Jammu, Dec 12 (PTI) Jammu and Kashmir BJP spokespersonVirender Gupta today accused the state government of "lootingthe money" provided by the Centre for the religious andlinguistic minorities of the state.
Countering the Jammu and Kashmir government's stand inthe Supreme Court on setting up a minorities commission in thestate, he also alleged the policy followed by the MehboobaMufti-led government amounted to "cheating the nation".
The BJP is a coalition partner of the PDP in the Jammuand Kashmir government.
The Jammu and Kashmir government, in an affidavitsubmitted in the apex court, had claimed that as per theNational Commission for Minorities Act, 1992, it was not boundto constitute a state-level minorities commission.
"The policy followed by the state government amounts tocheating the nation and looting money from Government ofIndia, meant for the religious and linguistic minorities ofthe state," Gupta said.
He added that Muslims accounted for about 68 per cent ofJammu and Kashmir's population and thus, they could not availof the benefits meant for the minority community.
The Centre needed to issue clear-cut instructions to thestate as regards providing the benefits to the "actual"minorities under its schemes and also, the prime minister's12-point programme, Gupta said.
He said the government's plea that it would consider theneed and feasibility of setting up a state minority commissionafter a study of the social and educational backwardness ofthe minorities across various regions of Jammu and Kashmir wasan "attempt to sidetrack" the issue. PTI AB AAR RCIJT.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.