The Hindu : National : Move debate on welfare of minorities to specifics: Sonia

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Tuesday, Jun 13, 2006

National

National

Move debate on welfare of minorities to specifics: Sonia

Special Correspondent

"Islamic culture has been an intrinsic ingredient of the Indian scene"

NEW DELHI: Recounting the commitment of the United Progressive Alliance Government to social harmony and the welfare of minorities, Congress president Sonia Gandhi said the endeavour now was to move the debate to specifics and make efforts to produce results in a specified time frame.

Outlining the approach of the UPA, Ms. Gandhi detailed seven challenges: generating awareness of the problems that exist; discuss issues rather than brush them under the carpet; explore equitable, cooperative, solutions that would strengthen the social fabric; reduce levels of deprivation; attend specifically to the problems of women and children with focus on girl-child; respond to the educational and employment aspirations of the youth; and widen levels of prosperity and make all sections of the community stake holders in the new India that is emerging.

Government committed

"While the Government is committed to deliver in areas of its responsibility, civil society has to shoulder its own share of the burden and assist the process," she said here in her address at the inauguration of the India Islamic Cultural Centre (IICC). She said it was here that an institution like IICC could play the catalyst to initiate debate, develop awareness and explore options.

Ms. Gandhi said such an approach would add a relevant dimension to the intellectual and cultural activities of the centre aimed at informing the public about the heritage of Islam and the Indian contribution to it.

"This contribution must not remain a matter of nostalgia alone. As a living reality, it should be explored to seek ideas and solutions to the problems of underdevelopment in contemporary India," she said.

Promoting ethos of Islamic culture

The Congress president said the primary objective of the centre to "remove misunderstandings about Islam and promote an awareness of the ethos of Islamic culture," signals a somewhat defensive and limited approach. She said it puts Islam in the category of the "other" that has to be constantly explained.

"In reality, Islam and Islamic culture has been an intrinsic ingredient of the Indian scene for over a millennium. Their interaction in the realm of ideas, arts and architecture, language and literature, and above all in social intercourse, has been immensely enriching. The resultant synthesis is distinctive, colourful, truly Indian," Ms. Gandhi said.

She said while about 140 million Muslim citizens of India enjoy the same right to equality and to equal protection of law, and all other fundamental rights as any other citizen, there is a gap between rights in law and their realisation in practice.

Under representation

The level of development of considerable sections of the Muslim population was a matter of concern in terms of equity and social justice, under representation in public life and public employment. "Differentiations of this kind are unacceptable in a modern society. They retard the overall progress of India itself," she said adding that conscious of this ground reality, the UPA government took a number of steps including creating a separate Ministry for Minority Affairs and a high-level committee to report on the social, economic and educational status of Muslim community and suggest policy interventions.

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