People's Democracy

TRIPURA

Mass Convention Demands Immediate Implementation

Of Sachar Committee Recommendations

Haripada Das

THE CPI(M) Tripura state committee organised a state level convention in Agartala Town Hall on August 1, 2007 demanding the implementation of Sachar committee recommendations.

The convention was presided over by a presidium comprising Bajuban Reang MP, Araber Rahaman ex minister, Faizur Rahaman, minister, AIDWA leader Rehana Begam, Abdul Matin and Abdul Sahid. CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and chief minister of the state, Manik Sarkar and Md. Salim, MP addressed the convention. Party state secretary, Baidyanath Majumder presented the resolution before the convention and seven participants from different sub-divisions spoke on it. A resolution consisting of 23 burning demands relating to the socio-economic upliftment of the minority communities, especially of the Muslim people of the state in four spheres namely development, education, employment and security that included some important additions proposed by the speakers, was unanimously adopted amidst high applause.

Appreciating the formation of Sachar committee to make a study of the socio-economic status of the Muslim minorities in the country, Manik Sarkar said, formation of such a committee itself reveals that, the plight of the Muslim populace was not out of sight in the past. But Congress, which was at the helm of the centre since independence barring a few years in the later part of the last century, had no interest to make a study about the Muslims, because, Manik Sarkar said, they were in a race with the BJP-RSS-VHP with a soft-Hindutva policy to maintain their electoral vote bank. In several cases they were found compromising with the Hindu communalism inviting serious blow to our unity, national integrity and communal harmony. Though too late, at last such a study after much insistence on behalf of the Left parties on the basis of CMP, has been done. It is a positive step, he opined.

Briefly explaining the Sachar committee findings before the convention, Manik Sarkar said that it is now an admitted fact that the status of Muslim masses in general in the sphere of education, job, trade and social dignity and security etc., is lying much below than that of the other communities. Justice Sachar had numerically depicted this deplorable status in his report. “ We don’t consider that the Sachar recommendations are panacea for solving all problems. At least we must act upon them for augmentation of the conditions of Muslims to bring them at par in basic spheres,” Manik Sarkar said.

Md. Salim explained the fate of the report of another high power committee to review the conditions of the Muslims formed by Smt. Indira Gandhi in 1980. That committee submitted its report in 1983 and since then it gathered dust in prime minister’s office. Only in 1990, prime minister V.P. Singh placed it in the parliament but had no chance to discuss it. Socio-economic conditions of Muslims in general were worse in the country since pre- independence days. Following partition of the country and creation of two countries on the basis of religion, there was massive exodus of Muslims to both East and West Pakistan. The majority of the elite Muslims in India preferred resettlement in Pakistan and migrated. And the rest, mostly downtrodden working class Muslim masses were not in a position to migrate and they retained their ancestral place for living. This fact has been reflected in the Sachar committee findings in respect of West Bengal and Tripura, Salim said.

Refuting the BJP’s appeasement theory, Md. Salim said while BJP is not shameful in resorting to tokenism to mislead the Muslims for electoral gain, addressing the genuine socio-economic problems of a minority community can never be an appeasement, and rather in opposing Sachar recommendations, BJP is resorting to Hindu appeasement, Md. Salim asserted. Referring to the attitude of Congress party, Salim said, till now Congress has not had discussions on the report. Instead of taking it in the agenda for discussion in the parliament, government had formed four sub-committees, which will suggest measures in the light of the Sachar recommendations. Where the present government’s tenure is only one and a half years to end, it is quite uncertain whether the recommendations of Sachar committee will at all be translated into reality, he apprehended.

Mentioning the upgraded social status of the Muslims in three Left ruled states, Md. Salim said, Tripura is the model before the country in ethnic amity and communal harmony amidst constant conspiracy to create a breach of peace on communal and ethnic lines. As in the case of movement for TTAADC for the tribals in Tripura, where tribals and non-tribals unitedly waged a prolong struggle, Sachar report also must be viewed in class outlook and not in religious outlook. Democratic-minded people of Hindu community should also actively come forward in the movement for implementation of the Sachar recommendations, Salim appealed. At the same time, he suggested, Muslim women who constitute half of their community are mostly griped in religious superstition. They must be brought out of the religious barriers and gender equality must be ensured.

Addressing the audience on behalf of presidium, Bajuban Reang narrated a painful experience when he was contesting an election in Chelagang asembly constituency on a Congress ticket in 1967. Being pierced in the self-conscience, Bajuban Reang said, one of the slogans in that election was “either the Muslims cast vote for Congress or get ready to be driven out to Pakistan”. Still Congress tacitly possesses the same outlook, and only a united struggle for socio-economic upliftment of the Muslims can bear fruit, he concluded. The convention also called upon the majority sections to come forward in support of the minorities and join movement for immediate implementation of the recommendations made by the Sachar Committee.