11-30-2006, 07:35 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Another ploy to divide nation: BJP </b>
Pioneer news service | New Delhi
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday said that <b>Rajinder Sachar Committee's recommendation for 'religion based quota' was reminiscent of what the Muslim League sought in 1906 that led to the partition of the nation</b>.
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>"Exactly a 100 years later, the nation is confronted with a similar situation. The UPA Government at the Centre has again brought the religion-based quota back in the focus. It would culminate in what the nation witnessed in 1947," </span>former Union Minister and Member of Rajya Sabha Sushma Swaraj said.
Terming the report of Sachar Committee as divisive in nature, Swaraj said that the report was full of biases and prejudices. <b>"It seems that a lot of efforts have gone into preparing the report, but in the wrong direction and with a skewed vision. It will not serve any good purpose. It talks of nominating Muslims to the different bodies and houses to increase their representation,"</b> she said.
Swaraj said the BJP had sought discussion in both the Houses of Parliament and the Government has agreed for the discussion, most probably on Monday. "At the moment, the party is giving only preliminary reaction to the report. The detailed reaction would come when the matter comes up for discussion in the two Houses," she said.
<b>"As there are no scheduled castes in Muslims, how can they be given reservation in the jobs? Which is why the Muslim leaders opposed when the Government wished to bring their institutions into the ambit of the quota. They had said that they would not be able to give caste-based quota to Muslims, as there are no castes as such in Islam,"</b> she said.
Referring to the inclusion of certain Muslim sections in the list of other backward classes (OBCs), Swaraj said that these sections have been availing quota in the Government jobs on the pretext of their being socially and educationally backwardness. "We are not opposed to the social and economic uplift of Muslims, but not through the manner in which the present Government wants," she said at the party's regular Press briefing in Parliament on Thursday.
Accusing the Congress and its allies for the present state of affairs in the Muslim society, Swaraj said: <b>"The backwardness among Muslims is a reflection on the governance of the Congress. Even today, the Congress does not want them to join the national mainstream."</b>
<b>Swaraj also took pot shots at the Government for not including any woman as member in the Sachar Committee. "It is a well known fact that the condition of women is not good among Muslims. You cannot have a comprehensive policy to address their problems through a committee devoid of woman members," </b>she said.
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Pioneer news service | New Delhi
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday said that <b>Rajinder Sachar Committee's recommendation for 'religion based quota' was reminiscent of what the Muslim League sought in 1906 that led to the partition of the nation</b>.
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>"Exactly a 100 years later, the nation is confronted with a similar situation. The UPA Government at the Centre has again brought the religion-based quota back in the focus. It would culminate in what the nation witnessed in 1947," </span>former Union Minister and Member of Rajya Sabha Sushma Swaraj said.
Terming the report of Sachar Committee as divisive in nature, Swaraj said that the report was full of biases and prejudices. <b>"It seems that a lot of efforts have gone into preparing the report, but in the wrong direction and with a skewed vision. It will not serve any good purpose. It talks of nominating Muslims to the different bodies and houses to increase their representation,"</b> she said.
Swaraj said the BJP had sought discussion in both the Houses of Parliament and the Government has agreed for the discussion, most probably on Monday. "At the moment, the party is giving only preliminary reaction to the report. The detailed reaction would come when the matter comes up for discussion in the two Houses," she said.
<b>"As there are no scheduled castes in Muslims, how can they be given reservation in the jobs? Which is why the Muslim leaders opposed when the Government wished to bring their institutions into the ambit of the quota. They had said that they would not be able to give caste-based quota to Muslims, as there are no castes as such in Islam,"</b> she said.
Referring to the inclusion of certain Muslim sections in the list of other backward classes (OBCs), Swaraj said that these sections have been availing quota in the Government jobs on the pretext of their being socially and educationally backwardness. "We are not opposed to the social and economic uplift of Muslims, but not through the manner in which the present Government wants," she said at the party's regular Press briefing in Parliament on Thursday.
Accusing the Congress and its allies for the present state of affairs in the Muslim society, Swaraj said: <b>"The backwardness among Muslims is a reflection on the governance of the Congress. Even today, the Congress does not want them to join the national mainstream."</b>
<b>Swaraj also took pot shots at the Government for not including any woman as member in the Sachar Committee. "It is a well known fact that the condition of women is not good among Muslims. You cannot have a comprehensive policy to address their problems through a committee devoid of woman members," </b>she said.
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