Author: Press Trust Of India
Publication: Hindustan Times
Date: September 21, 2008
URL: http://www.hindustantimes.com/storypage/storypage.aspx?sectionName=&id=c0ba831d-4dab-40c7-b688-593190e70be0
Muslims in India need to see through the inadequacies
of the Sachar Committee report, which is being used by Congress to woo the
community as part of their vote bank politics, BJP leader L K Advani said
in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
"The guiding principle of the Sachar
Committee was to show that Muslims in India are victims of discrimination
and injustice, which is not true," Advani said while releasing a book
titled 'Sachar Committee Report: Conspiracy to Divide the Nation,' published
by Bharatiya Vichar Manch.
"Inequalities and backwardness in socio-economic
development are not specific to any community, to an extent they are true
about all communities," he said.
"Congress has been involved in minority
appeasement since they came to power 60 years ago. My appeal to the Muslims
of India is to see through the inadequacies of the Sachar Committee and prevent
Congress from using them to only obtain votes," Leader of the Opposition
Advani, who was on a one-day visit to Gujarat said.
He also asked the Muslims to join the mainstream
of India's development, with equal involvement, equal contribution which would
lead to equal benefits for them.
About the book, which is a compilation of
articles written by scholars from all over India, Advani said, "the articles
in the book collectively present a critique of the Sachar Committee which
cannot be ignored."
"The critique is on four main aspects-the
purpose of constituting the committee, the manner of its functioning, the
arsaid.
The BJP prime ministerial candidate also criticised
the UPA government for taking pride in repealing POTA.
"UPA is a mega-failure on all grounds,
be it inflation, corruption, cash-for-vote politics or terrorism. It has lost
all its credit in the last four-and-a-half-years," Advani said.
Earlier, in the day, Advani had accused the
UPA government of dragging its feet on the issue of tough law on terrorism
despite the Administrative Reforms Commission's recommendation for it.
He had said, "the Administrative Reforms
Commission (ARC) has recommended for a tough law on terror. It's one week
since the bomb blast in Delhi but UPA government has still not decided on
introducing a stringent anti-terror law. It seems that they are not serious
about it."
"They are simply playing vote-bank politics
ahead of the general elections," he charged.
"The Union Government is yet to learn
lesson from the serial blasts in the national capital and formulate a tough
law to fight terrorism," Advani added.
