رشد فراگیر در هند ازطریق بانکداری اسلامی

Indian economy has been growing, but paradoxically the rate of poor people is also on the rise. The State must endeavour to establish an egalitarian society. However, most of the Indian citizens do not have access to credit. The present banking system is not conducive for protecting the interests of all sections of the population. The banking system of Islam, based on Islamic law (Shariah), has been institutionalised in many parts of the world in the last couple of decades. Islamic banking is interest-free banking system based on real asset and risks are shared between lender and borrower under the mechanisms of partnership, joint ownership, lease and sale. Money is considered only as a medium of exchange, unlike the conventional banking, where dealing in interest being a main product, implies that money is traded as a commodity. Islamic banking has the potential to uplift the vulnerable groups such as farmer and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and can fosters inclusive economic growth. Besides, there is a strong argument that interest-free finance may attract investment from the Gulf region. Finally, it provides impetus to the socialist goal envisaged by the Constitution. There are several studies including Planning Commission Report of 2008, favouring Islamic banking in India. Apart from the objections on theoretical grounds and its working, it is not possible to establish such banking system under the present legal regime. However, it seems that the recent trend in India is to promote religious law for advancing the goal of secular law. In this context, the Kerala High Court has upheld the constitutional validity of Islamic finance in the case of Dr. Subramaniam Swamy vs. State of Kerala & Ors. (decided on 3rd February, 2011). An attempt has been made to demonstrate the viability of Islamic banking.

Under the scheme of distribution of wealth, the State should ensure the supply of basic necessities to all citizens, and must also give them an opportunity for achieving the highest possible perfection according to their respective aptitude. However, even the prosperous countries of the world failed to achieve this goal. Concentration of wealth in a few hands is the feature of every society. Several mechanisms exist by which resources may be hoarded and inequality is caused. The process of lending and borrowing on interest is one of the most notorious tools developed by man for creating disparities, though it is institutionalised to such an extent that it is considered as part and parcel of day-to-day transactions and inevitable for the working of the economy. However, none of the theory of interests convincingly justifies the payment of interest. The central argument of most of the theorists is that interest is a reward for the painful act of saving or giving up the present satisfaction. Alternatively, some claim that capital deserves reward because it is productive in the sense as land is productive of crops. It is important to note that people in general do not undergo hardship of saving at the cost of the basic necessities, and in the real life the savers are rich people. The second argument fails to consider that loans on interest are not given only for productive purposes but are also allotted for purchasing houses and cars. Thus, it does not apply for consumption loans. In fact, less than 2% of the wealth is used for the productive purposes and the rest are being devoted to derivatives, consumer credits, bidding of assets prices etc. Political colonisation is substituted by economic colonisation and the conventional banking system is one of the major players in this regard. In countries such as the U.K., 97% of money is supplied by banks. It reveals that only 3% of the total money is debt-free and most of the remaining is debt-ridden, without any real thing behind it. The system of interest is legally channelled through banks and the privilege of creating credit adds insult to injury. In short, a perfect money factory is developed over the last 400 years or so in the form of bank by which wealth is concentrated. The two basic flaws in the understanding of monetary setup are: i) banking institution is merely an intermediary between lender and borrower and ii) the perception that money is limited. In the prevalent atmosphere of inequitable distribution of wealth, banking system of Islam (Islamic Banking) may be considered as an alternative for countries like India. The aim of this paper is to trace the rationales for experimenting Islamic banking in India, which among other things promotes the constitutional mandates in a better manner and in a way, comparison is made between conventional banking and Islamic banking.

The present banking system maintains the tempo of concentration of wealth by transforming the historical role of money as a judge of commodities to merely a commodity. It is not conducive for most of the people and protects the vested interests. Besides, for the economy as a whole, it is not a sound strategy as it encourages the masses to spend beyond their means. Therefore, debt burden of the country keeps on increasing with every passing day. We live in the land of paradoxes. One of the objectives of any policy or legal system is to eradicate poverty by promoting equitable and sustainable economic growth. The paradox exists in the constitutional aim of equitable distribution of wealth and the exploitative banking practice. Again, justice demands affirmative action for the upliftment of the vulnerable classes, but paradoxically those who are better off are climbing further up the ladder while the worst off going further down and getting out. This is possible when all the rights are not properly given or implemented for the susceptible groups. As an alternative, a case has been made for Islamic banking. Unlike creating money from money and often putting burden on only one party, Islamic model encourages labour and appreciates risk-taking; bringing the parties on the same footing. But, there is great deal of challenge involved in implementing this model for at least two reasons. Firstly, there is lack of unanimity among the Shariah scholars and secondly, it is very tough for the people to go or just think beyond a system which is running for hundreds of years. It is just a matter of time when these obstacles would be taken care of. In the Indian context, Islamic system especially takes care of the needs of the people requiring special treatment, without denying any legitimate claims of the other group, which ensure justice and equality. The idea of incorporating Islamic banking should be viewed from the telescope of the economy for achieving the constitutional mandates rather than looking from the lens of religion. It is important to remove misconceptions and misunderstandings of the masses and awareness should be created among common citizens, policy makers, bankers, politicians, businessmen and other stakeholders. Finally, proper marketing should be done. In the absence of sound and effective banking system, it is tough to imagine manifestation of justice and healthy economy. The benefits which Islamic banks could bring to India are just too tempting to ignore. One may wonder what makes India to stop in creating a setup which can fetch trillions and that too on equity-based terms. Poverty can be reduced either by economic growth consistent with the population growth or by reducing unnecessary consumption. Islamic banking provides for both – by financial inclusion and investment from Gulf, it ensure production of more wealth by utilising these investments. It will also reduce consumption which is encouraged by the interest-based system. To begin with, even if Islamic banking is introduce as an experiment for Muslims at the back of the mind, which is certainly not the case, India has approximately 180 million Muslim population and if countries like Malaysia having only 15 million Muslims can try Islamic banking and succeed; there is stronger case for India to succeed in this matter.