Minorities8217; front launched

MUMBAI, JUNE 7: In a move to reorganise Dalits, Christians, Sikhs and Muslims on the occasion of the forthcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly e...

MUMBAI, JUNE 7: In a move to reorganise Dalits, Christians, Sikhs and Muslims on the occasion of the forthcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, noted educationalist and Rajya Sabha member Akhtar Rizvi on Monday launched the National Minorities Morcha.

8220;Our aim is to bring various minority communities on a common platform to consolidate their votes and help prevent a hung Parliament after the mid-term polls. The morcha will not have any alliance with communal and divisive parties, but is open for alliance with secular and likeminded forces,8221; Rizvi said.

Rizvi, who has been elected to the Rajya Sabha as an independent nominee, remarked that though the Congress was in power for well over four-and-half decades, it has miserably failed to meet the aspiractions of the people, particularly the minority communities.

He said the organisation would make minority cells in the Congress as well as BJP redundant and for the first time, all minorities in the country will have a platform to seek a share of power in government at the Centre and states to fulfil their long-pending demands.

Rizvi alleged that the Samajwadi Party and Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party of conspiring with the BJP to prevent Sonia Gandhi from becoming the prime minister on grounds of her foreign origin.

He said it was high time that the rights of the minorities were given to them in accordance with the percentage of their population so that they were not deprived of social, economic and political justice. 8220;This can be achieved only when members of the minorities community come on the common platform and fight unitedly against communal and divisive forces. Instead of begging, minorities can solve their problems themselves by getting their share in power,8221; he added.

When asked about his association with the Lok Tantrik Congress, which has an alliance with the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, Rizvi said he was elected to the Rajya Sabha as an independent candidate. 8220;I was supported by Lok Tantrik Congress, Samajwadi Party and even a section of the Congress legislators, but it does not mean that I belong to the Lok Tantrik Congress,8221; he said.