Ansari encourages Muslims to take part in decision making

Vice President Hamid Ansari on Saturday said that while the Constitution guarantees equality to all citizens and prohibits discrimination on the ground of sex. Muslims, especially women, are lagging behind others in the fields of education and participation in the work force.

Addressing the 61st convocation at Aligarh Muslim University, Ansari said in the eyes of the Muslim community their main priorities were "physical security, education and employment." Each of these falls within the ambit of affirmative action. Some positive steps have been taken, however, more remains to be done, he added.

Ansari reminded the Country that as far as Muslims were concerned a younger, confident and assertive generation seeks the right to equality and its share in the decision making process.

Ansari emphasised that different studies including the Sachar Committee report of 2006 had underlined the glaring societal deprivation among the Muslims and the need to bridge the gap at the earliest. Explaining the responsibility of the state towards the minorities in a heterogeneous society, Ansari said that there were certain obligations on its part to promote equal treatment as envisaged by the Constitution.

"The challenge is to universalise and deepen its implementation," he said. The Vice President reminded all citizens that if they expected something from the state, they would have to become partners in the process, assist it and actively work for achieving their rights. In a veiled message to the Muslims he said: "Segregation, seclusion or self imposed isolation is uncivil and the transgression of the spirit of a plural society."

Ansari also made a fervent plea for the empowerment of Muslim women.

"The dead weight of tradition, poverty and communal politics has resulted in Muslim women facing hardships relating literacy, economic power resulting from work and income, and autonomy of decision making. The net result is a pattern of structured disempowerment. There is nothing in the tenets of faith that permits it on the contrary, rights and obligations are equally enjoined," he said.