AMP organizes National Convention in Bengaluru

26th February, 2020

AMP organizes National Convention in Bengaluru

AMP organizes its historic National Convention in Bengaluru celebrating 12 years of Engagement, Education, Employment and Empowerment!

“I'm not only proud of AMP’s 100 chapters worldwide and its big list of Achievements rather what I am more proud of is their identity. That, they are a group of Muslims Professionals who are coexisting for the benefit of the Society and helping in Nation Building” - Mr. E. T. Mohammed Basheer - M.P. from Kerala & Organizing Gen Secretary, IUML

Day 1, Bengaluru, 22 February 2020:

Association of Muslim Professionals (AMP) organised its national convention in Bengaluru commemorating its 12 years of eventful existence, with around 200 delegates in attendance from India as well as abroad. The theme of the Convention was AMP’s Mission, Engage, Educate, Employ and Empower.

The Chief Guest Mr. E. T. Mohammed Basheer - M.P. from Kerala & Organizing Gen Secretary, IUML, applauded AMP’s completion of its journey of 12 years said “I'm not only proud of AMP’s 100 chapters worldwide and its big list of Achievements rather what I am more proud of is their identity. That, they are a group of Muslims Professionals who are coexisting for the benefit of the Society and helping in Nation Building”. He also emphasised on the strategic utilisation of Muslims’ charity, Zakat, which is a divine tool for poverty alleviation. He discussed the idea of working in Northern India and assured for all his support.

Later Mr. Syed Naseer Ahmed, M.P. Rajya Sabha from Karnataka, graced the event. He got quite enthused with the activities carried out by AMP and promised his full support in spreading AMP across the 30 districts of Karnataka. He assured full co-operation and his availability required by AMP to spearhead its vision. He emphasized that Muslims need to get out of peripheries and help in reinventing our rich heritage to make Muslim community culturally vibrant as well as relevant to the current Indian scenario.

Mr. Shabbir Ahmed Ansari, president of all India OBC who has been a pioneer of OBC movement across India, especially in Maharashtra where he has been a crusader since last 40 years. He’s been the driving force for changing the mind set of minorities to consider OBC as a constitutional right and as a class rather than caste. He also mentioned that any “Tahreeq (movement)” required lots of sacrifices and implored the AMP leaders present at the convention to not get dissuaded by difficulties in their path.

Padma Shri Prof. Jalees Khan Tareen gave an enriching insights from his vast experience tackling various challenges in the field of education and the current state of minority education in India. He presented facts and figures and the initiatives he has taken to overcome those challenges during his work. He emphasized the importance of pre-primary education in moulding the child in formative and its impact on later years. He pointed out increase in dropout rates among minorities due to lack of connectivity with the external environment. His efforts in this area are commendable as it has created many achievers across various fields of professions.

Mr. Aamir Edresy, President-AMP, in his welcome speech said that this is a moment of celebration of the work AMP has achieved in its journey from being a non-entity to having a global footprint with presence in over 100 chapters pan India and 13 countries overseas. He also said that we need not be restricted within the circle of emotions but rather focus on our vision and be dedicated towards our mission. He emphasized on having an inclusive approach propagating peace and striving for progress.

The Convention was organized at Indian Institute of Social Sciences in Bengaluru. The session was hosted by Mr. Syed Nashit, organizing sec. AMP. The theme of session 2 was ‘School Education: Role in shaping the future – AMP Roadmap’ and this panel was led by: Mohammed Aaqil (Group Head, ABB India Ltd), Mr. Md. Pervez Khan (Manager, Sir Syed Education and Social Welfare Foundation), Mr. Syed Sultan Ahmed (MD, LXL Ideas) and Mr. Mushtaque Ahmed (Advisory Board. MFERD). While Mr Aaqil set the stage by calling out that the need of the hour is to inspire the current education system to propel into Education 2.0, Mr. Parvez brought grass level community initiative to the discussion. Both in their own ways stressed on improving the foundation of education and called to adapt the current education based on community needs with an eye on the future.

Following this, Mr. Syed Sultan Ahmed, who has been an Advisor in various Education Boards on education policies in India and abroad, brought a different perspective to the discussion. He passionately challenged the current educational thought process and status quo. He said that the education in current times needs to be relevant to the coming world order and should focus to include “life skills” along with technical skills. We need to move away from education being “getting a job for myself” attitude to it being a medium to “live a better life and to be useful to society”.

His speech was followed by Dr. Mushtaque Ahmed, who nicely tied all the aspects of the other speakers in the light of history. He mentioned that the Muslims should get out of the “victims of circumstances” mind set and look up to leaders like Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and APJ Abdul Kalam, who have faced challenging circumstances but did not bow down. He ended the session by calling out people not to re-invent (where not needed) but utilize the existing work/platforms and collaborate among each other to be more impactful.

Post-lunch, the theme moved from foundational education to ‘Employment & Skill Training of Youth – Vital need to Progress’. This session was panelled by: AK Mohammed Azad (Sr. Director, Mirafar Technologies), Mohammed Hussain (Co-founder, Collabu Techonologies) and Mohammed Farouq Khan (Group Head-TCS, South India). The session was started by Mr. Azad who demonstrated with his day to day experiences on how skills are important in creating impact and why career guidance is crucial to channelize the youth in the right direction.

He also emphasized that one should have single minded focus and needs to go through the whole process of skill development with outcome based efforts and to have a full perspective of one’s career. Continuing on the same theme, Mr. Mohammed Farouq Khan said that leadership skills involve ability to tell stories and experiences in a relatable manner. Mr. Hussain along with Mr. Azad mentioned the need to encourage incubators and start-ups that are passionate about building technology to assist society as a whole. This session was concluded by Mr. Aamir Edresy, who highlighted AMP’s work on skill development, employability programs and its focus on bridging the gap between “required skills” and “acquired skills”

The next session was on the mandatory charity contributions for Muslims titled ‘Prophet's Vision of Social Equality - New models of Collective Zakat’. Mr. K. M. Riyazuddin, Retd. DGM-Finance, BPCL and Project Head, AMP Zakat Fund, hosted the event where he gave a brief introduction on the topic and its relevance for removing social inequity.

Mr.H. Abdul Raqeeb, General Secretary - Indian Centre of Islamic Finance (ICIF), speaking about the awareness of Zakat, pointed that Muslims know much about the mandatory Salah (5 times prayers daily) & Saum (30 days fasting in a year), but according to a survey carried out by AMP, about 60% do not know about Zakat’s mandatoriness and its significance. He said that since there are so many tech-savvy professionals in AMP he discussed how they can work upon Fin Tech to revolutionize institutionalized Zakat Collection & Distribution. He gave reference of ‘Bait-Ul-Mal’ used in earlier times for institutionalizing distribution of Zakat during the time of the Sahabas, the companions of the Prophet (PBUH).

Arshad Mirza, Director - ECW Consultants Pvt Ltd, encouraged the participants to study the various models of Zakat Collection and Distribution as practised in Islamic as well as non-Islamic countries like Malaysia, Indonesia etc. and see what can be utilized in the best manner. He too emphasised the focus on FinTech and with availability of various technical as well as regular models, he urged the participants to come forward and use it as a pilot project so see how best it could be implemented.

There were 3 international speakers who joined in via video-conferencing, one from Malaysia - Dr. Ziyaad Mahomed - Dean & Professor, International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance and two from UK, Jilu Miah – Founder & CEO at MuslimGiving plus Mufti Faraz Adam - Managing Associate, National Zakat Foundation Worldwide. They presented their models of Zakat which are being followed in their respective countries and how we could learn from them.

One of the most important sessions of the day ‘Challenges to the Constitution – Role of Muslims’ was next. The session was hosted by Mr. Syed Najeeb-Ur-Rahman. The speaker for this sessions was noted writer and columnist Mr. Aakar Patel who has been an editor and worked with various publishing houses.

Mr. Patel offered a deep insight into the current scenario and what are the threats faced by constitution due to the present regime. He applauded the stance taken by Muslims and admired the efforts especially of Muslim women who have been diligently, peacefully and rightfully protesting. He said that Muslims today are not asking for any favour or fighting for any reservations or such, rather their valid demand is to retain their rightful place as provided by the constitution.

He urged that Muslims should fight relentlessly and never give up against any injustice meted out against them in a lawful, civilised manner always and using legal recourse. He further said that the present threat due to the NPR, NCR and CAA is not just to the Muslims but equally serious for more than 80% Hindus who do not subscribe to majoritarian brand of thoughts and principles. He appreciated the Professional Muslims of AMP, who have gathered together for the cause of Community Upliftment and National progress.

The next session titled ‘Afraad-Saazi – Moulding the leadership thought process’ was hosted by Mr. Syed Nashit and the Speaker was Dr. Taha Mateen - Chairman & MD, Accura & HBS Hospital.

Dr. Taha Mateen gave an impactful speech on creating and developing leadership within the organization. He said that in order to become a good leader one has to first develop a good character, understand one’s self first and understand the reason of one’s existence in this world. He elaborated in the light of teachings of Islam and gave examples since the times of Sahabas on how children were groomed for leadership since a young age. He emphasized that good parenting played a key role in instilling good qualities and building great character which leads to developing a good leader.

The end of the session was a video conference between the Leadership Team in the Conference and AMP Leaders across the world, which included Mr. Abdullah Thakur - CEO, Dhow Capital and a strategy advisor to big business houses in Gulf. The points discussed included boosting the growth of AMP and consolidating its position across the world including all developmental projects and activities to be undertaken keeping in mind the different countries’ local legislations and work environment.

The program is being organized over a period of 2 days, on Sat 22nd and Sun 23rd Feb. 2020, where the role of Professionals in Engagement, Education, Employment and Empowerment of the Community and the Society were brainstormed and discussed at length. The Second day report will follow.

AMP organizes National Convention in Bengaluru

Day 2, Bengaluru, 23rd Feb 2020:

“AMP has been doing a commendable job and needs to scale-up further so that the benefit is accrued by many.” – Prof. Amirullah Khan – Noted Scholar & Economist

“AMP will try to impact 1 crore underprivileged Muslims with its Mission in the next 10 years!” Mr. Aamir Edresy - AMP President.

Association of Muslim Professionals (AMP) concluded its 2-day National Convention in Bangalore commemorating its 12th year of formation, with more than 200 delegates in attendance from India as well as abroad.

The program was organized over a period of 2 days, on Sat, 22nd and Sun, 23rd Feb 2020, where the role of Professionals in Economic Development, Community Collaborations and Social Development were discussed at length.

The Convention was organized at Indian Social Institute, Bangalore, which was inaugurated on Sat, 22nd Feb, by Chief Guest, Mr. E. T. Mohammed Basheer - M.P. from Kerala & Organizing Gen Secretary, IUML & graced by Mr. Syed Naseer Ahmed, M.P. Rajya Sabha from Karnataka as a Special Guest and Invitee.

The 2nd day’s 1st session, AMP Global Leaders – Achievements & Aspirations was hosted by Mr. Mujtaba Umair, Head -NCT & Mr. Farhan Khan, Head - Mumbai Chapter. Each of the participating Chapter of AMP presented their activities and achievements in the year 2019 and their projected plans ahead for the next 2 years.

Session 2 was dedicated to Partnerships & Collaborations – Working together, Achieving Solutions. This session was hosted by Miss Syeda Safoora – Executive Body Member, Bangalore. The first speaker for this session was Mr Sheriff Kottapurath- Director, Rehbar Finance Consultants. He spoke about the merits of institutionalizing Finance for the benefit of the Community and the society. He spoke in detail about his organization’s finance model which is based on the principles of Islamic Finance. He was highly impressed by the AMP platform, he urged the need to keep working for the benefit of all.

The second speaker was an eminent personality Mr K. Abdur Rahman - Head (Training & Placement), United Welfare Organisation (UNWO) spoke about how the non-profit organization has been working to empower the lower strata of the society. The next speaker Mr. Abdul Salaam U. M. - Kerala Coordinator, LEAD Talent Search Exam advised how AMP can work towards preparing Community students for various Competitive Exams. The 4th speaker Mr. Mohammad Ashfaq – Founder & Director, Gravity Classes explained how they have come up and developed quality learning program which has brought good numbers of students qualifying in NEET, JEE etc. The remaining speakers included Mr. Nizam A. P. – Director, Centre for Information and Guidance India – CIGI, Mr. Syed Mohammed Beary - – MD Hugesquare LLP, Mr. Shiraz Pasha – Head, Javasa Developers and Mr. Nazeer Ahmed – CEO, Nexusinfo. All the speakers elaborated on their efforts for leveraging technology for the benefit of the Community.

Session 3 was a very important session on Sustainable Economic Development: Community’s Agenda Ahead. Dr. Amirulllah Khan – Director, MCR HRD Institute, Telangana elaborated on his experience regarding the research on the Community and shared that the 2 most areas of concern being Housing & Lack of Credit apart from Education and was highly impressed with AMP for being able to gather so many professionals from all over the country under one roof and the objectives for which the organization is working on.

Other speakers included Dr. Shariq Nisar – Finance Professional & Professor, Rizvi Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai, Mr. Ram N K – Founder, Rang De P2P Financial Services Ltd. and Mr. Akramul Hoque – Managing Editor, The Policy Times. All the speakers spoke about the merit of micro-financing in changing the lives of people especially the poor and the deprived and how efforts have to be taken to support the most ignored section of the society.

The last and the closing session included the presentation of AMP’s National Awards for Excellence in Teaching to those Teachers and Educationists from South of India, who have excelled in the Education profession. The awards event culminated with the ceremony to honour all the best performers of AMP with Chapter Performance Awards in various chapters across India and abroad.

After the Awards, Mr. Saeed Khan, special invitee and Founder – Rightway Foundation, Mumbai, took the audience through his experience and observation of the journey of AMP since its inception till date and how the selfless efforts of a few concerned individuals lead to the formation of this revolution called the Association of Muslim Professionals (AMP). He exhorted the participants that they had a responsibility to fulfill as the Community had large expectations from AMP and its member professionals.

The final and concluding speech was by Mr. Aamir Edresy – President, AMP. First of all, he elaborated on the theme of the convention, ‘Engage, Educate, Employ and Empower’. To Engage meant joint efforts were needed to connect more and more professionals with AMP, get them to experience AMP activities & projects and to ensure the new joinees/members’ induction was done in a professional manner. This could be done preferably by inviting them to an AMP activity or event. Also, engaging members to contribute with new and improve existing ideas within AMP’s operative domains fall in this category.

He went on to define that to Educate meant AMP’s efforts in School Development Lectures (SDLs) fell in this category which included free lectures for Higher Secondary students, Teachers’ training and Parental workshops. According to him, this was AMP’s focus area, and the chapters should perform in this category. Through Employ, he went on to talk about the Employability Training Programmes for final year Graduate & Post-Graduate students (ETPs) including Mock Interview Workshops (MIWs), Job Fairs (JF) & Job Drives (JDs), which went on to help community youth get employed and helped in Nation Building. He encouraged the Leaders to organise more of these in the chapters. He also informed the participants about the new initiative with Imams of madrassas/masjid’s for mobilization of candidates for jobs available at the local area level.

To Empower, Mr. Edresy mentioned about AMP’s initiative in Skill Training hundreds of youths through collaboration with CSR and NSDC partners all over the country. According to him, Skill training should become no. 1 priority in the agenda of Muslim Community. He also mentioned the initiatives of AMP Zakat Fund in this regard which was empowering students with Higher Education Scholarships, orphans with Basic School Education and poor and unemployed youth with Self Employment Assistance. He went on to state about AMP’s efforts to empower the underprivileged through its Economic Development Plan for the Community and said that in the next 10 years, AMP would try to impact 1 crore Muslims who fall in the below the poverty line (BPL) category and bring them in the mainstream.

The Convention ended with all AMP Members & Participants singing National Anthem and wishing progress and prosperity to AMP and the Nation!

Association of Muslim Professionals (AMP) is a Platform for all Muslim professionals and volunteers to share their knowledge, intellect, experience and skills for the overall development of not just the Muslim Community but also the society at large, and further empowering Muslims in the educational, social and economic front of life. AMP is registered under the Societies Registration Act 1860 of India (Reg. No. 2011 G. B. B. S. D 3001) and is one such institution which strives to empower Muslim Community through its various activities of Educational and Economic empowerment.