Interview Transcript - Hasan Safin Mustufaali (AIR 570; CSE 2017)

Hi, I am Safin Hasan (AIR 570). 

Graduation: B.Tech (Electronics and Communication) in 2016

Optional Subject: Literature of Gujarati Language

No. of Attempt: First

Hobby: Interacting with and helping to underprivileged section specially kids.

Board: Ms. Smita Nagaraj Madam

Date and Time: March 23 (Forenoon Session); Third one to go

Marks In Personality Test : 204

Hasan Safin Mustufaali

(AIR 570; CSE 2017)

Interview Board - Ms. Smita Nagaraj

Chairman:

(Responded to greetings)

Please have a seat.

See Safin! Your optional is Literature which none of us know about. So we will not ask you on that. (I was like... Wow). But I would like to ask you about some social issues if you don't mind. (Bit scary)

We can see in India, there is caste system prevalent in all religions. It exists in Islam too. Can you tell us why it is there in Islam and what these castes are?

Me: Yes ma'am, there exists a caste system and hierarchy in Muslim community. For example, Syyed, Ashrafi, even my caste like Julaya. This is mainly because most of the people are converted to Islam. Some because of compulsion and some because they were convinced. And because of that, they inherited pre-existing hierarchy; they haven't been yet able to incorporate the concept of equality of Islam.

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Chairman: How these people have been able to sustain this system despite the concept of Equality? Why there is still discrimination?

Me: Ma’am, because the Muslim upper caste has been able to reserve the right to interpret the Islamic texts. Apart from that the lower strata of community is still deprived of education and thus they have always been under the influence of the higher caste.

Chairman: You have written Julaya as your caste. This is a Weaver community right?

(I nodded my head in affirmative.)

Despite govt giving so much push for the textile sector and giving incentives, what we have seen is that the children of weavers don't want to pursue the same profession. Is it the same case in Gujarat?

Me: Yes ma'am. Even the village I come from was once known as Manchester of my district. But today there is no one associated with this occupation.

Chairman: Then don't you think we would be completely losing our traditional industry of handloom? What is your view on that?

Me: Ma’am, I think, it's not about losing the tradition but about making it more specific. For example, in Gujarat, We have Bandhani and Patola which still enjoy a good status in national and international craft market. We should make efforts to promote it.

Chairman: Very Good.

(Passing it to Lady Member)

Member I: Safin. You have this rare combination of Technology and Literature. Can you tell me who your favourite story writer is?

Me: Umashankar Joshi is my favourite story writer ma’am.

Member I: Can you tell me about his story which you like the most?

Me: ‘Saap No Bhaaro’ (I made a mistake here; and said the name of his monologue drama.)

Member I: What is it about?

Me: Ma'am, It's about pathetic situation of daughters in our society. Story revolves around one such daughter and her mother.

Member I: Though we are living in modern time, situation of women hasn’t been improved much. What is the scenario in your region?

Me: Ma’am, in general what you're saying is true. But what makes me feel proud is that the village I come from has 100% female literacy and there are many couples who have only one daughter. (Panel was impressed)

Member I: Safin, do you know about online trading? Have you ever done online trading?

Me: No ma’am. But I have read about it.

Member I: What are the issues concerning online trading?

Me: Though I am not much aware about it madam, but online trading and Ecommerce are the fields which have got prominence in today's world. It mainly suffers from online frauds where authenticity of traders and dealers is the main concern. Where there is full proof mechanism, there are no worries. But recently govt is drafting policies for the same. We hope the problems will be taken care of.

Member I: Okay, Last question. There is a govt hospital, which denies the service to woman who is in her advance stage of pregnancy because they asked for advance money which the family couldn't pay. She had to deliver the baby on nearby bus stand. Though the baby and mother both are safe, some women organizations have been demanding action against the authorities. As a head of the District, what actions will you take?

Me: Ma’am, in this case safety and dignity of the mother and baby have been compromised. I would take strict actions against the authority as per the laws which I am yet to learn.

Member I: But the hospital is denying it. They say we haven't denied.

Me: Ma’am, no woman or family will go for public delivery of baby without any compulsion. So this is prima facie a case where services have been denied.

Member I: Thank you....

(Passing to Member 2)

Member II: Okay. Safin! Tell me about Madrassa system in our country. What has been its contribution and how relevant it is today?

Me: Sir, Historically Madrassas have played a great role by providing free education and other facilities to the community. There have been very prominent personalities in the history who had got the education in Madrassa. But looking at the present scenario, this system needs an overhaul. There are some problems like poor infrastructure, lack of coordination between mainstream and Madrassa education, avoidance of science and mathematics etc...

Member II: One university has been named as Banaras Hindu University. There is also Aligarh Muslim University. Do you think this is proper? Shall we name Universities like this?

Me: Sir we have to see the historical context behind this. These institutions were established in a period when some reasons existed. For example Aligarh Muslim University was established by Sir Sayed Ahmed Khan to spread education among Muslims so that they can compete with other communities in employment and other areas and can contribute to the nation. But if we see in present context when we have adopted a secular Constitution, I don't see any need of that.

Member II: Safin you might have heard about the role of these Deras and their influence on society. Even there are dictates from religious leaders and also it is in Islam. How these can impact society??

Me: Sir, in India religious identity is very strong. Everyone wants to be associated with religion. If we talk about Deras, they have provided equality in lower strata of society and a feeling of being in the main stream. They have also given psychological support to these people and hence they follow what their religious teacher tells them. Similar is the case with Fatwa in Islam. If we involve these leaders in political consultation over societal issues, it can impact society at large.

(He also asked on India-China Relations and later on passed it to Member III)

 Member III: Okay Hasan, (Chairman interrupted, "It's Safin")

Yeah right, Safin... There is a prohibition in Gujarat on Alcohol. But we all know that it's available. Just you have to pay bit more for that. So what do you think about this prohibition...

Me: Yes sir, Gujarat being the birth place of our father of the nation, it has implemented a ban on Alcohol since the day one. But I think instead of going for blanket ban, we should try for spreading awareness about negative consequences of alcohol consumption and sensitization. Behavioural change is all what is needed. We can also take help from the religious leaders as we have discussed earlier.

Member III: But this prohibition has also gained support from women. In state like Bihar, they have implemented it for political scores. Do you think this prohibition or removing it can have negative impact on political parties?

Me: Yes sir, prohibition or removal of it does have the political consequences.

(Passing on to Member 4)

Member IV: Safin, you have done electronics. Can we develop an app to curb the corruption in your District?

Me: Sir, even the existing apps like WhatsApp can also be used for that. I can ask the citizens to reach to me over such issues and if I find any substance in the complaint, I would go into details in that case. Secondly, yes developing an app and reducing the manual contact between the officer and the citizen would result in a lower level of corruption.

Member IV: There has been a case of gender divide as well as rural - urban divide. I'm sure that is the case in your state too. How will you reduce this divide using IT and cyber technology?

Me: Yes sir, in Gujarat we have this rural-urban divide. For me the priority would be internet penetration in rural areas. Focus on e-governance would also empower the rural citizens. Apart from that some critical services like telemedicine and teleeducation would also help to bridge the gap.

Member IV: We have heard about cyber threats. What are they? Do you think we should try to avoid the technology to save ourselves from the threat??

Me: Sir the biggest threat is about privacy of an individual and security of data. Like very recently we have seen this Facebook data theft. But abandoning a technology is not a wise decision. We should work on robust data policy and cyber security instead.

Member IV: Safin, literature is your optional subject. Do you know Hansa Mehta? What has been here contribution in Gujarati?

Me: Yes sir, I have heard about her and she had also played a role in constitution making. But sorry sir, I'm not aware about her contribution in Gujarati.

Member IV: No issues. Last question. There is very well known personality from Gujarat who is internationally recognized as a successful businessman. Can you tell me?

Me: Sir, I think you are talking about Mr Dhirubhai Ambani.

Member IV: Yes yes... He stayed outside the country for many years and then he started business here. Can you name the country where he had stayed??

Me: Sorry sir I am not aware about it.

Member IV: It's Aden (Yemen). Thank you.

Chairman: (She was very attentive throughout and often smiled)

Safin, I think you seem to know a lot. You have answered all the questions very promptly. Tell me what you still feel that you should learn...

(I was prompt throughout the interview and that was the comment I received from all mocks and was suggested to improve on that. This comment of Chairman seemed more sarcastic to me. Little bit of Tension!)

Me: (With little more smile)

Ma'am I still need to learn a lot.

Chairman: (Interrupted me)

See, even you know this also - what you still need to learn. That's a positive thing indeed. Please continue...

Me: Ma’am I need to learn about many sports. In my childhood I couldn't get engaged in any sports because I had responsibilities and also had to take care of my younger brother as both my parents were engaged in labour work. Apart from that, I am very much interested in Constitution and I am studying that these days..

Chairman: Being an IAS, which state would you like to work in...?

Me: I have filled Gujarat as my home state and being my first preference I would like to work there.

(Member III interrupted) Member III: Do you know what the disadvantage of it is?

Me: Yes sir, in that case your family members, relatives and friends expect a lot from you and you have to struggles with that.

(All members were laughing and I carefully joined them.)

Member III: You have given very correct point...

Chairman: Safin tell me, if you get into IAS, how it will it help you to improve?

Me: First of all, I would get into touch with intellectual class of the country and that would help me to enrich my thought process. IAS being a post dealing with vast no of subjects will increase my knowledge, my critical thinking and decisiveness.

Member III: Tell me one thing, do your coaching classes tell you to write such hobbies?? Don’t worry, it's a normal thing to join coaching. Everyone needs a coaching and that's completely fine. But people write like helping blinds and somebody writes cooking... And yours is also quite different.... So do they tell you?

Me: Sir, I have attended coaching but the hobby which I have mentioned, I have genuinely done work in that area for around 4 years during my college.

Chairman: Thank you Safin. Your interview is Over.

Me: Thank you madams and Thanks you sirs.

Have a good day to all.