SHILLONG:
The Anti-Corruption League (ACL) on Tuesday asked the state government to recognise the Desi Muslims of the plain belt of Garo Hills as Other Backward Class (OBC) and reserve 4 per cent seats for them in the state’s job reservation policy.
In a letter to chief minister, Conrad K Sangma, ACL general secretary Mastopha Kabir said, “Therefore, very humbly and gracefully we pray before you to fulfill the promises of the founding fathers of Meghalaya state and provide us equal opportunities and access to education and government jobs etc. As the government of Assam and West Bengal have already recognised the Desi Muslims as people belonging to the backward class and provided OBC status, we also request your kind self to recognise the Desi Muslims of the plain belt of Garo Hills as Other Backward Class and reserve 4 pc seats for us (proportionate to our population), in the Meghalaya Reservation Policy.”
Kabir said that the present reservation policy of Meghalaya which reserved more than 85 per cent of the seats is clearly against the ruling of the Supreme Court and the spirit of the Constitution.
According to him, the Supreme Court’s judgment in the famous Indra Sawhney & Others V. Union of India (1992) case had categorically said that – “Reservation being an extreme form of protective measure or affirmative action it should be confined to a minority of seats. Even though the Constitution does not lay down any specific bar but the constitutional philosophy being against proportional equality the principle of balancing equality ordains reservation, of any manner, not to exceed 50 per cent”.
The ACL leader said that the basic idea of reservation is an affirmative action by the state towards a group of people who were deprived of opportunities or suffered inequalities in the past.
“We strongly believe that reservation is a great social equalizer. We also strongly support the rights of reservation of our Garo, Khasi, Jaintia and other tribal brothers and sisters of Meghalaya but not at the cost of meritocracy and at the cost of our own peril,” he said while adding that “The present reservation system of Meghalaya not only deprived the meritorious but has also created another group of people (read the non-tribal) who are subjected to injustice and widespread inequalities in the availability of and access to educational facilities, government jobs and other opportunities.”
Kabir said when Meghalaya was created in 1972, the non-tribal population of the state was about 20 per cent.
There is no denying the fact that the non-tribals especially the indigenous ‘desi’ Muslims of the plain belt of Garo Hills took active participation in the Hill State movement under the leadership of Captain Williamson Sangma and other tribal leaders.
Despite being part of Assam and Assamese culture for centuries, the ‘desi’ Muslims of Garo Hills extended their support for a separate Hill State with high hopes that in the new state, their rights and socio-economic aspirations would be protected and accommodated.
He claimed that “in the historic tripartite meeting among central government representatives, non-tribal leadership led by the then MDC late Akramuz Zaman and the tribal leadership led by Captain WA Sangma, the non-tribals were assured of equal opportunities and fair play by the tribal leaders. It was also promised that our rights and aspirations, our growth and development will be given equal priority and importance as that of the tribal people of Meghalaya.”
“However, after the creation of Meghalaya, the same non-tribals were reduced to the status of almost second class citizens. The reservation benefits were made available only to the tribal populations, with non-tribals not getting even a fraction of what they deserved and were promised,”Kabir added.
Meanwhile, the ACL also urged the chief minister to also provide opportunity to the Desi Muslims to take part in the all-stakeholders meeting convened by the government to discuss the issue, in the future.