'Muslims lagging behind SCs, STs'

HYDERABAD: Voicing a unified demand for implementation of recommendations of the Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission or the National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities, Muslim politicians and minority rights advocates highlighted the condition of socially backward minorities, Muslims in particular, at a discussion held at Jamat-e-Islami Hind in the Old City on Sunday. The participants iterated that the commission's recommendation for providing 15% reservation for minorities (including 10% for Muslims) has not been implemented by the government.Many of them also opined that the creation of a sub quota from the OBC quota would not benefit the Muslims much as it only guarantees reservation in education and government postings.
Zahid Ali Khan, editor-in-chief of Siasat Daily, urged all minorities to take up the cause of implementation of the recommendations of the Ranganath Mishra Commission report.
"In order to emancipate the backward Muslim communities, many of which have been declared as more backward than SCs and STs, political reservation is also necessary. Therefore separate reservation for minorities and Muslims is required," the participants said. They also demanded that paragraph three of the 1950 presidential order should be deleted as it prevents Muslim and Christian dalits from availing reservation on par with Hindu dalits. The order violates the constitutional guidelines against discrimination on the grounds of religion, they said.