Even as the high court's decision to quash reservation for backward groups of Muslims in Andhra Pradesh has left the Muslim community fuming, and about 30,000 students who benefited from the quota were worried about the future, the state government has reassured the community that it will do every thing possible to get a reprieve from the Supreme Court.
Chief Minister K Rosaiah after holding a high-level review meeting with ministers and officials, said the government will move an appeal before the Supreme Court against the high court judgment, declaring the Act as "unconstitutional and unsustainable".
Facing protests and criticism from the Muslim community for "insincerity" towards the reservations for Muslims, the chief minister said, "The state government is committed to give reservations to the backward classes of Muslims and it was working hard and sincerely."
He said the government would take necessary steps to help students and employees who benefited from the four per cent quota during last three years.
The meeting was attended by the minister for minority welfare Syed Ahmadullah and former minister Mohammed Ali Shabbir, advocate general Sitram Murthy and other officials.
Meanwhile, school education minister Manikya Varaprasad Rao, who became a party in the case in high court in support of reservations for Muslims, expressed his dissatisfaction over the judgment. He told the reporters that he would file an appeal in the Supreme Court.
Earlier in the day, Muslims organizations and political parties held protest demonstrations at many places in the state. While the minority cell of Telugu Desam, led by Greater Hyderabad president T Krishna Reddy and senior leader Lal Jan Basha, held a demonstration at Basheerbagh in Hyderabad and tried to rush towards the Assembly and the state secretariat, other organizations held road blockade and other protest programs at other places in the city and various districts.
Seven legislators and hundreds of workers of MIM had stormed the state secretariat on Monday.
A prominent community leader and secretary of All India Muslim Personal law board Moulana Abdul Raheem Qureshi took objection to the observations of High Court Chief Justice AR Dave that the Muslim reservation was religion-specific and had the potential to encourage religious conversions.
He said that the judgment was result of wrong interpretation of the law and the Constitution.
He argued that economic backwardness could be a ground for extending reservations to Muslims as Justice Ranganath Mishra commission had also recommended reservations to Muslims on the basis of economic backwardness of Muslims. In Indra Sawhney case also Supreme Court had declared reservations for Muslims on the basis of economic backwardness as acceptable.
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