Govt removes minority panel member

LUCKNOW: In a sudden move, the Yogi government on Thursday removed a member of the UP Minorities Commission. Kunwar Afzal Chaudhary, who was appointed a member of the commission on February 6 this year, was sacked from the post vide an order issued by prinicpal secretary Manoj Singh.

“The governor exercising his powers under section - 4 (3) of the amended UP Minorities Commission Act 1994 terminates the services of Kunwar Afzal Chaudhary and immediately relieves him of his charge,” states the order issued by Singh.

Another member of the commission, Mohd Aslam of Fatehpur, has reportedly been restrained from taking charge of his duties though no official confirmation in this regard was available. On March 6, the CM constituted the state minorities commission and named senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Tanveer Ahmad Usmani as its chairman. Sixty-twoyear-old Usmani has been thrice the national president of the minority wing of the BJP and thrice member of its national executive. He comes from Kanpur and at present is a member of the executive council of the AMU. Eight other members,

who were also appointed, included Sukhdarshan Bedi from Muzaffarnagar, Suresh Jain Rituraj from Meerut, Manoj Kumar Masih from Budaun, Kunwar Syyed Iqbal

Haider from Lucknow, Kunwar Afzaal Chowdhary (Ghaziabad), Mohammad Aslam (Fatehpur), Sophia Ahmad (Kanpur) and Rumana Siddiqui from Lucknow.