BJP was opposed to reservation benefiting OBCs: Thol. Thirumavalavan

VCK leader Thol. Thirumavalavan criticizes BJP for opposing OBC reservation and favoring upper caste EWS, questioning their commitment to social justice.

Leaders of Other Backward Classes (OBC) who join hands with the BJP should understand that it was the national party that opposed the OBC reservation and overthrew former Prime Minister V.P. Singh’s government, which implemented the recommendations of the Mandal Commission, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) leader Thol. Thirumavalavan said in Madurai on Sunday.

Addressing a religious harmony conference, Mr. Thirumavalavan said: “OBC leaders who portray Scheduled Castes (SCs) as their enemy in matters of reservation are not aware of the real enemies who are distorting the principles of social justice by amending the Act for reservation based on economic condition.”

While it was clearly decided by leaders during the Constituent Assembly debates that reservation should be based only on social condition and not economic, the BJP, immediately after forming the [Narendra Modi-led] government, amended the Act providing reservation for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) among the upper castes without leaving any time for discussion in the Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha, he added.

Listing a series of what he described as the BJP government’s “unfair” decisions against the Scheduled Castes/Tribes (SC/STs) and OBCs, Mr. Thirumavalavan asked why the BJP, which mobilised SC/STs and Adivasis under the umbrella of Hindus for votes, did injustice to those communities. “Why do the BJP and Sangh Parivar outfits, who claim they protect Hindu religion from outsiders in matters such as Tirupparankundram issue, are not talking about the injustice done to SCs, Adivasis, and OBCs in terms of cultural destruction and grabbing away their opportunities,” he asked. “When the income limit for [upper caste] EWS in availing post matric scholarships is ₹8 lakh, the income limit for SCs and OBCs are ₹2.5 lakh and ₹2 lakh respectively,” he pointed out. He asked whether the BJP was not against the same Hindus whom the party was claiming to be supporting.

He also asked why the BJP and its affiliates were not fighting for the SCs when they were denied entry into temples and were beaten up by caste Hindus.

Condemning the Madurai city police for not permitting the conduct of the meeting in an open space or a rally, he alleged that the Police Department, which worked for the State government that endorsed social justice and religious harmony, was against the principles of the government.

“The RSS, which does the brainwashing work, firstly influences the educated section and people in power. Going by their working standards, their first prey would be doctors, writers, IAS and IPS officials, among others,” he alleged. “If what I say is not true, why should the police deny permission to a meeting which endorses social justice and harmony. When the meeting was to bring peace, then how could it create a law-and-order issue as the police claim,” he asked.