CHENNAI: DMK president M K Stalin on Thursday urged the Tamil Nadu government to file a review petition against the Supreme Court verdict that denied BC(M) reservation for backward community members who convert to Islam.
In a social media post, Stalin said social backwardness did not disappear with religious conversion and argued that denying reservation based on religion would amount to social injustice. He also urged the state government to pursue efforts to extend reservation to Dalits, who convert to Christianity, through constitutional amendments.
The CPM and the Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (MMK) urged the state government to convene a special session of the Tamil Nadu Assembly to amend the law so as to protect the reservation rights of people from backward communities who convert to Islam.
In a press statement, CPM state secretary P Shanmugam said religious conversion did not automatically end a person’s social and economic disadvantages, and denying reservation benefits on this basis went against social justice.
He said the state government issued an order in March 2024 allowing people from Backward Classes (BC), Most Backward Classes (MBC), Denotified Communities (DNC) and Scheduled Castes to obtain BCM (Backward Class Muslims) certificates after converting to Islam, subject to certain conditions, for availing reservation benefits. Shanmugam urged the government to amend the law and file a review petition to protect the affected people’s rights.
MMK president and Nagapattinam MLA M H Jawahirullah also called for an immediate amendment to the 2007 law providing 3.5% reservation for Backward Class Muslims.
