Scrap minority affairs ministry and commission, demands VHP

The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) attacked the National Minorities Commission’s move to set up a helpline for Muslims, saying both the panel and the ministry of minority affairs should be scrapped.

The ministry is under NDA’s lone Muslim minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.

A resolution to this effect was passed on Sunday at the conclusion of the two-day central governing council’s meet held at the Swaminarayan Temple at Vadtal in Gujarat. This was a formal reiteration of the demand the VHP first made on June 20.

“Such helpline projects a picture that atrocities against Muslims have reached such proportions that the extreme step of opening a helpline had to be taken up,” said VHP joint secretary Surendra Jain in a statement.

Addressing reporters, Jain said this move will strengthen feelings of separatism among “Muslim and Christian extremists” in the country.

“Isn’t the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) more than enough to safeguard the rights of all the citizens of the nation,” Jain asked. He demanded that the NHRC should be empowered while the minorities’ panel should be scrapped.

The VHP resolution also said Pakistanis and separatists had been using the exact analogy to justify the anti-national activities. It further said events unfolding in the world prove the point that the extent of rights Muslims enjoy in India cannot be matched with Muslims of the Islamic countries. It said Christian organisations have also been following the footsteps of the commission.

VHP JOINT SECRETARY SAID THE MOVE WILL STRENGTHEN FEELINGS OF SEPARATISM BETWEEN MUSLIM AND CHRISTIAN EXTREMISTS