New Delhi: The Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Friday said it would oppose reservation to Muslims within the 27 per
cent OBC quota approved by the Union Cabinet, terming religion
based reservation as violative of the Constitution.
"This is not just a violation of the Indian Constitution
but also an attempt to take away the rights of Hindus. Today
they have given jobs and education from OBC quotas to Muslims,
tomorrow they will do the same thing with Schedule Caste quota
and provide reservations to Christians," VHP general secretary
Praveen Togadia said.
Noting that some political parties are demanding
amendments of the Constitution because it does not allow
reservations on the basis of religion, he said the VHP would
oppose it doggedly.
"This is reservation jehad," Togadia said.
"I have studied the Constituent Assembly debate which
discussed the issue of religion based reservations. After the
debate, leaders like Jawahar Lal Nehru, Sardar Patel and
leaders of minority communities said the country had got
divided on the basis of religion, so in future religion based
reservations will not be allowed," the VHP leader said.
Muslims claim they are a casteless society and according
to the Constitution only Hindu castes are eligible for
reservation, he said.
"From today the VHP is launching a movement to mobilise
Hindus to ensure that jobs and bank loans meant for them are
not provided to Muslims and Christians," Togadia said.
The VHP leader also said those demanding religion based
reservation in the institution of Lokpal, which was supposed
to be an investigative agency, were "killers of secularism."
The Union Cabinet on Thursday decided to carve out a
sub-quota of 4.5 per cent for minorities within the 27 per
cent reservation for OBCs.
PTI
First Published: Friday, December 23, 2011, 22:18