Behrampore, March 28: Three CPM members quit the party in Murshidabad last evening accusing it of “doing nothing” for minorities, hours after minister Abdus Sattar said Muslim women were being treated as “unequal citizens” in Bengal.

The trio, from Jalangi, have joined the Congress.

“We read here and there about the Sachar Committee report, which said Muslims in Bengal were lagging behind and the CPM-led government had done nothing for the uplift of Muslims. The report has opened our eyes,” said Nurul Islam, 43, the most educated of the three having passed Madhyamik.

He owns a nursery at Tiktikipara, 260km from Calcutta.

His neighbours, Idris Ali, 55, and Jan Mohammad, 53, who dropped out of high school to till their family land, nodded in agreement.

District Congress general secretary Subrata Saha confirmed that the three CPM members had joined his party.

The Sachar report had revealed the community’s plight in education, health and government employment in Left-ruled Bengal.

Opening a hostel for Muslim college and university students in neighbouring Nadia, minority affairs minister Sat-tar had said: “Only 50 per cent of Muslim women in Bengal are literate. If they continue to be treated like this (as unequal citizens), the percentage will drop further.”

Nearly 64 per cent of the population in Murshidabad is Muslim (according to the 2001 Census).

The red-faced local CPM leadership tried to play down the reason why the trio quit the party. Sahebnagar local committee secretary Obaidur Rahman said: “We are not sure if they have quit on the issue of lack of development of Muslims.”