Attitude towards minorities improving 8212; NCM chief

In a wide-ranging conversation, Dr Mehmood touched upon various issues including the need for a review of the Constitution, communal riots, the work of the commission, Kashmiri migrants and the current situation in the country.

Stating that relationships between different religious communities were much more fraternal than some people believed them to be, Dr Mehmood said outbreaks of communal violence in the country were aberrations and the 8220;handiwork of a few misguided individuals.8221;

While the situation in the first half of this year was bad8217; following the attacks on the Christian community, there was a distinct improvement now, he said. 8220;While there had been attacks on the community in the past also, this year saw more attacks and the atmosphere became emotionally surcharged due to the propaganda about conversions. It was an issue blown out of proportion,8221; the NCM chairman said.

However, it was wrong to attribute the violence to a particular political party or individual. The main cause of the tension was that while the Constitution spoke of absolute equality and equal rights, the society had not been able to assimilate this ideal, he said.

On the need for a review of the Constitution, the noted constitutional expert said the NCM was in favour of this as the original constitution had been amended so many times that the volume of the amendments exceeded the original bulk of the statute.

8220;We have made a mess of the Constitution. There is no harm in having a second look at it in the light of the experience of the past 50 years,8221; Dr Mehmood said.

Stating that there were very few countries in the world with their constitutions in the original form, Dr Mehmood said there was nothing objectionable or unprecedented in the present government8217;s proposal to review the Constitution.

However, precaution had to be taken that the basic structure of the Constitution, as spelt out in the preamble and confirmed by the Supreme Court in the Keshvanand Bharati case, was not altered, he added.

During its three-year tenure, the NCW undertook several studies and made major recommendations to the government. Among these was a draft law on prevention of communal riots, which was based on the report of a high-level committee set up by the NCM in December, 1997.

The committee, headed by jurist V M Tarkunde and with the present Attorney General Soli Sorbajee as the vice-chairman, had submitted its report in March this year.

The commission also for the first time looked into the problems of Hindus where they formed local minority communities as in Jammu and Kashmir, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab and Lakshadweep.

8220;The commission has made a special set of recommendations for the Hindus of Kashmir. They should be declared a local minority and special provisions extended to them. Also, all possible steps should be taken to rehabilitate them in the valley,8221; Dr Mehmood said.

While the commission had used the powers vested with it by parliament to fulfil its mandate, it had also recommended to the government to rectify several lacuane in the National Minorities Commission Act, which was passed in great haste in 1992, Dr Mehmood said.

Stating that almost all appointments to the Minorities Commissions at the state level were political in nature, Dr Mehmood said the NCM had recommended that certain qualifications be stipulated for those being appointed as members.

Despite run-ins with the Central Government, Dr Mehmood said he had enjoyed the cooperation of both the Union and state governments. While a few disagreements might have been publicised, there were 8220;hundreds of thousands of cases8221; where the governments worked in cooperation with the commission, he said.

Decrying the propaganda8217; about appeasement8217; of minority communities, Dr Mehmood declared that what was termed as appeasement8217; was only a fulfilment of constitutional justice.

At the same time, he said that he was opposed to the minority communities depending on the government for everything.

8220;These communities have to come out from the majority-minority mindset and help themselves. Especially in the case of Muslims, they have to work towards eliminating educational backwardness, which is their single biggest problem. There are huge Waqf8217; properties which are the exclusive domain of the community. Instead of being wasted on unnecessary things, if the money from them were used for educating the people, several problems of the community would be solved,8221; he said.