Mohammed Ali Shabbir questions KCR's silence on Amit Shah's remarks on Muslim quota

Hyderabad: Former minister Mohammed Ali Shabbir questioned the silence of Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on the remarks made by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on scrapping the Muslim quota if BJP comes to power in next elections.

"During the review meeting held on Wednesday, CM KCR reacted on almost every issue, including paddy procurement. But he did not speak a single word on the four percent Muslim quota which Amit Shah threatened to quash. Why is he silent on this crucial issue concerning nearly 14 percent of the State's population? Is he afraid of countering Amit Shah or should we take his silence as consent to the BJP leader's demand?" he asked in a media statement on Thursday.

Shabbir Ali reminded that KCR came to power in the 2014 elections on the promise of giving 12 percent reservation in jobs and education to Muslims within four months after coming to power. However, this promise remained unimplemented even after eight years. "While KCR and other TRS leaders have stopped talking about the 12 percent Muslim quota, they seem to have joined a conspiracy to end the four percent Muslim reservation.

If we look at the chronology, TRS Govt denied representation to Muslims in important bodies like the Telangana State Public Service Commission, Vice-Chancellors of Universities. It stopped the release of Fee Reimbursement which led to the closure of over 70 percent of minority engineering and other professional colleges. Denial or delay in the release of scholarships forced lakhs of minority students to discontinue their higher studies. Now TRS-BJP seems to have hatched a conspiracy to end 4 percent Muslim quota," he said.