A probable way forward for our Vohras to face modern day changes and challenges and live as practising Muslims in a rapidly changing India.    
                We Surti Sunni Vohra Muslims, traditionally small land owners and cultivators, help form an endogamous group which has been functioning for many centuries and has helped us keep our identity as a separate Muslim group in Gujarat. There are it is said over 350 such endogamous groups in Gujarat. Like the other endogamous groups our group is also not formally organised and no one has any control over its workings. Despite this, it continues to play a very significant role in keeping us Vohras together through our endogamous practice and it is very likely to stay with us for many years to come.
                As members of an endogamous group our village based brothers as well as sisters benefited in many ways.  Over the years, they got assisted by their migrant relatives to have more land. Needs were also seen by the migrants to help the villagers have masajid for the men folk to offer their namaz. Madaris were established with qualified teachers to enable the village children to have religious education. At a later stage dar-ul-ulooms were set up in many villages to allow both young men and women to pursue their religious studies. Whilst all Vohra villagers had access to State run primary as well as secondary schools it was felt necessary by our people to establish secondary schools in some of our villages to attract more of our young boys as well as girls to acquire secular education. Hostels to accommodate students were set up and provisions were made to provide students with scholarships. In recent years, some villagers have seen the need to set up English medium schools. Migrants also helped their villages, to have piped water supplies, helped with getting electricity supplies to the villages, helped towards getting their villages connected by good roads, helped with upgrading grave yards, helped with setting up dispensaries and in recent years supported the setting up of hospitals in some of the villages and towns. Besides this, many villagers, relatives as well as others, came to be regularly supported financially by the migrants. To assist the young Vohras the Vohra Education Society was set up and to keep the Vohra people informed about religious, social and education issues the Vohra Samachar came to be published.
                Whilst our village based brothers as well as sisters benefited a lot financially and in many other ways over the years and continue to do so we should try to learn if they have become prepared to face as Muslims the changes and the challenges they now face due to the rapid industrialisation, urbanisation, modernisation and westernisation sweeping across India. We feel we need to learn if our brothers as well as sisters are participating in and contributing to the changes taking place around them as Muslims and in turn benefiting the society around them as well as benefiting themselves or are they simply looking on as observers of the changes and giving in to the challenges that come their way.     
                If we travel through our Vohra villages we notice many physical changes. In most of our villages we come across beautifully constructed and well looked after masajid and recently constructed houses of all sizes and shapes. Bullock carts which were traditionally used for transporting people and farm produce have been replaced by motor cars, motor cycles, trucks and the bullock drawn ploughs by tractors. The Vohra villagers we come across are well dressed. Most young men are often seen wearing jeans and T shirts or in trousers and shirts. Some are seen in kafni/ijar suits and others in their jubbas. The women folk too are well dressed. Most are seen in their dress/ijar suits, some in their jubbas and we are likely to come across a few young ones in jeans and T shirts. Mobile phones are owned and used widely and we will come across very few homes without fridges, televisions, micro waves, gas cookers and modern bathrooms and toilets. We hear of big engagements and many hundreds of thousands of Rupees spent on weddings and of hundreds of guests invited to celebrate such occasions.
 Whilst we see many signs of prosperity across our Vohra villages we come across very few of our Vohra brothers as well as sisters actively engaged in economic activities. Very few are seen engaged in their traditional occupation of farming as working on the land is no longer looked upon as a respectable occupation. Very few of our young men and women are seen leaving their villages to work in towns and cities. Besides this land ownership among our Vohras has decreased and is decreasing rapidly as many decide to sell their land. Our brothers as well as sisters have also not moved onto engaging in other types of work in any significant numbers. Most are interested in migrating to other countries or live on money sent by migrant relatives or sell their land. 
                As compared to some years ago we now come across many men as well as women with religious education. All Vohra villages have huffaz, qurra, ulema and alimas. Whilst religious education has spread and helped create employment opportunities for many we also come across information from our villages that young Vohra boys are no longer very keen on attending dar-ul-ulooms. Besides this though our dar-ul-ulooms have helped many young men and women to acquire religious education most of the dar-ul-ulooms we are told, are required to recruit teachers/lecturers from other Indian states to fill their vacancies.
                Our progress with acquiring secular education has remained poor. Secondary schools in some of Vohra villages and the availability of scholarships and hostel facilities have not helped with improving the take up of secular education among our people. Very few of our young boys and girls go on to high schools and very few of these go onto colleges to do degree courses or pursue professional qualifications. We would find it difficult to come across Vohra teachers even in Vohra run high schools. Similarly, due to the poor take up of secular education we come across very few lawyers, doctors and dentists and very few nurses or laboratory staff even in Vohra run hospitals. After years of exposure to secular education we can still come across some of our Vohra villages where we are not likely to find anyone who had been to high school or completed his or her high school education.
                Though our villagers have a lot of religious education the attendance for prayers at the masajid remains poor. Even the efforts put in by the tabligh jamaat has not helped much to get our men folk to offer their namaz at the masajid. The acquiring of religious education and the opportunities to listen to bayaans have also not helped many of our people to move closer to the expectations of our religion.
                We feel that whilst our Vohra identity will continue as it has done over many years there is a great need for us to keep our Muslim identity. This can only be achieved by us by getting our people to move closer to the expectations of our religion. As Vohras we all feel concerned about our people but feeling concerned is not enough. Many a times the concerns felt by our people leads to the building of new masajid, new madaris and new dar-ul-ulooms. Whilst there is nothing wrong with adding to our places of worship and learning, these on their own cannot get our people to move closer to our religion and the religious practices expected of us and live as practising Muslims.
                What is needed, we feel, is some form of positive action to reach out to our people to help them learn as well as become aware as Muslims of the changes and challenges they face. Whilst efforts by the madaris, dar-ul-ulooms, tabligh jamaat and bayaans by the ulema help our people to learn about our religion or add to the knowledge that our people have we feel a new and unified approach could perhaps help our people to move closer to the expectations of our religion and become prepared to face the challenges. There is a need we feel to get our madaris, dar-ul-ulooms, ulema, alimas, tabligh jamatis, our secular educated persons, professionally qualified persons, secondary schools, hospitals, those in charge of the Vohra Education Society and the Vohra Samachar, community leaders as well as community elders to get together to discuss the needs of our Vohra brothers as well as sisters. We feel there is a great need for working together as the aim of all the different providers of education and services are trying to serve the needs of the same people. Together, we feel a strategy could be developed to reach out to our people to help bring about the awareness they need to face the changes and challenges. We feel with awareness our people will be able to keep nearer to the practices required by our religion rather than giving into the attractions of urbanisation, modernisation and westernisation.
                We feel most of our people are willing to listen and learn and give up their un-Islamic/ anti-social habits they have accepted or adopted if time is spent with them. Our historical method of 'talking past people', we feel needs to be replaced by 'talking to people'. There is a need, we feel, to take an approach that takes into consideration our religion as well as our secular education and social and economic needs. To take such an approach we feel, we need the participation and contribution of all our Vohra brothers as well as sisters who have something to offer to assist our people.  We feel we need our ulema, our secular educated persons, persons with professional qualifications, those who run the Vohra Education Society and publish the Vohra Samachar, those who manage hospitals, those who are engaged in business and those who are engaged in farming.
                There is a need we feel to encourage our village-based madaris teachers to liaise with the parents or siblings of the children they teach. This will allow the children's family members to remain in touch both with their children's progress as well as with their religion. Effort should also be made to encourage the children to learn to communicate in Urdu. This will hopefully help them learn more from the bayaans delivered by our Ulema.
                Our dar-ul-uloom teachers/lecturers should liaise with the parents and siblings of their students. We feel both parents and siblings need to know what their young family members are learning and how the learning will be used once their studies are completed. We feel there is a need to help both young men and women who qualify from dar-ul-ulooms to have awareness of the changes taking place around them and the challenges these pose for the Muslims. Students also need to acquire communication skills to help them develop work with fellow Muslims and help bring about a better understanding of the changes and challenges Muslims face.
                 Those attached to schools should also keep in touch with parents and siblings of the students they teach. We feel a better understanding by the parents and siblings of the subjects taught/studied would help and encourage young persons to pursue their studies as Muslims. The students should also be encouraged to learn of the changes and challenges sweeping across India. There is need to help students to develop communication skills as persons with secular education they will be liaising more with those who are not Muslims. Besides this we need to tell our people that secular education should not only be sought with obtaining employment in mind. We feel we Muslims need secular education to allow us to know more of what is happening around us and allow us to communicate better with members of the other religious communities.    
                 Our Vohra run hospitals could also encourage both our men as well as women to learn about health issues. We feel our people are very dependent on the medical profession for their health. A better knowledge and understanding of illnesses and diseases could help our people learn to look after their health as Muslims rather than become over dependent on the medical profession.
                Our hospitals could also provide opportunities for our young boys and girls to learn about the employment opportunities hospitals offer and encourage them to seek education and acquire the necessary qualifications to seek and obtain employment.
                The Vohra Education Society could play a role in encouraging our young boys as well as girls and their parents to learn about the need for acquiring both religious as well as secular education and the Vohra Samachar could become more focused on providing information to our young persons on both religious and secular education and encourage them to use both types of education to enable them to live as practising Muslims and as citizens of India. 

                                                                                                              ISMAIL  AHMED LAMBAT     20 MAY 2017.