Date:30/05/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/05/30/stories/2006053006440400.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Protest against anti-quota stir on Thursday

Staff Reporter

All-India Minorities Front plans agitation on Thursday

Bangalore: All-India Minorities Front president S.M. Asif has called for an all-India protest on June 1 against those opposed to reservation in institutions of higher education.

He told presspersons here on Monday that members of the Other Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes would retaliate to the doctors' strike by holding a token protest in which members of the front would stop the supply of groceries and other essential commodities.

He appealed to the doctors to end their strike and said it was harming the public. "They should engage in a dialogue with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President A.P. J. Abdul Kalam," he said.

He clarified that the front was not promoting reservation for Muslims alone but was furthering the cause of all backward classes. He added that reservation in institutions of higher education was significant because a majority of the Muslim population came under the Other Backward Classes category.