BJP slams move to impose religion-based quota

New Delhi, Nov 18: Taking great exception to an attempt to foist a religion-based reservation in the country, the top BJP leaders today said such an effort would vertically divide society and vowed to oppose the move tooth and nail.

BJP president Rajnath Singh, raising the issue of Justice Rajinder Sachar Committee report which the government ''seems to use'' as a launch pad for religion-based reservations, said if Muslims are backward 59 years after the country attained Independence, it is the Congress which had to take the blame because it ruled the country for nearly five decades at the Centre and states.

He was speaking at the release of 'Samadhan', the special issue of 'Kamal Sandesh' by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee brought out by the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Trust.

The BJP, he said, wants the uplifting of all socially and economically backward classes, irrespective of the religion or castes. ''If they are making religion the basis for doling out reservation, we will oppose it with our full strength,'' he said.

Mr Vajpayee also criticised the government's move saying, ''An atmosphere of inaction was all pervasive. If there is proactivism somewhere, it is far away from the target (lakshya).'' He said it was perturbing as one was not sure which way the new generation wanted to proceed. Activism should be visible with a cause and it was necessary to bring more people into the field.

Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha L K Advani also graced the event.

Former BJP President M Venkaiah Naidu and party leader Arun Jaitley said unless the government accepted the 'ghettoisation' of society, it was not possible to allocate separate funds in a secular democracy.

About the demand of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda that the Karnataka formula which provided four per cent reservation for Muslims in the state since 1995 should be replicated at the national level, Mr Naidu said the BJP did not want to join the issue with its coalition partner in Karnataka.

''In the long run the issue will have to be addressed in the overall perspective,'' he said.

UNI

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