By TwoCircles.net staff reporter,
New Delhi: With national elections coming closer, the campaign for reservation for Dalit Muslims is likely to gain momentum. Some Muslim MPs raised the issue in Rajya Sabha on 28th April.
The MPs also demanded reservation facilities for other Muslim castes by amending Article 341. The issue was raised by Abu Asim Azmi of Samajwadi Party during the zero hour.
Participating in the debate, Janata Dal (U) MP Dr. Ejaz Ali said that according to the recommendations of Sachar Committee, only 0.8% of Muslim population comprises Dalits, whom the government of India is finding difficult to include in the category of Scheduled Castes. But it had no problem in including Sikhs (30.7%) and Buddhists (89.5%) in that fold, the MP said. He said Dalit Muslim reservation was discussed in the cabinet meeting held on May 18, 2007, but any decision was deferred until the presentation of Ranganath Mishra Commission report. But even one year after the commission submitted its report, no action was taken on it by the union cabinet, he said. Responding to the issue, the government informed the house that the issue of reservation for Dalit Muslims has been referred to the National Commission for Backward Classes and, therefore, any decision in this connection will be taken only after the Commission takes any decision on the issue.