Sachar report on Muslims an eyewash: UP minister

Terming Sachar committee report on status of minorities as an "eyewash", Uttar Pradesh Minister Mohammad Azam Khan on Friday said it has fallen short of the expectations of Muslims by not recommending provisions for special opportunities for them.

Khan, who is the state Parliamentary Affairs Minister, said that it was yet another move to fool Muslims ahead of assembly elections in the state.

"The much-awaited Sachar committee report, which was expected to recommend special opportunities for Muslims, has failed in its objective", he told reporters in Lucknow.

Accusing the Congress of having "changed" it "deliberately", he said the party was interested in "just gaining a political mileage without doing anything concrete for the community".

Khan said that although, he himself had not gone through the report, it was unfortunate that the Union Minister A R Antulay, who tabled the report in Parliament, had admitted having not gone through it himself.

"He has no right to remain a minister", Khan said.

Its 45 years rule at the Centre was manifested by the "...fact that the representation of Muslims in government jobs had reduced to a meagre one per cent only", he claimed.

"The entire exercise was being undertaken to lure Muslims, whom Congress considers a vote bank. Actually nothing new came out of it," he alleged.