The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Reject Sachar Committee report, say experts

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Monday, Feb 18, 2008
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Karnataka - Bangalore

Reject Sachar Committee report, say experts

Special Correspondent

‘Convenient political ploy to keep the vote bank intact’

‘In Karnataka, Muslim population has grown by 194 per cent, general population by 124 per cent’
Figures are based on the National Family Health Survey, which commenced in 1961

BANGALORE: “The Rajendra Sachar Committee report has been modelled on the Hunter Committee report of 1871, which was designed to divide India on the basis of religion by the British. The Sachar Committee report will again divide India should it be allowed to be implemented,” said experts, who took part in a seminar on the report here on Sunday.

The seminar was organised jointly by the Centre for Educational and Social Studies and Mythic Society of Bangalore on the theme “The content and implications of the Rajendra Sachar Committee Report”.

The panel of speakers included Rakesh Sinha, reader of Political Science Department of Delhi University; Prakash Belawadi, theatre director; S.C. Jayachandra, president of the Karnataka SC/ST Backlog Engineers’ Association; and Anwar Manippady, former chairman of Karnataka State Minorities Commission. The former judge of the Karnataka High Court Jagannatha Shetty presided.

Dr. Sinha said the “Sachar Committee report was aimed at creating a conducive atmosphere for certain political parties to muster political support” and termed it as an instrument for communalising politics.

Quoting the National Family Health Survey, Dr. Sinha said that the Muslim community had shown prolific growth in population. Basing 1961 as the year of commencement of the survey, Delhi had shown 944 per cent growth while in Haryana it was 324 per cent. All India figures showed that the Muslim population had grown by 194 percent while the general population had grown by 120 per cent. In Karnataka, the Muslim population has grown by 194 per cent and the general population by 124 percent and it obviously meant that the Muslim community was thriving, despite the so-called economic backwardness as pointed out by the report.

Political parties perhaps were trying to erode the Indian nationality and want to raise a religion-based nationality by promoting the Sachar Committee report, Dr. Sinha said.

Mr. Manippady also gave a call to reject the Sachar Committee report, saying that the Government should instead institute another survey which should be more ‘inclusive’ particularly those sections of society that are economically backward. By restricting the survey to a certain religious group, the Government would only divide the nation into hostile camps trying to vest Government empathy. “This was a convenient political ploy to keep the vote bank intact in the future,” he added.

Discussion needed

Justice Jagannath Shetty questioned the validity of the commission report. There has to be a healthy discussion in Parliament to give credence to the Sachar Committee Report, which has not happened.

“In such circumstances, the constitutionality of the report and the action by the Government will be under a cloud,” he said.

Mr. Belawadi dwelt on the implications of the report on the socio-cultural field and said “compartmentalising communities will de-link them from the social milieu”. Earlier, President of the Mythic Society M.K.L.N. Shastri and Director of the CESS C.S. Vishnukant referred to the need for a public debate.

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