Aowal hints at probe into corruption in minority board

By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, May 27: Assam Minority Development Board chairman Mominul Aowal has said that Chief Minister Sarbanda Sonowal has decided to go all out to unearth corruption in the board over the years.

Aowal assumed office as the chairman of the Board following a directive from the Gauhati High Court. Talking to newsmen here today, Aowal said: “The works done under the board over the years were full of corruption. The All Assam Goriya-Moriya Yuva-Chatra Parishad did raise the corruption before the Chief Minister who has taken a decision to unearth the facts. The people of the State had the notion that that the very purpose of formation of the Board was to loot funds. We need to reverse the trend so as to give the Board a clean image. There were many a wrong notions with the word ‘minority’. We’re here to work in accordance with the true definition of minority. When we talk of minorities in Assam, we essentially mean people like Islamists, Christians, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs and they’re spread among various communities in the State. They all comprise a population of 36 per cent in the State.”

 Aowal said: “The vision document published by the BJP for 2016-25 has many assurances. We’re here to implement those assurances. Three years of the BJP government at the Centre and one year of the party in Assam have done a lot for the minorities in the State. For Islamists, Christia, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs the government has taken up community projects and approved funds for that. The grants for Haj pilgrims have been doubled. For the first time, a control room for Haj pilgrimage was set up in the State. Free of cost food and lodge and transportation were given by the government from Haji Mushafirkha to Borjhar. I’ve brought it to the notice of the Chief Minister as to why when a Haji goes to Mecca from Mumbai he needs Rs 35,000 to-and-fro, Rs 55,000 from Kolkata and Rs 1.20 lakh from Guwahati. The Chief Minister assured me of taking up the matter with the Centre. Over the years the minorities of Assam were used as political raw materials without doing anything for their welfare. The minorities were also being used as the medium for rumour mongering. We’ve taken up the task of awakening the minorities in the State, asking them to be driven by conscience, not by emotion.”

Aowal welcomed the government’s decision to amalgamate the Directorate of Madrassa Education with the general one.”   

Board’s vice chairman Edmong Andrew, members Mahiruddin Ahmed, Hifzul Haque and others were also present at the press meet.