Bengaluru, April 24 (SocialNews.XYZ) As a special Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is held to discuss internal reservation, the Karnataka BJP on Friday alleged that the government has created confusion instead of providing internal reservation to Dalits, thereby sowing seeds of discord and pushing communities into conflict.
The BJP claimed that the people of the state will not forgive the government for this.
Speaking to the media at the BJP state office, former Deputy Chief Minister and BJP MP Govind Karjol, a prominent Dalit leader in the state, said Siddaramaiah is not fit to be called an AHINDA leader and has deceived Dalit communities.
Karjol warned that if justice is not given, communities that have been fighting for reservation for three decades would take to the streets. He urged the government to at least implement the recommendations of the Justice Sadashiva Commission or ensure social justice without causing injustice to any group.
He reiterated that the BJP demands implementation of reservation benefits for 101 communities in accordance with Supreme Court directions and constitutional values.
He urged the government to first implement internal reservation and then correct any shortcomings, stating that there is scope to make necessary changes.
He noted that there has been a struggle for internal reservation in the state for the past 30 years, with demands to increase SC and ST reservations in proportion to their population. However, ignoring these demands, the state government failed to properly implement reservations and even altered court directions, he alleged.
He questioned the government not to instigate conflicts between castes over reservation and asked whether Siddaramaiah could still be accepted as an AHINDA leader after reducing reservation by modifying court orders.
Karjol said that when the demand for internal reservation intensified, the Congress government had appointed the Justice Sadashiva Commission and later obtained a report from Justice Nagamohan Das.
During the BJP government, he said, then Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai acknowledged the Dalit movement and increased reservation from 15 per cent to 17 per cent for Scheduled Castes and from 3 per cent to 7 per cent for Scheduled Tribes, in line with population. He added that four categories were created under social justice.
He further said that under the leadership of then Law Minister Madhuswamy, a cabinet sub-committee submitted its report and recommendations were sent to the Centre. Based on this, reservations were distributed as follows: 6 per cent for Madiga and related communities, 5.5 per cent for Chalavadi and sub-castes, 4.5 per cent for Lambani, Bhovi, Korama and Koracha communities, and 1 per cent for nomadic groups. This was approved by both Houses in 2022, received the Governor’s assent, and became law. He said that for four years, SCs and STs benefited from 17 per cent and 7 per cent reservation respectively.
Karjol alleged that the Siddaramaiah government failed to effectively present the case before the court and did not implement it in line with constitutional principles of social justice.
He alleged that after a partial stay, the government submitted a memo stating it would not continue with 17 per cent and 7 per cent reservation, but instead revert to 15 per cent for SCs and 3 per cent for STs as per the 1995 order, and sought approval for the same.
He said the court agreed as there was no alternative, and added that no court had stayed or opposed the 17 per cent and 7 per cent reservation.
He accused the government of reducing reservation on its own and doing injustice to Dalits, thereby losing the moral right to be called an AHINDA leader.
He also questioned the formation of another committee under the Chief Secretary to review the issue, asking what moral authority the government had to do so after earlier reports were already available. He said forming another committee instead of accepting or rejecting existing reports amounted to disrespecting the judges who submitted them.
Source: IANS
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