Mufti Abdul Kadir Barkatullah, an Islamic scholar and Shariah Advisor to several banks and financial institutions in Britain, is on a 30 days visit to India meeting individuals and groups and visiting institutions with an aim to pave the path for Islamic Banking in India. While talking to the media persons in Kochi, he said that comprehensive changes are needed in the Indian banking laws in order to implement interest-free economic system.
This is the news. But, see how it is reported in the media!
TwoCircles.net, a news website run by Muslims reported is as,
"Interest-free system: Comprehensive change needed in Indian banking laws – Mufti Abdul Qader Barkatulla"
However, the same news appeared in The Hindu as,Expert says Islamic banking is not practicable in India
The former post sounds optimistic, seems to reflect the actual message of the scholar, while the latter one pessimistically concludes that Islamic Banking is not practicable in India. And they didn't hesitate to add that this is what the 'Expert says..'.Unfortunately, 'The Hindu' which boasts itself as the 'India's National Newspaper', has a wider reach than the Internet based TwoCircles.net. I just wonder, Are we Indians getting the messages correct?
Mufti Abdul Kadir has identified three main blockades in the way to the introduction of Islamic Banking system in India: "First is the mindset of resistance to change. The financial world and banks are the last ones to change themselves in response to the needs of the society. Second hurdle is bureaucracy. Bureaucracy is overburdened with current regulatory task, and they don’t want to learn new things. Third is the political bickering. The government and the opposition will use Islamic Banking as a football. So they don’t want to bring this issue in the public and introduce legislative changes to allow Islamic Banking."
One more, not so visible, hurdle is the media portrayals such as this, which imposes their distorted perceptions on the general public.
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