Union Minister for Human Resource Development Arjun Singh has assured Muslims that their status as a minority community will not only be protected but also enhanced.
Expressing the United Progressive Alliance government's commitment to safeguarding the rights of minorities, Singh told a gathering of Indian expatriates in Riyadh that only a microscopic minority in the country would like to deprive the minorities of their rights as citizens.
Singh was speaking at a reception hosted in his honour by the Aligarh Muslim University Old Boys's Association on Wednesday night.
The Minister's assurance on protecting the minorities' rights was in response to an earlier appeal from AMUOBA's president Misbahul Arifin who expressed disappointment over the UPA's 'cold attitude towards our issues'.
He urged the government to explicitly recognise the minority character of AMU and making necessary changes in the Constitution and the 1981 Act.
He said the government's move to reserve 27 per cent seats for OBCs in higher institutions has been welcomed by the Muslims in general but its benefit will only be felt "when your government machinery ensures that Muslims, who constitute almost nine percent of all OBCs, get their due share."
Singh said the government had already challenged the verdict of the Allahabad High Court on the AMU.
"Since the case is subjudice, I cannot comment anything more at this stage. But I would like to assure you that our government is fully committed to protecting the minority rights," he said amid cheers from the audience.
On the subject of conducting examinations for NRI students appearing for professional courses, the minister announced that the government had accepted the proposal. "I am happy to inform you that the HRD ministry has accepted it and the system will be in place before the next academic session."
He also said that the Saudi Minister of Higher Education had assured him that Indian degrees would be recognised in Saudi Arabia under an arrangement that is being worked out by Indian and Saudi Equivalence Committees.
"I am assured that this matter would cease to be a problem," he said, adding that he had taken it up during his meeting with Saudi Minister for Higher Education Dr Khaled Al-Angari.
He said the new momentum in Indo-Saudi relations had been made possible following the landmark visit of King Abdullah to New Delhi for the Republic Day celebrations this year.
During his meeting with the King on Wednesday, Singh said the Saudi monarch assured him that all the agreements within the framework of the Delhi Declaration would be fully implemented.
Regarding the classification of Indian expatriates, Singh said India's Ambassador MOH Farook had made a number of suggestions in this regard.
"On returning to Delhi I shall see how we can deal with them to the satisfaction of the Indian community, whose welfare is always our prime concern. I would request you to be a little patient and give us some time so that you will be able to walk with your heads held high," he said.
Earlier, the ambassador made a special plea for dealing with the issue of classification of NRIs since the admission fee for professional courses is $5,000 which NRIs in the Gulf can hardly afford.
"Of the 1.4 million Indian expatriates in Saudi Arabia, 80 percent are blue collar workers," he observed.
The ambassador also drew the Singh's attention to the problems facing around 35,000 NRI students and said: "It is necessary to set up coaching centres for NRI children."
Veteran Congress member Waseem Ahmed assured his audience that Singh was fully committed to the cause of the Muslim minority, for whose sake he was 'waging a fight for justice'.
