NEW DELHI, 4 July 2004 — If Prime Minister Manmohan Singh showed his government’s secular card yesterday by announcing proposals for minorities, his predecessor Atal Behari Vajpayee demonstrated his party’s affiliation with the Hindu right wing.
“We propose to establish a commission for minority educational institutions to provide direct affiliation of minority professional institutions with central universities. We will promote modern and technical education among all minority communities,” Manmohan said after inaugurating a conference on “Minority Welfare and Education” organized by Human Resources and Development Minister Arjun Singh.
Referring to the commitment of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance to minority welfare in its common minimum program, Manmohan said: “We will also establish a national commission to enhance the welfare of socially and economically backward sections among religious and linguistic minorities, including through reservations in education and employment.”
Additional funds will be allocated to National Minorities Development Fund and Finance Corporation, the prime minister said. The government is also committed to promoting Urdu, he said.
Expressing his concern over low representation of minorities in public and private sectors, the premier said that effective measures would be taken to counter this problem.
He said investment in education was not merely a welfare measure, “it’s also a means of empowerment.”
The new government’s proposal to help minority educational institutions is a major reversal of the approach by the previous government that regarded madrassas as training ground for terrorists.
Several ministers, representatives of political parties, parliamentarians and religious and community leaders attended the daylong conference.
The government’s decision to help minorities and the backward sections of society took a big stride with Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Meira Kumar announcing a 1.5-billion-rupee package in Patna on Friday for improving the lot of scheduled caste families in Bihar.
Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee criticized the government for sacking four governors appointed during his tenure and demanded that the home minister apologize to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or RSS.
Describing their dismissal as a “big blow to democracy,” Vajpayee said the manner of their dismissal amounted to reducing the constitutional post of governor to that of “daily wage workers.” He made these comments on his arrival in Lucknow, his parliamentary constituency.
If governors have been dismissed because of their association with RSS, Vajpayee said, then Home Minister Shivraj Patil should either deny the charge or “apologize” to the right-wing organization for using this as a reason.
“The reason (of association with RSS) cited (for removal) has not been denied so far. It has been said that they were dismissed because of their association with RSS,” Vajpayee said. “If this is wrong, the home minister should deny it or apologize to RSS,” the former prime minister said.
Though RSS has accepted that some of the governors sacked were associated with the Sangh Parivar, it has described their dismissal as undemocratic.
The spokesman for the saffron brigade, Ram Madhav said in Delhi yesterday: “RSS-associated Swayam Sevaks are doing a lot of work and there is nothing wrong in being a governor.
“These governors were appointed by the previous government, and dismissing them just because they belonged to RSS is undemocratic.”
