11-30-2006, 07:32 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Explosive Sachar report tabled </b>
pioneer.com
Yogesh Vajpeyi | New Delhi
We'll implement it in three months: Antulay
The lure of Muslim votes in the coming electoral battles prompted the UPA Government to present the Rajinder Sachar Committee on socio-economic and educational status of Muslims in Parliament on Thursday and assure its implementation before February next.
<b>But the combative tone of the BJP-led Opposition on the issue and a Hindu backlash forced it to stop short of making any commitment about reservations for Muslims.</b>
"The Cabinet will discuss the recommendations and personally I feel it should be implemented before February," Minorities Affairs Minister AR Antulay told mediapersons just after the controversial report was tabled in both the Houses.
Asked if extension of the quota-regime for Muslims was on the cards following the slew of minority welfare measures suggested by the committee, Antulay was at pains to underline, "The basis of the recommendations is not reservation. It says that justice should be done to the community."
The 404-page report makes out a strong case for governmental interventions to deal with the deprivations of Muslims and wants the Government to focus on inclusive development and mainstreaming of the community.
But it also amounts to a damning indictment of the Congress by holding it responsible for the marginalisation of Muslims during its 60 years of rule.
<b>By underlining acute deprivation of the minority community in States like West Bengal and Kerala, it also puts a question mark over the credentials of the Left parties that claim to be torchbearers of secularism and minority rights.</b>
The timing of the report and the undue haste with which Antulay announced the Government's resolve to start implementing it before February shows that the entire exercise has been dictated by the political imperatives of the Congress party, political observers feel.
<b>"Crucial State Assembly elections are due in UP, Uttaranchal and Punjab early next year and the Congress is desperate to woo the Muslims," conceded a UPA Minister, </b>not wishing to be named.
A section in the Congress seems to realise that the exercise could prove a double-edged weapon for the party. It fears it could lead to a rat race for cornering Muslim votes between the Congress and its allies and supporters, some of who are already demanding reservation for Muslims.
This was reflected in the statement of AICC spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who said there was no proposal to introduce reservations for Muslims as a community and the issue should be looked at in a "holistic manner".
Congress leaders seem to realise the dangers of overplaying the Sachar card.
"Parties like Samajwadi Party will try to push the Congress into an unviable situation by making unreasonable demands on the basis of the Sachar Committee and we will have to do tight rope walking on the issue," said a senior AICC functionary.
In a scathing comment on the condition of Muslims, the seven-member committee, headed by a <b>former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, has found that despite the economic boom, Muslims have had to bear the brunt of the so-called competitive forces unleashed by liberalisation.</b>
It also revealed that in urban areas of Maharashtra, Gujarat, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh, poverty among Muslims is even higher than the scheduled castes and tribes.
"Even in rural areas, poverty levels among Muslims are high. In some States, the headcount ratio among Muslims is much higher than the SCs/STs, not to speak of OBCs and general (category)," the report said, adding that the poverty among Muslims is very high in rural areas of Assam and West Bengal.
The panel also favours a group of Muslims with traditional occupations as that of scheduled castes be designated as most backward classes (MBCs) and provided "multifarious measures", including reservation.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had constituted the seven-member committee in March this year and its tenure was extended till November 30. It submitted its report to him on November 17.
The report has come in the backdrop of the Prime Minister's suggestion that Muslims should get a "fair share" in Government jobs, including those in security agencies and the armed forces.
The BJP, that had launched a vigorous protest against the committee's move for a Muslim headcount in the armed forces, has already announced that the composition of the committee and its "prejudiced report" would form a key component of its political offensive against the UPA Government's unabashed pursuit of vote bank politics, jeopardising the security of India.
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pioneer.com
Yogesh Vajpeyi | New Delhi
We'll implement it in three months: Antulay
The lure of Muslim votes in the coming electoral battles prompted the UPA Government to present the Rajinder Sachar Committee on socio-economic and educational status of Muslims in Parliament on Thursday and assure its implementation before February next.
<b>But the combative tone of the BJP-led Opposition on the issue and a Hindu backlash forced it to stop short of making any commitment about reservations for Muslims.</b>
"The Cabinet will discuss the recommendations and personally I feel it should be implemented before February," Minorities Affairs Minister AR Antulay told mediapersons just after the controversial report was tabled in both the Houses.
Asked if extension of the quota-regime for Muslims was on the cards following the slew of minority welfare measures suggested by the committee, Antulay was at pains to underline, "The basis of the recommendations is not reservation. It says that justice should be done to the community."
The 404-page report makes out a strong case for governmental interventions to deal with the deprivations of Muslims and wants the Government to focus on inclusive development and mainstreaming of the community.
But it also amounts to a damning indictment of the Congress by holding it responsible for the marginalisation of Muslims during its 60 years of rule.
<b>By underlining acute deprivation of the minority community in States like West Bengal and Kerala, it also puts a question mark over the credentials of the Left parties that claim to be torchbearers of secularism and minority rights.</b>
The timing of the report and the undue haste with which Antulay announced the Government's resolve to start implementing it before February shows that the entire exercise has been dictated by the political imperatives of the Congress party, political observers feel.
<b>"Crucial State Assembly elections are due in UP, Uttaranchal and Punjab early next year and the Congress is desperate to woo the Muslims," conceded a UPA Minister, </b>not wishing to be named.
A section in the Congress seems to realise that the exercise could prove a double-edged weapon for the party. It fears it could lead to a rat race for cornering Muslim votes between the Congress and its allies and supporters, some of who are already demanding reservation for Muslims.
This was reflected in the statement of AICC spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who said there was no proposal to introduce reservations for Muslims as a community and the issue should be looked at in a "holistic manner".
Congress leaders seem to realise the dangers of overplaying the Sachar card.
"Parties like Samajwadi Party will try to push the Congress into an unviable situation by making unreasonable demands on the basis of the Sachar Committee and we will have to do tight rope walking on the issue," said a senior AICC functionary.
In a scathing comment on the condition of Muslims, the seven-member committee, headed by a <b>former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, has found that despite the economic boom, Muslims have had to bear the brunt of the so-called competitive forces unleashed by liberalisation.</b>
It also revealed that in urban areas of Maharashtra, Gujarat, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh, poverty among Muslims is even higher than the scheduled castes and tribes.
"Even in rural areas, poverty levels among Muslims are high. In some States, the headcount ratio among Muslims is much higher than the SCs/STs, not to speak of OBCs and general (category)," the report said, adding that the poverty among Muslims is very high in rural areas of Assam and West Bengal.
The panel also favours a group of Muslims with traditional occupations as that of scheduled castes be designated as most backward classes (MBCs) and provided "multifarious measures", including reservation.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had constituted the seven-member committee in March this year and its tenure was extended till November 30. It submitted its report to him on November 17.
The report has come in the backdrop of the Prime Minister's suggestion that Muslims should get a "fair share" in Government jobs, including those in security agencies and the armed forces.
The BJP, that had launched a vigorous protest against the committee's move for a Muslim headcount in the armed forces, has already announced that the composition of the committee and its "prejudiced report" would form a key component of its political offensive against the UPA Government's unabashed pursuit of vote bank politics, jeopardising the security of India.
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