By TCN News,
Nizamabad (Andhra Pradesh): Muslim Empowerment Movement [MEM] in its Memorandum to the Union government called its decision to allocate 4.5% sub-quota within the 27% OBC quota as nothing but a full blooded treason against the Muslim community.
The memorandum was submitted through the District collector of Nizamabad to the Prime Minister, union ministries of law, minority affairs, parliamentary affairs and welfare. The memorandum questioned the lukewarm attitude of the union government in implementing the Ranganath Misra Commission Report.
The memorandum said that various OBC Muslim communities listed for 27 percent OBC quota until now have somehow managed to get 2.3 per cent reservations. Now with this decision, the OBC Muslims would have to compete with Christians, Sikhs and Parsi OBCs for the 4.5 percent sub quota.
In other words all these minority communities representation would be restricted to 4.5 percent and the remaining 22.5 percent quota would be for Hindu OBCs. Thus the 4.5 percent sub quota decision of the UPA Government would not only affect the interest of Muslims but also all other Minorities. The MEM accused the central government of cheating the religious minorities by this decision. Further it has totally turned a blind eye to the recommendations of the Mishra Commission, the memorandum said.
MEM alleged that the cabinet has taken the decision to allocate 4.5 percent sub quota in the wake of elections in five states including UP. The memorandum quoted the Ranganath Misra commission recommendations to prove that the present sub-quota granted to the Muslims and other minorities aren’t any way near to those recommendations made in the report and instead a complete treachery.
The group further said the assertion by certain sections that this is a good beginning for getting reservations for Muslims, lacks wisdom. It said that a good beginning has already been made with the inclusion of OBC Muslim communities in the 27 percent Mandal quota. The 4.5 percent sub quota will only deprive whatever little benefit the community has obtained so far.
“In fact the BJP leaders who had opposed this sub-quota would only be grinning in the backyard as this decision would restrict the minorities share to a mere 4.5 percent and would help Hindu OBCs to have a lion’s share in the 27 percent OBC quota,” MEM said.
MEM demands Union Government to:
Immediately cancel the 4.5% sub-quota decided by the Cabinet
Implement primary recommendation of the Mishra Commission Report, which demands 15 percent reservation for religious minorities out of which 10 percent should be earmarked specifically for Muslims.
Para 3 of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order 1950 –which originally restricts the Scheduled Caste net to the Hindus and was later opened to Sikhs and Buddhists; thus still excluding from its purview the Muslims, Christians, Jains and Parsis – should be wholly deleted by appropriate action. Thus Scheduled Caste status should be completely delinked from religion. And this could make the Scheduled Castes net fully religiously-neutral, like that of the Scheduled Tribes.