Minority Commission lies about Gujarat

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Earlier this week, on
July 30, news came in about a report by the National Commission for
Minorities (NCM) which stated that the Gujarat Government had ‘prima facie’
discriminated against the 500-member Sikh community in Kutch. A Hindustan
Times report quoted NCM member Ajaib Singh, a Sikh, as stating in his report
that “Modi, who has the habit of terrorising the minorities in Gujarat, was in
this case victimising the Sikh farmers.”
The report is not yet uploaded on the NCM website . Singh has reportedly
asked the Government of Gujarat to accept the three-judge Gujarat High Court
verdict which ruled in favour of the farmers. Singh has also written to Punjab
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to intervene in the matter.
Ajaib Singh’s rather exaggerated remark on Modi and his imaginative
conclusion on “terrorisation of minorities”, if the HT report is true, indicates a
woeful lack of an understanding of the factual backdrop and the legal issues
involved. It would be useful to go into the background in some detail. On on April 4, 1973, the Revenue Department of the GoG had passed a
circular [No. TNC/1073/58184] which essentially implied that if an individual
wants to buy agricultural land solely on the strength of his status as
agriculturist in a State outside Gujarat, that individual will be a ‘non-
agriculturist’ and will be disabled from buying the said land. Two things in
particular must be noted about this circular.
First, this circular was issued in April 1973. Which Government was in power
then? The Congress’s Government, whose Chief Minister was Ghanshyambhai
Oza. Secondly, this circular applied to any individual, not only Sikhs. To
exemplify this in the context of Ajaib Singh’s irresponsible statement, although
it is almost embarrassing to do so, a Hindu agriculturist from another State
would also be subject to the same circular and same prohibitions.
Based on this circular, the District Collector, Kutch (where the lands in
question are located) issued instructions to the concerned Mamlatdar to freeze
the revenue records pertaining to those lands until further instructions. The
Government of Gujarat did not, as the HT or Punjab Newsline headlines
suggests, “force out” Sikh farmers or “order them to return to Punjab”. Indeed,
as citizens of India, they had every right to live in Gujarat. What Government
of Gujarat did was to freeze the revenue records as per the circular till the
matter was finally adjudicated.
On behalf of the farmers, it was primarily argued that the definition of
‘agriculturist’ did not expressly specify that that individual had to be an
agriculturist in Gujarat . Additionally, discriminating between agriculturists
solely on the basis of their place of birth (and not religion, as the NCM
reportedly tries to portray) violated Article 15 of the Constitution.
On behalf of the Gujarat Government, it was primarily argued that the land
laws were passed by the state legislature to improve the economic and social
conditions of those agriculturists cultivating land within the territorial
jurisdiction of the State of Gujarat by making them land owners. If out-of-
state agriculturists were allowed to buy agricultural land, it could deprive
Gujarat’s agriculturists from the benefits of the state’s land laws. Therefore,
the definition of ‘agriculturist’ had to be interpreted “purposively”. It is
important to note here that a two-judge Bench judgment of the Gujarat High
Court had earlier held that an ‘agriculturist’ did mean someone who was
cultivating land located within Gujarat.
The three-judge Bench of the Gujarat High Court agreed with the view of the
farmers quashing the decision to freeze revenue records as well as the 1973
circular. The matter is now before the Supreme Court.
Whether or not this circular or GoG’s arguments are sound in law is a
different matter. Indeed, the decision to freeze the revenue records of these
farmers 6-7 years after purchase (most of them had purchased lands in 2006)
is amenable to criticism on grounds of delay. Also, the authorities should
arguably have shown vigil in ensuring that out-of-State farmers were not able
to buy lands in the first place.
What needs to be underscored, however, is how the implementation of a
circular which applies to every out-of-State agriculturist since 1973 has been
twisted by the Minorities Commission as “victimising” and “terrorising” the
Sikh community and how Modi is shown as the creator and villain of this
system which “forces out” the Sikhs.
That a person in as high a position as an NCM member would use such words
in such an irresponsible manner is rather shameful.

http://www.niticentral.com/2013/08/01/minority-commission-lies-gujarat-never-drove-out-sikh-farmers-112733.html

 

[Mritunjaya]

..............just another in a long line of institutions destroyed by congress in their continued service to Antonio Maino.