Miserable Muslims in Democratic India

A recent report of the Sachar Committee reveals astonishing result:

Muslims in India may be actually scraping the bottom of the education barrel, falling even below Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes when it comes to enrolment in literacy schools.

(Source)

--------1965----2001
Male (Urban)
Muslim---72%-----80%
SC/ST----72%-----90%
Others---90%-----95%

--------1965----2001
Female (Urban)
Muslim---52%-----80%
SC/ST----40%-----83%
Others---80%-----92%

--------1965----2001
Male (Rural)
Muslim---60%-----75%
SC/ST----50%-----85%
Others---80%-----90%

--------1965----2001
Female (Rural)
Muslim---32%-----68%
SC/ST----19%-----72%
Others---40%-----80%
Enrollement in Literacy Schools (from the report of the Sachar Committee)

From the above data, Muslims enrollement in literacy schools was higher than pitiful SC/ST communities. But today, Muslims lag behind.

According to the report:

Barring infant mortality and sex ratio, Muslims way behind others, even SC/STs, in social, health indices

The Scheduled Caste peoples are also known as Dalits or Untouchables; Scheduled Tribe people are also referred to as Adivasis. Both are living at the bottom of Indian society. If you think situation of lower castes in India is bad, imagine how bad it is for the Muslims.

India government did realize the problem and of course, it has good policies.

In 1983 a high-powered panel for minorities was appointed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and headed by Dr Gopal Singh. Its report revealed a gloomy picture of Muslim backwardness, especially in education. In the same year, the prime minister’s 15-point programme was proclaimed. It stated, “India of our dreams can survive only if Muslims and other minorities can live in absolute safety and confidence.” The 15 points covered all factors which resulted in backwardness, such as communal riots, lack of representation in state and Central services and nil access to the 20-point development programme.

(Source)
As usual, it's easy to find good policies from India government, but most of them are poorly implemented.

Committee of governors on the welfare of minorities submitted its report in 1998, lamenting the dismal implementation of the 15-point programme. It said: “The very purpose of the 15-point programme seems to have been defeated as a result of negligence on the part of the authorities who have failed to implement the programme.”

(Source)
How are Indian Muslims living today?

Post-Babri, post-9/11, the world seems to have split into two camps: Muslim and non-Muslim.

In Malegaon. In a town of seven lakh, there is no health facility, 85 per cent of the population is crammed into slums. There are open drains, flies and mosquitoes abound, chikunguniya and dengue, detected and undetected, take their toll. Children are everywhere, but where are the schools? Most of the older ones are dropouts who work on powerlooms. A survey revealed that 33 per cent of primary school students are hearing-impaired because of the deafening din of the powerlooms.

Indian Muslims from being mishal-e-raah (pathfinders) have, over the last 60 years, become raah ke pathar (stones on the path). The slide has been unrelenting, and neither the community itself nor its leaders have made any move to arrest this. Nor has the media. The Gudiyas and Imranas have hogged headlines. Images of veiled women appear with or without reason, to titillate readers.

(Source)