
Hyderabad: The Minorities Commission has an important role to play in protecting the rights of minorities and providing justice in case of injustice. The Minorities Commission is a constitutional body over which the government has no control. It has been more than two years in Telangana, but minorities, especially Muslims, are waiting for the formation of the Minority Commission to solve their problems.
The KCR government appointed the chairman of the Telangana Minorities Commission on March 3 after a gap of two years and completed the process of formation of the commission by appointing three members of the commission on March 4.
The Minorities Commission makes recommendations to the government at the national and state levels regarding the injustice and solution of the problems of Muslims. The commission is empowered to call senior officials through summons. The chairman of the commission has been given the powers of civil court judge. In the absence of such an empowered commission for two years, the Muslims of Telangana have been deprived of representation for their rights.
After the formation of Telangana in 2014, the KCR government did not set up the commission for four years. In January 2018, Muhammad Qamaruddin was appointed chairman while one vice-president and six members were appointed. Apart from three Muslims, Christians, Parsis, Sikhs, and Jains were represented as the members.
The commission has been lying vacant since the three-year term was completed in January 2021. The previous commission played an important role in the revival of Urdu degree courses in the Open University. The commission received 447 applications in three years, out of which 337 were resolved.
The government appointed Tariq Ansari as the chairman of the commission on March 3, while The next day Mohammad Atharullah, Mohammad Tanveer, and Darshan Singh were nominated as members.
Even after three weeks post the formation of the commission, the chairman and members are waiting to take charge, which has caused disappointment among the Muslims.
In Telangana, several important issues are awaiting the commission, including the recent death of a youth named Qadeer Khan in Medak due to police torture and the implementation of Muslim reservation at 3 percent instead of 4 percent.
The Minority Commission is likely to seek a report from the government’s Chief Secretary and Director General of Police on the Qadeer Khan case and the reservation issue.