Bhopal:
Popular Front of India will launch a two months long “National
Campaign for Muslim Reservation” during February and March 2010.
The nation-wide campaign will start
with a grand public meeting at Pune in Maharashtra on January 31. A
Parliament march will be held at New Delhi to mark the conclusion
of the campaign. A series of public awareness programs including
pamphlets, posters, exhibitions, street meetings, vehicle caravans,
rallies, seminars and cultural shows will be held in various states
as part of the campaign.
According to a Press release issued by
K. M. Shareef, General Secretary PFI, the decision to focus on the
demand for Muslim Reservation was taken in the National Executive
Council meeting of Popular Front held for two days at Calicut. The
meeting demanded that immediate steps from the central and state
governments for providing reservation to all Muslims in education
and government employment in the light of the recommendations
contained in the Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission Report. This
report was tabled in the Parliament without the accompanying action
taken statement.
The council called upon all minority
and backward class organizations to work united for the
implementation of the Mishra commission recommendations. The
reservation to minorities has to be provided without effecting
existing reservation quotas enjoyed by tribals, dalits and other
backward communities.
Popular Front warned against any
attempts by communal, upper caste and vested interest outfits to
divide the deprived sections and requested them not to be carried
away by such attempts based on false propaganda.
The meeting observed that the
functioning of the recently constituted National Investigation
Agency, (NIA), is against the spirit of federalism which guarantees
the autonomy and independence of administrative and police machinery
of each state. Popular Front of India had earlier demanded the
withdrawal of the amendments to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention)
Act and opposed the move to constitute NIA over and above the
existing agencies when the proposal came from the central
government.
The amendments reinstated many
provisions of the repealed black laws TADA and POTA. The meeting
recalled that even the left parties including CPI (M) have not
objected to NIA when it came for approval before the Parliament, the
release pointed out.
The meeting also blamed the
governments at the Centre and states for exorbitant price hike of
essential commodities and demanded strengthening public distribution
system for all ration card holders and free distribution of
essential food grains to those who are below poverty line, the
release said.
Chairman E. M. Abdul Rahiman presided
over the meeting. General Secretary K.M. Shareef presented the
report of activities. A. Saeed, O. M. A. Salam, Dr. Mehboob Shareef
Awad, Adv. K. P. Muhammad Shareef, Prof. P. Koya, Sheik Muhammed
Dahlan Baqavi, Moulana Usman Beg Rashadi, M. Muhammed Ismail and
presidents and general secretaries of different states attended the
meeting.
(pervezbari@eth.net)
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