At PM’s NIC meet on communal violence,states showcase their Muslim sops
'Secular' parties furnished with grace their novel models for Muslim development and integration.
With elections around the corner,the National Integration Council NIC meeting Monday became the platform for regional secular parties in power in several states to tom tom their bouquet of sops for Muslims.
Mamata Banerjee won the contest,including in her presentation a full list of the benefits the Trinamool Congress government has granted Muslims,who make up around 30 per cent of West Bengals voters. Her government is opening English medium madrasas and giving bicycles to Muslim girls of Classes IX to XII. It is erecting boundary walls at over 575 Muslim graveyards,and will open a Minority Bhawan in each district. This is in addition to declaring 49 Muslim communities as more backward,giving them more jobs and other benefits.
Related: Lacklustre NIC meet neither national nor integrated
Bengals speech,said to have been drafted by Mamata herself,was delivered by her Finance Minister Amit Mitra,who said that economic empowerment was the key to communal harmony. I am proud to say that this harmony has been achieved due to the endeavours of our government, he said.
Bihars Nitish Kumar described how his government is giving back properties to victims of the Bhagalpur riots of 1989. The government of Bihar has conducted two rounds of special coaching for minority youths to enable them to compete for posts of police constables, he said.
Related: Chorus for curbs on social media in NIC meet
Bihar was building hostels for Muslims,giving them cheaper loans,monetarily supporting divorced or deserted Muslim women,and had granted Rs 10,000 each to 29,000 Muslim students who got first division marks in their Class X exams,Nitish said. Bihars cash scholarships to Muslims was more effective that central scholarships,he claimed. In an apparent dig at the BJP,the Bihar CM termed as unwarranted the naming of processions as yatra and parikrama. He mentioned riot victims are given lifelong pensions.
Related: PM addresses NIC meeting,says communal riots a challenge to democracy
Tamil Nadu said it had encouraged competitions and festivals among minority youths,and helped pilgrimages. The Orissa representative said the overall law and order situation in the state is by and large peaceful because of various welfare measures taken for the minority community.
Neither Jayalalithaa nor Naveen Patnaik were present.
Jammu and Kashmirs Omar Abdullah,on the other hand,said Kashmiriyat was incomplete without the return of the Kashmiri pandits,and asked the Centre to enhance the cash incentive for reconstruction of houses to help them return to the Valley.
Share
