Uphold the spirit of brotherhood in our diverse country, says Minister

MADURAI

Unity in diversity is our strength and which we need to jointly uphold. Be a Christian, a Muslim and a Hindu when inside a church, mosque and temple respectively, but be a good human and uphold the spirit of brotherhood when outside, said Minister for Minorities Welfare Gingee K.S. Masthan on Sunday.

He was addressing an event held at The American College in Madurai to mark the National Minority Rights Day.

Mr Masthan said that the woes of the minorities were not only being heard but were also being rectified in a phased manner through the many schemes rolled out by the State government that protects and improves their welfare.

State Minorities Commission’s Chairman S. Peter Alphonse, in his address, highlighted how students from Class I to VIII, mostly from the Muslim and Christian communities, would be greatly affected since the pre-matric scholarship for minority communities has been stopped by the Union government.

“The discontinuation of Maulana Azad Fellowship Scheme (MAFS) offered to students of minority communities to pursue M.Phil and PhD will also leave students stranded,” he said and put forth his request to the Minister for Finance P.T.R. Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, who was present on the occasion, to take measures to fund these schemes through the State.

Minister for Information Technology & Digital Services T. Mano Thangaraj said that the contribution of Christian missionaries in the arena of imparting quality education is indispensable. He reiterated the need to uphold the right to worship and the freedom of choice to follow a religion. Minister for Social Welfare P. Geetha Jeevan administered a pledge to protect the interests and rights of minorities.

Representatives of minority institutions who addressed the event spoke on the many ‘injustices’ that minority communities were facing like the hijab and beef rows and called for peace, love and brotherhood to fight against those who rake up such issues.