Calcutta, Sept. 23: An umbrella organisation representing Muslims has joined hands with Mamata Banerjee to launch a movement to highlight the problems they face in the state.

Fourteen representatives of the Milli Ittehad Parishad, a conglomeration of Muslim organisations, met the Trinamul Congress chief tonight.

The meeting comes at a time Mamata has distanced herself from the BJP and has set conditions for the Congress for a rapprochement.

“Mamata is the leader of the principal Opposition party in Bengal and that is why we requested her to launch a movement to pressure the government to act,” Abdul Aziz, the joint convener of the parishad, said.

Aziz said they had also requested Mamata to ensure that the government implemented the recommendations of the Sachar Committee. The Bengal government cuts a sorry figure in the report.

However, Siddiqullah Chowdhury, the secretary of Jamait Ulema-i-Hind, decided to stay away at the last moment apparently because Mamata could not attend an iftar hosted by him yesterday.