NEW DELHI :The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday termed the Sachar Committee report on Muslims "full of bias and prejudice".

At a press conference in Parliament House here, Sushma Swaraj, BJP leader, said the party "strongly believed the report would do no good to Muslims as it would further create rifts in society".

She recalled the controversy over counting Muslims in the armed forces, pointing out that after Partition Muslim battalions were given the choice of opting for one country or the other and some chose to go to Pakistan.

No barriers

"There is no barrier that prevents a qualified Muslim from entering the armed forces."

She wondered why there was not a single Muslim woman on the committee as there were gender issues in the community that ought to have been addressed.

Congress `contribution'

The BJP said it was the Congress' "contribution" to the welfare of minorities that was mirrored in their status. The situation Muslims found themselves in was the result of the Congress attitude to the minorities.

`Criticism' of EC

Ms. Swaraj criticised the Sachar report for stating that many Muslim majority parliamentary and Assembly constituencies were placed among those reserved for the Scheduled Castes (thus denying Muslims an opportunity to get elected as there were no SCs among Muslims), rather than some constituencies with a high SC population. This, she said, amounted to criticism of the Election Commission and the Delimitation Commission.

`Question of propriety'

The BJP raised the question of `propriety' of tabling in Parliament the Sachar Committee report on Thursdayinstead of Monday without the Hindi version.

The party also questioned how the report got `leaked' to the media before it was tabled.

Raising the matter through a `point of order' in the Rajya Sabha, Ms. Swaraj said the Government had stated the report was not being tabled because its Hindi translation was not ready. ``The report is being laid today, two days later, and without the Hindi version.''

Chairman's ruling

Chairman Bhairon Singh Shekhawat ruled that there was no point of order involved but said there was a question of propriety to which the Government might reply if it wished to.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Suresh Pachauri said the report was to have been tabled on November 27 but was being tabled now because it was voluminous and the Hindi translation was not possible within the time available.

``As soon as the Hindi version is available it would be tabled in Parliament.''

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