By Tarique Anwar, TwoCircles.net,
Patna: The implementation of Ranganath Mishra Commission and Sachar Committee’s recommendations, and reservation on the basis of profession not caste were the dominant views of speakers at the sit-in organised here on 6th July by the Muslim United Front.
Addressing the ‘Maha Dharna’ Front’s president Abu Qaiser said no democracy can flourish ignoring a community which constitutes 16% of the population of the country. The UPA government should implement all recommendations of these two committees on urgent basis so that condition of Muslims can be improved in the country, Qaiser said.
Targeting selfish politicians he said if they did not come on a single platform, raising themselves above castes and beliefs, to get the recommendations of the committees implemented then condition of Muslims will become worse. He added that Muslims actively took part in freedom struggle and sacrificed everything but no one is serious to remove their backwardness.
He called upon Muslims to teach lesson to those who have always followed use and throw policy in their case. He was critical of some political parties’ efforts to attach Muslim angle with the Indo-US nuke deal. He criticized the UPA government for being slow on the implementation of the Sachar Committee recommendations.
The Sachar Report has blown the myth of minority appeasement by presenting scientifically collated evidence, which shows that minority communities, especially Muslims, face deprivation and discrimination in myriad forms. It is unfortunate that the “Follow-up Action on the Recommendations of the Sachar Committee” placed in Parliament on 31st August 2007 by the Minister of Minority Affairs, falls far short of the requirements. Neither have any time frame been set for the implementation of the programmes announced in the ‘follow-up action’ nor any indication of specific financial allocations to implement them. Moreover, there are serious omissions in the ‘follow-up action’ report. For instance, there is no mention of land reforms and distribution of land and house sites to the landless and homeless within minorities and setting up of a special mechanism for monitoring the inclusion of OBC Muslims in the state-level OBC lists and OBC reservation quotas also find no mention, Abu Qaiser alleged.
He demanded a special campaign for education and employment of Muslims. No government can be formed without the support of Muslims. If the UPA government wants to return to power in the next Lok Sabha elections, it has to implement the recommendations of these committees, he warned.
Responding to a question posed by TwoCircles.net in a press conference during the sit-in, Abu Qaiser said his next step will be to gherao Raj Bhawan to compel the government to accept their demand. The Front is also ready to gherao the Parliament if needed, he said.
TwoCircles.net also took views of some people taking part in the sit-in. All of them equivocally supported Abu Qaiser’s demands. Lambasting on BJP leader L K Advani’s projection by his party as next Prime Minister, veteran social activist Md Shahabuddin said Muslims will not let him get success in his mission. Advani, who is accused in Babri Masjid demolition case, and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi can never be prime minister and home minister of our country, he told TCN.
“Where was Nitish Kumar when Gujarat pogram was going on?” asked Md Rayees, one of the participants, while talking to TwoCircles.net. He was criticizing Chief Minister Kumar who claims for being secular.
The sit-in was participated by hundreds of people including political activists of different political parties and social workers. Leaders of different Muslim organizations also took part in the sit-in and promised his full support to the Front for its secular causes.