Muslim groups meet PM, Sonia

A delegation of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind and other Muslim organisations met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday to seek redress of long-pending community specific grievances and demands.

Drawing their attention to the ‘extreme deprivation' faced by Muslims, the organisations urged them to take steps to implement 10 per cent reservation for the community as recommended by the Ranganath Misra Committee.

The Muslim leaders also sought changes in the Communal Violence (prevention, control and rehabilitation) Bill to ensure greater official accountability and protection of victims.

The Muslim leaders described the Sachar Committee report, which brought out the full extent of deprivation among Muslims, as a “substantial step taken by you,” regretting, however, that the release of the report had not been followed up by substantive efforts to address the “inequalities, discrimination, disparities and persecution” cumulatively faced by the community over the past 60 years.

They emphasised that redressal of Muslim grievances was important as much to impart a sense of well-being in the community as to foster national unity and strengthen democracy.