National

AMU verdict a blow to Congress, says BJP

Special Correspondent

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party said on Thursday that the Allahabad High Court verdict in the Aligarh Muslim University case was a "double blow to the appeasement politics'' of the Congress in less than 24 hours.

BJP spokesman Prakash Javdekar said that close on the heels of the Supreme Court refusing to stay the Andhra High Court decision to quash five per cent reservation for Muslims in the State, the Allahabad High Court upheld the order of its single-judge Bench quashing minority status to AMU.

According to the BJP, the Congress is pursuing a "totally communal agenda" by introducing reservation for Muslims on the basis of religion at AMU and in Andhra Pradesh.

"All such efforts have fallen flat as they are against the basic tenets of the Constitution. If minorities and weaker sections are to be made competitive in the employment market, the only option available is a concerted effort at capacity and skill building amongst such sections without discrimination on the basis of religion.''

Accusing the Congress of indulging in vote bank politics, he said that by adopting policies which were bound to be struck down by courts, it was unnecessarily creating a feeling of injustice among the minorities.

We will examine judgment: Arjun Singh

UNI reports:

Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh said the Government would examine the judgment, before deciding the next course of action.

``I have not yet seen the judgment. First, we will examine it in detail before deciding what to do about it,'' Mr. Singh told reporters here.

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