Book of Integration Council New - Ministry of Home Affairs

ise in the cost of education and the shrinkage of the employment pie, the
scramble between various social groups in our society has intensified adversely
affecting both social justice and national integration. The earlier slogans of 'sons
of the soil' are finding newer expressions in the current chauvinistic campaign in
Maharashtra. The Union Government has failed to translate many of the
recommendations and suggestions for improving the educational and social status
of the minorities. While all these issues must be discussed in right earnest
urgently, given the present critical situation, we would wish to confine ourselves
to the two issues that we have raised at the outset.
As the orgy of violence against the Christian minority continues unabated in
Orissa, Karnataka etc, come the gruesome reports of communal violence in Assam.
So far, over 50 lives have been lost and close to a lakh of people have been forced
to flee their homes. The clashes between the ethnic Bodo tribals, the local people
and the Muslims is a grave development in a state which has repeatedly seen such
ethnic and communal clashes weakening the unity of our social fabric.
Horrific is the latest report of a six member Muslim family being burnt alive
in the Bhaisha town in Adilabad district of Andhra Pradesh. So far ten lives have
been consumed in the communal violence here. In the Dhule district of
Maharashtra, communal violence has taken a toll of may innocent lives
and large-scale destruction of houses and property. This is the third case of
communal violence in the state of Maharashtra within a week. Rajasthan continues
to be tense with communal clashes being reported from Udaipur. Similar reports
of growing communal polarization come from various other parts of the country.
The situation in J&K where communal poliarization was sharply roused continues
to remain a source of concern for the unity and integrity of India.
The National Commission for Minorities (NCM), in a severe indictment of
the Karnataka government, has said that the BJP-led state government was "soft"
on the Bajrang Dal ignoring ample warnings of impending violence against the
Christian minorities. It also notes that after widespread outrage, the Karnataka
police had arrested the Bajrang Dal state convenor. He was, however, released
soon on bail. On the contrary, many Christians who are the victims, were
arrested, refused bail and continue to languish in jails.
Similar observations have been made by the NCM regarding Orissa. The
RSS and the Bajrang Dal have now threated that only those dalit Christians who
convert to Hinduism can return to rebuild their destroyed homes in Kandhmahal,
Orissa.
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