Guwahati, 18th May: During a public rally in Siwan, Bihar, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma voiced strong opposition to the notion of granting reservations to Muslims in India. His remarks were in response to recent political suggestions advocating for religion-based reservations.
“If you want to give reservations to Muslims, then go to Pakistan and give reservations there. It will never happen in India,” Sarma declared emphatically.
He highlighted the provisions of the Indian Constitution, stating, “Babasaheb Ambedkar gave us the constitution. In the constitution, it is mentioned that SC, ST, and OBC should get the reservations.”
Sarma criticized instances where reservations were extended to Muslims, specifically pointing to Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. He argued that such measures were implemented at the expense of other backward classes, accusing Karnataka of reallocating reservations from backward classes to Muslims. “They did this after robbing the reservations of Backward classes,” Sarma asserted.
His comments underscore his firm stance on preserving the current reservation system based on caste and socioeconomic criteria, rather than expanding it to include religious groups.