Govt U-turn on cases against minorities

The state government on Saturday reversed its earlier decision to drop cases against minorities involved in communal riots.

The government on January 22 had issued a circular to drop cases against "innocent minorities'' involved communal clashes. The government was under fire from the Opposition BJP for issuing such an order. Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy told reporters on Saturday that the government has withdrawn the earlier order.

"The words, 'all innocent minorities', were added by oversight. It should have been innocent people,'' the Minister said.

The minister said the order to drop cases against minorities was issued based on the Justice Rajinder Sachar committee report on social, economic and educational status of Muslims in India.

Reddy said that a Cabinet sub-committee headed by Minister Ramesh Kumar is studying the recommendations of the Justice Sachar committee.Once the report is submitted and approved by the Cabinet, cases against innocent people will be withdrawn, he said.

On charges by the BJP that the government was wooing minorities ahead of Assembly elections, Reddy said that there are several instances where cases were dropped by various governments in the past.

"Even if any BJP member or anyone from other religions implicated in false cases make a submission to the government, we will consider them too,'' he said, pointing out how even the BJP government had dropped such cases, including those against minorities.