UPA minority drive patent appeasement under the mask of equity: BJP

New Delhi, Jan 24 (UNI) Assailing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement defending the UPA government's 'minority welfare drive', the BJP today dubbed it as 'patent appeasement' hidden behind the 'mask of equity'.

Declaring that such types of sops would do ''no good'' for Muslims, the party said vote bank politics had kept the community backward in the past 60 years, of which the Congress was in power for almost 52 years.

The party clarified that it was all in favour of welfare and development of minorities and other backward communities but the decisions should not be guided by vote bank politics.

The BJP referred to recent decisions of the government like the religion-based reservation in Andhra Pradesh and in admissions in the Aligarh Muslim University, held unconstitutional by the courts, followed by head-counts in the Army and sanctioning of bank loans on priority basis to people of the minority community.

Talking to newspersons, BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad asked Dr Singh whether the previous governments headed by Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Narasimha Rao had no concern for equity.

Mr Prasad reminded the Prime Minister of his own Minister of Minority Welfare A R Antulay's observation that Congress is responsbile for the plight of Muslims in the country.

He also sought clarification on whether he thought the framers of the Constitution had no concern for ''equity'' when they decided not to have 'religion based' reservation.

Inspite of IMDT Act being declared as unconstitutional and against national unity by the Supreme Court, it was brought by back door on the eve of Asom election, which too was set aside by the court with serious comment against the government, he added.

He described the delay in forwarding the recommendation on the mercy plea by Afzal Guru, convicted in the attack on Parliament, by the Centre to the President as ''the most shocking example of the worst form of appeasement.'' ''Under which doctrine of equity does the above glaring instance fit in,'' Mr Prasad asked Dr Singh and added if this policy continued, it would lead to alienation and envy.

UNI