Congress pitches high for 12% quota for Muslims

EMPOWERING MINORITIES

Hyderabad: Leader of Opposition in Telangana Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir has demanded that the Telangana Government issue an ordinance to provide 12 per cent reservation for Muslims in jobs and education, as promised by the TRS in its election manifesto. In a media release here on Tuesday, Shabbir Ali accused the TRS government of misleading the Muslims on the promise of providing 12 per cent reservation.

He pointed out that retired judge of the Supreme Court Justice Sudarshan Reddy, while speaking at a conference recently, had clearly stated that Sudheer Committee constituted by the State government in connection with 12 per cent Muslim reservation has no legal sanctity. He said the Committee was constituted only to mislead the community and put the issue in a cold storage.

"Justice Sudarshan Reddy is an authority on Muslim reservation. He was the first judge, who gave proper guidance to the then State government on providing 4 per cent Muslim reservation in 2004. He not only directed the government to constitute a BC Commission, but also asked the Commission to give its report within six months.

It was due to his sincere and secular approach that the Muslims in Telangana (and also Andhra Pradesh) are today enjoying 4 per cent reservation in jobs and education," Shabbir Ali said. Shabbir Ali demanded that the State Government take a serious note of observations made by Justice Sudarshan Reddy and take corrective steps to provide 12 per cent reservation to Muslims.

He reminded that CM K Chandrashekar Rao promised to accord 12 per cent reservation to Muslims in just four months after coming to power. However, except for constituting an irrelevant committee led by a retired IAS officer, the government took no concrete steps to fulfill its promise.