VIJAYAWADA: The Muslim United Front (MUF) on Sunday raised concerns over the absence of political reservations and constitutional safeguards for Muslims and Christians, questioning whether Muslims were being treated as “second-class citizens” in the country.
At a meeting of key MUF leaders held in Guntur under the chairmanship of MUF president Mohammed Kaleem, participants discussed the issue: “When religion-based reservations are not applicable, what alternative measures are available for Muslims and Christians?”
Addressing the gathering, Kaleem said Muslims were granted special political representation during British rule. Leaders recalled that under the 1919 Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms and the Government of India Act, seats were reserved for Muslims in legislative bodies.
Participants noted that after Independence, constitutional and legal provisions prevented reservations for Muslims in legislatures on religious grounds. They pointed out that the 1950 Constitutional Order granted Scheduled Caste (SC) status only to Hindus, which was later extended to Sikhs in 1956 and Buddhists in 1990 through constitutional amendments.
They further stated that SC communities lose their status upon conversion to Christianity or Islam, and referred to a recent Supreme Court verdict reiterating this position. The leaders alleged that political parties had failed to propose alternative safeguards for Muslims and Christians despite decades of debate.
The meeting resolved to organise a round-table conference in Guntur with representatives of minority, backward and weaker sections to deliberate further on the issue.
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