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Minority welfare is not appeasement : PM |
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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has rejected the BJP’s accusation that ‘appeasement policy’ and ‘votebank politics’ have been driving the Congress-led UPA Government’s minority welfare programmes. Speaking at a function commemorating the 110th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, he said a commitment to equity is not appeasement. It is a mark of one’s commitment to humanism.
Recalling Netaji’s views on nation-building, Dr. Manmohan Singh said: “He was in favour of guaranteeing rights to all citizens. But at the same time, he stressed taking special measures for minorities and other disadvantaged sections of society.”
Though he did not name the BJP, which has been accusing the United Progressive Alliance Government of “appeasement” of minorities since the publication of the Sachar Committee report, the Prime Minister appeared willing to join issue with that party.
Referring to Netaji’s vision articulated as the Indian National Congress president in 1938, Dr. Singh pointed out that his “view that all minority communities be allowed their due space in cultural as well as governmental affairs testified to his humanism and commitment to egalitarian values.”
Despite their differences, both Mahatma Gandhi and Netaji wanted India to pursue “a more inclusive and equitable path to social, economic progress.” Both were committed to Hindu-Muslim unity and amity.
“They were both deeply spiritual men but equally secular. They understood that India’s great contribution to humankind is the idea of sarva dharma sambhava.”
The BJP, however, stuck to its stand that the Congress is guilty of minority appeasement. BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said that successive Congress-led Governments have allegedly worked only towards alienation of the Muslim community rather than their development. He said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was trying to hide what he called “patent appeasement” behind the `mask of equity.’
In the meantime, leading Muslim women academics have criticised the Sachar Committee report for overlooking the specific problems of Muslim women. Speaking at a national workshop to discuss the implementation of the report in Mumbai, they said on Jan. 27 that Muslim women’s problems needed to be discussed specifically and separately. They noted that there was no woman on the Sachar committee.
“We are shocked that there is no mention of Muslim women in the report,” said Prof. Zeenat Shaukat Ali, who teaches Islamic Studies at St. Xavier’s College and is author of several books on Islam and women.
Endorsing Prof. Shaukat Ali’s sentiments, Prof. Farida Lambay, Principal of the Nirmala Niketan College of Social Work and leading educationist, said that although literacy levels amongst Muslim women were steadily rising and were higher than the general female literacy levels in several States, an estimated 25 per cent of Muslim children had never been to school. The dropout rate amongst Muslim children was also much higher than the general dropout rate.
Sherifa, an activist from Puddukotai, Tamil Nadu, spoke of the problems within the community that needed to be addressed. She pointed out that dowry demands, unknown in the past, had become entrenched amongst Muslims. Women in the community faced destitution and abandonment. “When the Sachar Committee report came out, we women got together to discuss its implementation,” she said. They felt that the question of gender justice had not been addressed. “Muslim means not only men, but also women,” she said.
Apart from the women’s panel, chairman of the National Minorities Commission Syed Hamid Ansari addressed the meeting.
One killed in Bangalore violence
One person was killed and 22 injured in police firing to quell communal violence in Bangalore on Sunday, Jan. 21. The violence was triggered after a Viraat Hindu Samjotsav to mark the birth centenary of RSS leader M.S. Golwalker. There was already tension in the city after a protest rally against the execution of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein turned violent on Jan. 19. Congress leader C.K. Jaffer Sharief has come under criticism for organising the rally in a communally sensitive area.
In Uttar Pradesh, curfew was clamped in some areas of Gorakhpur town after one person was killed and six injured in clashes between two groups.
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