Senior Female Professionals participated in a Discussion on Economic Empowerment of Women in the Community organized by AMP

AMP is committed to give equal and fair representation to Muslim Women

in all its endeavors – Aamir Edresy

Mumbai, 08^th March ’18:

Women’s Day is celebrated all over the world on 8^th March every year. As the name implies, it is dedicated to celebrating womanhood, their social, political, cultural, economic achievements and their significant contributions to the society. The day also emphasizes the importance of gender equality. Islam too encourages women to be progressive within defined parameters of Sharia.

Association of Muslim Professionals (AMP) celebrated the Strength of Womanhood with a discussion on ‘Economic Empowerment of Women in Muslim Community’. The program was held at All India Khilafat House in South Mumbai. The meeting was attended by very experience and learned females from different walks of life.

The program started with the introduction of all the participants who gave an insight of their varied personal and professional backgrounds. AMP member Adv. Sabiha Ansari who works as a public prosecutor with SEBI gave an overview on the current status of the Muslim Women in the Community and Society. She discussed in detail about the AMP initiative of drafting a National Economic Development Roadmap for Muslims and explained about the need of female participation and empowerment within that plan.

Mrs. Zubeida Khadwani, who is the owner of Khandwani Group spoke about her rich experience and association in various social activities for the upliftment of the Muslim community. She said, “Education is the basic right of every human being irrespective of the gender. Education inculcates a sense of good character and makes a positive mindset of an individual”.

Miss. Rumana Siddique has been a very active volunteer with AMP for the past 1 year. She expressed her viewpoint mentioning, “Being a professional teacher I feel the most important aspect of development of Women is Counseling. Workshops for Parents and Teachers must be encouraged in order to counsel the girls from the school level itself. There are many girls who face abuse and torture at a young and tender age in their life.  A helping hand in form of counselling can save many live from unforeseen incidents”.

Professor Falaknaaz Danish who is the principal of a law college run by a reputed educational group in the city also gave her insights on Freedom of Speech, Expression and Practice and how these things are wrongly understood by many. She said, “In the name of Empowerment exercised by females, assertion may become rebellion or revolt if complete Sharia as well as Constitutional Legal Education is not provided to them”.

Mrs. Nasreen Khan who works on a senior position with BPCL shared her experience on lack of confidence in Muslim Girls. She also spoke that Muslim Girls are highly talented and we must give them equal opportunity and increase their confidence.

Mrs. Ainul Attar a senior beauraucrat from Government of Maharashtra said, “We need to educate the girl child as one woman educates an entire family”. She emphasized on the need of Muslim Females to join Government Services.

Mrs. Rakshanda Hani, HOD Economics from Maharashtra College said that “The main agenda should be to reach out to more and more Muslims and help them in being self-sufficient by creating jobs and employment opportunities, which in turn will eradicate poverty from the community”.

Miss. Sadiya Merchant who works as a crime reporter with Urdu Times gave very crisp and clear views on the matter. She said, “Our prime objective should be to eradicate poverty from within the Muslim Community and it cannot be done without empowering the Muslim Women”.   

President of AMP, Mr. Aamir Edresy gave his insights on the entire discussion. He said “Everyday is women’s day practically and Islamically. Women are the key person in every family who selflessly work from dawn to dusk binding the whole family together”. He highlighted that discrimination is a major problem in our Community. He added “We are still following age old culture and traditions which are difficult to understand and solve. The only breakthrough is empowering and educating women to stand on their own feet for a brighter future”. He said, “Female participation must be increased at all levels in the society. This will contribute towards Economic Development thereby getting translated into the development of the entire Muslim community”. AMP is working on a new initiative called Economic Development Plan for Indian Muslims and AMP is committed to give fair representation to Muslim Women in all its endeavors.

Miss. Muzammil Banatwalla who works as a Senior Project Coordinator coordinated the entire program and spoke about the different projects that AMP works in the domains of Education and Employment. Overall, the group of women who attended the programme were self-motivated and enjoyed the discussion. There was healthy participation leading to very important ideas that are the current issues within the community.

AMP believes that Women are the center of every person life. Hence, it is very important to understand their perspectives to move forward in bringing the Muslim Community at par with others in the Society. We at AMP look forward to more female participation in the coming years.

Regards, 
Team AMP