A Jammu and Kashmir-based Sikh organisation on Monday extended support to the protests against the reservation policy in Jammu and Kashmir, saying the existing quota system was “based on politics”.
Students are protesting against the reservation policy in Jammu and Kashmir implemented after the abrogation of Article 370.
The All Party Sikh Coordination Committee (APSCC) has called for reverting to the earlier system.
“Since open merit is a big category, youth belonging to this category should be given more weightage as was the case earlier. The reservation to splinter groups is more based on politics rather than the actual situation,” APSCC chairman Jagmohan Singh Raina said in a statement here.
Raina said the youth belonging to the open merit category should get preference in jobs and other avenues.
“It is important that the restlessness among the youth belonging to the open merit category is averted. The same is possible only when reservation to the smaller groups is banished,” he added.
The APSCC chairman called for a judicial probe into the “injustice” meted out to the members of the majority by a “miniscule” group. He said that the majority community members have been deprived of their due share in jobs and other avenues of life.
Raina said that people at the helm should extend the benefits given to the minorities to Sikhs as the community has been classified as a minority.
On Monday, National Conference leader and Lok Sabha member from Srinagar Aga Ruhullah Mehdi also led a peaceful protest outside the residence of Abdullah to support the demand for “rationalisation” of reservations.
With the Centre granting reservation to Pahari-speaking people in Jammu and Kashmir, the open merit category has been reduced to 30 per cent while 70 per cent of seats are reserved for various communities.
Students, especially those undergoing training in medicine and surgery, have been protesting, saying the reservation policy promotes mediocrity where merit should reign supreme.(
