dk;kZy; iz;ksx ds fy, FOR OFFICIAL USE jk"Vªh; ,drk ifj"kn 23 flrEcj] 2013 dks ubZ fnYyh esa vk;ksftr cSBd dh dkjZokbZ dk v{kj’k% izys[k NATIONAL INTEGRATION COUNCIL VERBATIM RECORD OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE MEETING HELD AT NEW DELHI ON 23rd SEPTEMBER, 2013 x`g ea=ky; MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS Hkkjr ljdkj GOVERNMENT OF INDIA CONTENTS PART – I SPEAKERS AT THE MEETING Page No. 1. Home Minister 1 2. Prime Minister 3 3. Shri Kiran Kumar Reddy, CM, Andhra Pradesh 5 4. Shri Tarun Gogoi, CM, Assam 7 5. Shri Nitish Kumar, CM, Bihar 9 6. Shri Akhilesh Yadav, CM, Uttar Pradesh 10 7. Shri Virbhadra Singh, CM, Himachal Pradesh 13 8. Shri Shivraj Singh Chauhan, CM, Madhya Pradesh 14 9. Shri Bhupinder Singh Hooda, CM, Haryana 16 10. Shri Omar Abdullah, CM, Jammu & Kashmir 18 11. Shri Hemant Soren, CM, Jharkhand 20 12. Shri Oomen Chandy, CM, Kerala 21 13. Shri Prithviraj Chavan, CM, Maharashtra 22 14. Dr. Mukul Sangma, CM, Meghalaya 24 15. Shri Manik Sarkar, CM, Tripura 25 16. Shri Vijay Bahuguna, CM, Uttrakhand 26 17. Smt. Sushma Swaraj, Leader of Opposition (LS) 28 18. Shri Prakash Karat, General Secretary – CPI(M) 30 19. Shri Sharad Yadav, President, Janta Dal (United) 32 20. Ms. Mehbooba Mufti, President, PDP 33 21. Shri Chandrababu Naidu, President, TDP 35 22. Shri Fali S. Nariman 36 23. Ms. Farah Naqvi 37 24. Shri Lalu Prasad Yadav, President, RJD 38 25. Ms. Barkha Dutt 39 26. Dr. John Dayal 41 (i) 27. Shri Mulayam Singh Yadav, President, Samajwadi Party 42 28. Shri Sudhakar Reddy, General Secretary (CPI) 44 29. Shri Siddharth Varadarajan 45 30. Shri Nanki Ram Kanwar 47 31. Shri Rajnikant Patel 48 32. Shri K.J. George 48 33. Shri Phungzathang Tonsing 49 34. Shri Bikram Singh Majithia 49 35. Shri Virendra Beniwal 51 36. Shri D.B. Thapa 52 37. Shri K.P. Munusamy 53 38. Shri Amit Mitra 56 39. Dr. Karan Singh 57 40. Shri Sitaram Yechury 58 41. Shri P. L. Punia 50 42. Shri Zahid Ali Khan 62 43. Dr. S.N. Subba Rao 63 44. Shri Wajahat Habibullah 64 45. Shri Arun Jaitley 66 46. Shri Shahid Siddiqui 67 47. Prof. Bhim Singh 70 48. Smt. Amarjeet Kaur 71 49. Shri Vishwas Tripathi 73 50. Shri E. Ahamed 74 51. Home Minister’s concluding observations 74 52. Prime Minister’s concluding observations 76 53. Vote of Thanks by Shri Anil Goswami, Home Secretary 77 54. Resolution adopted in the NIC Meeting. 78 (ii) PART – II SPEECHES TAKEN ON RECORD 1. Shri N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, CM, Andhra Pradesh 81 2. Shri Nabam Tuki, CM, Arunachal Pradesh 88 3. Shri Tarun Gogoi, CM, Assam 90 4. Shri Nitish Kumar, CM, Bihar 97 5. Dr. Raman Singh, CM, Chhattishgarh 102 6. Shri Bhupinder Singh Hooda, CM, Haryana 107 7. Shri Virbhadra Singh, CM, Himachal Pradesh 112 8. Shri Omar Abdullah, CM, Jammu and Kashmir 115 9. Ms. Mehbooba Mufti, President, J&K People’s Democratic Party 120 10. Shri Hemant Soren, CM, Jharkhand 124 11. Shri Siddaramaiah, CM, Karnataka 128 12. Shri Shivraj Singh Chauhan, CM, Madhya Pradesh 132 13. Shri Prithviraj Chavan, CM, Maharashtra 139 14. Dr. Mukul Sangma, CM, Meghalaya 143 15. Shri Naveen Patnaik, CM, Odisha 148 16. Sardar Bikram Singh Majithia, Revenue & Rehabilitation, Information & 153 Relations, NRIs Affairs and Non-Conventional Energy Minister, Punjab. 17. Shri Ashok Gehlot, CM, Rajasthan 163 18. Selvi J. Jayalalithaa, CM, Tamil Nadu 168 19. Shri Manik Sarkar, CM, Tripura 174 20. Shri Vijay Bahuguna, CM, Uttarakhand 177 21. Shri Akhilesh Yadav, CM, Uttar Pradesh 181 22. Dr. Amit Mitra, Finance Minister, West Bengal. 185 ANNEXURE List of Members of the National Integration Council. 192 (iii) PART I SPEAKERS AT THE MEETING VERBATIM PROCEEDINGS Union Home Minister Shri Sushilkumar Shinde “Hon’ble Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh Ji, Chairperson, UPA Madam Sonia Gandhi Ji, Shri Deve Gowda Ji, my colleagues, Shri Anthony Ji, Shri Sharad Pawar Ji, Shri Chidambaram Ji, Dr. Farooq Abdullah Ji, Shri Rahman Khan Ji and other Union Cabinet Ministers, Smt. Sushma Swaraj Ji, Shri Arun Jaitley Ji, Chief Ministers of States, Ministers of State of Union Government, Members of NIC and distinguished invitees. I welcome you all to the 16th Meeting of the National Integration Council (NIC). The 15th Meeting of the NIC was held on 10th September 2011. It is now more than two years since we last met. The NIC provides us with a unique platform to share ideas that would uphold the values of a pluralistic and inclusive society. This forum is an outcome of the National Integration Conference held in 1961. In that conference it was decided to set up a National Integration Council to review and make recommendations on all matters pertaining to national integration. The first meeting of the National Integration Council was held in June 1962 by the first Prime Minister of India, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru. The country has progressed remarkably since then but issues relating to national integration continue to remain important. In the agenda before us today we propose to discuss three important areas of concern where divisive forces threaten the integrity of our democratic polity. The first relates to the safety and security of women. As you all know, women not only constitute fifty percent of our population and have an equal role to play in the development of this country, but they also remain the main foundation of an egalitarian and dignified society. No country can progress unless they treat their women with respect. Unfortunately, we continue to read about heinous crimes committed on our women. The statistics on crimes against women reveal an increasing trend in the last three years. The brutal rape and attack on a young girl in Delhi last year shocked the conscience of the nation. The Government of India took a major initiative to amend the criminal law to make the punishment for such offences more stringent. The judiciary also took steps to fast track the prosecution of the criminals and the judgment in the matter was pronounced recently. We hope that this example will serve as a deterrent. Nevertheless, we need to discuss what further action needs to be taken by the society so that we can deal with the root cause of discrimination and denigration of women. We will also need to change the attitude of the society. As more and more opportunities are seized by the young women of this country for their economic and social development in our growing economy, we will have to ensure that this does not lead to friction in the society. The second issue relates to the treatment of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and the atrocities inflicted on them. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in India have been 1 subjected to indignity, marginalization and neglect through ages. In spite of affirmative action provided for in the Constitution, the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes have still not been integrated fully into the society. On the other hand, they continue to be subjected to atrocities. In the last three years, the statistics on the subject reveal an increasing trend in cases of atrocities committed against these classes. There is an attitude of indifference in even prosecuting the cases that have been registered under the stringent Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The disturbing fact is that the rate of conviction in these cases is very poor. Various pretexts are taken recourse to and justice denied. Unless those committing the atrocities are punished, there will be no deterrence for the people who perpetrate such crimes. This forum may like to discuss the hurdles that still act as barriers for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes to catch up with the rest of the society, live in a dignified manner and become equal partners in national development. I now come to the third item of the agenda which relates to the need to sustain communal harmony and national integration. Here again, the statistics on communal violence show an increasing trend in the last two years. The frequency of incidents, especially in the last few months, seems to suggest that there is a sinister motive behind them. It is noticed that the communal forces seem to have got emboldened and are trying to polarize the society. Minor incidents tend to get escalated into major incidents of violence leading to displacement of affected communities. We as a country are proud of our legacy of tolerance and respect for each others. We are a nation of diverse cultures, languages, and religions. Ours is the land where diverse religions have flourished together and the people have lived harmoniously. In spite of this diversity, the invisible but all-pervasive thread of being ‘Indian’ keeps us united. It is, therefore, our foremost duty to keep this ‘torch of unity’ shining bright under all circumstances. The tradition of communal harmony, tolerance and mutual respect have always been the distinguishing features of our civilization and polity. This tradition continues even today. Indeed, democracy can prosper and flourish only with strict adherence to secularism. I firmly believe that only a small group of people amongst us is responsible for creating divisions amongst us. It is our duty to resist these forces. In addition, I feel, the institutions of our democracy must also be strengthened to meet the challenges that are becoming a threat to our pluralistic ethos. I would urge this forum to suggest the measures that should be adopted to strengthen the forces of national integration and to resolutely fight the divisive forces that threaten our social fabric.