The Union Minister for Minority Affairs said that the Government schemes are in place to take care, from the pre-natal stage up to PhD, level of a member of  minority community. He said this while delivering the valedictory address at the  Annual Conference of the State Minorities Commission that began last evening. Shri Khan said that the people are satisfied with the Government spending on various schemes, but the complaints relate to delivery mechanism.  Referring to deliberations during various sessions of the conference, the Minister said that all of these have been addressed in Sachchar Committee Recommendations. Of the 76 recommendations made by the Sachchar Commission, 72 were accepted by the Government and of these  action for implementation has been taken on 69, he added. Elaborating on  PM’s 15 point programme, the Minister said that physical and financial targets have  been fixed in all developmental schemes for the deprived minority communities. Cautioning that minorities are losing faith in law enforcing agencies, the Minister asked Minority Commissions to ponder over this trust deficit and suggest ways to bridge it. Terming Minority Commissions as a ring between the Government and minority communities, the Minister asked these commissions to motivate people.

  Shri K Rahman Khan, assured that once the recommendations of the Conference are received, the Ministry would study to see how to incorporate and implement them.

Earlier, welcoming the Minister, Shri Wajahat Habibullah, Chairman of the NCM reviewed the  deliberations of the conference.

The theme of this year’s Conference was “Sensitivity of the Majority and Responsibility of the Minorities in Secular India.”

The Conference scheduled for one and half days had 3 Sessions. The topics were “Achieving Communal Harmony”, “The Role Minorities must play in securing National Defence and Public Security” and “Education and the Minorities – Access and Form”.

Salient speakers and points raised during various sessions are-

SESSION – I

TOPIC : ACHIEVING COMMUNAL HARMONY

(Shri Vinod Sharma, Member, NCM-in Chair)

 

INTAJ ALI SHAH, CHAIRMAN, W.B. MINORITIES COMMISSION

·         Majority people en-masse are not sensitive about the plights of minorities in India

·         Politician shows scant respect for the rules and laws

·         Minority people are being targeted by police and are being illegally detained and languishing in jail without trials

·         The people attached with police department and judiciary must be sensitive

·         According to Sachar Committee Report Commitment of Indian Constitution to the concept of equality of citizens and the responsibility of the state to preserve protect and assure the rights of minorities

·         Intellectuals and Jurists should admit the incidents like Ayodhya on 6^th December, 1992, as National importance for proper justice and rehabilitation

·         We should value and preserve the right, heritage of our composite culture to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst the people of India

·         Administrative biasness against minorities needs to be removed.

·         There is under representation of minorities in defence / administration due to the tag of “non-patriotic” needs to be removed.

·         A big rate of drop out in minorities is due to economic stringencies

·         Reservation of minorities in educational field will not be ultra-vires to Indian Constitution

·         The modern Madrassa education needs to be increased to promote education. For this purpose adequate financial assistance is required from Government.

ARIF MOHD. KHAN, SPEAKER

·         Diagnosis  of  communal disharmony is as critical as prescription

·         Communalism is politically promoted and feeds on theory of distinct religious identities

·         Communal violence is merely a manifestation of communalism.

·         Community consciousness should not spill into public and political life.

·         Religion  is fundamentally an instrument of unity not disunity

·         Politics of identity and community consciousness is the real threat to communal harmony.

·         Politics not Religion gives rise Separatism

·         System has failed considerably to deliver what Constitution promises to minorities.

MANI SHANKAR AIYAR, SPEAKER

·         Secular harmony and communal harmony are the state of mind.

·         We need clear understanding on secularism for ensuring communal harmony

·         Respecting others belief and rights is necessary for co-existence.

·         Hinduism has been deeply impacted by Islamic thought

·         Islam was widely accepted in ancient India soon after its birth in Arabia because the teaching of the Prophet of equality was very attractive to those who were under privileged by the Karma philosophy. 

·         Much later, the Bhakti Movement was born that united Hindus despite their differences.  This reduced the pace of growth of Islam in India

·         Inspite of 666 years of continuous Muslim rule in India, the 1872 census showed that only 24% of population was Muslim.

·         Ministry of Minority Affairs may be given atleast 15% of total planned expenditure for development of minorities

·         We need to delink history with Partition / Pakistan for achieving communal harmony.

·         Secularism means right of others to hold their beliefs and rights

·         Today, we have a multiple identity. However, a basic trend of identity comes out from religions.

·         Diversity envisages religious diversity

·         Communitarian interest is not communal interest. Therefore, community needs to pursue their rights for their progress and development

Session – II

Topic – Education and the Minorities : Access and Form

(Dr. Ajaib Singh, Member, NCM-in Chair)

 

MAULANA MD. WALI RAHMANI

·          Sachhar Committee Report has well taken care of  Muslims for their rights

·         70 judges appointed in U.P. but not a single Muslim appointed. Representation in Administration/Police/Judiciary/Defence should be increased.

·         Various  schemes such as Scholarship, MCDs , MSDP etc. are sufficiently funded schemes. However norms/conditions of these schemes need to be liberalize/soft for wider access.

·         Muslims residing outside the MCDs are deprived of benefits under MSDP

·         Schools for Muslims are negligible in the Muslim concentrated areas

·         MAEF has insufficient funding in comparison to need of the minorities

·         NCM should be the nodal agency for monitoring various schemes implementation upto block level

·         NCM should be empowered to take action against the Government officials who do not work for minorities

·         Special sub plans are required for minorities for their upliftment

 

DR. P. S. JACOB

·         Education is a liberating force and important activity of service

·         True education should help in fulfilling aspirations

·         Excellence in education is required

·         Minority educational institutions should not be bound and should be wide in their scope

·         Education should develop independence

·         Minorities should resist marginalization

·         Dangers of globalization should be checked

o        Dehumanization

o        Neo humanistic ideals

o        Education without morality

·         Innovation in education

·         Inter-disciplinary education

·         NGO involvement in education

·         Education development think-tank at National level

o        Initiate research

o        Challenges of globalization and deteriorating morality to be checked

SYEDA BILGRAMI IMAM

·         Education of minorities is a national issue

·         Obstacles to education on ground should be identified clearly

·         Neglect of education by minorities is alarming

·         Feeling of hopelessness prevalent among minorities

·         State Minority Commissions can partner with NGOs on ground and educate minorities and under privileged with use of computers and internet

·         English education provided through computers can expose village children to the whole world and vast education resources

·         Innovative ideas like including police in education discussed in previous Annual Conference of NCM should be implemented

DR. SHAHID AKHTAR, JHARKHAND MINORITIES COMMISSION

• There should be sufficient number of schools through the religious language as medium of instruction. The RTE Act should take into consideration of these peripheries for the inclusion of Minority children at the elementary level.
• Schools should be given responsibility for the retention till he/she completes the elementary education
• To stop higher drop-out rate among Muslim girls, there is need of girl’s hostels, female teachers and availability of scholarships.
• Madrassa and other religious institutions should also be entrusted responsibility for elementary education of the children of minority by giving proper financial aids and facilities under RTE Act. 
• Educational inclusion of the minority children requires a long-term strategic planning.
• RTE Act, while tackling educational exclusion of Muslim minority children requires a multi-faceted approach to action on a number of fronts.
• If only one aspect is considered and taken care off (e.g. education), the success will be unlikely because other aspects of exclusion will prevent effective progress.
• Whatever the laws, policies and programs made, it should be the duty of the government to enforce them tactfully.

SHRI NAUSHAD AHMED, BIHAR STATE MINORITIES COMMISSION

·         Real culprit should be convicted for communal violence / riots

·         Victims should be compensated/rehabilitated immediately

·         To stop drop out, there should be an attractive scholarship schemes for meritorious students. At present, Bihar Government is providing Rs. 10,000 as an incentive to such students. It should be atleast 25000 at Central Level

·         Reservation of women in Panchayati Raj System has been helpful in women education

·         Sufficient grant to Madrassas for their modernization and recognition of Madrassas education

·         There is a need to enhance moral/confidence of minorities

·         Focused training programmes for minorities for recruitment in Government / police / armed forces

SHRI SANJAY JAIN, MEMBER, UTTRAKHAND MINORITIES COMMISSION

·         Education of Minorities is a complex and sensitive issue.

·         In view of the diversity in problems, a single uniform policy for development of minorities cannot be effective

·         Education officers should be made respopnsible for effective implementation of RTE

·         Apart from academic qualification, focus should be given to develop professional skills

LT. GEN. (RETD) K. S. GILL

·         Instead of general policy, there should be specific policies to resolve different problems of minorities belonging to different states

·         Drugs, farmers’ suicides and increased drop out in education are the major issues in the state of Punjab.

·         NCM should make regular visits to assess ground reality

·         Emphasis should be on qualitative education instead of quantity

·         Awareness programme should be initiated for PM’s New 15 Point Programme

·         Delay in payment of scholarships de-motivates and increases drop outs

·         After a period of about 5 year, there is a need to relook on schemes under PM’s New 15 Point Programme taking into consideration rate of inflation. 

 SESSION – III

TOPIC – THE ROLE MINORITIES MUST PLAY IN SECURITY

(Shri K. N. Daruwalla, Member, NCM-in Chair)

SHRI ROHIT BRANDON

·         Community bashing, stereotyping and bias do exist

·         National security and public security need to be dealt holistically

·         No one particular community should be picturized as a security threat

·         Justice for all; Peace for all. There cannot be Justice for some; Peace for some

·         Public security is different from Law & Order

·         It is the state of tranquility prevalent in a political society as a result of internal regulations of law

·         Rule of law should be emphasized and is not just absence of violence

·         Everybody should find justice available

·         Minority educational institutions, even those run in remote villages by small trusts, promote national identity. They are best mirror of the progressive mindset of minorities

·         Young minds should be infused with values, when they play together and read together

·         Seeds sown in school and college level become a foundation of national security

·         Peace committees that operate through consultation are the community force that are helpful in time of crisis

·         Information is power and when channels of communication are open during peace time, district administration is better equipped to handle crisis

·         Where election turnout is high, there is better pubic security.

·         Flash points, history sheeters, should be identified in advance through intelligence network

·         Conflict transformation requires Engagement, Empathy, Education, Empowerment

·         Public security requires participation of Non-State actors including schools and families

Lt. Gen. Z. U. Shah, Vice Chancellor, Aligarh Muslim University

·         Muslims does not have enough confidence, which is the main reason for their under representation in armed forces. There is urgent need to build confidence.

·         Armed forces are truly secular organization

·         Apprehension of discrimination is a part of human nature which cannot be avoided

·         Empowered cannot be discriminated

·         Only education can empower minorities

·         Riots poison the mind of children. This is very dangerous situation

·         Terrorism has no religion, caste, creed. Depicting a particular community as terrorists / smugglers / gangsters is not appropriate

·         Affirmative action is required in the field of education for a modern secular education

·         We need to educate people how to survive in multi-cultural/lingual society

MAJ. S.G.M. QUADRI, HELP HYDERABAD

·         There exists composite culture in Army.

·         Police does not have adequate representation of minorities

·         Mecca Masjid case; guilty police officers are yet to be punished for the serious crimes committed

·         If erring police officers are punished, it will be a strong message

·         The confidence of the minorities need to be won back and simply rhetoric will not suffice

SHRI VIKRAM SOOD, RETD. CABINET SECRETARY

·         There should be efforts at national level to preserve national security

·         No country can realize its full potential without minorities

·         National security requires good governance. Equal opportunity participation etc. are prerequisite for good governance

·         It is dangerous to have quota/reservation in security organization on religion basis as it ultimately divides nation.

·         National efforts to provide equal opportunities to all

·         There should be constant and conscious efforts to make minorities strengthen

·         Political and media pressures are some of the reasons due to which police cannot take action professionally.

·         Police is ill-trained, ill-motivated and ill-educated. There is hardly any confidence in minorities in dealing with police.

·         Involvement and participation of local community is useful for peace and can be a source of information for administration / intelligence agencies

·         There is inadequate knowledge in minority communities on how to avail opportunities

·         Terrorism has no religion neither should counter terrorism

·         Patriotism is not preserved by any single community

MS. NITYA RAMAKRISHNAN

·         Polarization of communities is not just in the mind but is a reality

·         Magnification and augmentation of differences is the problem

·         Polarization not between one community and another but ideology of security versus due process

·         Overarching understanding of due process will facilitate national security

·         There is polarization even in access to justice

·         NCM bridges the gap to eradicate the perception of exclusion

·         Policy making should take into account the larger picture of human right violations and to defend possibility of innocence just as the state prosecutes the probability of guilt

Mr. Paul, Member, Punjab State Minorities Commission

·         High cost of education is the main hindrance in providing qualitative education

·         NCM and SMCs should work together to find out the reasons for discrimination

·         Wakf land / graveyard land has been encroached upon by land Mafia. There is a need for effective implementation of Religious Land Eviction Act to remove encroachment

·         State Minority Commissions are inadequately equipped with manpower

·         Military training should be made compulsory at school level

·         NCM should monitor educational institutes established under Article 29/30 of the Constitution

Mr. Sushant Hussain, CII

·         Industry can help in economic development of minority

·         Information needed on industries owned by minorities

·         Help can be rendered for upgradation of skills and technologies

·         Pan Gurukul model for skill building

·         Educational institutions can be helped with industrial placement and guest lectures

·         Information may be provided for students on opportunities in industry

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