NEW DELHI/MUMBAI, 3 September 2007 — A Muslim organization yesterday termed the follow-up report of the government on the Sachar Committee recommendations as “inadequate” and “deceptive,” while a Hindu leader said his party would launch an agitation if the federal and state governments implemented the follow-up action.
The All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat (AIMMM) said the follow-up statement in Parliament by Minister for Minority Affairs Abdul Rehman Antulay was nothing short of a cover-up for the refusal of the government to do anything concrete for the uplift of the Muslims.
In a statement, the president of the organization, Syed Shahabuddin, said there had been no progress in real terms since the Sachar report was submitted in November last year. While the government knows the Muslims constitute a backward class — at par with the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes — it lacks the political will to provide reservation for them, the statement said.
Even though decisions have been taken for scholarships and special coaching schemes in selected districts and towns, no funds have been provided and no implementation agency has been named.
The details regarding the opening of schools, literacy drives and linking certificates issued by madrasas with those of recognized state boards and universities are yet to be worked out, it said. The statement in Parliament is thus political deception, Shahabuddin’s statement added.
In Mumbai, Shiv Sena leader and former Speaker of the Lok Sabha (lower house of Parliament) Manohar Joshi said the implementation of the Sachar and Srikrishna commission reports would be like throwing nuclear bombs on the Hindu community. He told reporters late Saturday that his party would launch an agitation if the federal and state governments implemented the follow-up report and failed to withdraw it.
“The implementation of Justice Sachar Commission report means acts of creating rift between Hindu and Muslim communities. The federal government plans to implement the panel’s recommendations in order to gain Muslim votes. The Shiv Sena strongly protests the implementation of the panel reports and discussions on it in the upper and lower houses of Parliament,” Joshi said.
The working president of Shiv Sena, Uddhav Thackeray, will lead a delegation of Sena members of Parliament to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and demand that the reports are not implemented, the Sena leader said.
“The Sachar follow-up report presented to Parliament is nothing but the appeasement of Muslims. Our leader Bal Thackeray has warned Hindus to be alert against a pro-Muslim federal government,” Joshi said.
