New Delhi, Sep 3 (IANS) India's Muslim community, the world's second largest Islamic population, is in ferment. There is widespread disappointment, a sense of helplessness and some anger. But there is also the zeal to surge ahead, the dream of being equal partners in the nation's destiny.

Sixty years after they cast their lot with Hindu-majority India, rejecting the newly born Pakistan, the millions of Indian Muslims - and the lives they lead - are under scrutiny like never before due to growing Islamist militancy globally and a perceived radicalization at home of some of the younger ones.

India's 140 million Muslims, the largest religious minority, have scored many and remarkable successes since independence in 1947. Some of the most popular icons in various fields, from national life to cinema to arts and sports, are Muslim - led by president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and the richest man Azim Premji, the head of software giant Wipro.

But the wealth and knowledge disparity is perhaps much more pronounced among Muslims than among other minority communities in secular and pluralist India.

The community occupies the lowest rung in development index. Its literacy rate is poor. It has low presence in private and public sector jobs and minimal in the highest echelons of bureaucracy. All these add to a feeling that they are discriminated against.

To cap it all, Muslims - mainly the poor - are at the receiving end in most outbreaks of communal violence. And every community leader and others who spoke to IANS say the two events that have caused maximum disappointment bordering on frenzy are the 1992 razing of the Babri mosque and the 2002 Gujarat violence.

This, coupled with militancy in parts of the Islamic world, has cast a shadow on Indian Muslims. Gujarat in particular has led to - even according to Indian security agencies - the frustrated young, albeit still only in small numbers, to avenge the "humiliation" of their community.

In the process, officials admit, that Islamic extremist outfits supported by Pakistan are drawing recruits from among Indian Muslims, a development that is dangerous. Only days ago, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urged Islamic clerics here to play a pro-active role to douse the flames of anger in the community.

"Many socio-economic problems Indian Muslims face are the same as faced by others. But there are other issues that affect only them," says Intizar Naeem of the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, a Muslim body set up in 1941.

Among others, he lists the step-motherly treatment to Urdu, the mother tongue of most Muslims in northern India, attempts to undo the autonomous character of educational institutions founded by Muslims, attacks on the Muslim Personal Law, harassment of Muslims after terror acts, caricaturing of Muslims as terrorists, and insinuations that mosques and 'madrassas' are up to no good.

But the Mumbai-educated Naeem, 62, gives the larger view: "Hindus and Muslims enjoy excellent relations, and at all levels. From villages to towns, there are cordial relations. And south Indian Muslims are better off. However, problems are cropping up even there."

Other Muslims, young and old, more or less agree. And they underline that India is truly a secular country, whatever the shortcomings.

"Not 100 percent but 110 percent India is secular," asserts Zarir Ansari, a resident of Guhawati. "I blame half-baked mullahs who give sermons in mosques and distort Islam."

Adds Nawaz Deobandi, 50, a Hindustani poet who runs educational institutions in Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh: "India is the best place for Muslims. Yes, there are roadblocks but they can be overcome."

Anger against "uneducated Imams" - as many put it - is common among younger educated Muslims. Said one college student in New Delhi: "The problem is people think we follow what the Imams say. Of course we don't!"

Ansari's 84-year-old father makes a widely shared point: "If I find those involved in the Mumbai (train) blasts, I will kill them. I don't care if they are Muslims. Those who did this are terrorists. But to view all Muslims as terrorists and look at those with beards and skullcaps as 'enemies' is not on."

He asks: "When there was terror in Gujarat, did we look at Hindus in general with a different pair of eyes? We did not club the entire Hindu community as our enemy. We knew that only a fringe was involved."

Mazhar Hussain, a social activist in Hyderabad, says the radicalization of Indian Muslim is essentially an urban phenomenon, limited in spread, and linked to the Middle East conflict and the targeting of Islam by the West.

"As far as our country is concerned, Kashmir has not made the Indian Muslim radical. But the Babri Masjid demolition and the Gujarat violence contributed a lot to Muslim hotheads to exhort the youth towards extremism," he said.

"Still, only a minuscule group is attracted to this thinking. To the poor, making two ends meet is the biggest challenge. The middle class is getting more and more career-oriented."

Added Rizwanul Haq, a final year degree student: "There is a major difference in the thinking and attitude of Muslims in south and north India. In the south, Muslims have been better educated and well off. This reflects their thinking on social and religious issues."

Qari Mohammed Usman, the Naib Mohtamin (assistant administrator), of Darul Uloom, India's oldest and largest madrassa, defends the rapid spread of Islamic seminaries, arguing that more of them were needed. He doesn't agree with critics who argue that the seminaries create insular Muslims.

Almost all Muslims regret that despite centuries of interaction, there is a communication gap between Hindus and Muslims. Many Muslims are unaware of the finer points of Hindu religion and its ethos and vice-versa. An average Hindu has no idea of Ulemas and Imams, and who can give a 'fatwa' and who cannot.

Said Azam Khan, a successful businessman: "This is reflected in the way (most Hindu journalists) deal with sensitive Muslim issues. This reinforces stereotypes and widens the gap between the two communities."

Tales of discrimination against Muslims abound. A Muslim journalist complains how difficult it is now to get a house on rent, particularly if one is new to a city.

Adil Siddiqui, a retired central government employee who now lives in Deoband, says one of his sons, Mohammed Arif, now 32, passed the written test to get into the Indian Space and Research Organisation (ISRO) after securing a mechanical engineering degree with high marks.

"Believe it or not, just before his interview, he heard an officer remark:

'Things have changed since 1992, and these people (Muslims) keep coming for jobs here'." Arif didn't get the job.

But across India, despite the many problems, Muslim leaders say the community is forging ahead. Large numbers are doing exceedingly well. The 1992 Babri mosque razing led to major churnings. The dominant consensus was it was important to concentrate on education. That process continues.

More and more Muslim women, even in smaller towns, are going to schools and colleges. Although a Muslim political party has come up in Assam and two have been formed in Uttar Pradesh, most Muslims swear by secular national parties.

Observes Nawaz Deobandi, whose dream is to open a women's university one day: "This is why there should be no riots. If one Muslim is killed, if his house is burnt, if his shop is destroyed, the loser is India, not just that Muslim."