In India furore at Hindutva presence at Government Seminar on minorities

(19 Aug. 2006) : The presence of certain vocal supporters of Hindutva groups caused a furore at the National Workshop on Conferment of Scheduled Caste Status on Convert to Islam and Christianity, held on Thursday in Mumbai, the capital of India’s western state of Maharashtra. The Workshop was organized by the National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities and the Tata Institute for Social Sciences, Mumbai.

The participating scholars and activists resented the presence of the Hindutva brigade, some of whose members continuously heckled speakers representing minority groups. Christian leaders and social activists issued a joint statement at the seminar questioning its methodology and expressing their distress at the apparent effort to coerce the minorities and divide communities. The statement said: "We are surprised at the adversarial structure of the Workshop based on participation of elements that are extraneous to the issue and have no locus-standi. "We reaffirm that the demand for justice under the Constitution by the Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims is addressed to the Government of India and not to political or religious groups. Our appeals and arguments are directed towards the National Commission which is an instrument of Government of India, the statement read.

A representative of the Tata Institute, who wished to remain anonymous, said the Institute was under tremendous pressure to invite the Hindutva groups.