Govt data shows select schemes not reaching Muslims: Ansari

Former vice president Hamid Ansari on Thursday said certain government schemes were not reaching certain minority communities, based on government data.

In an exclusive interview to ANI, Ansari said, "If one needs help in education or social related things, then, he/she should be given help through government programs. But according to some government reports based on complaints received, few of the government's schemes are not reaching them (Muslims)."

Ansari also urged the concept of equality for all.

"According to the country, there are 14.5 percent of Muslims in India. But in some areas, the percentage is high like Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, etc. The basic thing is they all are citizens. So, all the rights and duties given to all citizens should be given to them (Muslims) as well. No one should claim that they are different and they are getting less as compared to others. "

Reacting on incidents of lynching, the former vice president said that nobody has the right to take law into their own hands.

"I think public reaction says it all. Nobody has the right to take law into their own hands. There is a law in this country," he said.

In his last address as the Vice-President, Ansari had said that democracy would turn into tyranny if opposition groups are not given the right to free criticism, adding that a democracy is distinguished by the protection it gives to minorities.

Before demitting the office, Ansari had also said that the Muslims in the country were experiencing a "feeling of unease."

"A sense of insecurity is creeping in as a result of the dominant mood created by some and the resultant intolerance and vigilantism," Ansari said, in an interview to Rajya Sabha TV.

He had referred to incidents of lynching and alleged killings as a "breakdown of Indian values, breakdown of the ability of the authorities at different levels in different places to be able to enforce what should be the normal law enforcing work and overall the very fact that Indianness of any citizen being questioned is a disturbing thought.