02-10-2006, 11:54 AM
This is pretty hilarious..
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/article...834,curpg-1.cms
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> AHMEDABAD: The PM's committee for Muslims found Gujarat the least sympathetic among other states it toured, towards problems of its minorities.
Gujarat is the eleventh state among the 13 toured by the high level Committee for Muslims. Concluding its four-day tour on Thursday, the panel found Gujarat, was "most challenging because, it was the only state that did not show sympathy towards its victimised people", a member said pleading anonymity.
In fact, Justice Rajinder Sachar was shocked to know that Gujarat did not have a state human rights commission. He said during his interaction with Muslim intelligentsia on Thursday, "Why don't you go to court for that?"
When human rights advocate Girish Patel told them that it's usually meaningless to approach the Gujarat High Court, the astonishment and dismay on the faces of the Committee was visible.
The Committee has toured 10 states including BJP-ruled ones like Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh , which turned out to be an "outstanding example", said Dr TK Oommen, noted sociologist and member of the Committee, in an exclusive interview to TOI.
"Governments have tacitly supported communal riots, as in Delhi in 1984, but never so openly as in Gujarat. The three Rs â rehabilitation, relief and reconciliation â from the state and its people, are missing. It seems the state is against its victim," he said.
Calling Gujarat a "forerunner of a Hindutva state in India" and the 2002 riots a "symptom" of a bigger problem, Oommen said that communalisation in Gujarat has seeped to an extent where an anti-Hindu government will be unacceptable to its people. Is that the freaking goal ? To install anti-hindu govts in all states ?? <!--emo&:blink:--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='blink.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--emo&:blink:--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='blink.gif' /><!--endemo-->
"If a non-BJP government comes to power and adopts a secular agenda, there could be a change. But with the extent of attitudes which are now entrenched in its people, anyone who takes an anti-Hindu stance, will never come to power.
"The Congress' soft Hindutva no longer works in Gujarat, only hard-liners do," he added.
However, it is economic interdependence that is holding the state together, the Committee observed.
"Muslims in Gujarat occupy a prime position in the informal sector like artisanry, kite-making etc.
The government needs to make them indispensable by making their presence in the informal sector stronger," he said.
During their four-day visit to Gujarat, the eightmember committee interacted with NGOs, social workers, intelligentsia and also bureaucrats of the state, including chief minister Narendra Modi who, rubbished the majority-minority divide in the state.
The committee was formed in May 2005, to prepare a comprehensive report on the social, economic and educational status of Muslims in India.
The members will now be making a visit to Bihar, Jharkhand and Maharashtra.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/article...834,curpg-1.cms
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> AHMEDABAD: The PM's committee for Muslims found Gujarat the least sympathetic among other states it toured, towards problems of its minorities.
Gujarat is the eleventh state among the 13 toured by the high level Committee for Muslims. Concluding its four-day tour on Thursday, the panel found Gujarat, was "most challenging because, it was the only state that did not show sympathy towards its victimised people", a member said pleading anonymity.
In fact, Justice Rajinder Sachar was shocked to know that Gujarat did not have a state human rights commission. He said during his interaction with Muslim intelligentsia on Thursday, "Why don't you go to court for that?"
When human rights advocate Girish Patel told them that it's usually meaningless to approach the Gujarat High Court, the astonishment and dismay on the faces of the Committee was visible.
The Committee has toured 10 states including BJP-ruled ones like Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh , which turned out to be an "outstanding example", said Dr TK Oommen, noted sociologist and member of the Committee, in an exclusive interview to TOI.
"Governments have tacitly supported communal riots, as in Delhi in 1984, but never so openly as in Gujarat. The three Rs â rehabilitation, relief and reconciliation â from the state and its people, are missing. It seems the state is against its victim," he said.
Calling Gujarat a "forerunner of a Hindutva state in India" and the 2002 riots a "symptom" of a bigger problem, Oommen said that communalisation in Gujarat has seeped to an extent where an anti-Hindu government will be unacceptable to its people. Is that the freaking goal ? To install anti-hindu govts in all states ?? <!--emo&:blink:--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='blink.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--emo&:blink:--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='blink.gif' /><!--endemo-->
"If a non-BJP government comes to power and adopts a secular agenda, there could be a change. But with the extent of attitudes which are now entrenched in its people, anyone who takes an anti-Hindu stance, will never come to power.
"The Congress' soft Hindutva no longer works in Gujarat, only hard-liners do," he added.
However, it is economic interdependence that is holding the state together, the Committee observed.
"Muslims in Gujarat occupy a prime position in the informal sector like artisanry, kite-making etc.
The government needs to make them indispensable by making their presence in the informal sector stronger," he said.
During their four-day visit to Gujarat, the eightmember committee interacted with NGOs, social workers, intelligentsia and also bureaucrats of the state, including chief minister Narendra Modi who, rubbished the majority-minority divide in the state.
The committee was formed in May 2005, to prepare a comprehensive report on the social, economic and educational status of Muslims in India.
The members will now be making a visit to Bihar, Jharkhand and Maharashtra.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->