by Nirmala Carvalho

For Ibrahim Musliyar Bekal, the dowry system, the ban on married women working, and frequent desertion by husbands explain indigence in Muslim communities.

New Delhi (AsiaNews) – For Ibrahim Musliyar Bekal, a Muslim religious leader in Karnataka’s Udupi District, the Muslim community is largely to blame for its poverty. After visiting ten families living in abject poverty, he said that some Muslim practices explain widespread underdevelopment.

Bekal, who is Qazi (Kadi, religious judge) in Udupi, said that it “is very important to eradicate the dowry system and other such evils prevailing in the Muslim community”, which undermine “its overall development”.

The dowry system forces families to pay millions of rupees to the groom’s family in order to take in their daughters in marriage. Even though the practice is illegal since the adoption of the Dowry Prohibition Act in 1961, it still shapes people’s mindset and culture.

Another evil that burdens Muslims is the status of women who, after marriage, are not allowed to work. To illustrate his point, Qazi Ibrahim Musliyar Bekal mentioned the moving case of a family who had two female members become mentally ill after they were deserted by their husbands many years ago. Sadly, he said there are many instances of various forms of abuse that are inflicted upon unfortunate women who end up languishing at home without support.

According to Indian government figures, some 251 millions people lived below the poverty line in 2005. Of these, 31 per cent was Muslim even though Muslims represent only 13.4 per cent of the population.