Union minister and LJP leader Ramvilas Paswan has demanded that all Muslims should be given reservation in government jobs, and backward Muslims should be given reservation in legislature too.

Taking up the discussion in the context of the Rajinder Sachar panel finalising its report on the status of Indian Muslims, Paswan said such reservation could be made under the Constitution, as it exists.

Incidentally, Paswan is working on forging a Dalit-Muslim social alliance as his political base and is organising an international Dalit-Muslim conference in Delhi in February 2007.

Paswan said his party has deliberated upon the necessity and Constitutionality of reservations for Muslims and concluded in its favour. “The condition of Muslims is far worse than that of Dalits in many respects and therefore the case for reservation is strong. Articles of the Consitutions that provides for reservation talks about socially and educationally backward classes and it does not differentiate between Hindus and Muslims. Therefore the constitutionality of reservation for Muslims is beyond any doubt,” he said.

Paswan said an effort to this effect by Andhra Pradesh government was struck down by the court only on procedural not Constitutional grounds. He demanded that Muslims covered by the Mandal commission should get a quota within available reservations and these backward Muslims should get reserved electoral constituencies as is the case with SC and ST. He said under the present system, no backward Muslims is able to get benefits of the Mandal job reservation.

The LJP leader also joined the list of UPA members who are opposed to death sentence for Saddam Hussein. “LJP wants the Indian government to make all possible efforts to get the verdict reversed. We consider the sentence totally unjustified,” Paswan said.

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