The international convention of Dalits and minorities on Monday lambasted communal and fascist forces for trying to create a wedge among the marginalised group of the society and denying socio-political rights to them.
Adopting the New York declaration on the last day of the three-day meet, which was attended by over 400 delegates from all parts of the world, the convention said the "inter group violence" posed serious threat to the democratic and secular character of the country.
There was a need to combat these disruptive forces unitedly so that secular fabric of the country does not get eroded, the convention by the American Federation of Muslims of Indian Origin declared in New York.
Fertilisers and Chemicals Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, who presided over the concluding session of the convention, said power must come into the hands of socially and economically backward for achieving economic empowerment.
The declaration expressed serious concern over human rights violation in India and stated that minorities and Dalits were the worst sufferers. It also urged the government to investigate all cases of disappearances and custodial killing in Jammu and Kashmir and "arbitary detention of innocent people in various states on unverified accusations of terrorism."
Editor of Rashtriya Sanha Aziz Burney expressed concern over the illegal detention of thousands of Muslim youths in false cases, who were languishing in jails without trials.
He further stated that the government should also investigate mass crimes and riots by special courts so that the minorities and Dalits were not harassed.
It demanded full implementation of the Central formula for the compensation and rehabilitation of the victims of 1984 anti-Sikh disturbances as well as 2002 Gujarat pogrom.
The convention also demanded the abolition of 50 per cent limit on reservation so that the marginalised could achieve economic and educational empowerment.
Paswan said the next convention would be held in Dubai in 2010. "Our effort should be to forge unity among all the deprived sections," he said adding there was a need for the universalisation of education.
The convention was attended by Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha Charanjit Singt Atwal, Dalit leaders Ram Das Atwale and Udit Raj, Muslim leader Syed Shahabuddin, Shia leader Kalbe Rushaid and several other members of parliament and legislators.
