SV: SV: SV: Kinship systems

[Arun Gupta]

Do Tamil Muslims consider themselves to be separate from the mainstream, and
is any such separateness gaining ground because of the spread of the BJP ?

I have the following raw data to add (taken from "The Muslim Situation in
India", edited by Iqbal Ansari, 1987.

1. Supposedly the earliest Madrasa in Tamil Nadu is Madrasa Baqiathus
Salihath, Vellore, founded 1884.

2. A number of colleges have been set up, the olded being Islamiah College,
Vaniyambadi, 1921; the newest at the time of the essay was Muslim Arts
College, 1984.

3. The Organization of Muslim Educational Institutions, Associations and
Trusts of Tamil Nadu (OMEIAT) was founded in 1973.

4. The Govt. of Tamil Nadu has classied Muslims as a backward class (I don't
have the date, but it precedes 1987, obviously).

The question is : are such institutions symbols of a separate ethnicity or
not ? If they are, what does any of it have to do with the BJP ?

-arun gupta