Opposition Congress party on Tuesday lashed out at the TRS Government for its failure to fulfill the promise of 12 per cent reservation for the Muslim minority in Telangana nearly two years after coming to power.
Telangana State Congress Committee president Uttam Kumar Reddy charged Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao for misleading the Muslims and playing with their sentiments. “The Chief Minister has not take any step during last two years to fulfill the promise”, he said speaking at a function organized to mark the two years of KCR’s promise of 12 per cent reservations.
leader of Opposition in State legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir made a power point presentation on the history of struggle for the reservation for the backward sections of Muslim community in united Andhra Pradesh and how the previous Congress government fulfilled its promise of 4% reservations to the community.
Stressing the sincerity of the Congress to improve the socio economic status of Muslims, Shabbir said that 4% quota benefited 10 lakh socially and economically backward Muslims in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh since its implementation in 2004-05.
While the YS Rajasekhar Reddy led Congress government was the first to implement the promise of reservations for Muslims in education and job during 2004-09, it repeatedly faced legal challenges and the case was presently pending before a constitutional bench of Supreme Court. However the apex court has refused to stay the implementation of the policy and the community continues to benefit from the 4% quota.
“Muslims can definitely be provided quota in jobs and education if the ruling party has a strong political will”, Shabbir said giving the example of Congress government in the state in which he had played a major role.
He rejected the argument that quota for Muslim community was illegal and unconstitutional. “It is a myth”, he said sharing the examples from the other southern states.
In his detailed presentation at the state Congress headquarters Gandhi Bhavan in the presence of senior party leaders Mohammed Ali Shabbir said that caste-based or religion-based quota in jobs and education existed in India much before independence.
Beginning with the Minority Report, presented in the then Constituency Assembly on August 8, 1947, to the Sachar Committee, various commissions have proved backwardness of Muslims in the country, Shabbir said.
The Congress party was always concerned about the development of Muslim community and therefore, it crossed several legal hurdles to provide Muslim reservation, he added.
Shabbir Ali also explained the complete journey of battle for Muslim reservation in the then undivided Andhra Pradesh.
The Congress government has first extended 5% quota to the Muslims which was later reduced to 4% on the orders of the High Court.
The Congress leader also elaborated on Tamil Nadu model of reservation and the ninth schedule. He said unlike the claims of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, the Tamil Nadu's model too was not safe from legal hurdles. He said presently, four important cases were going on in the Supreme Court which include 5% Muslim quota given by Congress in 2004, 4% Muslim reservation, 4.5% OBC sub-quota for minorities announced by previous UPA-2 regime and also the Tamil Nadu's 69% quota, which is included in the 9th Schedule.