BJP decries demand for religion-based reservation

NEW DELHI, May 23: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will wage a ``democratic battle'' against the demand for religion-based reservation, pa...

NEW DELHI, May 23: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will wage a “democratic battle” against the demand for religion-based reservation, party president L K Advani declared today.

In a statement issued while on his Swarna Jayanti Rath Yatra, Advani said the debate on the Women’s Reservation Bill had suddenly acquired a dangerously divisive twist in the past few days with the Muslim League, a section of the Janata Dal and a few other parties resurrecting the old demand for quotas for Muslims in Parliament and state legislatures, with the covert support of the Congress.

This had the potential of harming India’s unity and integrity, he warned, pointing out that stalwarts of the freedom struggle such as Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, B R Ambedkar and Ram Manohar Lohia had rejected the demand as being anti-national and going against the spirit of harmonising democratic order.

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This blatantly communal demand was being raised in the name of social justice and that too by subverting one of the most progressive pieces of legislation which aimed to promote genuine social justice: reservation for women in Parliament and state assemblies, claimed Advani.

Meanwhile, the BJP today demanded a total review and restructuring of the system of VIP security. “The Prime Minister’s security has become a menace to the people of this country,” party spokesperson Sushma Swaraj said.