The resolution was moved by the Indian Union Muslim League member Abdul Wahab on February 10 and had found support across party lines, including the Congress, Trinamool Congress and Samajwadi Party.
The Rajya Sabha Friday turned down the resolution urging the government to implement the recommendations of the Sachar committee and other panels regarding the educational and social backwardness of Muslims, especially women.
The resolution was moved by the Indian Union Muslim League member Abdul Wahab on February 10 and had found support across party lines, including the Congress, Trinamool Congress and Samajwadi Party.
When the matter was taken up on Friday, amid repeated adjournments, Union Minority Affairs and Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani opposed it. She said, “A new India that has been envisaged cannot be broken down on the basis of religion. I would request… the entire House unanimously reject this resolution so that we who build the new India under the leadership of the honourable Prime Minister can build it on issues of inclusion, equity and equality.”
While introducing the resolution, Wahab said that Muslims constituted 14% of the population but only 5.5% of those were getting higher education and only 13% Muslim women were reaching the level of higher education.
The only other member to speak on the resolution was BJP MP from Madhya Pradesh Ajay Pratap Singh. He opposed the resolution stating that the legitimacy of the committee itself has been challenged in the court.
Wahab was not present to reply to the discussion, after which the resolution was defeated in a voice vote. It was the only resolution to be taken up on Friday, with the House being disrupted repeatedly.
Convening at 02:30 pm after the morning session was cut short, the House was adjourned again within minutes with members raising slogans of “Rahul Gandhi maafi maango (Rahul Gandhi apologise).”
Source: Indian Express
