MINORITIES COMMISSION

Minorities Commission: Annual Report, 1988-1989

Conclusions and Recommendations

The Commission firmly believes that religion and politics should be de-linked and that political parties based on religion should be banned in view of the secular character of the country. No support or scope should be given to fissiparous tendencies or for such situations which put up one community against the other. In this context, the Commission would reiterate that acts of terrorism must be dealt with sternly because terrorism was a menace which eroded the very basis of national integration. It was necessary to free the minds of the citizens from every type of bias, hatred, fear and prejudice which created barriers between communities or even between individuals.

A beginning should be made by correcting the text books on history by removing its distortions and by stressing more on the good deeds done by one community into another. There should be a constant evaluation of text books. The Commission would go so far as to recommend that there should be one set of text books on history for the entire country.

The Commission hopes that voluntary organisations will play a greater role in the promotion of national integration by participating in the various religious festivals and the members of different faiths coming together for this purpose, exchange of cultural programmes between various regions; and economic development of all communities and regions on an equitable basis.

All militant Wings/Senas, however, well-meaning or well-intentioned they may be, should be banned, especially if they conducted drills. 'No permission be given for taking out new religious processions, and use of loudspeakers in religious placed be totally banned except on public address system within the precincts of these. Their must also be control on the construction of new places of worship.

A Special Task Force with adequate representation of various minority communities on it which would be free from any communal bias, would be useful to Civil authorities for instant deployment during emergency. The Commission has also recommended reactivating the old scheme of Peace Keeping Force in the CRPF which should be deployed as a composite unit. The Commission has also suggested that the Ministry of Home Affairs might suggest to the State having riot prone areas to raise similar special Peace Keeping battalions in their Armed Forces. Finally, the Commission attached the highest importance to the speedy and proper rehabilitation of riot victims.

The Commission was pleased to note that an entire  Chapter, namely, Chapter XIV in the Programme of Action arising out of the National Policy on Education, was devoted to the education of the minorities. The Commission must record with a sense of regret that there had been little progress in this regard. Most of the schemes envisaged in Chapter XIV had not materialised nor had the State Governments taken the steps they were required to do. The Commission would recommend that the monitoring agency at the Centre and the State should be strengthened and that the Centre should ensure that the programmes included in Chapter XIV were speedily and properly implemented,

The Commission is distressed to remark that Article 30 of the Constitution is being followed more in breach than in observance. The Commission would strongly urge the Central and State Governments to take immediate appropriate action in this regard according to at time-bound programme.

The Commission would suggest that there should be greater stress on vocational and technical education. Students should be prepared and equipped to appear in competitive examinations. For this purpose, there should be greater expansion and coverage of the UGC Scheme of coaching classes and more States should be encouraged to avail of it.

The Third Conference of the Chairmen and Members of the Central and State Minorities Commissions/Boards was held on November 17-18, 1988.

The Conference decided to request the Ministry of Welfare and Bureau of Public Enterprises to undertake monitoring of representation of minorities in Services.

It approved the suggestion that the State Minorities Financial Corporations might mobilize funds from various welfare institutions and individuals living inside the country and from non-resident Indians and resolved that the Government of India be requested to accord permission for the same.

With regard to the implementation of the three- language formula, the consensus was that it was not being implemented faithfully in most States. Hence, it resolved to pursue the matter with the States concerned.

Reserve Bank of India's Direction to All  Public Sector Banks, 24 July, 1986 on Credit Facilities to Minority Communities

We have to advise you to take following steps for monitoring flow of credit to minority communities:

 (1) A Special Cell should be set up in each bank.

(2) Steps taken to facilitate the flow of credit to the minority communities and the progress made should be reviewed regularly at the meetings of the District Consultative Committees and the State Level Bankers Committees.

(3) There should be good publicity about various anti- poverty programmes of the Government wherever there is large concentration of minority communities and particularly in 10 districts listed as having concentration of minority communities. A copy of the list of these 40 districts will be sent to you separately.

(4) The Lead Bank in each of these 40 districts should. have an officer who shall exclusively look after the problems regarding the credit flow to minority communities. It shall be his responsibility to publicrome among the minority communities various programmes of bank credit and also to prepare suitable schemes for their benefit in collaboration with branch managers.

We shall be glad if you will please take necessary action in the matter and also issue suitable instructions to your Lead Bank Officers/District Coordinators of the concerned districts immediately.

Educationally Backward Minority Dominated States, Districts

U.P 1. Rampur, 2. Bijnor, 3. Moradabad, 4. Saharanpur, 5. Muzaffarnagar,6. Meerut, 7. Bahraich, 8. Gonda,9. Ghaziabad, 10. Pilibhit, 11. Deoria, 12. Barabanki, 13. Basti

Government Statement on Mazar of Bahadur Shah Zafar

The Mazar of Bahadur Shah Zafar as well as the memorial hall adjoining the Mazar have been maintained appropriately. Government have provided funds for maintenance and renovation of the Mazar and construction of the Memorial Hall which was inaugurated in December, 1994. The entire complex is now maintained by a Supervisory Committee appointed by the Ministry of Religious Affairs of the Government of Myanmar.

(Source: LSUQ No. 1222 dated 11 March, 1996 by M.H. Gavit)

Second National Conference on Reservation for Muslims in Employment and Education

The Second National Conference of the Association for Promoting Education and Employment of Muslims held in New Delhi on 2 March, 1996.

·       Recalling the Resolution adopted at the First Conference held in October, 1994 which placed the question of Reservation for the Muslim community in public employment on the national agenda.

·       Thanking the intelligentsia and the Press for the public discourse on the subject.

·       Consent with the under-representation of the Muslim community in public employment in the Centre and in all the States/U.Ts.

·       Considering that their higher representation would serve to reduce the level of alienation and motivate the community to invest in education and training of their children and thus enable them to make an effective contribution to national development.

·       Unanimously reiterate its demand for the declaration of the Muslim community, as a community, as a Backward Class, in the Constitutional meaning of the term both in the country as a whole and in various States/UTs, and extension of reservation for public employment to the Muslim community in proportion to its population and level of backwardness both in higher and professional education as well as public employment, at the central and state level.

·       Demands, a separate quota for the Muslim community as it does for all identifiable communities so that they may enjoy full benefit of the rightful share of reservation.

·       Concedes that Muslim sub-communities which have already been declared as Backward Class by the Central or State Governments shall have the first claim on the Muslim quota while only the remaining unutilized quota shall be available for the other communities.

·       Is of the view that the selection of the beneficiaries of reservation quotas should be subjected to test of creamy layer so that the impact of reservation percolates to the lowest strata of the community Appeals to the Central and State Governments as well as to the various recognized national and State political Parties to support this legitimate demand of the Muslim community.

·        Requests the National and State Minorities Commissions as well as National and State Backward Class Commissions to extend their full cooperation and support.