Days after he talked of a survey of Muslims in jail, Maharashtra minority panel chief is on way out

Sources said the CM's Office has taken the decision to appoint a new chairman on Friday.

Muslim prisoners, Devendra Fadnavis, Maharashtra minority panel, Muslims convicts, Maharashtra government,

Sources said the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ Office on Wednesday took the decision to appoint a new chairman.

Days after he announced plans to commission a survey to find out the number of Muslims in Maharashtra’s jails, State Minorities Commission Chairman Munaf Hakim is set to be replaced. Sources said the Chief Minister’s Office on Wednesday took the decision to appoint a new chairman.

While the government is yet to issue an official order, a formal Government Resolution on the dissolution of the current board and the appointment of a new chairman is expected on Friday.

Hakim, who was appointed by the previous Congress-NCP government in August 2012, has completed only half of his five-year term.
“It is normal practice for new governments to fill these positions with their own representatives. The same process has been followed here. The commissioning of the study was just a trigger for what was bound to happen,” said a senior state government official.

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“I just hope that whoever comes in my place works towards the well-being of the community,” said Hakim.

On January 12, The Indian Express had reported about Hakim’s plans to commission a survey by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences to find out the total number of Muslims in Maharashtra’s jails and the charges under which they had been arrested.

“A similar report was commissioned five years back… I decided to commission a fresh study… I told the government that the panel was well within its right to commission the survey,” said Hakim.

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