After a pause in the beef ban row following the J&K High Court verdict, quota politics may rock the state as supporters and opponents of reservation system have started flexing their muscles.
While leaders of reserved categories have taken to streets against the verdict of J&K High Court on quota, those who fall under general quota have warned the state government about “political blackmail” of reserved categories.
As reported earlier, the J&K High Court in its judgment on October 9 had struck down some sections of the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act. The division bench of the High Court, while terming that J&K enjoyed a special status due to Article 370, held that there should be no benefit of reservation in promotions in Jammu and Kashmir.
Irrespective of party affiliations, leaders of the PDP, BJP, Congress and the Panthers Party who belong to reserved categories have already announced that they would oppose the verdict of the High Court. These PDP and BJP ministers have brought the matter to the notice of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and asked the government to challenge the High Court’s verdict.
The All India Confederation of SC, ST and OBC Organisations has decided to take out a march here on November 1 against the casual approach being adopted by the state government to challenge the court’s verdict.
“Almost three weeks have been passed after verdict of the High Court but the state government appears to be non-serious about challenging the same. So we have decided to intensify our struggle to restore our constitutional right,” said RK Kalsotra, convener of the confederation. “The struggle against ‘anti-weaker section’ policies of the state government would be intensified in the days to come,” he added.
Meanwhile, members belonging to reserved categories took out a candle light procession this evening to exert pressure on the government to challenge the High Court verdict. The state unit of the BSP has already launched an agitation against the verdict.
In contrast, leaders belonging to general categories have formed the Joint Action Committee to oppose any move of the state government to challenge the High Court verdict. In a meeting held on October 24 at Jammu, these leaders vowed to wage a war if any attempt was made to challenge the verdict. The leaders said the government should not give in to political blackmail by some organisations and should implement the High Court’s judgment on priority.
