Chairman of National Commission for Minorities Mr. Naseem Ahmad Launches LexisNexis- Universal’s Book ‘Minorities Commission 1978-2015 - Minor Role in Major Affairs’, Authored by Prof. Tahir Mahmood

On the 125th birth anniversary of Babasaheb Ambedkar, the principal architect of the Indian Constitution, LexisNexis®, a leading provider of content and technology solutions for legal, corporate, tax, academic and government markets, paid a tribute to the father of the Indian Constitution by launching ‘Minorities Commission 1978-2015-Minor Role in Major Affairs’ at Indian Law Institute. Mr. Naseem Ahmad, Chairman, National Commission for Minorities, who was the Chief Guest of the function, released the book in presence of eminent dignitaries like Dr. Ashok K Chauhan, Founder-President, Amity Group of Universities; Justice Jaspal Singh, Former Judge, Delhi High Court; and many other eminent jurists from the Supreme Court of India and Delhi High Court.

During the occasion, Mr. Naseem Ahmad said, “While being associated with the release of this book, I am feeling small in the presence of this august gathering, and more particularly with the stature of the author. He is a renowned teacher. In our one-to-one conversations, we call him the ‘teacher of the teachers’. He is the one who has inspired generations and generations of law students. People used to recall him as a person with mettle, a person with deep insights into various legal issues and a person who is wholly committed to the cause of law.”

On the book, he said, “The book gives a detailed account of the commission’s functioning from 1978, i.e. the birth of commission, to 2015. Being associated with the commission as an insider, and that too as the head, Prof. Tahir Mahmood is the right person to author a book on this subject. I have read the book from cover to cover; in fact I have also read the first edition in 2001. I want to make a plain confession rather admission of the fact I have quoted passages after passages from the first edition on a number of occasions.  There are numerous phrases and sentences that are indicative of his most appropriate choice of words, which are the proof of the vast vocabulary of the author and his profound scholarship. The book in hand is virtually a treatise on the subject covered.”

In the conclusion where the author has talked about the efficacy and even the existence of the body, Mr. Naseem Ahmad was tempted to quote the last para of the book and say, “For curing a disease, the remedy does not lie in killing the patient.” He also reminded Tahir Mahmood of his earlier edition of the book, wherein he wrote, that the National Commission for Minorities is an important constituent of the human rights enforcement mechanism in India.

Congratulating the author on his achievement, Dr. Ashok K Chauhan said, “This is a wonderful and useful book. There have been many valuable observations, comments and suggestions in the book that can be realized, implemented and followed to help the minority commission in working better.” On the author, he said, “We regard him for his stature, straightforwardness, worthiness, truthfulness and extensive knowledge on laws.”

Justice Jaspal Singh, another eminent guest of honour, said, “This is his 2^nd edition, classical in technique and depth. It presents a story of the rights of a commission. It unfolds moments of hostility and tells us why secularity should have a preamble to accommodate. Here is an insider telling you the commission became at times an instrument of political tract. Wittingly or unwittingly, it unmasks the author also; he is full of praise for others where it is due and unsparing in criticism also. He comes out as a high self-respecting individual, in defending his place with inevitable courage.”

Talking about the day of the release, Mr. Tahir Mahmood mentioned that there could have been no better day to release the book that the birth anniversary of Dr. B R Ambedkar. On the book, he said, “On every page of the book, what I have written is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”

Mr. Sachin Tripathi, Product Marketing Manager, LexisNexis, said, “This book offers a critical study of the National Commission for Minorities and its working since its establishment in January 1978. The book furnishes information also about the other regular and ad hoc bodies gradually established for the minorities at the national level and on the history and governing laws of the Minorities Commissions working in various States. As such, the book provides an insight into the ups and downs of the minority situation in India during the last four decades and the success and failure of governmental efforts made to ensure minorities’ constitutional rights and safeguards.”

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