The National Commission
for Minorities celebrated the Minority Rights Day here today.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chairman, National Commission for
Minorities, Justice Mohammed Shamim highlighted the importance
of the day and the role of the Commission in protecting the rights
of the minority communities and in bringing about better understanding
among the various religious minority communities in India. Sardar
Tarlochan Singh, Vice Chairman and other Members of the Commission
also participated in the function.
It was on 18th
December, 1992 that the United Nations adopted and promulgated
the Declaration on the Rights of Persons belonging to National
or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities declaring that
:
"States shall
protect the existence of the national or ethnic, cultural,
religious and linguistic
identity of minorities within their respective
territories and
encourage conditions for the promotion of that identity"
Accordingly,
the National Commission for Minorities has been observing the
18th December as the Minorities Rights Day every year.
A special issue
of the Commission's publication, namely "MINORITIES INDIA" was
released by the Chairman on this occasion which highlighted the
activities of the Third Statutory Commission of the National Commission
for Minorities.
The Website of
the Commission( http://ncm.nic.in
) was also launched today by the Hon'ble Chairman.
