Click to play videoWe will have to devise innovative plans to ensure that minorities, particularly the Muslim minority, are empowered to share equitably in the fruits of development. They must have the first claim on resources.
— Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
This statement made by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a speech to National Development Council on Saturday snowballed into a furore in Parliament on Monday, leading to multiple adjournments and ultimately the suspension of business in both Houses.
While the BJP-led Opposition alleged minority appeasement – saying UPA should be renamed United Platform for Appeasement – and rubbished the explosive Sachar Panel findings, Government remained steadfast with PM making clear that no apologies will be issued.
So, are the Government's policies on Muslims more political than constructive? Is the UPA Government inviting charges of minority appeasement by making such announcements?
That was the big topic of debate on CNN-IBN show India 360 with Sagarika Ghose.
On the discussion panel were BJP MP Sumitra Mahajan, UP Congress Committee President Salman Khurshid and former member of Planning Commission, Abu Saleh Sharif.
Sagarika Ghose: Mr Khurshid, the big statement that has irked the Opposition is – “they (minorities) must have the first claim to the resources” – what did the PM mean when he said that?
Salman Khurshid: Clearly, this is for him flagging or emphasising a matter that is clearly of great concern. He has talked about empowerment; he has talked about equitable participation and development. To say that they (minorities) must have the "first claim" is not to anybody’s exclusion. It’s not denying anyone. It’s just a way of emphasising something that’s pending for a long time. It’s something on which there is a terrible sense of not having delivered to minorities what they deserve.
Sagarika Ghose: But Mr Khurshid, the kind of issues regarding minorities that your government has been taking up - the move that Congress made to give reservations to Muslims in Andhra Pradesh, trying to declare Aligarh Muslim University a minority institution, the U C Banerjee report that was seen as a Godhra whitewash – are these actually steps that will uplift the Muslim community, or is your Government playing politics once again with your Muslim votebank?
THE MUSLIM DEBATE |
 BJP-led Opposition has come up with a new definition of UPA - United Platform for Appeasement. Since UPA coming to power, BJP has been accusing the Centre of appeasing Muslims. |
| The charges and counter-charges started over the issue of minority status to Aligarh Muslim University. While Union Human Resources Development Minister Arjun Singh overlooked the legalalities, SC gave Centre a snub. This was capitalised by BJP. |
| Later, the controversial headcount of Muslims in Indian armed forces and the police saw the Defence Ministry running for cover. The then defence minister Pranab Mukherjee was in the direct line of fire, with the Opposition alleging the exercise would divide the forces on religious lines. |
| UPA had to backtrack again on the issue of five per cent reservation to Muslims in Andhra Pradesh. This time too, the move didn't get the Supreme Court's approval. |
| It was hoped the Sachar Committee's report on the condition of Muslims would bury the appeasement theory, but the timing of the release of the report has the Opposition on its feet. |
| BJP alleges the report is aimed at the Muslim electorate, ahead of the crucial Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh due early next year. |
| The UPA on its part maintains it makes sense to target development of the underprivileged, including the Muslims. |
Salman Khurshid: Well, anybody who disagrees with it must suggest an alternative. AMU was not declared a minority institution by us, it’s a minority university per se. That’s a matter before Supreme Court and the court has to give its final verdict. In Andhra Pradesh and elsewhere, the reservations that are being talked about, are not new reservations. People who were already in the backwards list but were not getting the benefits of the same are now being given a segregated, separate portion based on their population.
Sagarika Ghose: So what does your government stand for? Does it stand for an equitable, inclusive growth, or are you a government dedicated only to minorities?
Salman Khurshid: No, no, it’s absolutely clear. It’s equitable, inclusive growth and that’s not just for Muslims. The Prime Minister in a separate portion spoke about Dalits and backwards in general. The other, of course, is that this is an issue about the entire country. If a large section in the country can’t move with everybody else, this country can’t progress.
Sagarika Ghose: So basically the Opposition has simply failed to understand the language of PM’s speech. Sumitra Mahajan, why are you creating such a fuss over Prime Minister’s statement? Why don’t you understand the spirit of what he is trying to say? The Sachar Committee has shown us how dreadfully the Muslim community is lagging behind. Why don’t you have a genuine debate instead of making it a political issue.
Recommendations of Sachar Panel |
| Some key highlights of the recommendations are: |
| Sachar panel finds that madrassa education is not the future. It wants more English and Urdu medium government schools in areas dominated by Muslims. |
| It also argues in favour of allocating 15 per cent of all Government funds to Muslims under all central schemes. |
| The panel wants more representation for Muslims in sectors like health and teaching. |
| It also recommends sensitisation of all government employees towards Muslim requirements. |
| But the big issue is reservation for Muslims. While Sachar panel avoids any reference to it, its silence is more than eloquent in a chapter on OBCs. |
| In this chapter, the general non-OBC Muslim is shown to be living in more degraded condition than the Hindu OBC. |
| Thereby a strong case is made for reservations for the entire Muslim community except the Creamy Layer. |
Sumitra Mahajan: We are ready to have a genuine debate, no doubt. But giving such statements outside Parliament, firstly we are opposing the Sachar Committee itself. Yes, if you are doing anything for the persons or the people who are backward or who are lagging behind, we have nothing to say. Yes, we have to take all of those who are backward and lagging behind and go ahead. We are agreeable to this. But this (PM’s statement) is something like appeasement. You are talking about Muslims only. Why so? Why are you searching for Muslims in Army?
Sagarika Ghose: So you are opposed to the Sachar Committee itself. Abu Saleh Sharif, Sumitra Mahajan is opposed to your entire project. She believes the PM statement is appeasement and that you shouldn’t have gone out there to get any data on Muslims in the first place.
Abu Saleh Sharif: Well, this is a democracy and people in the country have all rights to think they want to. And I have my own way of thinking. One of the things that PM asked the Committee was to find out the status report on social, economic and educational conditions. We had very clear terms of reference and our mandate was very clear. This was, in fact, the first time that t he evidence-based, statistical orientation where we measure. Please keep in mind that the Report does not talk about only the Muslims. The Report compares different population groups including OBCs among the Hindus, Dalits, SC/STs among the Hindus and the Upper Caste among Hindus, and within Muslims too, we have the OBC and other Muslims. We have tried to understand the relative position. This is the way that people identify themselves in India and what is wrong in profiling them?
Sagarika Ghose: And you were telling me what BJP wants to do with the Muslims – probably they want them all to jump into the Indian Ocean – this is what you were saying.
Abu Saleh Sharif: Well, probably if that is what they want if bullets are not enough to eliminate them. Drag them to the Arabian Sea.
Sagarika Ghose: Sumitra Mahajan, respond to that. Is that what you want? What should be done for the crises facing Indian Muslims, according to you?
Sumitra Mahajan: No, we are not saying anything about the Muslims only. Because you know, I am the Chairperson of Ministry of Social Justice’s Standing Committee. You will be surprised to know that there is no data available of the SCs, OBCs or people below poverty line for the past 50 years. And today you are talking about Muslims only.
Sagarika Ghose: So you agree that there is a Muslim problem and at the same time you aren’t exactly clear on what needs to be done about this and you are opposing even data gathering which Mr Abu Saleh Sharif has done.
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