Minority rights day to be observed on Dec 18 in Morbi town of Saurashtra
By Abdul hafiz lakhani Ahmedabad
The Minority Coordination Committee (MCC), a Gujarat civil rights organization, is holding a rally in favor of its demands in Morbi, a town in the Saurashtra region, on the International Minority Rights Day, December 18, 2019.
Announcing this, MCC convener Mujahid Nafees said, the demands include formation of a minority welfare department, a minority commission, necessary provision in the budget for minority development, and protection of the minority community in the state.”The state government is constantly doing injustice to the 11.5% of the minority community people in Gujarat”, said Nafees, pointing out, “In Gujarat, the minority community is living in fear. Even transportation of buffaloes is termed as theft of the holy cow for slaughter.”
Stating that the claim of the BJP government that Gujarat had become riots-free after 2002 is not factual, he said: “Earlier, large scale riots took place. But now small-scale riots at local level are taking place As riots are small, they also don’t get media attention’’, he alleged.
Nafees demanded setting up of government schools in Muslim areas and Rs 1,000 crore annual allocation for development of Muslim areas from the state’s annual budget, implementation of Prime Minister’s 15-point programme in toto to uplift the conditions of the Muslims, recognising the ‘madrasa’ degrees equivalent to Class X of the Gujarat State Education Board to promote secular education among Muslims, setting up of Ministry of Minority Affairs and State Minority Commission.
Insisting that the state government’s slogan “beti bachao beti padhao” is an eyewash, Nafees said, “The girls of the Muslim community in Gujarat suffer from a high dropout rate to the tune of 10.58% in the standards of 1-5, yet the government is not doing anything concrete.”
According to him, “There is no minority commission to handle the complaints of minorities in Gujarat, though there is one in the country. This is a clear example of discrimination. Even other states have minority commissions.”
Announcing a list of demands following a meeting in Morbi with MCC activists for the proposed rally, Nafees said, “The government should open primary schools in minority dominated areas, madrasa education should be recognized as equivalent to the Gujarat board, and special economic package should be announced for the upliftment of the minority community.”
Announcing a list of demands following a meeting in Morbi with MCC activists for the proposed rally, Nafees said, “The government should open primary schools in minority dominated areas, madrasa education should be recognized as equivalent to the Gujarat board, and special economic package should be announced for the upliftment of the minority community.”
Then, he said, the government should come up with a policy for the rehabilitation of the people displaced by communal violence, the Prime Minister’s 15-point programme should be implemented in the state, the state government should introduce the Minorities (Prevention of Atrocities) Act is the state assembly, and mob lynching should be dealt with strictly.
