Annual Conference of the State Minorities Commissions

The Annual Conference of the State Minorities Commissions is scheduled to be held here on 13th and 14th of March 2012 at Vigyan Bhavan. In a departure from earlier such annual meets, this year the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) has detailed a one and a half day programme including a seminar on the issue of ‘Police and Minorities’. The topic was chosen as a large portion of the complaints that come to the National Commission for Minorities relate to the handling of cases concerning Minorities by the police. The complaints range from the impression that police do not care for sensitivities of minority communities, and on occasions to bias. Accordingly, the Commission felt that the police needs to be further sensitized in dealing with the Minorities, hence the Annual Conference of the State Minorities Commissions will discuss the issue in detail. State Minorities Commissions would first speak about the conditions prevailing on the ground; some NGOs working for Minority Welfare would also be speaking on the subject, as also Human Rights activists. Senior Police Officers, including those actively engaged in the training of Police Officers, would then respond. Suggestions in regard to improvement in these matters would be taken note of and the NCM would then further move in the matter.

The inaugural address and the valedictory address to be delivered by such experienced dignitaries like Shri M.K. Narayanan and Shri Julio Rebeiro, experienced Police officers in their own right, will prove very useful in understanding the real problem being faced by the Minorities.