Religion cannot be a basis for making reservation: PM Modi

Prime Minister Modi claimed that he never said that Muslims will not get reservations. (File)

New Delhi:

As the battle for reservations for Muslims continues to escalate ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, with the BJP registering its dissent over religion-based quotas, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that religion cannot be the basis for making reservations. against the Constitution.

In an interview with Times Now, the Prime Minister said the country’s poor include all Hindus, Christians and Parsis and everyone should get the benefits of reservation.

“I have never said that Muslims will not get reservations. All I am saying is that religion cannot be the basis for providing reservations. The country’s poor include all Hindus, Christians and Parsis; everyone should get the benefits of reservation Dalits and tribals have been facing injustice for thousands of years, and there is a special reason that the makers of our Constitution made the right decision, and for that we are grateful. No political party is against this.

When asked about the dangers of allowing reservations on the basis of religion to Muslims, Prime Minister Modi said that the maker of the Constitution, after a lengthy discussion during its drafting, decided that reservations on the basis of religion would be harmful to society and not good for society. the long term.

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“When the Constitution was written back then, there were all these leaders like Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Babasaheb Ambedkar and Rajendra Babu; there was no one from the RSS or BJP and there were also representatives from all communities. After a lengthy discussion, it was decided that reservation based on religion would be harmful to society and would not be good for the long term. Social evils were faced for years with untouchability and discrimination society based on birth. It was necessary to undo the mistakes and it is important to note that this was done by Sanatanis, apart from Nehru ji, who perhaps considers himself above them,” the Prime Minister said.

Prime Minister Modi assured that Muslims will equally benefit from the central schemes if his government is voted to power.

“…we must atone for sins and reserve them for those who deserve them. I am also connected with the same feelings. I want to live in the spirit of the Constitution. I want to increase the prestige of the Constitution. I have I have since day 1 said that reservations based on religion are against the Constitution, but that does not mean that Muslims will not benefit from it. We have made a 10 percent reservation in Parliament for the poor in the general category, but that was not there When an objection was raised, no one fought and no plunder took place,” he said.

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The Prime Minister also said he is committed to completing all government programs that will include every community and religion, marking the fulfillment of his “guarantee of social justice, a guarantee of secularism.”

“Even during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, our manifesto included the Ram Mandir and the abrogation of Article 370, UCC. Now it is Modi’s sarkar. Work in progress will be listed and completed works will not be included in the manifest. I am committed to completing all government plans. If 50 people need a house in a village, then all 50 people should get it, not just 49. It is a guarantee of social justice, a guarantee of secularism,” he added.