Appointment of Sachar Committee by the government was a communal act, says RSS-linked think tank

New Delhi, Oct 9: Central for Policy Analysis, a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-linked think tank based in Patna in Bihar has come up with India Minority Report that tells issue of minority has been mishandled by the various governments in the country. Right from the so-called backwardness of minority communities to educational policies and many other, they have been dealing with the issue in a faulty manner. The report will be submitted to the government.

There are many such think tanks linked with the RSS that are working on policy issues including issues related to the minorities. Executive chairman of Centre for Policy Analysis Durga Nand Jha told Oneindia that there are many faulty issues as far as policies towards minorities is concerned. "Actually the appointment of a committee headed by Justice Rajendra Sachar by the Government of India in 2005 was a blatant communal act. The problem of underdevelopment has more of a geographical connotation than a communal one. If Muslims are backward, it is because of their large concentration in those states that are economic underachievers and laggard on various developmental parameters," said Jha.

The think tank not only questions constitution of Sachar Committe but also questioned the rationale for the existence of a separate wing for education of minorities such as 'National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions' in the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD). "Aren't such regulating bodies at the national level compartmentalizing education on religious lines and weakening the national mainstream? No one can deny the fact that education of minority students is important in order to build an inclusive society but it no way necessitates and justifies the separate existence of minority institutions," said Jha. This report demands discontinuance of ' Council for Minority Educational institutions', a body constituted by the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

The report tell about discriminatory approach in the present minority identification policy which appears to be unjust and illogical. "Its effects are not only deleterious from the national perspective, but they also breach the fundamental spirit of the Constitution, which affirms that there would be no discrimination on the basis of religion. Therefore, it is imperative that every state notifies its own minorities as in the case of most of the centrally-sponsored programs, instead of following the central list of minorities," says the report by the think tank.

The report also affirms that secularism cannot define the nature of the relationship between two communities; it only delineates the neutrality of the approach of the state towards various religious communities. It can in no way, dictate terms of the relationship between two communities. It is a 'feeling of fraternity' that defines the nature of relations between two communities (Hindu and Muslims). Therefore, while dealing with the disputed issues, this should be kept in mind.