Cancel 3.5% internal quota for Muslims based on caste: BJP to TN

Madurai: National secretary of BJP’s minority morcha, Vellore Ibrahim has urged the state government to cancel the 3.5% internal reservation for Muslims based on caste, in line with the Islamic egalitarian principles.Addressing reporters at Madurai collectorate on Monday, Ibrahim said that recently, the Madras high court struck down a 2024 GO which allowed people from backward classes, most backward classes, denotified communities and scheduled castes to be treated as one of the seven sects of backward class Muslims after conversion to Islam. He said that the court had delivered the verdict only relying on an earlier judgement of the HC in 1951 which held that when a Hindu gets converted to Islam, he becomes just a Muslim.He said that the DMK government had issued the GO in 2024 only for Muslim vote bank. The GO is not only contrary to the court orders but also to the Islamic principles. He said that Islam always preaches equality and is against caste. Therefore, the HC had rightly struck down the 2024 GO. However, some people are spreading false propaganda alleging that the court took away the reservation for Muslims and BJP was responsible for the same.

When asked about minister for energy resources and law C T R Nirmal Kumar’s statement that the state government would prefer an appeal against the recent HC verdict, Ibrahim said that the government should not prefer an appeal since the court had rightly struck down the 2024 GO. He said that caste based reservations are against the constitutional mandate of equality and against the core teachings of Islam. Chief minister C Joseph Vijay should take steps to cancel the 3.5% internal reservation for Muslims based on caste, he urged.Earlier, Ibrahim submitted a representation in this regard to the Madurai district administration officials during the grievance redressal meeting at the collectorate.