Mamata has betrayed Muslims on Urdu: Rights group

By IANS,

Kolkata : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has betrayed the Muslims by not keeping her election promise of introducing Urdu as the second official language in the entire state, an official of a rights group said Monday.

"Mamata Banerjee had promised in 2009 that if her party is elected in 2011 then she will introduce Urdu as the second official language of the state. But it has been more than eight months but no such step has been taken," said Shamim Ahmed, national-in-charge and international convener, International Human Rights Protection Association.

Ahmed told reporters here that the state government's decision of introducing Urdu as a second official language only in three blocks and 13 municipalities was part of a divide-and-rule policy.

"If Urdu is recognised as the second official language in the state, then it will lead to employment of Muslim youths. Now the government is saying that Urdu will be recognised as the second language only in three blocks and thirteen municipalities of the state. This is nothing but betrayal," he said.

Ahmed said that states like Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar had already recognised Urdu as the second language.

"If these states can recognise Urdu as the second official language then what is stopping the ruling Trinamool Congress, we simply can't understand," he said.

Ahmed claimed that more than 10 percent of the population in the state was Urdu-speaking.

"The Muslim community will be lose its faith and trust in the government if the promise is not fulfilled," Ahmed said.