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NCM submits report on Hindu minorities

The National Commission for Minorities has submitted to the government a special report detailing actions taken and recommendations made by it in respect of Hindu minorities in different parts of the country, including Jammu and Kashmir.

NCM chairman Tahir Mahmood has personally prepared the special report, taking into account the fact that Hindus constitute the minority community in Jammu and Kashmir and some other states, a release from the commission said.

Stating that the NCM is the only official body at the national level which is charged by law with the responsibility of overseeing free and lawful enjoyment of religious rights of individuals and communities, Mahmood said it was for this reason that the commission had never discriminated in this matter between various communities irrespective of majority or minority status.

The commission's 72-page report on the Hindu community deals with the Jammu and Kashmir government's move to amend the Vaishno Devi legislation, the controversy on M F Husain's ''obscene'' paintings involving Hindu goddesses, the grievances of Kabir Panthas and some other subjects.

''In a vast federal country like India, the minority status of any community cannot be defined at the national level alone -- especially since many of the subjects which necessarily affect the life and rights of the minorities (eg, law and order, education, and personal law) are made under the Constitution either in the exclusive jurisdiction of the states or the states have concurrent jurisdiction on them along with the Centre. Determination of minority status and their effective protection at the state level is therefore as important as at the national level,'' Dr Mahmood says in his report.

Copies of the report have been sent to the prime minister and the Union home affairs and social justice and empowerment ministries.

UNI

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