Pawar for reservation to Muslim OBCs

New Delhi, Aug 4 (UNI) Union Agriculture Minister and NCP president Sharad Pawar today called for reservation to Other Backward Castes.

Inaugurating a meet of the All India Muslim OBC Organisation here, he said that the Muslim OBCs should be extended reservation in the same way as the Hindu OBCs.

''Affirmative action in education and jobs is based not on religion but on economic factors. If doing a menial job makes a Hindu an OBC, it should equally make a Muslim an OBC,'' he said, citing from the Sachar report to buttress his claims.

However, Mr pawar sought to clarify that the demand for reservation was not based on religion but on the ''poor economic condition'' of Muslims.

The Muslims leaders called upon the OBCs among the Hindu, Sikh and the Christian community to meet in Lucknow on September 7, to deliberate on ways to merge their respective religious identities into an exclusive caste identity. ''It could help us achieve our collective goal for reservation,'' Qari Mohd Mian Mazhari said, noting this would be the only way, since the Constitution prohibits reservation on the basis of religion.

Earlier, the Minister was conferred the 'Fakhr-E-Watan' award, carrying a memento, citation and medal.

UNI