jobs and educational institutions.

The Institute’s consistent work on law, Constitution, judicial and police reforms to improve the quality of governance, public life and the condition of common Indians has been noticed widely. Its academic intervention on issues like decriminalization of consensual sex between adult individuals of the same gender has rightly been regarded as a principled resistance against decline in sexual morality.

The Institute’s contribution to research on the economic and social condition of Indian Muslims was noted by the Sachar Committee that came up with the groundbreaking report on the economic and educational backwardness of Muslims and became the foundation for the Rangnath Mishra Commission’s recommendations for redressal.

The unenviable economic status of Indian Muslims, which got a national exposure after the Sachar Report, was all along known to IOS researchers and writers who had produced valuable work on the subject much before the Sachar Report came out.

The extensive disempowerment of Muslims was the issue addressed at nationwide seminars organised by the IOS over a period of a year. That was followed by a long series of books on Empowerment of Muslims. The series is still continuing.

The emphasis and focus at IOS has, however, been largely academic and intellectual. It has been working on analysing and clarifying issues for the civil society and governing structures to act upon.

We have networked with educational institutions, research institutions, social groups, rights groups, Dalit, tribal and minorities’ organisations.

The inspiration of IOS has led to the establishment of other organisations. It has generated seeds of ideas that have spawned more ideas and led to action for a better quality of life.

The Institute has been particularly active in social sciences research, law, religion and analysis and understanding of current events and their social and historical dynamics.

In a series of articles that would follow soon, my colleagues will go into the details of our diverse activities.  g