Quota or no support: MIM

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MIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Tuesday expre-ssed anguish over AP High Court quashing the 4.5 per cent sub-quota for minorities, carved out of 27 per cent reservations meant for OBCs (Other Backward Classes) in public employment and education.

Seeking immediate intervention of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Mr Owaisi said the Centre should take up the issue seriously and ensure reservation for Muslims and other minorities. The Centre should appeal to the Supreme Court, he added.

“The Centre has taken the issue lightly. Why did the Centre appoint only an assistant solicitor-general instead of attorney-general, as was done in the case of Lanco Hills, Wakf issue and others? The government has failed to provide proper data. The whole approach to the case was casual,” he fumed.

The MIM chief added, “I request the PM to take the issue seriously or he will be blamed for the fiasco. It’s an erroneous judgement. His Lordship has come to a wrong conclusion. Reservations for minorities are not new.”

Mr. Owaisi said minorities will not support the parties who do not support the quota in the 2014 elections. “Reservations is a life and death question for the minorities. It has to be implemented. Muslims need security and development. This is our agenda,” he said.

Referring to the argument that religious minorities did not form a homogeneous group, he questioned the homogeneity between Munurkapu and Gouds, Yadavas and Kummari communities.

“Homogeneity is based on discrimination. Quota could be based on religion,” he asserted. Mr Owaisi said as per Article 15 of the Constit-ution the word backward includes minorities.

“The time has come for the Muslim community to challenge the BC reservation. On what empirical grounds are BCs getting reservations? I request all the Muslim organisations to challenge BC reservation,” he said.

He added the Centre sho-uld see that Muslims are not denied quota in IITs, central government service and other institutions.

Talking about the arrest of his close friend, YSR Congress chief Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy in the disproportionate assets case, he quipped even Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy was a close friend.

“The issue is sub-judice. It’s a tough battle for Jag-an. I wish him best of luck. It’s wrong to condemn a person (YSR) as corrupt when he is not there to defend himself,” he said.

Asked his opinion on which party would win more seats in the forthcoming bypolls, he said, "The results will show."