Reservation cannot be an excuse for failed economic upliftment: Islamic Student body first to protest Quota Bill

The first student body to actually call for a massive protest against the now-legit Upper Caste Quota Bill, the Students Islamic Organisation of India (SIO), has slammed the move and called it a sham, "The government needs to introduce schemes and programs that make education accessible and create jobs, reservations cannot be a panacea for all problems," said Labeed Shafi, National President of the Students Islamic Organisation of India as they called for a nationwide protest against the Centre's move to introduce reservation in jobs and education for the economically backward sections of society. The Lok Sabha passed a bill to provide 10 per cent reservation in education and government jobs for the ‘economically weak’ sections. This will spike the total number of reserved seats to 59 per cent.

The new quota which has been introduced is a sham, claims Labeed. "The government has been unable to provide jobs and now instead of answering for it, they are presenting reservations as a way for economic upliftment and employment. Reservations cannot be a poverty alleviation programme," said the young leader.

Labeed said that this a move which will distort the constitutional scheme of social justice and all for the sake of petty vote-bank politics in an election year. "Reservation can only act as a very limited tool of social empowerment, by bringing people from those communities into the system who have historically been left out," he said. "We believe that minorities and specifically Muslims have been discriminated against in both education and jobs, which is why the community as a whole faces backwardness, as proven in the Sachar and other reports. Our demand for Muslim reservation is based on a need to correct the bias that exists against Muslims as a whole," he added.

He called on the spirited youth of the country to protest against this 'cynical move of a desperate government' which, he thinks, is trying to cover up its failures by playing with the very fabric of the Constitution. "This quota provides no relief to students of minority communities, it will only benefit a select class of people who may be poor but who have not faced discrimination or bias on the basis of their identity," he added.