On minority rights India can be teacher of the world: Prof. Peter Ronald DeSouza
By Andalib Akhter
Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi today said that Minorities in India were more secure and strong than other part of world. ” Rights of Minorities were more secure and strong in India in comparison to any other democracy of the world” Naqvi said at programme in New Delhi.
He said that the present NDA government led by primeminister narendra Modi has ‘worked hard to create a sense of equality among the Minorities’.
Minister was speaking during an annual Lecture programme organised by the National Commission for the Minorities in New Delhi. Prof. Peter Ronald DeSouza of Delhi University delivered the Annual Lecture 2016-17 on “Minority Rights and Democracy in India”.
Naqvi said that the Minorities have also been equally getting benefits from schemes such as “Pradhanmantri Jan Dhan Yojna”, “Ujjwala Yojna”, “Deen Dayal Gram Jyoti Yojna”, scholarships for students, employment-oriented “Kaushal Vikas Yojna”, health centres and educational institutions. Besides this, there are several welfare schemes of the Minority Affairs Ministry- “PM’s new 15-point programme”, “Nai Manzil”, “Nai Raushni”, “Seekho aur Kamao”, “Ustaad”, “Pre-metric and Post-metric scholarships” and other Central Government schemes such as “Make in India”, “Skill India”, “Start up India” which have benefitted the Minorities equally.
Naqvi said that communal incidents have decreased significantly during 28 months of NDA Government because the Modi Government believes in “empowerment politics” and not “appeasement politics”.
Our Government believes in “empowerment without appeasement”. Communal harmony is the guarantee of society’s prosperity. National Commission of Minorities received 2638 complaints in 2013-14, 1995 in 2014-15, 1974 in 2015-16 and 97 complaints were received in 2016-17 (till 20th April, 2016).
Naqvi said that be it internal security, economy, communal harmony, nation’s borders, are all absolutely safe under Prime Minister Shri Modi. The entire world has witnessed this. Naqvi said that any conspiracy against development agenda will not be allowed to succeed. The terror forces and their supporters who are working against India’s security will be defeated at any cost.
Delivering his lecture Prof. Peter Ronald DeSouza said that on the issue of minority rights in a democracy India could be the teacher of the world.
“As the world struggles with working out the moral, legal, and social terms of the majority-minority relationship India’s engagement with this question, since the last 70 years, constitutes a valuable global intellectual resource”, he said.
Prof. DeSouza said that three key ideas emerge from this debate on minority rights. The first that cultural and religious plurality is an asset to a nation and not a threat, a bold argument to be made after partition when the sense of the house was overwhelmingly for strong integration. The second is that cultural autonomy must be allowed, the protective argument, so that individuals can develop their personalities to the fullest using their cultural resources. And the third is to give this belief constitutional and not just statutory status.
Prof. DeSouza observed that the terms of living together are both fixed and fluid. They have to be regularly recalibrated. “Our democracy has the good fortune to have institutions that are tasked with placing minority concerns in the public domain. If we are truly committed to minority rights in our democracy we must not only seek to recalibrate the majority–minority relationship but also that of minorities within minorities”, Prof. DeSouza added.