HYDERABAD: Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu has stated that the implementation of reservations on the basis of religion, may prompt social unrest in the country and may “lead to creation of another Pakistan.” Hinting at Telangana's recent proposal to hike reservations for certain sections, Naidu who was speaking at a BJP meeting, said, “the BJP opposed such a move even when Rajasekhar Reddy (late CM of united Andhra Pradesh) and Chandrababu Naidu (present CM) also tried to do that. We will oppose any such move because it will lead to the creation of another Pakistan. It is an all India policy of the BJP. It is not the policy of Telangana unit of the BJP,” he said. Naidu also added, “Communal reservation will divide people on the communal basis. It will give demand to another partition of the country. It will bring disunity among the people. Social disruption will also be caused by that.”
Raises Muslim quota to 12%
The Telangana government, meanwhile, has passed a bill to increase reservation in jobs and education for backward Muslims to 12%, exceeding the Supreme Court’s 50% ceiling for such benefits. The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government bulldozed its way, convening a special assembly session on Sunday, a holiday, to pass the bill through a voice vote after hours of intense debate and suspension of five BJP legislators who opposed religion-based reservations. Backward Muslims in the new state are already entitled to 4% reservation in educational institutions and government jobs. The bill also sought to increase reservation for scheduled tribes from 6% to 10%. The combined increase takes the state’s total reservations to 62%, way higher than cap prescribed by the Supreme Court.
