Hyderabad: A consultative meeting of Muslim scholars and clerics was held at Khankhah Saberia, Dabeerpura to ensure Muslim reservations and the modus operandi adopted by BCs Commission. It was presided over by Maulana Mazhar Husaini Saberi. It was attended by Maulana Syed Hamid Husain Shuttari, Maulana Syed Jafar Pasha, Maulana Hamid Mohammed Khan, Mr. Mohammed Mushtaq Malik, Maulana Azharuddin, Dr. Islamuddin Mujahid, Mr. Iftekhar Ahmed Advocate, Mr. Nayeemullah Shareef, Mr. Khalid Rasool Khan, Mr. Mohammed Farooq and others.
Mr. Farooq Ali Khan, Advocate conducted the meeting. The step taken by Govt. of Telangana for constituting BCs Commission was applauded but it was felt that the way it conducted public hearing may not be fruitful in providing reservations to Muslims. It was also felt that it is not enough if the voices of the people of Hyderabad alone was heard. It is therefore, essential that such public hearing meetings should also be organized at district levels. If BCs Commission makes a recommendation on the basis of the hearings for 6 days, the cause of the Muslims in getting reservations would be effected adversely. If the commission elicits information from various Govt. Departments about the number of Muslims, it may to certain extent support the cause.
The reservations provided by Govt. of Tamil Nadu was also discussed in the meeting. It was felt that Telangana is more backward than Tamil Nadu. If BCs Commission approaches the court with a comprehensive report based on convincible data, legal complications could be avoided. Most of the speakers opposed any reduction in the BCs quota. They also supported the enhancement of BCs quota on the basis of the percentage of their population. A proposal was made that a joint meeting could be organised with the representatives of BC Communities and Muslim Ulema. It was clarified that Muslims were never opposed to reservations for BCs and they will not make any attempt to do so in the future also. The Muslims would continue to struggle for getting 12% reservations without disturbing BCs Quota. Muslim clerics and intellectuals impressed upon the community to prepare a strategy to exert its pressure on the Govt. expressing their inhibitions on the functioning of BCs Commission. They expressed their apprehension that if the Parliament is approached after passing a bill in Telangana Assembly, the Central Govt. will leave no stone unturned to foil the issue of Muslim reservations. It is therefore advisable for the Govt. of Telangana to adopt the procedure followed by the governments of Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.
–Siasat News