Despite the opposition from Muslim organisations in the state, the Andhra Pradesh Government has decided to go ahead with providing reservations to over a dozen Muslim castes in educational institutions and jobs. State Information Minister Mohd Shabbir Ali on Friday said the Government did not attach much importance to the objections.

Ali said the Government was going ahead with public hearings from Friday. “If they have any problems with it, they can represent themselves before the Commission. Other Muslim bodies are also coming before the Commission, which will decide on additions and deletions from the list,” added the Minister.

But, six leading Islamic seminaries in Hyderabad have joined forces to oppose the move and issued a fatwa. Muslim party Majlis-Ittehadul-Muslimeen (MIM) has also backed the edict saying the “division of society into higher and lower castes is against the tenets of Islam, which is based on equality.”

The fatwa was sought by the United Muslim Action Committee (UMAC), a conglomeration of various political and cultural organisations, which had campaigned for the Congress in the 2004 elections. The bodies are particularly angry with the report submitted by former bureaucrat P S Krishnan who had been appointed by the state to suggest how reservations could be granted to the community without going against the Constitution. MIM MP Assaduddin Owaisi said the report was “against Islam and Shariat”.

On Wednesday, UMAC convener Maulana Hameeduddin Aquil had said they sought the fatwas after efforts to dissuade Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy failed. “The move would do more damage than good,” he cautioned.

... contd.