Sachar Committee Report – political gimmick of Congress

Salman Khursheed fails to rely on it even

Is the Rajinder Sachar Committee Report, meant to find out problems tormenting Indian Muslims and resolve those straight away, a mere political stance? Considering such is indeed shocking but there can’t be anything else if the fresh speech of Salman Khursheed, UPA Minister for Minorities Affairs, is taken into account. To be precise, the Hon’ble Cabinet Minister, speaking at a function in Chennai on June 25, brought to the fore some issues regarding the Rajinder Sachar Committee Report, enough to raise eyebrows. He was found to state categorically “the recommendations of Sachar Committee Report are not divine like Quran; they can be wrong also and that’s why one must approach them critically.”

All these indicate that Salman Khursheed oppugned the very basis Sachar Committee Report and also is the last person to hinge on its recommendations to better Muslims. He was delivering an oration on ‘Minorities of India: Issues and Challenges,' at the Justice Basheer Ahmed Sayeed College for Women. Dismaying many on the podium and to the astonishment of the audience, the Minister went on saying that by critical approach he indicated that the overall impact and benefits of Report on Muslims must be analyzed prior to its acceptance wholeheartedly.

It is worthwhile to mention that the Rajinder Sachar Committee was appointed by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in March 2005 and there was the inclusion of several dignitaries in the team to prepare a comprehensive, authentic report on the social, economic and educational position of the Muslim community of India. The Report was submitted in Parliament on 30 November 2006 – 20 months after getting the terms from the PMO.

On the word of Salman Khursheed, Report might benefit the community in the short term but it could also lead to its further ghettoization, ruinous for the community in the long term as it will stop Muslims’ mainstreaming. He also emphasized the fact that Muslims’ never-ending expectations and advancements (every now and then) to Minorities Affairs Ministry (MMA) are not desirable. MMA, as per him, looks after other minorities too at the same instant.

Khursheed advised Muslims to approach the Ministry of Human Resources and Development (MHRD), affluent with a budget of over Rs 65,000 crore, instead of MMA.

Without doubt, the Minorities Affairs Minister’s assertion speaks of his distrust on UPA’s pet project to woo Muslims. Is his discourse fallout of an intra-party row also? Sachar Committee Report, at this moment in time, seems more a political gimmick of Congress-led UPA to keep its opposition and detractors at bay.

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