Congress senior leader and Advisor to the Telangana Government (SC, ST, BC & Minorities) Mohammed Ali Shabbir has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah of making misleading statements about Muslim reservations to create communal tension.
Shabbir Ali claimed that Modi and Shah were spreading misinformation regarding the 4% Muslim reservation in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. To clarify the issue, he said he had written an open letter to PM Modi, a copy of which he shared with the media.
In his letter, Shabbir Ali expressed his dismay over the speeches made by Modi and Shah, accusing them of deliberately creating communal rifts. He refuted their claims that the 4% Muslim reservation in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh was based on religion and unconstitutional.
“As a Congress leader involved in the process of Muslim reservation since 1989, I must clarify that the 4% Muslim reservation in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh was not granted based on religion,” Shabbir Ali stated. “There is a detailed chronology that must be understood before making comments against Muslim reservation.”
Shabbir Ali explained that the Muslim reservation in the then-undivided Andhra Pradesh was not based on religion. He pointed out that only 14 identified groups among the poorest Muslims are eligible for the quota, while the majority of other groups are excluded.
He also clarified that the 4% Muslim quota was not created by reducing the quotas for Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), or Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
