MINORITIES: GENERAL- 2013 January to December – 2013

Compiled By Fr. Paul G Documentation Centre∗

'Andhra Pradesh, a model state for minority schemes ' (7) HYDERABAD: A day after the MIM onslaught on the Kiran Kumar Reddy government, Congress leaders on Sunday tried to showcase Andhra Pradesh as the model state in implementing various schemes for minorities at the first convention of All India Minorities' Forum. The forum was constituted 6 months ago by the Congress with an agenda to improve or initiate implementation of welfare schemes for minorities. Leaders who spoke asked for the creation of a sub-plan for minorities on the lines of SC/ST sub-plan. They called for speedy implementation of the PM's 15-point programme and protection of wakf properties. They also voiced their concerns over detention of youth with alleged terror links and asked for political reservation for Muslims. "AP fared better than the rest of India in implementing educational schemes for the minorities," Congress MP Mohsina Kidwai said on the occasion. Former DGP Swaranjit Sen, representing the Christian community, asked for better protection of Christian properties, efficient functioning of the Christian Minority Finance Corporation and concession for poor Christians to visit Jerusalem and other holy places. Former minister Mohammed Ali Shabbir said "The condition of Muslims has fallen below that of the dalits and backward classes as pointed out by Sachar Committee post independence. Education and jobs are essential for empowering them." Union minister for minority affairs K Rahman Khan said the government was considering involving NGOs to oversee implementation of minority welfare schemes. On sub-plan for minorities, he said the government was working on the legal aspect of the proposal. The leaders acknowledged the discomfort of the Congress with the YSR legacy, but praised the former CM on implementation of the 4 per cent Muslim reservation in the state. Analysts questioned the timing of Sunday's event as it comes in the wake of the snapping of Congress-MIM ties. They said that the event failed to make an impression as the CM and other big wigs of the party like PCC chief Botsa Satyanarayana were absent. Also, organisation of the convention at Hotel Marriot, Lower Tank Bund Road, also raised eyebrows as the hotel is said to be on wakf land. (Times of India 7/1/13) 'Give minorities priority in government jobs' (7) MUMBAI: State minorities development minister Naseem Khan on Monday asked officials to give priority to people from the minority communities for government and semi-government jobs. Observing that the representation of the minorities in such jobs continued to be low, Khan said that instructions to give jobs to minorities on priority had been issued to the state administration. He said that 'better representation to minorities in government and semi government jobs' was part of a 15-point programme spelt out by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. All states have been asked to implement this programme. (Times of India 14/1/13) Saffronization of textbooks draws flak (7) MYSORE: "Inclusion of 'saffron texts' in school curriculum will have its own impact on the minds children, and this makes them narrow-minded and think on communal lines". This was the feeling of the progressive writers and leftists who spoke and discussed the issue of saffornization of curricula by the government. The speakers were expressing their views at a seminar on 'Saffronization of education,

∗ This is a collection of previously published news and views from the print as well as the electronic media, whose reference marked at the end of each news items. Department of Documentation and Library (DDL) of the Indian Social Institute, New Delhi neither claims to the veracity of the facts in the news nor subscribes to the views expressed.

voice of the suppressed and scientific temperament' organized here by Karnataka Anti-Saffornization Committee. Initiating a discussion on the issue, noted writer Shivasundar said in spite of freedom, thinkers and educationists have failed to evolve an education system and curricula devoid of communal and religious feelings. "Like India, many other countries too were under the British rule, but they successfully adopted the western model of education system. But India failed to work out progressive education system," he said, adding: "Instead of evolving a new system, India fell back, and was influenced by a philosophy that differentiated people on religious and communal lines." Shivasundar said preparing textbooks has become a bureaucratic affair. "What the bureaucrats finalize, the teachers consider them as 'holy scriptures' and teach the same to students. The teachers' failure to raise their vice against irrational and narrow writing has made the bureaucrats to have a free run in the field," he added. Quoting various lessons from textbooks, Shivasundar said the contents not only evoked communal feelings, they even reinforced the concept of patriarchy-emphasizing gender stereotypes. "There is totally no involvement of minorities and tribals in syllabi-framing process," he alleged. Charging the government with violating National Curriculum Framework (NCF), he said, "According to NCF, while framing syllabus, history should be seen from all perceptions. But the government is framing syllabus based on thoughts of dominant caste groups," he said. Samatha Vedike founder member Meera Nayak released research scholar Francis D' Souza's book 'Right wing ideology in the textbooks of Karnataka - A critical appraisal' on the occasion. (Times of India 14/1/13) Self-employment scheme for minorities (7) Hyderabad: Good news for youth who want to acquire self employment skills at no cost. The A.P. State Minorities Finance Corporation (APSMFC) has proposed to equip minority youth in the age group of 18 to 35 years with skills in various trades so that they can set up their own businesses. The proposal, which will be implemented during the next financial year, is under active consideration of the government. Unlike the Rajiv Yuva Kiranalu scheme, the new project will not be linked to job placement. Youth will be imparted skills in the choice of their trade and they will be free to set up their own business. This is for the first time that the Corporation will be making a departure from its activities of providing scholarships and fee reimbursement for socio-economic and educational development of minorities. “We plan to train about 10,000 to 12,000 youth all over the State. The modalities and the budget required for the scheme are being worked out”, said M.A. Waheed, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, APSMFC. The corporation has identified 11 trades based on the interest of the youth. They include automobile mechanic, driving, electronics repair, AC and refrigeration equipment repair, cell phone repair, electrician, carpentry work, mineral water processing equipment technician and entrepreneurship. There are also trades such as fashion designing, beautician and tailoring, which girls can go for. The placement linked Rajiv Yuva Kiranalu scheme is being implemented in 12 districts where minority population is substantial. But the proposed self-employment scheme will be put into operation all over the State – both in RYK and non-RYK districts. Authorities have not put any educational criteria for availing the scheme but. However, only those youth whose parents annual income is one lakh and below will be eligible for the scheme. A large number of minority youth are expected to benefit for the self-employment scheme. The total population of minorities in the State is 82,73,654. Of this Muslims account for 69,86,856, Christians 11,81,917, Sikhs 30,998, Buddhist 32,037 and Jains 41,846. At present, the Corporation is providing subsidy grant for bankable schemes to minorities to set up self-employment units but here no training is imparted. But in the proposed scheme besides training, the Corporation intends to provide subsidy and arrange bank loan as well. (The Hindu 17/1/13) Hindu fundamentalists target minorities in Konkan ( 7) Mumbai: Fear is ruling the roost in Konkan region, known to be the peaceful green belt of Maharashtra, after members of minority community were threatened and attacked by Hindu fundamentalists. Leaders of the Christian community said after the threat, Christians in Konkan hold prayer meetings “in an air reeking

of fear and under police protection”. However, many congregations were attacked despite the presence of police personnel who just stand as witnesses. Catholic Secular Forum General Secretary Joesph Dias told Deccan Herald that a fact-finding tour in Konkan revealed that the area “is now infested with communal and divisive forces with several prayer meetings being held not in open areas but in municipal halls.” Dias cited the January 11 incident in which over 600 people peacefully praying in Sawantwadi Municipal Hall were threatened and attacked. “While the people at congregation, still tremble with fear to talk about the incident...the local police refuse to identify attackers or take action against them,” he added. In view of the communally-charged situation in the Sindhudurg district of Konkan region, Dias pointed out, one needs to take police permission before holding a prayer congregation. (Deccan Herald 28/1/13) Notice to State, minorities panel chief (7) Bangalore: The High Court on Thursday ordered an emergent notice to the State government and Anwar Manippady, Chairperson of the Karnataka State Minorities Commission, following a petition challenging the functioning of the Commission and the Chairperson, even after his term ended. The petitioner, Mohammed Wazir Baig, had moved the High Court against the functioning of the Commission, contending that he was misusing his office and continuing in the post, even after his term got over in February 2012, which is contrary to the Karnataka State Minorities Commission Act. Section 8 of the Act says that the chairperson’s term should not exceed more than three years, but Manippady is continuing in office beyond it. “As per the Act, the commission comprises seven members, including the Chairperson. In this case, six members of the commission have retired and the Government has done nothing to make appointments, while the Chairperson enjoys power,” the petitioner said. (Deccan Herald 31/1/13)

State government opposed to minority university aft er Tipu: Ravi (7) MANGALORE: State BJP government will not allow setting up of a university for minorities and it being named after Tipu Sultan anywhere in Karnataka and is willing to pay any price for its stand, Minister for Higher Education CT Ravi said. On the other hand, the state government has no problems with union government setting up central or national university and such an institution being named after Muslims with greater nationalistic outlook than Tipu. Asserting that the setting up of Aligarh Muslim University pre-independence sowed the seeds of division of the country in the minds of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, Ravi told reporters here that such universities lay the foundation for division of communities. "While certain facets of Tipu's contributions to Indian freedom struggle are beyond dispute, there are certain other facets which are equally controversial and needs debate," he said. Citing accounts of Historians who have documented both facets of Tipu - his contributions as well as controversies, Ravi said this is an account given by historians of standing and not his personal account or one but forth by Sangh parivar. "Government is not against Muslim name (for central or national university)," he said suggesting alternatives such as former President APJ Abdul Kalam, shehnai maestro Bismillah Khan or Sant Shishunala Sharief. Reminding the Congress, which has been advocating setting up of a university for minorities at Srirangapatna after Tipu that there are far more worthy Muslims than Tipu after whom a university could be named, Ravi said, "Congress has forgotten far more nationalistic and patriotic Havildaar A bdul Hamid, soldier in the 4th Battalion, The Grenadiers of Indian Army , who died fighting the Pakistanis in 1965 Indo-Pakistan war." If the centre comes with such a proposal to start a central or national university named after such patriotic Muslims, the state government is ready to sanction any amount of land for the purpose, he said, adding personally sitting or retired judge of Supreme Court should be asked to study historian's views on Tipu and submit a report. The proposal for the university after Tipu was mooted by Rahman Khan, Union Minister for Minority Affairs. (Times of India 3/2/13) Ever tried to find out state of minorities? HC pose r to govt (7)

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court Tuesday asked the state government whether it had taken steps in the past 20 years to ascertain social and educational backwardness of Muslims and other minorities in the state. The question was raised by the five-judge full bench during the hearing on PILs over the central government's scheme for pre-metric scholarship to students belonging to minority communities. The central government scheme launched in 2008 is for students belonging to five religious minorities, including Muslims, whose parents have annual income below Rs 1 lakh where the Centre gives 75 per cent of the scholarship amount while states are to bear the cost of the remaining 25 per cent. The Gujarat government has refused to implement the scheme. During the hearing, when the advocate general was arguing against the central scheme, Justice V M Sahai pointedly asked, "Have you formed any committee to find out the social and educational backwardness of Muslims living in the state? What has the state done in the past 20 years?" To which Advocate General Kamal Trivedi conceded there was no study conducted by the state government. Earlier, during the submissions in support of the state government's refusal to implement the scheme, Trivedi said it was discriminatory in nature. Citing constitutional provisions and Supreme Court judgments, Trivedi argued that the Central government did not come up with notification defining the five religious groups as socially and economically backward that could be the beneficiaries of the scheme. (Indian Express 6/2/13) HC okays Centre’s minority scheme (7) AHMEDABAD: In a setback to the Narendra Modi government, the Gujarat high court on Friday ruled that the Centre's scholarship scheme for students belonging to religious minorities was not in violation of constitutional provisions. The state government had not implemented the scheme for the last five years, but will now have to now. The question before the five-judge bench was whether the pre-matriculation scholarship was based on ground of religion and whether it was discriminatory in nature, as argued by the state government. The high court upheld the scheme with three judges - Justice V M Sahai, Justice D H Waghela and Justice Akil Kureshi - concluding that it was just a scheme, which cannot be equated with reservation, and such affirmative actions cannot be held as violative of Article 15(1) of the Constitution. Two other judges - Justice R R Tripathi and Justice J B Pardiwala - took a dissenting view. The full bench was hearing a reference made by a division bench headed by Chief Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya. Upholding the scheme, the three judges observed that governments, unlike judges, had the right to take affirmative action towards improvement of social and economic condition of the downtrodden. "It (the scheme) is a preferential diversion of funds for betterment of society... it is vastly different from reservation in jobs etc and not discriminatory in nature. And hence the state government is bound to implement it," the judges observed. They also held that the government's formation of the scheme on the basis of the Sachar committee report is not illegal. The two dissenting judges opined that the government cannot be allowed to implement a scheme that belittles constitutional provisions and that it was discriminatory in nature. The issue reached to the high court after advocate Hashim Qureshi filed a PIL on basis of a TOI report, which said that the Modi government had denied benefits of the scheme to minorities in Gujarat. The PIL was rejected, but the issue was referred to the larger bench, which ultimately ruled in his favour. The state government sought a stay on implementation of the order for two months and asked for permission to appeal in the Supreme Court, but the judges said the request should be made to the division bench. (Times of India 16/2/13) BJP leaders question need for minority varsity (7) MYSORE: The protest against university for minorities has gained steam with BJP leaders joining hands with pro-Hindu organizations. On Tuesday, they said that the proposed varsity will be a threat to national security, arguing that it could be a breeding ground for anti-social elements. The protesters also questioned the need for the setting up of a university for minorities, pointing out that the state has 26 universities. Calling the Centre's proposed university, which is aimed at educating minorities, as 'Muslim university', they opposed the move to name it after Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan, who, they called as a

communal ruler. They questioned the UPA government's move to set up a university for minorities and naming it after Tipu. They claimed that it is anti-constitutional. The protesters staged a dharna at the north Gate of Mysore Palace, urging the government to reconsider the proposal, saying exclusive universities for minorities have led to division of the country. Sangh Parivar leaders alleged that the Centre's move is to grab votes of minorities ahead of Lok Sabha elections. Former MLC Thontadarya, Muda chairman L Nagendra and BJP leader Nandish Preetham led the protest. (Times of India 20/2/13) Implement scholarship for minority students now, hi gh court tells state (7) AHMEDABAD: A division bench of the Gujarat high court on Wednesday directed the state government to immediately implement the Centre's scheme of pre-matriculation scholarship for students belonging to five religious minorities. The direction came after a five-judge bench concluded that the Centre's scheme was valid. With this order, those students whose family income is below Rs 1 lakh will get benefit. As per the state government's estimate, there are some six lakh students from Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Parsi and Buddhist communities that will be eligible for the scholarship. However, those students that will get the Centre's scholarship will cease to be beneficiaries of state's other scholarship schemes. The bench of Chief Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya and Justice J B Pardiwala refused to stay HC decision that the state government was legally bound to pay scholarship amount, which came to nearly Rs 850 per annum, to students as per the 2008 Union government scheme. The state government intends to move the Supreme Court in this regard as early as possible, and for that it demanded a certificate from the court to file leave for appeal petition in the apex court. The state government was not giving scholarships to students of standard I to XI on the ground that it was based on religious grounds and therefore unconstitutional, and a secular state cannot discriminate against students of other communities. The state government was supposed to contribute 25% to the funds allocated by the Centre for this pre-matric scholarship scheme. However, the state government duly implemented a post-matric scholarship scheme aimed at students of the five minorities. In this scheme, the Centre bears 100% expenditure. The issue reached HC after TOI reported that the Narendra Modi government was denying the benefits to students. Advocate Hashim Qureshi filed a PIL, which was rejected by the division bench. However, its findings were in contradiction with a 2009 order passed by another division bench. Hence the issue was referred to a five-judge bench, which concluded that the scheme was legal and the state had to implement it. (Times of India 21/2/13) Centre, BJP on warpath over minority varsities (7) New Delhi: Minority affairs minister K Rahman Khan has said he would speedily set up five new universities for minorities, one of them in Karnataka, which the BJP has vowed to resist. Khan has ordered a high-level panel led by educationist Sukhadeo Thorat to suggest a model. A private-public collaboration could be approved to set up the institutions. Khan recently apprised UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi of the proposal. BJP’s state leadership in Karnataka’s had recently said it would not allow a university for minorities in the state or have it named after Tipu Sultan, as proposed, or give any land for it. Khan said the five universities would address a pressing need for educational facilities for Muslims. According to the 2006 Sachar Commission report, Muslims make up only 4% of undergraduate students across India’s top universities. “Demand for education and scholarships is very high among Muslims. We will go ahead,” he told HT. On January 16, Karnataka BJP Spokesperson G Madhusudan said the “university will become a breeding ground for anti-national elements”. The plan includes Kwaja Garib Nawaz University in Ajmer, Tipu Sultan University in Mysore, both for engineering, and Rafi Kidwai University in Kishanganj for medical sciences. A previous panel had suggested the institutes should focus on all “socially and economically” disadvantaged groups, but offer scholarships to minorities, rather than reserve seats. (Hindustan Times 25/2/13) Cops should be more sensitive towards minorities: S cribe Siddiqui (7)

BANGALORE: It's time investigative agencies and other stakeholders, including media, became sensitive to cases where minorities are accused of terror crimes, Bangalore-based journalist Muthi-ur-Rehman Siddiqui said on Tuesday, a day after his release from jail following the clean chit given to him by the National Investigation Agency. He was among 15 suspects arrested by Bangalore police from August to November 2012 for allegedly plotting to kill prominent personalities in Karnataka. Siddiqui talked about his days in prison and suspected a political game behind the arrests. "I feel security agencies are not sensitive towards the poor and weaker sections of society. If you look at the way the entire operation was carried out by the police and reported by the media, this insensitivity is clear. It has been usual for security agencies to cast the minority community in a negative way. It is not just about myself but about thousands more who are deprived of justice," he said. Stating that the clean chit to him and release ought to have happened six months back, he said, "If I was not a Muslim they wouldn't have picked me. I am sure my friends will be freed too. As per law, a person is innocent unless proved guilty." On the police action, Siddiqui said: "They first arrest people, then find evidence against them. What happened on August 29, 2012 was no arrest but downright kidnapping. A bunch of strong men barged into our house and forcefully took us away in their vehicles. This even as we were pleading and asking why we were being taken out." Siddiqui said he was not physically tortured but the mental trauma was high. "They kept interrogating me as if I was the mastermind and kept saying that I'd be in for seven years for sure. Everyone knows that jail is no fun place. For the first 30 days we were cramped in a small room. The confinement itself was torture." Siddiqui said he will continue to be a journalist. Asked if he will take legal action against the police department, he said it was not his primary concern. "If at all I seek legal remedy it will be after consulting my lawyers.'' (Times of India 27/2/13)

Union Budget 2013: Major fund infusion for minoriti es (7) NEW DELHI: The Union Budget has hiked the allocation for minority affairs ministry by 60% of what it spent in 2012-13, a big increase considering the fiscal crunch staring the government. The allocation of Rs 3,511 crore is an improvement on the Rs 2,200 crore spent and from Rs 3,135 crore allocated last year. If the finance minister felt bold enough to mention the hike upfront in his speech, it also surprised insiders who apprehended that tight finances could see the axe fall on ministries that have shown low capacity for spending. The biggest gainer is the Multi-Sectoral Development Programme aimed at overall development of 90 identified districts with high minority concentration. The funds have nearly doubled from Rs 579 crore to Rs 1,110 crore. Though the programme has shown slow movement owing to failure of states to present district plans, it may pick up in view of pressure from key support base in an election year. All scholarship schemes for children have seen an increase while Rs 160 crore has been added to the corpus of Maulana Azad Education Foundation that helps NGOs implement educational schemes for minorities. (Times of India 1/3/13) Minority welfare gets a modest hike in Budget (7) The Union budget for 2013-14 presented by finance minister P Chidambaram envisages a massive expenditure of Rs 16,65,297 crore, including Plan expenditure of Rs 5,55,322 crore in the ensuing financial year. Chidambaram explains that the Plan expenditure in 2013-14 will be 29.4 per cent more than the revised estimate of the current year. He also asserts that "all flagship programmes have been fully and adequately funded. I dare say I have provided sufficient funds to each ministry or department consistent with their capacity to spend the funds. Now, it is over to them to deliver the outcomes through good governance, prudent cash management, close monitoring and timely implementation." So far as welfare of minorities is concerned, the finance minister devoted only two paragraphs to this subject in his lengthy speech. He pointed out that the allocation for the ministry of minority affairs (MoMA) has been raised to Rs 3,511 crore, marking an increase of 12 per cent over the budget estimate and 60 per cent over the revised estimate of 2012-13. A Plan outlay of Rs 3,135 crore was earmarked in the 2012-13

budget for MoMA but the revised estimate is only Rs 2,200 crore, indicating a shortfall of Rs 935 crore (30 per cent). An analysis of demand no. 68 (MoMA) reveals that this shortfall has resulted due to non-release of Rs 100 crore to Maulana Azad Education Foundation (MAEF) and Rs 90 crore to National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation (NMDFC), lowering of outlay by Rs 258.90 crore for merit-cum-means, pre-matric and post-matric scholarships and reduction in allocation by Rs 308.34 crore for multi-sectoral development programme (MsDP) for 90 minority concentration districts (MCDs) and Rs 90 crore for schemes/projects in the north-eastern states. Moreover, the MoMA failed to launch several new schemes envisaged under the 12th Five-Year Plan. These schemes, which remained non-starter despite allocations being made in the budget for 2012-13 include scheme for financial support for students clearing prelims conducted by UPSC, staff selection commission and state PSCs, promotion of education in 100 minority concentration towns/cities, village development programme for villages not covered under minority concentration blocks/districts, free cycles for girl students of Class IX, interest subsidy on educational loans for overseas studies and skill development initiatives etc. The MoMA owes an explanation on why these schemes could not take off in the current year… (Times of India 4/3/130 UPA confines EOC to minority rights (7) New Delhi: The Congress party’s addiction to minority appeasement and the tendency among the UPA ministers to fight over turf has led to the distortion of the Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC), once touted as the ‘ultimate equaliser that an unequal Indian Society can get’. Instead, the UPA has decided that the EOC will now only address minority rights. Initially, the Social Justice Ministry had claimed that since the EOC deals with the larger issue of social justice and equality, it should be under its purview. The Home Ministry’s argument was that since the EOC would be an overlapping commission over the others, it is best to keep it under its wing. The Social Justice Ministry, Women and Child Development Ministry and the HRD Ministry also vied to be the EOC’s nodal ministry, since the commission would be the big brother of all commissions and would replace the Human Rights Commission, SC/ST Commission and Women’s Commission. “The EOC was like a Super Commission as it can deal with any issue involving the violation of equality rights. But no ministry was willing to budge,” said an official who was part of the team working on conceptualising the idea. In 2010, the PM had set up an EGoM under A K Antony to come to a settlement. Salman Khurshid, who doesn’t believe in the tag of a ‘minority’ minister, opposed the EOC’s dilution at all the EGoM meetings. He wanted it to be a Super Commission by replacing all other commissions, as was the original intention when it was mooted in 2008. To end the bickering, the government saw a political opportunity and decided to limit the commission as a body that deals with minority issues, on the pretext that there will be no overlap between other ministries. Meanwhile, Rehman Khan, who replaced Khurshid as the Minorities Minister in the last Cabinet reshuffle in October 2012, seized the opportunity to sell it as a minority-friendly measure of his party. The commission now will be under the complete control of the Minority Ministry and would replace the National Minority Commission. The EOC’s main purpose was to counter all forms of biases-age, gender, caste, ethnicity, linguistic identity and sexual orientation. In its original form, it would have been a powerful body holding the powers of a civil court, with jurisdiction over both public and private sectors, with the authority to announce equal opportunity practice codes. “It is sad that EOC, which would have heralded a totally new approach to social equality and mobility, will now be limited to the issues of religious minorities. It was an offshoot of Sachar committee recommendations but its mandate was much bigger. Vote bank politics has killed a beautiful concept,” said an official who was part of the team that was set up to conceptualise the EOC. (Indian Express 11/3/13) Government discriminating against minorities: NCP ( 7) PANAJI: The state unit of the Nationalist Congress party (NCP) on Friday accused the BJP government of discriminating against the minorities while sanctioning benefits under the Laadli Laxmi and the Griha Aadhaar schemes.Blaming the government of misutilizing government schemes to create discord among

religious communities, the NCP has threatened to approach the planning commission of India and also the human rights commission for gross violation of human rights. Briefing the media, NCP spokesperson Trajano D'Mello said that information he has obtained under the Right to Information showed that there were 40,000 applications for the Griha Aadhar scheme and 15,890 were sanctioned. Of these, only 2,615 were Christians and 322 were Muslims, D'Mello said. Asked if he had the community-wise breakup of the 40,000 applicants, D'Mello said that the department of women and child development, that oversees the schemes, did not have the information. Dismissing the media's suggestion that there might have been less applications from the minority communities, D'Mello said that the "minorities in Goa are being treated as second class citizens under the present chief minister." D'Mello also said that the RTI information also showed that of the 150-crore allotted for each of the above schemes, the department had till date utilized less than 25% for the schemes. He blamed the women and child development minister Dilip Parulekar of total inefficiency. The NCP spokesperson also demanded that the chief minister amend the Goa Panchayati Raj Act in the forthcoming session of the Goa Legislative assembly. (Times of India 16/3/13) Funds for minorities must reach needy (7) Making record allocations of Rs 23,552 crore under non-Plan and Plan for social, tribal, backward class and minority welfare for financial year 2013-14, finance minister Anam Ramanarayana Reddy claims that "the inclusive agenda of the government and the socially excluded groups is strongly reflected in the allocation provided for all the welfare departments in this budget." For Scheduled Castes, the total allocations, including SC sub-plan, work out to Rs 12,707 crore. For Scheduled Tribes, including tribal sub-plan, the budgetary provision comes to Rs 5,792 crore. The outlay for backward classes is Rs 4,027 crore. The allocation for minority welfare is pegged at Rs 1,027 crore (or just 4.36% of the total outlay for these four disadvantaged groups). The finance minister points out that the outlay for minority welfare has been raised by 110% over the current year's revised estimate of Rs 488 crore. The actual expenditure on minority welfare came to Rs 368.25 crore as against the budgetary allocation of Rs 301 crore in FY 2011-12. The revised allocation for the current year 2012-13 works out to Rs 608.53 crore, including Rs 122.07 crore earmarked under the supplementary estimates presented to the Assembly on March 22. So, the actual increase in the budgetary allocations for FY 2013-14 is only Rs 418.69 crore. Much of the budgeted outlay for minority welfare goes towards pre- and post-matric scholarships and fees reimbursement. The allocation for this purpose is Rs 706.64 crore in 2013-14 as against Rs 489.05 crore in the current year. The minority welfare budget envisages an across-the-board hike for all the schemes/institutions functioning under the commissionerate. The allocation for subsidy for bank-linked income generation scheme for minorities has gone up manifold from Rs 25 crore in the current year to Rs 118.50 crore in FY 2013-14. AP State Wakf Board gets Rs 33 crore, as against Rs 80 lakh this year. For studies on socio-economic conditions and programmes of minorities, the allocation is Rs 15.28 crore, compared to only Rs one crore this year. The survey commissioner of wakfs is allocated Rs 11 crore, as against Rs 50 lakh in the current budget. Similarly, the outlay is hiked from Rs two crore to Rs 10 crore for Urdu ghars-cum-shadikhanas and from Rs 5.35 crore to Rs 15.11 crore for Urdu Academy of AP. All this appears fine but the moot question is: do the minority welfare commissionerate and the institutions under its purview have the wherewithal to spend the enhanced budgetary allocations? The number of beneficiaries of scholarships and fees reimbursement scheme hovers around five lakh out of 20 lakh minority students enrolled at pre- and post-matric levels in the state, largely on account of stringent criteria and the low rates of assistance under these schemes. The income ceilings are different for availing central and state scholarships. There are disparities in the rates of scholarship prescribed under central and state schemes and also for Urdu medium students vis-a-vis English/Telugu medium students. Moreover, arbitrary maximum age restrictions have been imposed on minority students for pursuing Intermediate, graduate, post-graduate and higher courses. To spend the higher outlay earmarked for scholarships, the minority welfare commissionerate would have to raise the income ceilings as well as the rates of scholarship and fees reimbursement and to scrap the age-restrictions for minority students at the

post-matric level to extend the benefits to a larger base of beneficiaries. Other conditions like 50% marks in the previous year's exam and 75% attendance in the previous academic year also need to be relaxed since the Muslim minority is educationally backward with low literacy and higher drop-out rate. Unless these changes are brought about, there is every possibility of the higher allocations remaining unutilised. Coming to schemes for socio-economic development of the minorities, the AP State Minorities Finance Corporation implements the scheme for extending subsidy for bank-linked income-generation schemes. In the 2012-13 budget, the allocation for this scheme had been increased to Rs 25 crore, compared to Rs 11 crore in 2011-12. Recently, the government raised the income ceiling for this scheme from Rs 50,000 to Rs 75,000. But with this low income ceiling, it will not be possible to extend the coverage five-fold in the next financial year. The government would have to raise the income ceiling in both rural areas and urban areas so that more number of beneficiaries from these under-privileged sections can be covered under the economic assistance schemes. The outcome budget for minority welfare must reflect these changes to utilise every rupee allocated. (Times of India 25/3/13) Mulayam has cheated minorities: Beni Prasad (7) Lucknow: Showing no signs of relenting in his tirade against ruling Samajwad Party, Union Minister Beni Prasad Verma today alleged the party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav has "cheated minorities" and had a tacit understanding with the BJP. The Gonda MP alleged that there was an understanding between Mulayam and BJP leader LK Advani in 1998 due to which the SP supremo was able to form government in UP in 2003 in spite of having only 135 MLAs. "In 1998, when Atal Behari Vajpayee's government fell by one vote, he (Mulayam) had promised to support Sonia Gandhi. "Later in the night, he had a talk with Advani at Jaya Jaitly's residence...There Mulayam asked Advani that he will not make effort to form the government, and in return the BJP leader asked him not to support Sonia and it was decided." Beni claimed that Advani in his book has written that he would thank Mulayam that he followed his advice and later got a five-year term. "As a reward, he (Mulayam) became the chief minister again in 2003. He had only 135 MLAs, Vajpayee was the Prime Minister and Vishnu Kant Shastri was the Governor...Can a person having 135 MLAs could form a government in UP without the support of the ruling party," he alleged. He alleged that Anti Defection Law existed even at that time, but MLAs were brought and the then Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kesari Nath Tripathi validated all. "It was always Mulayam's objective that Congress should not revive in UP," he alleged. (Indian Express 30/3/13)

VHP will declare Gujarat Hindu state by 2015: Togad ia (7) Ahmedabad: The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) will declare Gujarat a “Hindu state” by 2015, besides having its presence in all 18,000 villages of the state in the next two years, the outfit’s leader Pravin Togadia has claimed. “In two years, the VHP will have a presence in all 18,000 villages of Gujarat and by 2015, we will declare Gujarat a Hindu state,” VHP’s international working president Pravin Togadia told VHP followers, who had gathered in Ahmedabad for a ‘Hindu Sangam’ event. The event was organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad to launch a new movement called ‘Hindu Ahead, for Hindu Security and Prosperity’, which aims to reach out to Hindus in villages, towns, cities and tribal areas. Invoking the issue of the “insecure Hindu”, Togadia said, “To protect and prosper, Hindus have to gear up, by becoming true practicing Hindus, aware Hindus and active Hindus”. The absence of Narendra Modi at the function was conspicuous though the VHP organised the event in the area which falls in the Gujarat chief minister’s constituency. In the past, the Gujarat VHP has been at loggerheads with Modi over a range of issues, including demolition of illegal temples in Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad. The VHP, through its ‘Hindu Sangam’ announced plans for the resurrection of the organisation, which would celebrate 50 years of its inception in 2014. Raising the issue of Ram Mandir, Togadia said, “Unless and until we will become Hindus, not only by our behaviour, but with our practice and awareness, only then will our dream of building Ram Mandir at Ayodhya be fulfilled.” VHP’s joint organisational secretary Vinayakrao Deshpande

talked about dwindling support for the outfit in Gujarat. He mentioned that 10 years ago there were more than 10,000 committees in the state which has come down to 6,000. “We will have to bring that to 10,000 by this year-end,” Deshpande said. Jagruti Pandya, wife of former Gujarat minister of state for home Haren Pandya, was also present at the gathering along with some Gujarat Parivarta Party (GPP) members. (Hindustan Times 1/4/13) Left Front delegation submits memorandum on minorit ies welfare (7) KOLKATA: A delegation of the West Bengal Left Front Legislature Party led by former minister Anisur Rahman submitted a memorandum to minister of state for minority affairs and madrasa education, Giyasuddin Mollah at Writers' Buildings, placing a seven-point demand for the welfare of minorities. Rahman said though the Madrasa Commission examination was held about nine months ago, its results are yet to be published. The government should immediately publish the results, the delegation demanded. "The chief minister says 10,000 madrasas will be recognized. But not a single of the government-aided madrasas have been affiliated in the last two years. The government should immediately evaluate this and take necessary steps," Rahman said. There should be at least 200 new junior high madrasas and 50 senior madrasas in the state, he added. The memorandum also mentions that the new law has been made in such a way that the minorities will be very much deprived. "We are requesting the government to see that the minorities do not get deprived in any way," Rahman said. The teachers of the madrasa siksha kendras get very low salaries and do not even get money for setting up their houses. These kendras should be upgraded into junior high madrasas. The government should also spread higher education in areas where the minority communities are dominant. "We are asking the government to look into these issues and are ready to help the government," Rahman said. (Times of India 3/4/13) Barack Obama asked to protect Hindus in Bangladesh (7) Washington: Protesting against the rise in violence against minorities in Bangladesh, Hindus of Bangladeshi-origin have gathered outside the White House here, asking US President Barack Obama to protect them and enlist radical Jamat-e-Islami as a foreign terrorist group. Raising slogans like "We do not want Talibanisation of Bangladesh" and "Save Hindus", Bangladeshi American Hindus in a memorandum asked Obama to save the religious minorities of Bangladesh and enlist "Jamat-e-Islami, Bangladesh" as a foreign terrorist organisation. "We are urging everyone to be united in outrage and by humanity and do all you can to save the endangered minorities of Bangladesh," the memorandum said as the protestors demanded enactment of hate crime laws by the Bangladeshi Government. They also demanded establishment of a monitoring cell with prosecutorial authority to monitor, prevent, and prosecute all communal incidents; and creation of a minority welfare ministry with authority to create a special police force drawn from the minority populace. The peaceful protest rally was organized by the supported Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, with support from various other organizations like Hind American Foundation and the Indian American Intellectual Forum. "Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, USA is calling upon the civilized world to come to the protection of these innocent and peaceful people who have committed no other wrongs than belonging to faiths other than what the terrorists would choose for them.They can count on no one and go nowhere," the statement said. Meanwhile, another organization - American United for Human Rights - announced to hold a mass rally of American Muslims in New York on Saturday to demand establishment of independent war crimes tribunal that meets the standards of international law. (Indian Express 11/4/13) Demand for central varsity for minorities in state (7) DIBRUGARH: Several religious minority organizations in the state have called for setting up a Central Minorities University in upper Assam. In a communique to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Union ministers of HRD and minority affairs and Assam CM Tarun Gogoi, 10

leading minority bodies of the state - All Assam Indigenous Religious Minorities' Council, Assam Buddhist Minority Welfare Society, All Bodo Christians' Association, All Assam Garia Maria Deshi Jatiya Parishad, Assam Sikh Kalyan Parishad, Minorities Education and Development Board, Indian Buddhist Council, Ahom Royal Society, Ahom Buddhist (Phralung) Sangha and Rajkumar Siddhartha Education and Welfare Mission - stressed the importance of a Central Minorities University in the state for all-round development of the minority communities. The minority bodies, while welcoming the announcement made by Assam CM Tarun Gogoi to constitute the Assam Indigenous Religious Minorities Development Council, demanded appointment and nomination of members from Buddhist, Sikh, Muslim and Christian communities in the proposed council. They also appealed to the government to take up multi-sectoral development programmes and schemes to provide quality education to all religious minority communities. The proposed council will be exclusively for indigenous national religious minority communities like Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and Buddhist, excluding Muslim minority communities in 13 districts of Lower Assam who have been covered by multi-sectoral development programmes under the Sachar Committee report. (Times of India 17/4/13) Convention to be held to address minority issues (7 ) AURANGABAD: Tanzeem-e-Insaf, an organisation of various political and social outfits, would hold a convention on April 27 to discuss various issues involving the minority community. Social activist Teesta Setalvad, state CPI secretary Bhalchandra Kango and Tanzeem's state unit convener Faroo Ahmed and former MP Aziz Pasha would speak at the convention. "The organisation would demand the riot control bill that is pending in the parliament to be passed immediately. The bill would help reduce atrocities and keep a tab on anti-social activities," said, Ashfaq Salami, convenor of the programme. He was speaking at a press conference at Marathwada Patrakar Bhavan here on Thursday. He further said that many youths from the minority community are harassed by the ATS during terrorist incidents. "The HC and the SC, as well as other committee reports related to the issue, have proved that many times the cases are fabricated to frame innocent youths," Ashfaq said. He alleged that Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill, 2012, passed by the Rajya Sabha in December, 2012, would lead to more harassment of minorities. The convention would be held on April 27 at Nehru bhavan in the city. (Times of India 26/4/13)

Risks to minorities in Pakistan have reached crisis level: US report (7) Islamabad, May. 1 : A US government-appointed panel has urged Washington to step up pressure on Pakistan over religious freedom, warning that risks to its minorities have reached a crisis level. The US Commission on International Religious Freedom, which advises the government but does not make decisions, called for the US to designate Pakistan, among eight other countries, as a "country of particular concern," meaning it could be subject to sanctions if it fails to improve, reports The Express Tribune. Assessing the year through January 31, the commission said religious freedom violations in Pakistan "rose to unprecedented levels due to chronic sectarian violence" that targeted the Shia Muslim minority. The annual report by the commission said the Pakistan government continues to fail to protect Christians, Ahmadis and Hindus. It said that blasphemy and other laws are widely used to violate religious freedoms and foster a climate of impunity. Sunni Muslim extremists over the past year have killed hundreds of Shias in Pakistan, especially Hazaras - a community originally from Afghanistan that is known for its comparatively liberal attitudes. The commission, whose members are appointed by President Barack Obama and Congress, said Pakistan faced the most serious violations of religious freedom among any country not already on the blacklist. The State Department has not previously issued the designation for Pakistan, with which the US has had a close but prickly relationship since the September 11, 2001, attacks. The designated countries of particular concern on religious freedom are China, Eritrea, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Uzbekistan. Along with Pakistan, the commission urged

the State Department to add Egypt, Iraq, Nigeria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Vietnam to the list. (New Kerala 1/5/13) Module to sensitize government officials towards mi norities (7) JAIPUR: The Rajasthan State Institute of Public Administration (RIPA) has introduced a module to sensitize government officials towards socio-economic conditions of religious minorities, especially Muslims, in the state. "Chairman of National Commission for Minorities (NCM), Wajahat Habibullah, will launch the module on May 6 at the RIPA office," informed Rohit Brandon, principal secretary and director, RIPA, in a press conference on Friday. The move came after NCM approached RIPA to design the module. State has granted Rs 25 lakhs for the programme. The five-day long course has been designed by academicians, sociologists, social workers and bureaucrats to educate officers about how to deal with religious minorities or while taking decisions having a direct bearing on them. The course is meant for under training and government officers. It would include discussions on problems, solutions, government schemes and policies related to minorities by subject experts, including audio-visual presentations, films and documentaries. The module has been divided into eight parts focusing on the prejudices, constitution, UN declarations on rights and protection of religious minorities, deprivation, government schemes, communal harmony and state specific issues related to the Muslim community. Union secretary for minority affairs Lalit K Pawar will preside over an interactive session 'Issues and Problems Solving: How to make a difference'. Director of minorities department Rajasthan, Ashfaq Hussain, has also contributed in designing the module. Meanwhile, the module will be first introduced for a batch of 40 trainees followed by another batch of 40 trainees, Brandon informed. Later, the same module will be introduced in all seven divisional headquarters followed by the districts. (Times of India 4/5/13) Religious minorities now under RTE's 25% free quota (7) NAGPUR: The Maharashtra Government has amended its last year's notification about Right To Education (RTE) by adding 'religious minorities' to the categories eligible for free admissions under 25% quota. Though the notification was issued in March, local education office is just beginning to inform schools about it. Religious minorities have been added to the broader category of 'child belonging to weaker section'. This group is defined as children belonging to VJNT, OBC, SBC and religious minorities specified by the state government. However, all children under this group have to come from families with annual income below Rs1 lakh per annum. While current RTE notification does not mention which communities comprise religious minorities, an older notification of October 2006 defined them as Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Zoroastrians and Jains. Certain social activists in the city feel that the rule may not benefit the really needy. Shahid Sharif, an activist, said, "There are no top class schools in the vicinity of areas like Mominpura. That puts the children there at a disadvantage. The distance criterion in schools needs to be reworked else it will be very difficult to ensure that those who truly require education get it." The notification simultaneously shifts some more of state responsibility on to private schools. The onus is now on schools to ensure children in their catchment area (1km radius) who belong to reserved category get admissions. The state has asked schools to conduct door-to-door survey and check birth records to 'identify the children belonging to disadvantaged group and weaker section in the neighbourhood of the school'. The notification states, "It shall be the school's responsibility to find out children of disadvantaged group and weaker section within the neighbourhood ... and ensure their admission." A school principal, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, "This basically means they have dumped the entire responsibility on us. Now we may have to hire at least three people just to take care of RTE admissions. One will go door-to-door and gather information about children like census, the other will verify submitted documents and the third will conduct the admission process and coordinate with the education department. When it comes to reimbursing our fee, the government continues to delay the process." Schools are yet to receive reimbursements for last year due to negligence of education

department officials. As per the law, the reimbursements are to be done in two instalments. The first before September 30 and the second by May 30. (Times of India 10./5.13) ‘Minorities being branded as terrorists’ (7) THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Communal hatred and labelling of persons from the minority community as terrorists is now slowly spreading to the southern parts of the country, Delhi University professor S A R Geelani, who was acquitted in the 2001 Parliament attack case, said here on Tuesday. ‘’Members of the Muslim community are being labelled as terrorists and framed in the name of SIMI and Indian Mujahideen,” Geelani alleged, while inaugurating a meeting organised by the Students Islamic Organisation (SIO) - the students’ wing of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind - at the Gandhi Park here ahead of the fourth anniversary of the police firing in Beemappalli. Terming the police firing in Beemappalli in 2009, in which six persons including a child were killed, as ‘’state terrorism,’’ Geelani demanded that the inquiry report into the incident should be made public at the earliest. ‘’The CM says that the report will be tabled along with the action taken report. We all know that the action taken till now is to protect the culprits,’’ Geelani said at the meeting titled ‘Collective Remembrance Against Collective Amnesia.’ (New Indian Express 15/5/13) Shortage of staff plagues Minorities Commissionerat e (7) Hyderabad: State departments related to the affairs of minorities are caught in a limbo. Vacancies at critical levels have slowed down the pace of work at a time when the budget for minority welfare is a whopping Rs. 1,027 crore this year. Two months after the Minorities Commissionerate was created it remains non-functional for want of staff. Only four of the 27 posts sanctioned at the headquarters have been filled so far while all 41 posts at the district-level remain vacant. The Commissionerate is tasked with monitoring the functioning of A.P. State Minorities Finance Corporation, Christian Finance Corporation, Urdu Academy, State Haj Committee, Wakf Board, Centre for Educational Development of Minorities, Survey Commissioner and Dairatul Maarif. Commissioner M.A. Waheed feels the existing 12 District Minority Welfare Officers could be drafted into the Commissionerate so that its work doesn’t suffer. But so far there has been no response from the government on the matter. Another cause for concern is the imminent retirement of Mr. Waheed himself. Apart from the Minorities Commissionerate, he heads the A.P State Minorities Finance Corporation, Christian Finance Corporation, apart from being a member of the Wakf Board. That there are not many Muslim officers of this rank available to head the Commissionerate only worsens the problem. The post of the Principal Secretary, Minorities Welfare, is also vacant ever since Rani Kumudini went on central deputation. Raymond Peter, Principal Secretary, Social Welfare, is holding additional charge of the department. It being an election year, the government is said to be keen on appointing a Muslim officer to head the department. The names of senior IAS officers Mohammed Ali Rafath and Ahmed Nadeem, are doing the rounds. Meanwhile, the government is considering posting Mehmood Mian, Deputy Secretary, Minorities Department, as CEO of the Wakf Board, relieving Abdul Hameed, who is the Haj Committee executive officer. But Mr. Mian is also due for retirement shortly. While a number of vacancies are arising, the lack of initiative on the part of the Minorities Welfare Minister Mohammed Ahmadullah, is surprising. (The Hindu 15/5/13) Maharashtra government releases grants for minoriti es' development (7) MUMBAI: The state government has allocated Rs 82 crore for various minorities' development schemes. The decision was taken at a meeting convened by state finance minister Ajit Pawar earlier this week. A press communication issued by Pawar's office said that schemes for empowerment of students, especially girls, had been provided funding on priority. The government has provided Rs 10 crore for improving infrastructure in schools. Another Rs 10 crore has been provided for a project of modernisation of madrasa institutions, whereas Rs 3 crore have been allocated for a scheme to provide free of cost cycles to girl children in rural areas to enable them to ride to school. The government has allocated Rs 50

crore as its share to capital expenditure undertaken by the Maulana Azad Financial Development Corporation. The corporation's budgetary allocation for 2013-14 is Rs 500 crore. (Times of India 27/5/13) Central varsities to be set up instead of minority ones (7) BANGALORE: The Union Ministry of Minority Affairs, which initially proposed to set up universities for minorities, will now set up six Central universities in “areas predominantly inhabited by minorities” across the country, including one in Srirangapatna in Karnataka. According to an official press release, the Ministry of Minority Affairs has taken up the matter with the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development for Central legislation to establish six Central universities in Murshidabad in West Bengal, Mallapuram in Kerala, Kishanganj in Bihar, Ajmer in Rajasthan and Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh, besides Srirangapatna. The decision to establish the six universities comes in the wake of a recommendation made by a committee of experts headed by Sukhadeo Thorat to set up the universities in “areas predominantly inhabited by minority population so that more and more youth from minority communities can join the higher educational streams”, the statement said. Meanwhile, sources in the expert committee told The Hindu that the proposal to establish minority universities, as originally proposed by the Ministry of Minority Affairs, was not legally feasible and referred to cases pending before the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court challenging the minority institution tag given to Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia University. “Hence, a recommendation was made to establish Central universities in places where there is large population of minorities, through an Act of Parliament,” sources added. The sources cited the example of Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad, a Central university established through an Act of Parliament, which benefits members of the minority community even though it is not a minority university. The expert committee of educationists, which submitted the report to the Ministry of Minority Affairs in the last week of February 2013, also comprised Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Milla Islamia Najeeb Jung, Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University Lt. Gen. (retd.) Zameeruddin Shah, Vice-Chancellor of the Central University of Himachal Pradesh Furqan Qamar, Rajya Sabha member B. Mungekar, the former Vice-Chancellor of the Central University of Karnataka A.M. Pathan and the former Karnataka Chief Secretary and former Minister J. Alexander. The proposal to set up minority universities across the country, including one at Srirangapatna named after Tipu Sultan, had sparked off a row in Karnataka with the then BJP government strongly opposing the move. Though sources in the committee said that land for setting up the Central universities would be provided by the State governments concerned, a release issued by the Ministry of Minority Affairs said land for establishment of Central universities in Murshidabad, Malappuram and Kishanganj was being arranged by Aligarh Muslim University. (The Hindu 28/5/13)

UPA banks on Rs5,775 crore special scheme to rope i n minorities (7) New Delhi: Worried about losing minority votes, the UPA has identified 710 ‘minority-concentrated’ blocks and 66 towns all over the country to launch a special development scheme. The Union cabinet on Tuesday approved Rs1,250 crore to be spent over the next nine months on health, education and vocational programmes. The Centre will appoint 776 “facilitators” to monitor projects and report to the minority affairs ministry. The total allocation for the scheme, known as restructuring of multi-sectoral development programme, has been pegged at Rs5,775 crore. Political parties in UP, Bihar and West Bengal have termed it a Congress ploy to revive its electoral fortunes. They fear local Congress men will work as “facilitators” and take control of such schemes. The central government has identified 370 blocks and 26 towns in these states where the Congress doesn’t have much clout. Union minority affairs minister K Rahman Khan, however, said only graduates would be appointed as “facilitators”. He said the Centre was thinking of making projects for minorities a central scheme because of the indifferent attitude of most state governments. In BJP-ruled Gujarat, the ministry has identified four blocks in the Kachchh district to introduce such schemes. The Gujarat government refuses to implement schemes for minorities where

they have to bear 25% of the cost, Khan said. He named Congress-ruled Assam, where 118 blocks have been identified as ‘minority-concentrated’. But the state is still to claim central funds for the scheme. The minister said restructuring of the programme from 90 minority-concentrated districts to 710 blocks and towns falling in 196 districts would sharpen the focus on minority welfare. (DNA 6.6.13) Human chain against oppression of minorities (7) KANPUR: The members of Akhil Bharatiya Alapsankhyak Board on Thursday formed a human chain to press their demands and protest against oppression of religious minorities at the hands of the government. Hundreds of locals belonging to minority communities were part of the kilometer-long human chain which started from Shikshak Park and ended near Ursula Horseman Memorial Hospital. The members of the human chain held banners and posters demanding, among other things, reservations for Sikhs in government jobs and security for Buddhist shrines. The protestors also sought renovation of the graveyards of Christians and reservations for Muslims. Addressing the locals, a senior member of the minority board said it is high time the minority communities got their dues. Other members of the board claimed that the present government has adopted double standards on the issue of minorities and urged that the government constitute a core committee to create awareness on issues of minorities. (Times of India 7/6/13)

Bank loans to minorities at all-time low (7) HYDERABAD: Loans continue to evade minorities and figures show that less than Rs 14 crore of the earmarked Rs 32,219.85 crore priority sector lending (PSL) was disbursed to minority communities in FY 2012-13. Worse, the 46 banks of the State Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC) have recorded an abysmal consolidated minorities target achievement of 52%. "We have received serious complaints which have stated that banks are refusing to even let minority applicants open a bank account, leave alone grant loans to them. The AP State Minorities Finance Corporation (APSMFC) doesn't follow up on the loan applications with banks and the surplus money goes into fixed deposits which don't get disbursed, which is another problem," AP State Minorities Commission chairman Abid Rasool Khan told TOI. Despite all scheduled commercial banks being served a master circular by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last July, instructing them to boost PSL to minority communities based on the PM's 15-Point Programme for Welfare of Minorities, they have failed to comply. The SLBC report admits that banks were 'advised to ensure that lending to minority communities be given a thrust and banks should aim at achieving 15%of their priority sector lending to minority communities', It pegs its target achievement at a meagre 6.4 per cent. In what is reflective of poor grounding of loan applications routed through the APSMFC amounting to Rs 11.01 crore and AP State Christian Minorities Finance Corporation (APSCMFC) amounting to Rs 1.84 crore, 16 of the 46 SLBC banks have recorded a zero target achievement percentage. The non-performers include ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and ING Vysya Bank, which were allotted an annual target of Rs 3 lakh, Rs 2.75 lakh and Rs 9 lakh respectively. Further, a staggering 32 banks have recorded a target achievement of less than 50 per cent which includes State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH) with a target achievement of a mere 47 per cent by disbursing Rs 1.34 crore. Banks in their defence say they often come across inadequate and improper documentation, which becomes difficult to issue loans. Also, many default on payments causing losses and forcing the institutions to implement a stringent process. Loan disbursement in FY 2012-13 in Hyderabad district was recorded at just 26 per cent with Rs 1.24 crore being given against an annual target of Rs 4.79 crore. This is only next to Karimnagar district which recorded 21 per cent meeting of targets with Rs 13.55 lakh being disbursed as against a target of Rs 65 lakh. "It is the same story every year with targets not being achieved. On the national level, the target achievement is around the 15 per cent mark. The problem lies in the fact that both private sector and cooperative banks' unwillingness to give loans to minorities," MLC Syed Amin-ul-Hasan Jafri told TOI on Wednesday. (Times of India 12/6/13)

Governor’s role crucial after NDA split in Bihar, s ay experts (7) Patna: With the split in the ruling NDA coalition in Bihar looming large, the fate of the government has become uncertain. After BJP withdraws support, the JD(U) will find itself in minority – four short of the magic figure of 122. In the 243-member assembly, JD(U) has 118 members while BJP has 91. Till now, the NDA enjoyed an overwhelming majority in the House. Hindustan Times spoke to constitutional experts to see the options before the government. Constitutional experts Subhash C Kashyap and PP Rao, both Supreme Court lawyers, feel that the role of the governor will take centre stage in case of an NDA split. However, there will be no immediate threat to the government, they said. “As per constitutional provisions, the government will continue until it loses the floor test inside the House. Then, if it can prove its majority on the floor of the House, it will stay,” Kashyap told HT from New Delhi. He said there had been several instances where a minority government had continued in office. “The late Indira Gandhi ran a minority government, and so did the late PV Narsimha Rao. What is important is the floor test, not what happens outside. If the majority is not against the government, it will survive.” However, Kashyap observed that in case of petitions to the governor claiming lack of majority on the government’s part or demanding President’s rule, it would be up to the governor to take a call. “Politically, JD(U) would try to manage four to five members to prove its majority and ward off such a situation.” He said if the governor was convinced that the government was indeed in a minority, it could give a specific time frame to the chief minister to go in for the floor test and prove its majority. Regarding the 11 BJP ministers in the cabinet, Kashyap said it was up to the chief minister to recommend their removal to the governor, if BJP did not withdraw support but JD(U) decided to sever ties. “It is the CM’s prerogative to constitute his cabinet. If he wants to remove certain ministers, he will write so to the governor and then reconstitute the cabinet,” Kashyap added. Constitutional expert PP Rao said that in case of an NDA split, the governor might ask the chief minister to immediately take a confidence vote. “If the government manages four more people, it may continue,” he said. Besides 209 NDA members, the assembly has 22 members from the RJD, four from the Congress and one each from LJP and CPI. There are six independents, who are currently the focus of attention. Sources in the Raj Bhawan told HT that the governor would not like to comment prematurely on the matter. (Hindustan Times 16/6/13) Meeting to resolve education Act issues (7) MUMBAI: The state minorities department will soon hold a meeting with education department officials to resolve contentious issues, particularly those concerning the implementation of the Right to Education (RTE) Act, in aided Christian educational institutions, said a senior government official. "In several judgments, the Supreme Court has upheld the management rights of aided minority educational institutions. Under the guise of RTE, the institutions are being threatened to give up their management rights," said an IAS officer. Such arm-twisting tactics could have detrimental effect as schools can simply change board, become unaided and charge high fees. "This will result in under-privileged kids not being able to access affordable quality education. The minorities department will hold a meeting with the aggrieved schools and the education department to resolve the issue," said the official. (Times of India 17/6/13)

Awareness centres for minorities soon (7) HYDERABAD: In an effort to create awareness among the minorities in the state, the State Minorities Commission has decided to establish 10 awareness centers across the state, which will provide information on different issues such as scholarships, passports, ration cards and Arogyasri scheme. Addressing a press conference at the Secretariat on Monday, AP State Minorities Commission chairman Abid Rasool Khan sought cooperation from the NGOs and the media to reach out to the large minorities. These awareness centres aim to disseminate information on the benefits and rights of minorities. He said the commission had received about 4 lakh applications for scholarships from the engineering and medical stream students in the year 2012. (Indian Express 18/6/13)

Minorities demand more space for burying their dead (7) MADURAI: Representatives from both the Muslim and Christian communities have demanded more space in the city for burying their dead as they are finding it difficult to use the smaller spaces which were earmarked several years ago. They made the demand during a meeting with Bishop M Prakash, chairman of the Tamil Nadu State Minorities' Commission on Thursday. They said that their population has increased considerably as a result of which they need special burial grounds especially in the city limits. They claimed that they have been urging the officials concerned to meet their long-pending demand but it has gone on deaf ears. Representatives from the Muslim community said that there is only three cent piece of land available for the people living in Jeeva Nagar and Jaihindpuram area which comes under the Madurai South assembly constituency. Due to the space crunch, they are forced to bury the dead bodies, one on the other, they said. Echoing the representatives' views, N Nanmaran, former MLA and convenor of 'Sirupanmai Makkal Nalakuzhu' said that the demand has been pending for long. The issue was taken to the notice of U Sagayam, the then collector of Madurai district and was subsequently recommended. Although the issue was also taken to the notice of the wakf board, revenue officials and minorities' commission, it has not been fulfilled so far, he said. Dudley Thangiah, a representative from Christian community said that space for cemeteries in the city is becoming insufficient. Although they have been raising their voice for years together they are not being heard, he said, adding that the government and the district administration should take measures to fulfil their demand. Putting forward other demands, Nanmaran urged the government to establish a branch of Aligarh Muslim University in Madurai district as established in states like Kerala and West Bengal. He also said the present scenario in the state does not help the Muslim women self-help groups to obtain funds from the government to start small businesses. The present norms urge them to collect half the amount from their resources. He urged the government to provide the whole amount needed for them. The members of the commission who paid heed to the demands patients assured them to put forward the demands to the concerned departments. (Times of India 21/6/13)

Minority welfare schemes reviewed in Bihar (7) PATNA: Union minority affairs minister K Rahman Khan and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday held a review meeting on the running of programmes for welfare of minority communities in the state and discussed ways and means to make them more effective. The meeting on central as well state government schemes matched statistical achievement details of all the programmes for minorities welfare, which are in action in the state. The chief minister told Rahman about the scholarship schemes for students, belonging to minority communities, under which those securing first division gets Rs 10,000 assistance, fencing of grave yards and skill development programmes, an official statement said here. The meeting was attended by Union minister of state for minorities affairs Nirnong Irin, Bihar minorities welfare minister Shahid Ali Khan, chief secretary A K Sinha and principal secretary minorities affairs Amir Subhani. Subhani said the chief minister informed the Union minister about the two new schemes launched by the state government, namely Chief Minister Employment Loan plan and Chief Minister Minority Education Loan Plan. Under the first scheme, in the next five years a loan of Rs 125 crore would be provided to minorities for employment on simple interest, he said. In the second programme, a loan of Rs 50 crore would be distributed among students of minority community for acquiring technical education. The meeting also elicited comprehensive information regarding pre-matric, post matric and merit cum means scholarship, the principal secretary said. It also took stock of constitution of programme committee for 15-point programme, minority development corporation and Wakf properties. (Times of India 27/6/13) Govt signs MoU to start school for minorities, orph ans (7) New Delhi: With barely a few months to go for the assembly polls in the city, the Delhi government on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences for

managing and maintaining a residential school for SC/ST/OBC/minorities and orphans. The residential school, to come up at Issapur in southwest Delhi, will be functional from this academic session itself and will have 300 students to start with. “This school will be managed by the Kalinga Institute and a MoU has been signed for this purpose between the secretary of the institute and the principal secretary, welfare of SC/ST/OBC/Minorities of Delhi in the presence of chief minister Sheila Dikshit,” said a senior Delhi government official. “The proposed branch of the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences will start functioning from this academic session. A total of 1,200 children belonging to the poorest and underprivileged section of society in Delhi will be prepared in due course to become useful citizens of the country,” said Dikshit. The institute will maintain and operate the school for 15 years starting from 2013 on a no-profit no-loss basis. The family income of eligible students should not be more than R2 lakh per annum. The school will provide boarding, lodging, education, books, stationery and also take care of health needs of the students. (Hindustan Times 27/6/13) Minority welfare: 22 Arab nations keen to assist (7 ) BANGALORE: The Indo-Arab Chamber of Commerce has ome forward to play an active role in the welfare of minority communities in Karnataka by providing financial aid for various welfare programmes implemented in the state. A delegation of Indo-Arab Chamber of Commerce which is a comglomeration of 22 Arab countries led by its Chairman Krishna Kumar, a former cabinet secretary met chief minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday and presented a memorandum.A five-time member of Lok Sabha and executive director of the Chamber Asif Iqbal, former union minister CM Ibrahim explained various projects initiated by the Chamber for generating employment and improving the economic condition of Muslims in the state. (Times of India 9/7/13) ‘SIT report contains evidence on conspiracy to targ et minorities’ (7) Ahmedabad: The political head of the State and the Home Ministry allowed violent mobilisation against the minority community even before Godhra happened, Zakia Jafri’s counsels argueContinuing arguments the whole of last week in the protest petition filed by Zakia Jafri — the wife of Congress leader Ehsan Jafri, who was killed during the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat — her advocates pointed out that there was enough evidence in the Special Investigation Team’s own report regarding a conspiracy to generate mass reprisal attacks on minorities after the Godhra carnage. Zakia had filed the petition after the SIT absolved Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi of responsibility for the riots. Giving a comprehensive overview of arguments in the case, Zakia’s counsel Mihir Desai argued that the key issue before the court was whether the events after Godhra were spontaneous outpouring of people’s anger, which could not have been anticipated, prevented or controlled, or if it was likely that certain people in power conspired to create an environment in which targeted violence was unleashed on the minority community. The advocates of Citizens for Justice and Peace, along with its secretary Teesta Setalvad, were present in the court of the Metropolitan Magistrate during the entire week. Mr. Desai argued that the political head of the State, the Home Ministry and the administration were in full knowledge of and allowed the “build up of aggressive and communal sentiments, violent mobilisation, including carrying of arms, and a general outpouring against the minority community even before 27.2.2002 [the day of Godhra train carnage].” “During the course of our arguments from the documents generated by SIT we will show that there was a conspiracy among the persons named or some of them to generate hatred towards the minority community either by an active participation in this generation or by an omission to act against the perpetrators though they were legally bound to do so,” he said. “In this connection we will show that the persons named are not merely constitutionally but also legally forbidden from acting or omitting to act in a manner they did,” the counsel added. He said there was a conspiracy not just to generate hatred for the minority community, but also to target people from the community and their property and religious places, and “aid and abet this process by acts and omissions of persons liable under law to act otherwise.” The counsels pointed out that the SIT had documents, which it ignored, to

show that there was mass mobilisation of forces by Hindutva groups much before the Godhra carnage and an atmosphere of communal hatred was being created against minorities in Gujarat. Not only this, they claimed the SIT was aware that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi had a communal mindset, which was by his support for the demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992. Zakia’s lawyers said the SIT ignored all documents which gave away the conspiracy. “The State Intelligence Bureau (messages contained in the SIT documents) had been clearly and consistently informing the State Home Minister from February 7, 2002, onwards that members of the VHP, BD [Bajrang Dal] and BJP were preparing themselves armed with trishuls etc to go to Ayodhya to celebrate the Mahayagya.” “This Mahayagya was meant for building the Ram temple at the Babri Masjid site. The Sabarmati Express left Ahmedabad on the night of February 24 2002 and the same train was returning from Ayodhya. The Sabarmati Express started from Faizabad-Ayodhya on morning of February 26 2002. Further reports of the State intelligence reveal that the provocative slogan-shouting against Muslims was taking place throughout the train journey. In particular, incidents took place at two places, including Rudali, where stabbing and attacks also followed.” According to the counsel, the State Intelligence Bureau messages on February 7, 2002 to the DGP, Gujarat, the State Home Department and all police stations in Gujarat had warned of the communal mobilisation, especially near temples, recruitment of volunteers for the programmes, and aggressive posturing in Gujarat. The Hindu 10/7/13) Azmi questions delay in constituting minority bodie s (7) Lucknow: Abu Asim Azmi, the president of SP's Maharashtra unit, has written to party president Mulayam Singh Yadav asking for reasons behind the delay in constituting various government bodies related to the development of minorities and Urdu language. Five government bodies under the Minority Welfare Department and two under the Department of Language have been defunct since the SP assumed power in Uttar Pradesh last year. The only minority body that has been constituted is the State Haj Committee, which is headed by Minority Welfare Minister Azam Khan. On the other hand, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has made appointments to 30-odd other government bodies. The appointments are done usually with the consent of the ministers concerned. In his letter dated July 4, Azmi said that people were asking for reasons behind the delay in appointments to bodies directly related to Muslims, including the State Minorities Commission. He requested Mulayam to get these bodies constituted, else inform him about the hindrances, which can be communicated to the minority community. "I cannot understand the reason for holding these posts vacant for so long. If there is any problem related to any person, it should be communicated. We cannot keep these posts vacant just to please a particular person. In 16 months, no eligible person could be found to fill these posts! Muslims are asking for the reasons behind the delay. The state government should either constitute them or explain the reasons," Azmi told The Indian Express. Khan is in-charge of the Minority Welfare Department and thus responsible for appointments in the State Minorities Commission, UP Minorities Financial and Development Corporation, UP Waqf Development Corporation, Uttar Pradesh Madarsa Education Board and Shia Central Board of Waqfs. The Chief Minister, who holds charge of the Department of Language, is responsible for appointments in Uttar Pradesh Urdu Academy and Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Memorial Committee. (Indian Express 11/7/13)

Hindus, Shias, other minorities worse off in Pakist an: US report (7) WASHINGTON: The already poor religious freedom environment for Christians, Ahmadis and Hindus has continued to deteriorate in Pakistan over the last eighteen months, according to a US body monitors violations of religious freedom abroad. Releasing the findings of its Pakistan Religious Violence Project Wednesday, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said it had tracked 203 publicly-reported incidents of sectarian violence resulting in more than 1,800 casualties, including over 700 deaths. The Shia Muslim community has borne the brunt of attacks (77) from militants and terrorist organizations, with some of the deadliest attacks occurring during holy months and pilgrimages, the report said. "While Shias are more at risk of becoming victims of suicide bombings and targeted

shootings, the already poor religious freedom environment for Christians, Ahmadis, and Hindus has continued to deteriorate, with a number violent incidents occurring against members of these communities," it said. The report noted that between January 2012 and June 2013 there were 16 attacks against Hindus and 3 attacks against Sikhs resulting in the death of two Hindus and one Sikh. Four Hindus were also injured. There were three incidents of targeted shootings and seven rapes against Hindus, the report said. Noting that the project's findings "paint a grim and challenging picture for the new government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif," the report said "concrete, resolute action is needed to ensure that perpetrators of violence are arrested, prosecuted and jailed." "To stem the rising tide of violent religious extremism, groups and individuals responsible for attacks on religious communities must be punished," it said. "While banned militant groups and private citizens are responsible for the majority of attacks on religious communities, government actors are not blameless," the report said suggesting that "police officers have turned a blind eye to mob attacks or have refused to file police reports when victims are religious minorities." "The climate of impunity threatening all Pakistanis, regardless of their faith, also is exacerbated by the much-abused blasphemy and anti-Ahmadi laws," the report said. (New Indian Express 18/7/13) Maharashtra will have separate cell to deal with ca ses of atrocities against minorities (7) MUMBAI: Alarmed with increasing reports of atrocities against the minorities in the state, the minority welfare department has mooted a proposal to set up dedicated cell to deal with such cases. "The department has moved the file to set up minority atrocity cell. The cell will not only monitor cases of atrocities against the minorities, but will even pursue the cases with the home department to initiate action against the erring person," Airf Naseem Khan, minorities welfare minster said on Friday. Asked to explain the functioning of the cell, the minister said the modalities are being worked out. "The final draft is being worked out. If any member of the minorities community feels that he been deliberately harassed or falsely implicated by police or any other government authority, than he/she can approach the cell for the help from the department," Khan said, adding, "The department plans to appoint one officer at every district level to handle such cases. Knowledge of law will be the key criteria that will be taken into consideration while appointing these officers." The move from the state government comes close on the heels of the Centre's announcement to take necessary steps to stop harassment of innocent while tackling terror. The union government had described the arrest of nine Muslim youth by the Mumbai police sleuth as "unfortunate". The youths from the minorities communities were arrested in connection with the terror attack outside a mosque in Malegaon. (Times of India 21/7/13) I don't want Narendra Modi as my PM: Amartya Sen (7 ) New Delhi: Coming out strongly against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Nobel laureate Amartya Sen today said he does not want him to become India's prime minister as he does not have secular credentials. The prominent economist also criticised Modi's model of governance saying he did not approve of it. "Yes, I don't want him," Sen told a news channel in reply to a question on whether he wanted him as his prime minister. "As an Indian citizen I don't want Modi as my PM. He has not done enough to make minorities feel safe," he said. On being asked why he did not want so, Sen said, "He could have first of all been more secular and he could have made the minority community feel more secure." "No, I don't approve of it... I don't think the record is very good. I think I don't have to be a member of the minority in order to feel insecure... We Indians don't want a situation where the minority feel insecure and could legitimately think that there was an organised violence against them in 2002. I think that is a terrible record and I don't think Indian Prime Minister as an Indian citizen... Of who has that kind of record. No, I do not." Sen said physical infrastructure in Gujarat may be good but Modi has not done enough for minorities or for the majority. He also said that the Gujarat model needs to do much more on the health and education sectors and bring equity. He said Modi could have made the majority community feel that they are not maltreating the minority and going against the long Indian tradition of

being tolerant. "He could have also taken both of the facts that Gujarat record in education and healthcare is pretty bad and he has to concentrate on that...as much as he is concentrating quietly as it has happened on physical infrastructure," the Nobel laureate said. BJP recently anointed Modi as chairman of its election campaign committee. (Indian Express 22/7/13) Talk of religious nationalism is anti-national: Kat ju (7) Nagpur: Indians ought to be all Indian nationalists first and those talking about Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or Christian nationalisms were really anti-national, Press Council of India Chairman, Justice (retd) Markandey Katju said here today. He also requested the media and citizens to encourage Indian nationalism. "I don't agree with the remarks by Hindu nationalists as (theirs) is divisive talk and such divisive policies can't run the nation," he said in comments apparently aimed at Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, although he mentioned no names. He was speaking about 'The Media's Role In Promoting Secularism' at an 'Excellence in Journalism' award function organised by Marathi daily 'Lokmat'. Media and intellectuals must fight divisive tendencies like religion, caste, region, language and race, Katju said, adding that whatever united Indians would be the path to progress. All Indians were first class citizens of the country and there cannot be any discrimination between communities, he said. "Muslims have been wrongly painted. Whenever a bomb blast occurs, within no time TV channels start saying that an email or an SMS from some Muslim organisation has claimed responsibility, thus demonising the entire Muslim community. Is this responsible behaviour?" he asked. "The truth is that 99 per cent people of all communities, be it Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or Christian, are good citizens. "But often an attempt is made to depict all Muslims as terrorists," he said. When the Babri Masjid was demolished, a section of the media had become "kar sewaks", instead of attacking communalism, Katju alleged. He did not mince words in lashing out at superstitions, astrology and other blind beliefs, saying Indian people have a feudal mentality which the media should not promote. The truth is that most Indians are still extremely backward and steeped in casteism or communalism, which is evident during elections when most people vote on the basis of caste or religion, he said. (Deccan herald 26/7/13) IIM-Ranchi plans to conduct survey on minorities in state (7) RANCHI: The Indian Institute of Management-Ranchi (IIM-R), has started the work of collecting secondary data about minority communities in Jharkhand, on the behest of the chairperson of minority commission Shahid Akhtar, who got in touch with the institute director for the same recently. The collection of data through surveys done by other agencies is called secondary survey. Akhtar said, "Till date, there has been no survey on the condition of minorities here. I had approached the government regarding the survey, but there was no response from their side. Therefore, I decided to approach IIM-R." Akhtar has asked the institute director to conduct a survey on a wide array of topics, including economic, health and social condition of minorities in the state and a comparison with the national survey. Besides, a survey of matriculate, intermediate and graduate passouts, both men and women, people with technical education and condition of employment and unemployment is to be undertaken as well. IIM-R director M J Xavier said, "We have started working on the proposal and a team of two faculty members have been constituted for collecting the available secondary data. There are many agencies and NGOs who conduct surveys. We will be collate those reports and submit it to the commission." He added that if the secondary data is not sufficient, they will conduct a primary survey (first-hand information), but that would be on a payment basis as the researchers will have to visit different blocks to conduct the survey. "The commission will have to pay us for this," he said. Akhtar said, "The commission will try its best to release the report by December this year. World Minority Rights Day is celebrated on December 18 every year. This year we plan to have a grand celebration in Jharkhand, as I will be releasing the report on the occasion, thus according them the true status of minorities". (Times of India 28/7/13)

Data error makes Sikhs most jobless in Indian citie s (7) New Delhi: A statistical flaw has earned the Sikh community the dubious distinction of being most unemployed religious group in Indian cities. The latest National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) survey had said that unemployment had risen among Sikhs in urban areas between 2004-05 and 2009-10 even though it dropped for all other religious groups. Around 4.6% of Sikhs were unemployed in urban areas in 2004-05. The percentage increased to 6.1% in 2009-10. However, during the same period the unemployment rate for Hindus and Muslims fell by one percentage point. The maximum fall was witnessed for Christians, whose unemployment rate fell from 8.6% to 2.9% between 2004-05 and 2009-10. The NSSO admitted that there can be a flaw in the estimation as the sample size for unemployed persons among Sikh community was very low as compared to overall worker people ratios (WPRs). "The estimation of unemployment rate obtained from the surveys are subject to higher margin of sampling fluctuations," the NSSO said in the report released this month, while cautioning researchers about interpreting the data. The government's statistical arm was able to find only 47 unemployed men and 23 women from Sikh community in cities for 2009-10 survey, much less than the sample for them in 2004-05 survey. For all other religious communities, which witnessed a fall in unemployment the sample size was bigger. In all over 5,100 persons were surveyed of which only 127 were from the Sikh community. Because of the flaw, the NSSO report says that unemployment rate for Sikhs was highest for both males and females in urban areas. However, in rural areas like all other religious groups the Sikh community witnessed a fall in unemployment rate. The overall unemployment rate in 2009-10 was 3.4% as compared to 1.6% in rural areas. (Hindustan Times 29/7/13) Modi govt victimising Gujarat Sikhs: minorities pan el (7) New Delhi: A report by the National Commission for Minorities (NCM), the nation's minority rights watchdog, has said the Narendra Modi-led Gujarat government had "prima facie" discriminated against the state's 500-member Sikh community in Kutch by ordering them to sell their land and return to Punjab because they were not Gujaratis, citing the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1948. The commission has strongly disapproved of the Gujarat government's interpretation that only Gujarati farmers could own or buy land in the state under the Act, a move which could dispossess 500 farmers, while their land accounts have already been frozen. In his report, commission member Ajaib Singh, after a field visit on June 24-28, said, "There appears to be discrimination against Sikh agriculturalists by the Gujarat government". The report quoted Singh's statement that "Modi, who has the habit of suppressing and terrorising the minorities of Gujarat, was in this case targeting and victimising the Sikh farmers of Kutch".The minority commission said the order of the state government, asking farmers to sell their land and return to Punjab, was struck down unanimously in the Gujarat high court unanimously, but the state government had now challenged this verdict in the Supreme Court. The commission itself could not do much since the issue was under judicial consideration, the report said. In a recommendatory letter to Modi, the commission has asked the Gujarat government to accept the verdict of the high court. He also requested him to administer a national minority scholarship programme and urgently set up a state minorities commission. Singh has also written to Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal to intervene in the matter. "This is indeed very discriminatory," the NCM member told HT.He said Sikhs told him during his field visit that the community had migrated to Kutch after being invited by former prime minister late Lal Bahadur Shastri, who felt these swathes of white marshy land should be inhabited as a buffer against invasion from the sea. (Hindustan Times 30/7/13) 'Sikhs India's biggest spenders, Muslims the smalle st' (7) New Delhi: Sikh households are the country's biggest spenders on average, and Muslim households on average the smallest, shows government data compiled for the period July 2009 to June 2010. Sikh households spent on average about 1.7 times the expenditure by Muslim households, according to the list of major religious groups arranged by average monthly per capita household consumer expenditure

(MPCE). Household expenditure serves as a proxy for income, and is usually taken to reflect standards of living. According to data from the National Sample Survey Office's (NSSO's) eighth quinquennial survey on employment and Sikhs India's biggest spenders, Muslims the smallest unemployment during the 12 months to June 2010, at the all-India level, the average MPCE of Sikh households was Rs 1,659, while that of Muslim households was only Rs 980. Spending by Christian households was marginally lower than by Sikh households. Spending by Hindu households was about 27 per cent less than that by Christian households. The 'Others' category, which includes Jain and Zoroastrian households, was third from the top, recording spending that was marginally lower than that by Christian households but sharply higher than Hindu and Muslim households. The survey, conducted in the 66th round of the national sample survey, was spread over 7,402 villages and 5,252 urban blocks covering 1,00,957 households and 4.59 lakh persons. Consumption expenditure data was collected in a separate abbreviated worksheet which was integrated with the employment and unemployment schedule. The data shows that Muslims continue to be the most backward community in economic terms in India. According to the data, in rural areas, the overall proportion of Hindu households remained largely steady, whereas the proportion of Muslim households rose by about 1 percentage point during the period 1999-2000 to 2009-2010. In urban areas, however, the proportion of Hindu households increased about 1 percentage point over the same period, while the proportion of Muslim households showed a decline of about 1 percentage point. (Indian Express 4/8/13) Minorities panel wants monuments re-opened to namaz , ASI worried (7) New Delhi: The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) wants the government to allow prayers in mosques which are currently protected historical monuments, and where no namaz has been offered in decades. Worried that this would trigger off a spate of such demands and inflame communal passions, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) was initially reluctant. However, after the NCM raised the matter with the Culture Ministry, the ASI has been asked to carry out a survey of the upkeep of some 31 mosques in Delhi. The contention is that these protected monuments under the ASI are poorly maintained, and opening them up for religious use would incentivise the local community to conserve them better. However, sources said, there are serious security concerns given that the Union Cabinet affirmed in 1991, 1992 and as recently as at a 2009 meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security that revival of worship in protected monuments will not be permitted. Already, according to the ASI, there are nine mosques in Delhi where prayers are illegally offered. The rules, officials explained, are quite clear that prayers would continue only in those religious structures where these practices were already happening at the time when they were declared protected monuments. When this rule was frozen, there were three such mosques in Delhi — Palam Mosque, Neeli Masjid and Sunehri Masjid. Prayers are still allowed here. While there have been longstanding claims to make exceptions, the government has so far resisted this. "All we have asked is to carry out a study. We will only take a decision after that. It's then that we will look at the concerns as well. The ASI survey will tell us whether these monuments are being maintained properly. Based on that, we can consider whether to involve local communities, who would want to participate if prayers are allowed there. The ASI can, of course, set the standards," NCM Chairman Wajahat Habibulllah said. (Indian Express 6/8/13) Minorities struggle for home (7) Hyderabad: Religion-based discrimination continues to be a major issue in the Twin Cities, especially while renting or selling properties. Recently Abid Ali Mohammed, an NRI, complained of being discriminated against when he approached a few builders to purchase property. “I came to Hyderabad in July end to purchase a flat for my parents who live with my sister in Nacharam. I approached five different builders in various locations in Nacharam but they openly refused to rent or sell flats after they heard my name. One builder, who even finalised the amount and was ready to sell a two-bedroom flat, flatly rejected once he realised that I was a minority. A sixth builder is ready to sell a flat but the price is beyond

my budget,” said Mohammed. “The flat owners have strictly ordered brokers and security personnel at apartments not to show the properties to Muslims or bachelors. I am now going back disappointed. My parents are left with no choice but to live with my sister,” he said. Only areas like Musheerabad, Mehdipatnam, Toli Chowki, Masab Tank etc. are left where there are no such restrictions for minorities to purchase properties, said sources. Maria Francina who also faced the same situation said, “I approached a newly-built apartment at Lane no. 8 in Chilkalguda. The watchman asked me if I was a Brahmin and when I said no, he refused to even show me the flat as the owners had asked him to allow only Brahmins to view the property.” Few options for minorities moving out of the old city Minorities moving out of the old city or areas where the community is present in large numbers have no other choice but to purchase properties in areas where there are no self-made rules barring them. Often even Christians are denied flats for rent. Muslims are at the receiving end of this practice most of the time while many apartment owners only rent out houses to Brahmins. Monisha Sharma, a corporate employee said, “I have had Muslim tenants for 10 years. There has never been a problem with them. They are very decent. They keep the house neat and tidy and even undertake minor repairs without waiting for us to do them. I spent my childhood with many Muslim friends in Masab Tank and I even learnt to speak Urdu. There are good and bad people in all communities. Keeping away from people just because they are of a different religion makes no sense.” (Asian Age 7/8/13) PIL against parties named after religion (7) CHENNAI: A public interest writ petition has been filed in the Madras High Court for a direction to the Election Commission to change the names of political parties having religious names. When the PIL from R Kannan Govindarajulu of Kilmaruvathur village in Kancheepuram district came before the first bench of Acting Chief Justice R K Agrawal and Justice M Sathiyanarayanan on Monday, petitioner prayed for time to implead those political outfits that have religious names as parties in the case. The bench granted two weeks’ time. The petitioner contended that many political parties that were registered with ECI had names with religious and racial connotations. They contested elections and had also come to power. As India is a secular nation and had no official religion, there should not be any discrimination based on faith, caste, race, sex and place of birth, he said. He cited the DMK, AIADMK, MDMK and DMDK as being parties that had names with racial connotations while the All India Muslim League, All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen, Shiv Sena and Christian outfits used religious terms. As there was no response to his representation to the EC on June 10, he filed the present PIL, the petitioner stated. New Indian Express (13/8/13) Hindu groups in US protest religious discrimination in Pakistan (7) New York: A group of US-based Hindu organisations has held a demonstration near Pakistan's Consulate here to voice concern over the religious discrimination of minorities in the country. "This is nothing but religious apartheid for the entire world to see. Almost all the Hindus and Sikhs have been religiously cleansed from Pakistan with the blessings of the government. At the time of Partition, Hindus and Sikhs were approximately 22-25 percent but now they are only about one per cent," Narain Kataria, president of Indian-American Intellectuals Forum and the key organiser of the rally, said. The rally held yesterday afternoon in Manhattan was to voice concern against religious discrimination of minorities like Hindus, Sikhs, Christians and Buddhists in Pakistan. "Thousands of Hindu families are being torn apart by their desperation to flee persecution in Pakistan. We urge the Obama administration to intervene, save the minorities and restrain Pakistan," said Kataria. Besides the Forum, the other organisations that took part in the rally included Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America, Hindu Human Rights Watch, India Heritage Foundation, Lansing, Probasi of Brooklyn, Michigan Justice for Hindus and Human Rights Coalition against Radical Islam. The peaceful demonstration was organised to condemn the atrocities as well inform New Yorkers on the religious bigotry practiced in Pakistan, Kataria. "We want to express our solidarity with the victims and assure them that we will do our best to expose the evil designs of Pakistan

in the US," he said. "Torture, loot, discrimination and murder of Hindu men and rape of Hindu girls and their forcible marriage to Muslims have become the order of the day in the failed state," Kataria said. According to Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on an average around 20 to 25 Hindu girls are being abducted, converted to Islam and forcibly married to Muslim men every month in the southern Sindh province. "Also a campaign of vilification and slander is being unleashed against Hindus, Sikhs and Christians in Pakistan to denigrate and demonise their religions and preventing them from practicing their religious faith," he added. Blasphemy laws are being used to intimidate, harass and even give life sentences based on false accusations, Kataria said. Radicalisation of Pakistani society by Jihadists supported by ISI and other intelligence agencies led to imposition of 12 million rupees (USD 140,000) by way of jazia, the medieval tax levied on Sikhs last year in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan, said Arish Sahani, co-convener of the rally. Pakistan is a living hell for minorities, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and Christians, Sahani said. It is time the country takes immediate steps to stop atrocities being perpetrated on hapless minority communities, he said. In a memorandum presented to the office of the Pakistani Consul General, the protesters expressed outrage, shock and indignation at the horrific treatment meted out to Hindus, Sikhs and Christians. Addressing the audience, Kataria said Hindus have been terrorised in Pakistan to such an extent that in April-May this year, about 500 Hindus who crossed into India under the pretence of visiting a religious festival then refused to go back to Pakistan, begging the Indian government to give them political asylum. Quoting from last week's US Commission report on International Religious Freedom, Kataria said it has tracked 203 publicly-reported incidents of sectarian violence resulting in more than 1,800 casualties, including over 700 deaths. (Zee News 15/8/13) Plan to give legal aid to falsely jailed minorities (7) NEW DELHI: Months after Minority Affairs Minister K Rahman Khan raised the issue of “wrong arrests” of Muslim youths in terror cases, Home Ministry is planning to provide legal assistance to those from the minority community in jail for the alleged offence. The ministry’s move comes in the backdrop of setting up of 39 NIA courts to fast-track trial in such cases across the country. The ministry felt that the “genuine concerns” raised by a section that some of the accused could be falsely implicated should be addressed. A final decision is yet to be taken, Home Ministry officials said. The move is seen as Congress-led UPA government’s bid to allay misgivings of the minorities. Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde has asked the states to immediately set up courts for speedy disposal of such cases. Khan had early this year approached Shinde voicing concern over the arrests of Muslim youth in different parts of the country in terror cases. He had brought to Shinde’s attention the apprehensions expressed by various Muslim organisations regarding misuse of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. The Minority Affairs Minister had also demanded the setting up of special courts for speedy trial of terror-related cases. Shinde had written to Khan, supporting the latter’s suggestion. In April last, 17 organisations had come together and released a report titled “Permanent Suspects - Framing Muslim Youth in Karnataka”, highlighting the targeting of Muslims in terror cases. The CPM last November approached President Pranab Mukherjee and registered its protest against the targeting of Muslim youth in terror cases. The party demanded that innocent youth harassed by the police and investigative agencies be compensated. (Deccan Herald 20/8/13) UP govt allocates 20% budget of welfare schemes for minorities (7) LUCKNOW: With an eye on next Lok Sabha elections, the Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday decided to allocate 20% of resources in various welfare schemes for minorities which include Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Parsis and Jains). Based on the recommendations of the Sachar committee, the decision was approved at the state cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Akhilesh Yadav. Minorities will now get direct benefit of 85 welfare schemes run by 30 departments of the state government. Chief minister said that the objective is all round development of of the minorities -- social and educational, economical. He said that Sachar committee in its report has highlighted that 22,7% of

the population of the country is extremely poor and among them the conditions of Muslims in worst. Yadav said that in urban areas 38.4% population, particularly Muslims, of the minorities are living in extremely backward conditions, which is higher than the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. He said that it has been found that the benefits of various welfare schemes is not reaching minorities, specially Muslims. "There are dedicated schemes for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes but nothing for minorities and Muslims. He said that minorities are 19.33% of UP's population, hence 20% budget of the welfare schemes has been allocated for them," said Yadav. The money, he said, will be used for development of areas with 25% or above minority population. The schemes included are social pension, housing, water boring, hand pumps, kanya vidhya dhan, aganwadi and health facilities among others, he said. Government will also develop infrastructure of these areas and construct roads, highways, over-bridges etc and set up universities, power general units and hospitals etc. Committees will be fored at the state and district level with representation of minority community to oversee implementation of the decision, Yadav added. (Times of India 20/8/13) Minority commission assures SGPC to look into issue s of Sikhs (7) AMRITSAR: Chairman of the National Minorities Commission, WajahatHabibullah, has assured ShiromaniGurdwaraParbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Avtar Singh Makkar to look into issues faced by Sikh community in India and abroad. Habibullah was here to pay obeisance at Golden Temple on Friday. The SGPC president gave him a memorandum detailing the issues including forcible removal of Sikhs' turbans in the name of security at airports in various countries, step-motherly treatment with Punjabi language and displacement of Sikhs of Gujarat. He also took up the issue of terrorist Davinderpal Singh Bhullar, who is awaiting death sentence. Habibullah said that the commission already knew about the issues faced by Sikhs. The commission had received complaint of harassment to Sikhs in France with respect to their turban. The commission does not have international jurisdiction, yet it had contacted the foreign ministry to take up the issue with French government, he said. The issue had been taken up at several levels with French government, but its result was yet to be seen, he added. About displacement of Gujarat Sikhs, he said the commission had written to Gujarat government and was awaiting their reply. The commission had not received any application about Bhullar. "We will see how much we can do within the purview of law," he said. The commission knew about the worries of Sikh community and was doing everything possible to redress them, Habibullah said. "The country should be indebted to Sikhs for their sacrifices," said he. (Times of India 24/8/13) Panel to ensure 20% quota for minorities (7) LUCKNOW: A week after the state cabinet gave its nod to SP's flagship scheme to provide 20% reservation to minority community in various welfare schemes, the state government decided to set up a state level committee headed by chief secretary Jawed Usmani to monitor its implementation. On Tuesday, Usmani issued formal directives to the district level committees headed by respective district magistrates who will be implementing the scheme in areas where population of minority, particularly Muslims, is more than 25%.Usmani said district level committees will coordinate with other departments for execution of the scheme. He added that different departments are expected to lend all possible help to district committees. The department of minority welfare will be required to send a monthly progress report detailing the progress of the scheme. The state level committee, on the other hand, will be taking stock of the implementation of the scheme every three month. He said in order to bring in necessary transparency in the execution of the scheme, the state government will be launching and additional web sites in Urdu and Hindi. He said the beneficiary will be provided a registration number at the application, which will be processed in a set time frame. (Times of India 28/8/13) Grievance cell for minorities has few takers (7)

Hyderabad: The grievance cell, set up to address minority issues, has few takers. Week after week heads of departments of various minority institutions meet at the Haj House here but there are hardly any complaints to deal with. Over the last few months, neither top officials nor the public are turning up. Only a lone officer heading the Urdu Academy, S.A. Shukoor, is present unfailingly every Monday to listen to the grievances. The grievance cell was set up with much fanfare last November to redress public complaints. Initially, HoDs of the Wakf Board, AP State Minorities Finance Corporation (APSMFC), AP Christian Minorities Finance Corporation, Urdu Academy and Haj Committee made themselves available at the grievance cell. Then secretary of the Minorities Welfare Department, Mr. Dana Kishore, who set up the cell, also attended the weekly programme. But after his transfer, officials began losing interest. Given the pathetic functioning of minority departments, one would expect them to be flooded with complaints. However, statistics show that since its launch, the number of complaints number – hold your breath – just 376. Interestingly, most complaints were received in the initial months after the grievance cell was set up. Thereafter, they have come down to a trickle. The few who turn up at the grievance cell on Mondays are mostly students trying to find out the status of their scholarship applications. While all departments have addressed the complaints, the Wakf Board is still to dispose off 117 petitions. The complaints received by the Urdu Academy were more in the nature of representations. Does it mean people have no grievance against these departments or their functioning is flawless? The problem, many feel, is the loss of faith in the grievance cell. The presence of second-rung officials at the grievance cell, instead of the heads of departments, is another reason for the people not evincing any interest, it is said. Officials feel they are ‘wasting’ half a day at the grievance cell with few turning up with complaints. They have reportedly urged Ahmed Nadeem, secretary, Minorities Welfare, to wind up the show. (The Hindu 2/9/13) School textbooks should reflect India's diversity: Justice Sachar (7) KOCHI: School textbooks should be prepared keeping in mind the diversity of the country so that children will imbibe good ethical values, said Justice Rajinder Sachar, former chief justice of Delhi high court. Delivering the first annual lecture of the PM Foundation on the occasion of 25th Foundation day in Kochi on Thursday, on 'Inclusive development of India', Justice Sachar said that if the school textbooks do not reflect the rich diversity of the country in its contents, the young generation will not learn religious tolerance. Pointing out the human development report of the Planning commission had shown that there is a huge gap between the rich and the poor, he said that the distribution of assets is extremely unequal, with the top five per cent of the households possessing 38 per cent of the total assets and the bottom 60 per cent of households owning a mere 13 per cent. "It hasn't changed," adding that the disparity is more obvious in the urban areas where 60 per cent of the households at the bottom own just 10 per cent of the assets. Stating that the government should consider a 'targetted approach' in its welfare programmes, Justice Sachar said that programmes should be planned specifically for minority grounds. "Our national surveys should have disaggregated data which can reveal the significance of particular factors that indicate the gaps in development. Human rights activists have always complained that this was not done and hence the minorities are an aggrieved lot." "Muslims and Christians are not outsiders. They are as much stakeholders of India as any other groups. On this reality lies India's unity," he added. Earlier, inaugurating the CA coaching centre of the PM foundation, union HRD minister of state Shashi Tharoor said that Muslims face exclusion on several fronts. "We are seeing two Indias, a connected one and a non-connected one. It is because we have not been able to build infrastructure to connect them," he added. Fisheries minister K Babu, PWD minister V K Ebrahim Kunju, PM foundation founder P Mohamed Ali, chairman A P M Mohd Hanish were among those who spoke at the function. (Times of India 12/9/13Z) NGO demands implementation of schemes for minoritie s (7) AURANGABAD: The members of an NGO here gheraoed chairman of the minority commission, Munaf Ahmed, on Thursday to raise their demands. The NGO demanded speedy implementation of minority

schemes. They also demanded facilities for minority students on par with other backward classes. "The amount of bank loans given should also be increased and accordingly provisions be made, said Mohsin Ahmed, president of Jan Jagran Samiti. It has been 10 years since the formation of the minority commission. However, the policies have not reached the concerned segments of youth, parents, organisations and other beneficiaries, Mohsin Ahmed said. People who have lost their homes under the development plan should be rehabilitated under the Ramabai scheme, he added. "The zilla parishad should start Urdu medium nursery and playgroup. There should be a separate quota in government jobs in districts having large number of Muslim population," he said. (Times of India 20/9/13) Minorities ministry scheme to increase Parsi popula tion (7) NEW DELHI: The Parsi community that boasts of the highest literacy rate and sex ratio in India is staring at extinction. In a population of 1.2 billion in India, there are only about 69,000 Parsis. While the 2001 Census recorded a 21% decadal growth of the country's population, the number of Parsis declined by about 12 each decade since 1941. The Census 2011 data related to Parsis is not yet available. To check the decline in population of Parsis and help increase their numbers, the ministry of minority affairs launched a scheme — Jiyo Parsi — on Monday. The scheme will be implemented by the Parzor Foundation with the help of Bombay Parsi Panchayat and other community organizations. Speaking at the launch programme, minister K Rahman Khan said, "This is a small step to pay our debt to the Parsi community for their contribution to the country. We cannot afford to lose this community." Studies conducted by the National Commission for Minorities as well as by the Parzor Foundation and Tata Institute of Social Sciences identified several reasons for dwindling number of Parsis, including late marriage, not marrying, fertility decline, emigration and marrying outside the community. The total fertility rate of the Parsis has dipped below 1, that is, on an average a Parsi woman has less than one child (0.8) child in her entire child bearing age. Jiyo Parsi programme director Zinobia Madan said, "Parsis are not biologically infertile. But, late marriages and attempts to conceive at a late age are the two major causes of low fertility." The Parsis have more middle aged and elderly population, a demographic profile similar to developed countries. About 31% of Parsis are above 60 years and more than 30% of the community "never married". This is in sharp contrast with India's demographic profile which is largely young. "Late marriages are killing us. The average age of marriage of a Parsi girl is 29-30 and a Parsi man is about 35 years," said Dinshaw Mehta, chairman, Bombay Parsi Panchayat (BPP). Through the Centre's Jiyo Parsi scheme, Rs 10 crore will be spent over four years for a two-pronged approach to reverse the population decline, including advocacy and medical assistance. "About 7% of the funds will be spent for counseling of the Parsi youth and their families for early marriage, conceiving at the right time and training volunteers. The rest will be spent on detection and fertility treatment for married couples," said Shernaz Cama, director, UNESCO, Parzor Project. A panel of doctors selected by the ministry, ICMR in consultation with Parsi organizations will help with medical treatment. The scheme will first target the community in Mumbai, Delhi and Gujarat. "The Parsi mindset of having no child or only one child needs to be replaced by a bolder stand of having 2-3 children," said Zinobia Madan. (Times of India 24/9/13)

Proud to favour minorities, farmers: Mulayam Singh Yadav (7) LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Mulayam Singh Yadav on Sunday reiterated the stance of his party towards minorities and farmers insisting that it will continue thus no matter how much the opposition accuses him of politics of appeasement. Mulayam was addressing a gathering on the occasion of foundation day of Mumtaz Degree College here on Sunday when he said the UP government was facing the challenge of communal violence but was determined to bring the guilty to book. "I am repeatedly accused of favoring minorities and farmers. But I don't care. Our party's policy is to work for the betterment of the suppressed and the deprived. We believe both minorities and farmers are suppressed and deprived of the life they are entitled to for contributing so much to the country and its future," Mulayam said. He said farmers provide foodgrain to the nation and minorities provide brassware,

carpets, chikan and Banasari clothing which in turn fetch foreign exchange and a variety for Indian markets as well. "It is not only me who says it. Sachchar Commission Recommendations and Rangnath Misra report too say the same thing. Congress constituted two commissions but never bothered to implement the recommendations," said Mulayam, adding that he spoke to the prime minister and a host of top leaders in the Congress demanding they implement on the basis of the two reports, but in vain. Mulayam spoke about the scheme under which the government is offering Rs 30,000 for the marriage of Muslim girls from below poverty line families and how some political parties were pointing fingers at the government on the issue. "But this will not deter the SP from carrying the scheme forward. I have told Akhilesh that he must now give away this aid at public functions in order to send a message across that we are not shying away from standing by the minorities," said Mulayam. (Times of India 30/9/13)

Advisory council for minorities in Jharkhand soon ( 7) RANCHI: The state will have its advisory council soon for all belonging to minority sections. It was decided at a meeting called by the Jharkhand State Minority Commission (JSMC) at its office in Dhurwa on Thursday. In this meeting, the commission gave the information about its helpline number and website (http://www.jsmc.in/) which was released this January. "Through this website or helpline number, anyone can register their complaints or write to us their suggestion. Advisory committees have been formed for different minority sections like advisory committee for Muslims and so on, which will look after them and solve their problems," said Shahid Akhtar, president of JSMC. "All together seven sections are registered as minor and based upon the number, advisory committees are to be made on district level," added Akhtar. At this meet, the commission requested the people to celebrate December 18 as 'minority rights day'. Several other issues were discussed which includes widespread promotion of schemes run by minorities, recognition of educational institutions managed by them, inclusion of Urdu in TET exam plus recruitment of teachers in the concerned language, provide relief to the people of Islamnagar etc. "At this type of meeting we get encouragement as our issues are dealt with in a serious manner. For the first time the commission has called for a meeting to deal with the issues of Muslims. We welcome the initiative by the commission and are eagerly waiting for its implementation," said Rashid, a local resident. Ex members of the commission like Gulpham Mozibi, Manjoor Ahmed Ansari and Md Kayamuddin Khan were honored during the meet. (Times of India 4/10/13) Minority panel report puts Akhilesh govt in the doc k (7) Lucknow: A report of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) that visited Muzaffarnagar on September 19 after the riots has put the UP government in the dock. The commission concluded that transfer of DM Surendra Singh and SSP Manzil Saini within hours of the incidents at Kawaal village, where three persons were killed, seemed hasty and detrimental to law and order. Muzaffarnagar's Muslim women seek safety through marriage At Kawaal, two men, Gaurav and Sachin, killed one Shah Nawaz after a quarrel and both were lynched by villagers on August 27. The government transferred Singh and Saini. BJP MLA arrested for making hate speech In the report, NCM Chairman Wajahat Habibullah stated the new incumbents were said to be new to the districts. The commission stated that fortunately, that now stands remedied and NCM would commend the present incumbents for grip and understanding of the current challenges faced by the public and the administration. "But the initial spark was lit in the villages and so, because of an apparent lack of preparedness at that level, it became a rural riot," the report, posted on the commission's website on Sunday, said. The commission concluded that the Mahapanchayat at Nangla Mandaur on September 17 should not have been allowed. During its visit, the administration explained its inability to prevent it, despite engaging with the Jat leadership but the explanation was unacceptable. "Having said that, it needs to be added that Jats were agitated and a confrontation between them and the police could have seen considerable blood spillage. It is regrettable that MLAs addressed the gathering and did little to calm passions," the commission stated. The commission said, "Although there appears to have been effective administrative intervention at Jan

Sabha in Muzaffarnagar on August 30 by then newly appointed DM Kaushal Raj Sharma, the mahapanchayat appears to have seen a supine police response." (Indian Express 7/10/13) Rs 190 crore fund for minority development project in Maharshtra (7) MUMBAI: As an initiative to implement the Prime Minister's 15 point plan for development, the sate and central government have collectively allotted Rs 190 crore for the development of minorities in Maharshtra. While the Centre has approved Rs 140 crore, state sanctioned 50 crore for housing, ladies hostel, ITI colleges, polytechnics for minorities in the state. "These schemes are being implemented in nine districts' six towns and eight blocks (rural areas) under the Minorities Development Project. They are Latur, Beed, Jalna, Parbhani, Jalgaon, Washim, Buldana, Hingoli and Yevatmal. The rural areas' poor girl students will be provided free cycle for travelling. For this, girls' separate hostels are being constructed. Computers will be given to such educational institutes under this scheme," said Naseem Khan, state Minorities Affairs minister. As per the scheme, in the next one year, more than 800 people will be provided free home. State's nine districts are among 100 others chosen for minorities' development. Khan said that they were using the existing 44 polytechnic in the evening shift only for minorities though these are regular morning institutions. "Without using any extra fund, we are utilizing the same places to provide skilled courses education to students from minorities," said Khan. (Times of India 12/10/13) ‘NSS will fight policy of minority appeasement’ (7) KOTTAYAM: Nair Service Society general secretary G Sukumaran Nair, on Monday, asserted that the organisation would stand firm in its resolve against the policy of minority appeasement followed by governments. He was speaking after inaugurating the Nair centenary conference organised by the Changanassery taluk union of the NSS at Perunna on Vijayadasami day. “The NSS adopted a tough stance when the wrong policies of governments led to the denial of due rights to the majority community and minority communities were seen to be usurping undue benefits. It was on the basis this stance that the NSS and the SNDP decided to stand together. The NSS will definitely stick to its decisions which were taken to protect the rights of the majority community, no matter, whoever is with us,” Sukumaran Nair said. He added that NSS would never run counter to the award of benefits to minority communities that are legal and abides by the constitution. “It is the proclaimed policy of the NSS to raise voice against social injustices and the wrong policies of the governments. The NSS doesn’t have any vested interest or political motives. Our stance is clear and genuine. It is unfortunate that there was an attempt to weaken our claims by depicting it as communal,” Sukumaran Nair said. He said that when NSS raised the issue of the shortcomings in the appointment of the teachers in aided schools, the government did care to look into the issue. Sukumaran Nair also demanded the implementation of the recommendations in the S R Sinhu commission, which was constituted to look in to the issues being faced by the majority communities. NSS president P N Narendranathan Nair presided over the function. Vice President Prof V P Haridas, treasurer Dr M Sasikumar and Karayogam registrar K N Viswanatha Pillai also spoke. NSS Changanasseri union president Harikumar Koyikkal welcomed the gathering and vice president V G Bhaskaran Nair delivered vote of thanks. (New Indian Express 15/10/13) Situation of minority in UP very bad: National Mino rity Commission (7) LUCKNOW: That it were the minority who were at the receiving end during Muzaffarnagar riots has been an open secret. Now, it is the National Minority Commission which has come to flag the Samajwadi Party of being anti-minority. The commission has claimed that the situation of minorities in UP is pathetic and deplorable amongst all. The commission chairman, Wajahat Habibullah, who met UP chief minister in Lucknow on Monday, is reported to have underlined the fact that there have been repeated instances of atrocities on the Muslims. "Insecurity has dented their psyche," Habibullah is reported to have told the CM, while demanding strict action against those responsible for the riots in west UP. The commission had visited the riot affected areas of west UP twice and prepared a report. Habibullah handed over a copy of

the report to the CM as well. He asked the CM to take up rehabilitation of those displaced during the riots on a priority basis. At the same time, the state government will have to initiate measures to imbibe a sense of security amongst the Muslims, which, significantly, happen to be a key vote base of SP. The CM is reported to have told the commission that the state government was taking measures to bring back the displaced to their villages. The number of people living in the rehabilitation camps has reduced significantly,'' the CM told the commission. (Times of India 22/10/13) CM says marriage fund scheme for all minorities as KJP protests (7) Bangalore: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Thursday a new scheme to gift Rs 50,000 to women for marriage was for all minority communities, not just Muslims. The statement came amid protests by the opposition Karnataka Janata Party (KJP) of B S Yeddyurappa, which said the scheme was only for the benefit of Muslim women in homes with annual incomes below Rs 1.5 lakh. The notification for the scheme issued by the minority welfare department also clearly states that the Rs 50,000 marriage grant is exclusively for poor Muslim women. The KJP held a protest in Bangalore under the leadership of Yeddyurappa demanding that the scheme be extended to poor women from all communities. The scheme to be launched on November 1 is yet to get a proper name because of differences on whether it is meant for Muslim women or minorities in general. Minority welfare department minister Qamarul Islam has cast his vote in favour of Bidayee Bhagya but two other names — Nikaah Bhagya and Mangalya Bhagya — are also doing the rounds. It was first proposed in July in the 2013-14 state budget by Siddaramaiah "as a scheme for providing financial assistance for the marriage of girls of minorities". The scheme is now under the minorities welfare ministry. The target of this financial year is 20,000 girls with a Rs 10-crore outlay. (Indian Express 1/11/13) Sena attacks Modi for 'appeasing minorities' (7) Mumbai: In a veiled attack on ally BJP and its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, the Shiv Sena on Wednesday said issues like Ram temple at Ayodhya and uniform civil code are being ignored for the sake of gaining power. In an apparent barb at Modi, the Sena said, "Special efforts are being made to bring in burqa-clad women faces to (Modi's) public rallies. Everyone is in a hurry to appease minorities. Rather than opposing the Congress, all are getting in the race of appeasing minorities," an editorial in Sena mouthpiece Saamana said. Targeting BJP's politics, the newspaper said, "People forgot the Ram temple issue in a bid to seek power." The Sena comments have surfaced even as BJP is trying to reach out to Muslims ahead of the assembly and general elections, in a bid to seek acceptability for Modi, who has been under fire over the 2002 riots. The editorial also claimed that appeasement of minorities will be detrimental to country's interests in the long run. "We had seen earlier that to get power, Ram temple issue was sidelined, issues like common civil code were kept aside," the Sena said. (Hindustan Times 6/11/13) Minority aid: Change in norms to include more benef iciaries (7) Lucknow: In a bid to benefit more minority girls through its aid scheme of 'Hamari Beti-Uska Kal', the state government is planning to relax some of the norms of the scheme, which promises financial help of Rs 30,000 to minority girls who have passed Class X and whose family's annual income does not exceed Rs 36,000. The Department of Minority Welfare has sent a proposal to Chief Minister office, according to which, if there are more eligible girls in a family, the benefit should be extended to all of them separately instead of just to one. But because the department aims to extend the benefit in a limited budget, it has proposed to slash the aid amount from Rs 30,000 to Rs 20,000 to each beneficiary. On the other hand, the new provisions would stand to benefit 58,334 more girls from minorities - Muslim, Sikhism, Christianity, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism and Jainism. The girl's family can choose to use the amount either for her further education or in her marriage. The budget stipulated for the scheme, which was Rs 300 cr for 2012-13, was increased to Rs 350 cr for 2013-14. Secretary, Minority Welfare and Muslim Waqf

Department, Devesh Chaturvedi said the proposal to reduce the aid amount is done to benefit more girls. Validating the fact, an official said this year, the number of applicants has doubled from previous year. "Around 99,000 girls had applied under the scheme in 2012-13. The number of applicants this year has increased to 1.90 lakh," the official said. Among other things, the department has also proposed to ask applicants to "submit writing that she has passed Class X in recent session for the first time only." "This was done because there have been reports that girls who had passed Class X several years ago, were reappearing for examinations to take benefit under the scheme," Chaturvedi said. (Indian Express 11/11/13) West Bengal loses out on central funds for minoriti es (7) Mandirtala (Howrah): Failing to submit the detailed project report (DPR), the state government has lost out on Rs. 32-crore central funds meant for minority development under the Multi-sectoral Development Programme (MsDP) for the current financial year. Sources from the state government said the central funds for minority development under MsDP are project-specific and unless and until the state government submits the DPR such funds are not made available. As per nor ms, the state government was supposed to forward the DPR to the MsDP authorities by September 30, 2013 following which it would have received the fund from the Union government. The process of filing the DPR is quite complicated. In the first stage, the different elected local bodies like municipalities, zilla parishads and corporations were supposed to file their receive projects to the state minorities affairs department by July 31, 2013. Following which, the department then will compile all the report to prepare the final DPR and forward the same to the MsDP authorities by September 30, 2013. Initially, it was thought that there has been a negligence on the part of some of the elected local bodies in forwarding the individual projects reports to the state minority affairs department, sources said. However, later it was found that although the individual local bodies stuck to their deadline in sending the individual reports to state minority affairs departments, there had been some lapses on part of the latter in compiling the final DPR. The central funds under MsDP are utilised for the purpose of overall general development in the minority- dominated localities like development of sewerage system and proper sanitation facilities, among others. The vision of the programme is to empower the minority communities and creating an enabling environment for strengthening the multi-racial, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-lingual and multi-religious character of the country. The mission is to improve the socio-economic conditions of the minority communities through affirmative action and inclusive development so that every citizen has equal opportunity to participate actively in building a vibrant nation and to facilitate an equitable share for minority communities in education, employment, economic activities and to ensure their upliftment. (Hindustan Times 12/11/13) Govt keen to stop bias against minorities in pvt jo bs (7) New Delhi: The government is set to introduce a bill to create the Equal Opportunities Commission for the welfare of minorities in the Winter session of Parliament and the new entity’s ambit has been widened to cover the private sector. This means that socially and economically backward members of minority religions will be able to go to the Commission in complaint if they feel they have been deprived of a job, or of a seat in an educational institution, on the grounds of their belief, and this will include private sector companies and colleges. The law ministry gave its blessing to the potentially controversial proposal by the minority affairs ministry late last week, clearing the way for the Congress-led UPA government to fulfil a promise made in its 2009 election manifesto a few months before it heads into another general election. The Winter session of parliament starts on December 5. The new move could be a vote-winner but may alienate those who favour a broader approach. “The intention was to have an EOC that would cater to all deprived sections, not minorities alone,” said Justice Rajinder Sachar, whose 2006 report on social and economic backwardness of minorities formed the basis for the entire government effort. The government’s legal arm had earlier raised two major objections to the proposal to create the EOC. It felt that setting up of the EOC may violate the Constitution’s basic features since the latter does not

recognise religious backwardness. And it worried that the proposed body may impact the functioning of National commissions for SCs, STs and OBCs. In an attempt to allay these fears, minority affairs minister K Rahman Khan wrote to law minister Kapil Sibal on October 30, pointing out that the commission was being set up strictly in accordance with the recommendations of a Group of Ministers (GoM) set up by the Prime Minister for the purpose. The differences were sorted out in a meeting between the two ministers and the law ministry then gave its go-ahead last week. “The government is committed to set-up the commission and everything has been sorted out in accordance with the GoM recommendations,” Khan told HT. The proposed bill, seeks to allow “deprived groups among the minorities to seek access to opportunities, entitlements or rights available under any law, schemes and programmes of central or state governments, public or private enterprises for employment and education at all levels and any other field to be decided by the government.” Acording to the draft bill, the Commission will have the powers to conduct a probe against the institution or officer against whom a complaint is received and give directions to make amends against discriminatory practices. The Commission would be empowered to impose a fine of upto `1 lakh on the institution found guilty of not complying with its orders. (Hindustan Times 19/11/13) Protect India’s religious minorities: U.S. House re solution (7) Washington: A bipartisan resolution introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives this week has praised the U.S. government for holding firm to its 2005 decision to deny Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi a visa to enter the U.S. Introduced on Monday evening, House Resolution 417 also urged the Government of India to “to publicly oppose the exploitation of religious differences and denounce harassment and violence against religious minorities, especially in the run-up to India's general elections in 2014.” Marking what appeared to be stronger support within the U.S. Congress for religious minorities’ rights in India, the resolution noted, “Contrary to the tolerant and pluralistic traditions of the Hindu faith, strands of the Hindu nationalist movement have advanced a divisive and violent agenda that has harmed the social fabric of India.” In this context, the resolution called for religious freedom and related human rights to be included in the U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue, which is a key mechanism for progress in bilateral cooperation in recent years. The resolution also suggested that such issues ought to be raised “directly with federal and state Indian Government officials when appropriate.” The resolution, sponsored by Representative Joseph Pitts, Republican of Pennsylvania, was co-sponsored by 14 other Congressmen from both parties, including Democrats Keith Ellison and John Conyers, and Republican Steve Chabot, Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific. While the resolution referenced the February 2002 incident in Godhra in which “58 Hindus were burnt alive in a train coach fire,” it also emphasised that the U.S.’ International Religious Freedom Report of 2003 and subsequent years quoted the State Department finding that “In Gujarat the worst religious violence directed against Muslims by Hindus took place in February and March 2002, leaving an estimated 2,000 dead and 100,000 displaced into refugee camps.” Commenting on the resolution Representative Pitts said, “The Indian government cannot expect to make greater strides on religious freedom and human rights in the future while countless thousands have not seen justice for their lost loved ones.” Welcoming the resolution Kannan Srinivasan, spokesperson for the Coalition Against Genocide, a broad alliance fighting for justice for victims of the 2002 Gujarat pogrom said, “It is a sad day for all Indians, that a man whose complicity in mass violence and suppression of minorities is acknowledged internationally, happens to be the Prime Ministerial candidate of a major political party in India.” (The Hindu 20/11/13) Hate speech: Minorities panel for action against AA P member (7) NEW DELHI: The National Commission for Minorities has written to the Election Commission and Delhi Police urging them to take action against Kumar Vishwas, a member of the Aam Aadmi Party, for his hate speech against Muslims. The NCM received a complaint, including a CD containing video clips of "offensive remarks", by Vishwas deriding the tradition of mourning during Muharram by Shia Muslims

during a speech. The clips show Vishwas, a member of AAP's national executive, comparing Imam Hussein—revered by Muslims and whose martyrdom is remembered during Muharram—with former Iraq president Saddam Hussein. Earlier, the video, which is possibly several months old, had sparked widespread outrage on social media and led to several police complaints across the country. In his letter to the Delhi Police commissioner, NCM chairman Wajahat Habibullah wrote, "The remarks ridicule the time-honoured mourning observed during the month of Muharram by Muslims, especially Shias, and are deeply offensive." The NCM, after watching the video, found the "tone and tenor derogatory and inappropriate". According to the commission, the video bears out the complainant's allegation. Speaking to TOI, Habibullah said, "The remarks in the CD are extremely offensive and hurt sentiments of a particular community. The comments are communal and constitutes a criminal offence." The NCM has asked Delhi Police to decide what action to take. If the comments were made when the election model code of conduct was in force, then EC must look into it. Vishwas's alleged comments violate laws and is a cognizable criminal offence under IPC. The NCM asked the EC and the Delhi police to inform them about action taken. (Times of India 29/11/13) Shaadi Bhagya scheme to remain for minorities (7) BANGALORE: The Shaadi Bhagya scheme, under which poor girls from the minorities will get financial help from the government at the time of marriage, will henceforth be known as Bidaai (farewell). The state government has decided to stick to its plan to extend the scheme to the minorities. Pushing ahead his Ahinda agenda, chief minister Siddaramaiah told the assembly the government has an open mind on extending the Bidaai scheme to all communities. As Siddaramaiah remained firm on his pet scheme, BJP members called the Congress "communal". The CM hit back by calling the BJP "fascist and communal".In its present form, the scheme will be applicable to 1,000 girls from religious minorities. The government has earmarked Rs 5 crore for it. Former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa, who staged a 27-day dharna demanding the scheme be extended to all, staged a walkout followed by the BJP. The government didn't respond to Congress member KR Ramesh Kumar's suggestion to table a resolution that elected representatives, civil servants and businessmen should desist from attending marriages where there is a vulgar display of wealth. (Times of India 1/12/13) UPA to splurge on minority education (7) New Delhi: The UPA government will substantially raise funding for a school-to-PhD level national scholarship programme for minorities, committing Rs. 10,000 crore over the next four years, as it tries to ratchet up its minority agenda ahead of the general elections. The Cabinet approved the allocation after discussions took place between the K. Rahman Khan-led minority affairs ministry, the Planning Commission and the Prime Minister’s Office. Enhanced funding will help target 45.2 million students, potentially covering virtually every minority child from low-income households. BJP PM candidate Narendra Modi has been opposed to the minorities-only scholarships on principles of “equality”. The Gujarat government has shunned the scheme on grounds that the state had a universal scholarship programme for all school children. In March 2009, the Gujarat high court upheld the minority scholarships as constitutional, and the matter now lies before the SC. Many Muslims, India’s largest minority, say they see educational opportunities as the key to overcoming disadvantages faced by them. The 2006 Sachar report found Muslims made up only 4% of undergraduate students and had high dropout rates, largely due to financial reasons. According to a 2012 report by the New Delhi-based Centre for Equity Studies the “single most important contribution” Muslims wanted from the government was education. Welfare schemes administered by the minority affairs ministry, a creation of the UPA government, would be a key plank of the Congress in the elections. The decision to pump Rs. 10,000 crore for scholarships was taken in view of the “programme’s success”, an official said. Currently, the applicants outnumber funds available. This scheme has helped over three million Muslim students stay enrolled between 2007 and

2012, according to government data. Girls have landed more high-school scholarships than boys. (Hindustan Times 18/12/13) Minorities committee moved for action against SP ch ief Mulayam (7) LUCKNOW: Even as Ittehad-e-Millat Council (IMC), an ally of Samajwadi Party, on Thursday threatened to severe ties with the ruling party over neglect of relief work in Muzaffarnagar, social activist Shehzad Poonawalla filed a petition before the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) demanding action against SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav for his "false and offensive" statement against riot survivors. The petition includes details of over 25,000 survivors living in around 10 camps and a list of 31 children who died due to cold in one of the camp. Mulayam had said on December 23 that most riot survivors had left relief camps and those still living were Congress and BJP conspirators. Reacting to this, IMC president Taukir Raza Khan, who enjoys status of state minister, told reporters, "SP has lost faith of Muslims and its supremo has hurt humanity by terming riot survivors living in camps as conspirators." The IMC has one MLA Shahjil Islam, Bhojipura constituency in Bareilly, and is supporting the SP government, which is already in majority with 224 seats in the 406-member assembly. Khan, who is advisor in the handloom industry department, said he had given conditional resignation on December 5 to press for redressal of problems of Muzaffarnagar riot survivors and other problems of the community but he had not got any reply so far. "I will give one week's time to the government to redress the problems. SP is not taking right decisions and its statements are also not correct," he said. Khan, considered a big leader among Barelvi Muslims, said IMC would hold its executive meet on January 5 in which it would decide whether to continue support to SP or not.On the other hard, Poonawala, claimed there is enough evidence to establish that inhabitants in relief camps are those who have lost their homes, lands, livelihoods and family members in the riots. Many have not got any compensation and most don't want to go back to their native places out of fear. These survivors have also not received any help from the government required to combat biting cold. Poonawala submitted a list of 10 camps in Muzaffarnafar and Shamli housing at least 25,000 survivors of which 50% are of 0-18-year age group. The state government had earlier claimed that only 4,783 persons were left in the camp. The state government had also denied reports of death in the camps, but after Supreme Court took cognizance of media reports on deaths, it admitted that 11 children died. Poonawala said, however, that he found that 31 children died in the Malakpur camp alone. He said Mulayam and state government should apologise. Besides issuing notice to Mulayam and UP government on "false statement", the petitioner has asked the NCM to direct the government to make a fresh and honest assessment of the victims living in all camps and of those who lost their lives due to the cold. It has also sought directions from the NCM for the UP government to provide basic relief material including ration, milk, warm clothes and blankets to every relief camp at the earliest. (Times of India 27/12/13) ‘Inequality’ blot on minority scholarships (7) HYDERABAD: They are intended to provide a level-playing field to minority youth in a highly competitive world. But, obtaining scholarship and tuition fee reimbursement from the A.P. State Minority Finance Corporation (APSMFC) is nothing short of a Herculean task. Take the case of Syed Afreen of Tandur whose application for fee reimbursement has been pending with the district officer for the last one year. She applied to the APSMFC in December, 2012, when joined MSc (Organic Chemistry) at Sri Sarda PG College. Now, she is in the final year. Afreen is among scores of poor students pursuing education against all odds. They have taken admission at good colleges in the hope of getting their tuition fee reimbursed. But, with the process dragging on, it appears they may have to pay the fee themselves. Sadaf Fatima applied for post-matric scholarship during 2010-11. Since then, she has completed Intermediate and is now in her B.Sc first year. But, she has not received the scholarship. In yet another instance, the application status of Ayesha Sultana shows it is sanctioned, but the amount has not been released. Sultana is a BSc student at St. Pious Degree College for Women. This is not all. There is no

parity in the disbursal of scholarship and fee reimbursement. There are instances where students doing the same course in the same college are granted different sums. Roohina Nusrath, a student of BA at University College for Women, Koti, got just mess charges and tuition fee, while her classmate Ruhi Sameena got special fee reimbursement. Again, the tuition fee paid by the two differs. While Nusrath was paid Rs. 840 as tuition fee, Sameena got Rs. 930. Interestingly, Sarikonda Mounika, a BC student at the same college, was given mess charges, tuition fee, exam fee and other fee. “Officials have no explanation for this,” says Prof. Mohd. Ansari, president, Minorities Right Protection Committee, who has brought the inconsistency to the notice of the APSMFC. According to him, students of private colleges get paid under five categories - mess charges, tuition fee, exam fee, special fee and other fee - while their counterparts at government colleges mostly get mess charges and tuition fee only. “The government claims of providing scholarship and fee reimbursement to minorities on par with the SCs, STs and BCs. But, it is not the case in practice,” says Younus Parvez, president, Minority Students Organisation. Many feel the government ought to remove the disparity in payment of scholarship and fee reimbursement and also do away with age limit for availing scholarships, since the idea is to empower minorities through education. (The Hindu 29/12/13) Denial of seat by minority schools: Lawyer to file PIL (7) Pune: A public interest litigation on the issue of denial of admission to children belonging to religious minority sections of the society in minority schools will be filed after court opens after vacation. This comes in the wake of last week's Bombay High Court judgment that termed schools receiving aids as land or concession in property tax unaided and out of the ambit of the Right to Education Act when it comes to reserving 25 per cent seats for children belonging to the weaker sections of the society. Advocate Jatin Adhav said: "I had intervened in the recent case against St Mary's, Bishop's and S V Union school, but in the order there was no mention of admission to minority students in minority schools on priority basis. Hence, I will file a writ petition in the court once it opens after vacation on January 6." He added: "My daughter was twice denied admission by a school claiming to be a minority institution without giving any reason. This is not just my case. Various other parents too have faced the same problem but are afraid to come out in the open. I want proper action against these schools." A government resolution dated 2007 makes it clear that in the case of unaided institutions and unaided or aided linguistic minority institutions having the medium of education in the recognised minority language "admit all eligible minority students who have applied for admission, within the time limit prescribed, based on merit by a fair and transparent admission process and no application of any eligible minority student shall be rejected by the institution".The resolution also says the recognition of religious or linguistic minority educational status to an institution once accorded "can be revoked if a complaint is received by the government as regards the veracity of the minority status or the fraudulent admission process adopted by the institution to the detriment of the concerned minority community students and the complaint is found to be true on enquiry". However, it adds, it will be necessary for the competent authority to hear the institution before passing any orders of revocation of recognition. (Indian Express 30/12/13) Focus on education of minorities' (7) GUWAHATI: The International Education Convention organized by the American Federation of Muslims of Indian Origin (AFMI) in Guwahati has appealed to governments of the northeastern states to lay stress on minority communities to attain 100 per cent literacy. On the concluding day of the two-day convention, the federation resolved to urge all stakeholders for better coordination to develop a socio-economic and educational scenario where one would be able to share each other's resource, knowledge and experience. "We are shocked at the low literacy level among the Muslims of the region, especially women. This is a matter of concern. We hope the state government will take appropriate measures to improve the scenario," one of the resolutions read. Union minister for minority affairs K Rahman Khan, who was present at the convention, said, "We are the second largest community in the country and not a

minority. We should think positively and work accordingly. This will help develop the community," Khan said. However, he expressed concern at the plight of Muslims in Assam. "We tend to depend on others and the government and expect that somebody will come and help us. But we should take initiatives by ourselves. At this age, there are various means like the RTI, which can be very helpful in acquiring one's rights," he added. On Saturday, 133 meritorious students from across the country were felicitated with various awards. There were six students from Assam as well. The convention was inaugurated by Tripura governor Devanand Konwar at Pragjyoti ITA Centre, Machkhowa in Guwahati on Saturday. Konwar appreciated the initiative of the federation. "These awards will definitely encourage the students. I think more such initiatives should be taken up for the uplift of the downtrodden in society," he said. (The Hindu 30/12/13)