New Delhi: In a sensational blunt statement, Modi Government’s AYUSH Ministry has said that as per government policy, it does not recruit Muslims. This unbelievable truth came out in a reply to an RTI (Right to Information) query about the Muslim teachers and trainers recruited by the AYUSH Ministry for foreign assignments during the World Yoga Day last year. AYUSH is the abbreviation of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy.

This is exposed in an exclusive report by the well-known investigative journalist Pushp Sharma which will appear in the next issue of The Milli Gazette. The investigative journalist filed one RTI application after another until the ministry finally accepted that it had recruited no Muslim as a trainer/teacher of Yoga for foreign assignments during the World Yoga Day 2015.

The ministry said, a total of 711 Muslim yoga trainers had applied for the short-term assignment abroad but none was even called for an interview while 26 trainers (all Hindus) were sent abroad on this assignment.

The reply also revealed that 3841 Muslim candidates applied till October 2015 for the post of Yoga trainer/teacher with the Ministry but none was selected.

The RTI reply of the Ayush Ministry bluntly revealed the reason for the rejection of all applications by Muslim Yoga teachers as follow: “As per government policy – No Muslim candidate was invited, selected or sent abroad.” The reply also makes it clear that even for assignment within India no Muslim was selected, although a total of 3841 Muslims had applied for the yoga teacher jobs.

Commenting on this sad situation under a government which does not tire raising the slogan of “sabka sath, sabka vikas,” Pushp Sharma writes, “It is common knowledge that the ongoing communal agenda of the Modi government is responsible for raising the level of communal hatred in the country to an unprecedented high level even in government corridors though it is difficult to prove it. Here we have, for the first time in the life of this government, a written, blunt RTI reply in our hands which unashamedly says that it’s Modi government policy not to recruit Muslims in government jobs. This admission was received in reply to an RTI. The reply makes it clear that a total number of 3841 Muslims applied for Yoga trainer/teacher jobs in the Ayush ministry, including 711 Muslims who applied for short-term jobs as Yoga teachers/trainers in foreign countries but none was selected. The reason: it’s government policy not to recruit Muslims!This reply obviously concerns a certain scheme in a small ministry. You can only think of the wider implications of this policy across the government.”

(Source: The Milli Gazette, 16-31 March, 2016)

(Copy of the Ayush RTI reply attached)