Dehra Dun: Hitting out at Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid for his statement on providing reservation to Muslims within the OBC quota, VHP on Tuesday said it would launch a nationwide agitation against the Centre`s proposed move.
"The Central government`s proposal is not acceptable at any cost because the Constitution does not allow religion- based reservation," VHP`s international general secretary Praveen Togadia told reporters.
In a significant move ahead of Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, Khurshid on December 1 had said the government would soon take a decision on providing six per cent reservation for "backward Muslims" by including them in the 27 per cent OBC quota and a proposal in this regard would soon come up before Cabinet. VHP leaders from Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand have converged in Rishikesh and the final strategy for the nationwide agitation on the issue would be taken soon, he said.
Togadia said the Andhra Pradesh government and Aligarh Muslim University had also made similar attempts in the past but their decisions were struck down by the High Courts concerned.
Moreover, the VHP leader said, the basis of reservation under OBC is caste and Islam does not believe in casteism.
"If the Muslims accept reservation under OBC, it would also mean that they are accepting caste system like Hindus and in that case, the Muslims should embrace the Hindu religion by renouncing Islam," Togadia said. Referring to reservation for Christians, he said, the VHP demands to exclude Christians from Scheduled Tribe category under which they are getting reservation. PTI