The small but vibrant Khoja Shia Ishnaashari (KSI) Jamaat, the group representing the Khoja Shias, is currently carrying out an internal survey. Though they call it ‘census’-a term only the government can use—the massive global survey, once complete, will give a clear picture of the community’s socio-economic condition. It will help the Jamaat, both local and World Federation of the KSI, headquartered in London (UK), to help needy fellow members on three fronts-health, housing and education.
Nowhere has this survey been drummed up more vigorously than at last week’s KSI Scholarship (2020-2023) distribution ceremony at Kaiser Baug in Donrgi.
Not very far from the iconic Khoja Jama Masjid and the KSI Mumbai Jamaat’s office at the Masjid’s premises. Attended by over a dozen senior community and political leaders, parents and beneficiary students of the community, the function saw speakers stressing the need to get the survey done by filling a form on the jamaat portal (portal.ksijamaat.org).
“Each member must answer seven-eight questions about his/her education, employment/business, residential status and medical needs, apart from basic information like name, parents’ name and address,” said KSI Mumbai Jamaat president Ali Akbar Shroff. He added that there are between 1.25 lakh to 1.35 lakh Khoja Shias across the world, from Mumbai to Mombasa, Karachi to Khartoum, Sydney to San Francisco. Out of this, around 50,000 are in India and 20,000 in Mumbai. The community leaders feel that it is necessary to understand the status of the community before steps are taken to address the difficulties.
Among the facilities proposed post-survey are housing projects at Palghar and Neral where many families currently living in crammed, dilapidated houses in the congested city will be accommodated comfortably in bigger houses. One of the purposes of the survey is to ensure that the community is made aware of the various government schemes.
The guests, both locals and from abroad, were visibly overjoyed to see the progress of the thriving community. They lauded the current survey. “I am so thrilled to see the progress the community has made in India, but it is essential to know which are the weak spots where help is needed. Please complete the survey and let us know what we can do to better the condition,” said president, World Federation of KSIMC (Muslim Communities) Shaikh Safdar Jaffer who flew in from London and stayed here for a few hours only to attend the Scholarship distribution programme.
Women, seated in a separate enclosure and watching the programme live on a giant screen, actively participated in the event and are part of the team holding the survey. “I am happy to see girls and women getting empowered,” said Versova MLA Bharati Levekar. Congress MLA Amin Patel, on his part, praised the community’s commitment to uplift not just its members but rendering service to others through schools and hospitals. Shroff “lured” many youths to fill the data forms that World Federation’s “Task Force for the Youth” at the function’s venue itself by promising gifts. “Earlier I was struggling and did not get many responses, but around 200 youngsters filled the forms at the venue,” said the Task Force’s India representative Mohammed Raza Nathani.
Yasin Merchant, thricenational champion in snooker whom Shroff hailed as “community’s and India’s pride” underlined the need for members to cooperate: “Help them to help you.”
