MINORITIES - 2002 - Indian Social Institute

acre land. Construction work has be gun and a three-feet boundary wall has already been con structed
within a few days. What has raised eyebrows is the way constructiuon has been started, that too without
the knowledge of Government officials. “We have started our agitation against the construction of hostel in
a phased manner,” Pramod Mishra, assisant general-secretary of Jharkhand VHP told The Pioneer.
(Pioneer 13.1.02)
15 th Jan
Babri committee rejects PMO offer on Ayodhya talks (7)
Lucknow, Jan. 14: The All-India Babri Masjid Action Committee has spurned an offer of a negotiat ed
settlement outside the court on the Ayodhya issue. The offer was informally made by an officer of the
Ayodhya cell in the Prime Minister’s office. The AIBMAC leaders said that offers of talks on the eve of
elec tions were aimed at misleading the minorities and extracting political mileage on the issue. According
to sources, Mr Shatrughan Singh, officer incharge of the recently revived Ayodhya Cell in the PMO, held a
dinner meeting with three AIBMAC leaders, Mr Zafaryab Jilani, Mr Abdul Mannan and Mr Mushtaq Ahmad
Siddiqui, on Sat urday night. The secret conclave was held at the residence of a prominent journalist.
(Asian Age 15.1.02)
17 th Jan.
Government unveils loan schemes for Delhi minorities (7)
New Delhi,: The Delhi govern ment on Wednesday announced two soft loan schemes exclusively meant
for poor families belonging to the minority communities in the city.
The schemes, open to the Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist and Parsi communities, will come into effect
from Thursday whereby applicants belonging to these communities can approach the Delhi Scheduled
Castes Financial and Development Corporation for loans. Under the schemes, the eligible per sons will
get a general loan for self employment. They can get financial assistance for any project costing upto Rs
50,000 and also for projects whose cost would range from Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 lakhs. The interest would be
four per cent on the first category while nine per cent interest would be charged for the second category
that comes under Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 lakhs. (Asian Age 17.1.02)
17th Jan
Christian board slams saffronisation (7)
Panaji, Jan. 16: The Christian Archdiocesan Board of Educa tion has taken strong exception to what it
views as a systematic attempt to communalise educa tion in Goa since the advent of the BJP in power in
the state. In a strongly-worded state ment, released here, the ABE has expressed worry over
communalisation of education at the all-India level and similar attempts in Goa. The board, which runs a
net work of 241 schools and six col leges in the state, has com plained that the education department has
been trying to “impose surplus teachers” on Diocesan schools, and that the criteria for selecting teachers
was not followed in making these appointments. The ABE has also suggested that the school education
advi sory board be made into a “truly representative body” in proportion to the schools man aged by
different societies. Members of all creeds should be included in the panel to pre pare textbooks, the
statement said, citing specific instances of lack of representation. (Asian Age 17.1.02)
18 th Jan
RSS chief lashes out at conversions (7)
Jhabua: RSS LEADER K S Sudarshan said religious conversions were responsible for “conflict in society”.
He was addressing a gathering of tribals from Jhabua and Dhar s districts of Madhya Pradesh at the RSS
Hindu Sangam, organ ised to mark the conclusion of its three-year-long campaign to check religious
conversions. Sudarshan said Hindus had no problems with religious prac tices - be it Christianity or Islam.
“But trouble begins when some one says if you worship my God, you will go to heaven and if not, you will
suffer,” he said. Sudarshan recalled an instance when a Catholic repre sentative at a convention of religions
in Delhi last November had admitted his religion was “plagued by the malaise of con version”. The
representative had quoted five instances from the Bible exhorting co-existence, and apologised for the
atrocities inflicted by his ancestors in the name of religion, he claimed. “If all churches and Christians
adopt this attitude, there will be no problem. I request the church es and bishops that their conduct be in
accordance with this to pre vent conflict.” (Hindustan Times 18.1.02)