Monday 12 March 2012

UPA careless about Sachar Committee recommendations? Grand Protest at Jantar Mantar on Mar 19 by AMUCC

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The Justice Rajinder Sachar Committee had given many recommendations for Muslims of India in its 408 pages report during the Congress led UPA I (first). The report revealed the surprising and shocking facts about the status of Muslims in the country after independence. Sachar Committee report said that the condition of Muslims in India is worst than the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs). They are spending lives in more or less like BPL (Below Poverty Line) people. Along with revealing many other discouraging facts, the report submitted by Sachchar Committee mentioned that the representation of Muslims in bureaucratic positions is only 2.5 percent.


Justice Rajinder Sachar presenting the report to PM

The revelations of Sachchar Committee were a matter of a concern for the government and it compelled the policy makers to think about the Muslims of the country. The UPA Government turned its attention towards Muslims and reached out to the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) to find out some possible solutions. In the year 2008, on the guidelines of MHRD the then AMU Vice Chancellor drafted a proposal to establish the off-campus (study centres) of the university in five places of the country, namely Mallapuram (Kerala), Murshidabad (West Bengal), Katihar later changed to Kishanganj (Bihar), Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) and Pune (Maharashtra). Since then, about four years have passed and the UPA driven project is dwindling in balance due to improper plan and lack of coordination with the state governments.

Due to presence of political heavy-weights Pranab Mukherjee in West Bengal and E Ahamed in Kerala, the special centres of AMU got physical shape in 2009/2010. The sessions were started with initial courses BA L.L.B and MBA in Murshidabad (West Bengal) and Mallapuram (Kerala) in the year 2010. Of course, the construction is going on in two centres but lots of hurdles are faced by the AMU administration on regular basis. Some sections are also putting hurdles before the construction work by justifying the upcoming centres meant only for Muslims.

Let me take you through the status of three centres, proposed in Kishanganj (Bihar), Pune / Aurangabad (Maharashtra) and Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh). There is hardly any development in the centres of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, as the state governments are not showing any interest in establishing the special centre of AMU. However, the state of Bihar shown interest in having the contemporary campus of AMU in the north-eastern district of Kishanganj. After long series of blame-games and controversies, the Government of Bihar and AMU administration signed on Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on December 30, 2011 and the millions of people from the state expected a new dawn with the proposed study centre.

The UPA Government’s leaders including MHRD was blaming the Nitish Kumar led NDA Government of Bihar on repeated intervals for not providing the required 250 acres land. However, after officially transferring 224.02 acres land to AMU Registrar in presence of Vice Chancellor and other officials, the Bihar Government has fulfilled the prerequisite to have a special centre in the deprived area of Kishanganj. Land was available with AMU in Bihar and now it was requiring approval of Visitor (President of India) through the Ministry of HRD. On January 04, 2012, the former Vice Chancellor Prof P K Abdul Azis had written a letter to MHRD for providing the approval of Visitor and allocation of Rs. 50 crore for Kishanganj in 11th plan.

Aligarh Muslim University Coordination Committee (AMUCC), a non political group working as a facilitator for the proposed centre at Kishanganj has came across surprising facts while approached to MHRD. Since the agreement signing on December 30 about two and half months have been passed, but the MHRD has not given any attention to the file related with AMU. Even the top officials of MHRD tried to misguide the delegates of AMUCC by sighting false reasons of delay like the pending writ petition at Allahabad Court, Implementation of Code of Conduct due to state elections, etc. As the AMUCC delegates were well known about the facts and issues related to AMU Special Centre including the legal issues, hence the officials from ministry couldn’t justify their false points.

The UPA Government that always boasts itself for being the true caretaker of Muslims badly failed in justifying its tall claims. The recommendations of Sachchar Committee were eye-opener for the people of nation. The government has found a good solution in the form of AMU Special Centre and also a smart way to divert the minds of literate Muslims. Harsh truth is before all, the government’s proposal of establishing special centres of AMU in different parts of the nation is far from realism and having many loop holes. The proposed centre at Kishanganj had become part of long drawn controversies and saffron parties even tried to give it a communal shape. The centre is responsible for all the controversies because of making the proposal very confusing and making more dependant of AMU and the concerned state for land and other basic amenities.

AMUCC group is very unhappy with the unfair approach of the Central Government towards the proposed Special Centre of AMU in Kishanganj. Especially after the interaction with the MHRD the group members came across unpleasant facts that altogether are not encouraging for the proposed centre. Led by Convener Mohammad Aslam, AMUCC has decided to organize a Democratic Protest against the UPA Government on 19th March, 2012 at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi between 12 pm and 3 pm. AMUCC will submit memorandums to Ministry of HRD and Ministry of Finance with following demands:

i) To take immediate action on the pending file of AMU Kishanganj and forward it to President’s Office for getting final approval, so that AMU administration can start session at temporary shelter from this year

ii) To release the Rs. 50 crore fund for AMU Kishanganj in the Union budget of 2012-13 for immediate fencing of the land

Mohammad Mudassir Alam, PRO AMUCC said the group has already taken permission from the Police to protest at Jantar Mantar and many political leaders including social activists, non government organizations and educationists have confirmed their participations. The core team members Mahfooz Alam, Kaifee Anwer, Matin Iqbal, Abrar Rahi, Khalid Mubashshir, Soban M Ahmad, Sarwar Alam, Tauqueer Alam, Mansoor Alam, Murteza Iqbal, Lalitendra Bharatiya, Subham Jalan, Sachin Kumar, Danish Anwer, Wasim Akhtar, Zamir Iqbal, Zeeshan Shaheni, and dozens of others were highly disappointed over the step attitude of UPA government towards the proposed campus of AMU at Kishanganj. They unanimously said that the Centre Government doesn’t have any interest towards the issues related to Muslims, unless the proposed five centres of AMU would have been a reality in no time. If the government doesn’t fulfill the demands on time, we will keep on doing protests at the national capital including the hunger strike. 


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AboutMd Mudassir Alam

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