JEDDAH: Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam President professor M.H. Jawahirullah has urged the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) for extending its scholarship program for higher education to Muslim students of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
“IDB has a scholarship program for Muslims in non-Muslim countries and it was in this connection I met with Adel Sindi, officer at the IDB’s office of scholarship program,” Jawahirullah told reporters after the meeting on Tuesday. Scholarships are in the form of loans granted to students, which are to be paid back in stages once they start earning their livelihood.
He has also been pleading with the government of India to devise a pension scheme for the expatriates returning home from their overseas workplaces. “This could be like the Pravasi Welfare Fund that Kerala has introduced,” he added.
Back home in India, Jawahirullah, who obtained his Ph.D. from Madras University earlier this year on “Problems and constraints of Islamic banking in India,” said he had been campaigning for the establishment of Islamic banks. “When modern secular countries like the United States, Britain, Singapore and Sri Lanka have successfully accommodated Islamic banking and Islamic banking products within their banking systems, why India should not permit the establishment of Islamic banking,” he asked.
