The Hindu : New Delhi News : NGO to support Congress

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Wednesday, Apr 15, 2009
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New Delhi

NGO to support Congress

Staff Reporter

Photo: Shanker Chakravarty

Secular cause: Film director Mahesh Bhatt along with Millat Bedari Muhim Committee president Jasim Mohammad (left), and Prof. Razaullah Khan (right) addressing a press conference in New Delhi on Tuesday.

NEW DELHI: Resolving to consolidate the “secular forces” in the country, Aligarh-based non-government organisation Millat Bedari Muhim Committee (MBMC) on Tuesday declared its support to the Congress for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Rallying behind the committee, noted film-maker Mahesh Bhatt told reporters here in the Capital that civil society cannot let the communal forces assert themselves and that there is a need to strengthen the secular forces.

Both the MBMC and Mr. Bhatt reasoned that the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance Government’s decision to appoint the Sachar Committee to document the educational, social and economic conditions of the Muslims in India was a significant move aimed at “confronting the shortcomings”.

“Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and the Congress-led UPA have proved by bringing out this report in public domain that they have given a concrete form to the model of inclusive economic growth,” said the film-maker.

“As an independent concerned citizen, I feel that the party which had set up the Sachar Committee should be given another chance to improve the shortcomings and make an effort to eliminate injustice. For an emerging superpower like India, it is important that everyone, irrespective of caste and religion, gets an equal share in the economic growth. Congress has a national presence and has indicated in the past five years that it has the capacity and vision to deliver the goods,” asserted Mr. Bhatt.

The MBMC also launched a “Caravaan-e-bedari” -- flagged off by Mr. Bhatt from the Capital -- that will visit the constituencies in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh with heavy Muslim concentration. Public rallies will be held and pamphlets will be distributed among the people during this campaign. “The track record of the Congress compared to the BJP is clear. We are not saying that the Congress has a clean image, but at least it has not joined hands with communal forces. It has not gone in favour of Kalyan Singh like Mulayam Singh Yadav,” said Prof. Razaullah Khan of the MBMC.

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