Minorities Commission Gives Clean Chit to VHP
NDTV Correspondent
6 May, 2003
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leaders including Praveen Togadia and others met the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) today. And much to everyone's surprise, not only did the minorities commission avoid a reprimand, it actually endorsed the trishul diksha. "The trishul is being distributed in a religious ceremony, it is not meant to create harm," said M S Usmani, vice chairman, NCM.
More demands
Earlier, in a letter to the VHP asking its leaders to come for
today's meeting, the commission had held it responsible for
shattering the country's communal fabric. But by the end of the day, the NCM was even willing to look at other more controversial demands made by the VHP. These include:Minority leaders must publicly condemn every terrorist attacks,
especially those that take place in Jammu and Kashmir
Certain words like kafir and jehad be removed from Islamic religious texts, and speeches A change in madrassas' curriculum. The VHP claims that there's too much emphasis in it on what they call anti Indian rulers like Ghazni
and Aurangzeb. Justifying VHP stance"We have understood the VHP's irritations. We will try out best to
remove these. Unless we know what the majority commission wants, we can't succeed," said Tarlochan Singh, chairman, NCM.
The commission also claims it got an assurance from the VHP that none of it's programmes are anti minority and that the organistaion will work for a dialogue to achieve harmony. The commission has no statutory powers and what it says is not binding, and according to many experts it is a toothless body that
has become increasingly politicized. But the NCM does have moral authority, which the VHP could use to justify its future controversial campaigns.
Take a few minutes and write to the NCM to tell what you think of their approval of VHP's 'Trishul Diksha'.
The web site of the National Commission of Minorities, India is:
http://ncm.nic.in/
The physical address is:
5th Floor,
Lok Nayak Bhavan,
Khan Market,
New Delhi 110 003 [India]
Fax 24693302, 24642645, 24698410Chairman of NCM: Shri Tarlochan Singh
Official Phone: 24690592 / 24698410
Office E-mail : [email protected]Vice Chairman of NCM: M S Usmani
Official Phone: 4690809
Official E-mail: [email protected]o o o