MIM takes to streets, brings fresh trouble to Rosaiah

Angered by the Andhra Pradesh High Court’s decision quashing the four-percent reservations for Muslims, leaders and sympathisers of Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) took to streets on Monday. Their planned protest march to Secretariat sparked tension as police had a tough time chasing them away.

The MIM rank and file was angry that the court poured water on the landmark initiative taken up by late Rajasekhara Reddy to uplift the poorer sections among Muslims. With MIM, which has been keeping a low profile in the Telangana agitation, is bound to press on with more agitations over the issue. This would only mean fresh trouble for Chief Minister Rosaiah, hit by a torrent of issues ever since he took over the state’s reigns.

A seven-member division bench of the High Court on Monday annulled the state government’s decision calling it a politically-motivated move. The bench, which gave the ruling with a 5-2 voting, maintained that reservations based on religion are not valid. It also found fault with the BC Commission report. It said the report was prepared without properly assessing the issue.

The YSR government soon after coming to power in 2004 had announced a five-percent reservation for Muslims. But the government was forced to scale it back to bring it to 50-percent optimum reservation limit to fulfil the constitutional obligation.

The High Court had earlier given an interim stay on the implementation of reservations but the government pushed ahead with it hoping for a final decision from the HC in its favour.

The fate and future of a few hundreds of students, who got admissions in various courses and recruited in jobs, now hangs in limbo following the court order.