OBC Mahasabha to protest MP govt move to include transgender community in OBC category

Congress opposes decision, says special provision should be made for transgendersSravani Sarkar

By Sravani Sarkar

Upset over the decision of the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh to include the transgender community in the OBC category, the OBC Mahasabha is planning to launch an agitation to force the government to roll back the decision.

The decision of the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government, taken during the recent cabinet meeting, has not gone down well with the OBC communities who said the move is unjustified as this leads to the shrinking of their caste quota, which is already very less compared to their population percentage in the state.

National core committee member of OBC Mahasabha, Dharmendra Kushwaha told THE WEEK that the outline of the agitation will be finalised in a meeting to be held soon. He said the decision not only amounted to an insult to the OBC community but is also a betrayal of the community which, although havs 52 per cent population in the state, is getting just 14 per cent reservation. “The OBC Mahasabha condemns and strongly opposes the decision, and we will fight against it from the streets to the assembly. If the decision is not rolled back, we will ensure ousting of Shivraj Singh Chouhan (government) in 2023 (assembly polls),” Kushwaha said.

Another core committee member, Lokendra Singh Gurjar, said in a video statement that the decision has once again brought forth the anti-OBC face of the BJP government. “The state has the highest percentage of OBCs at 52 per cent and they are getting the least reservation at 14 per cent. Now, including 30,000 transgenders in the OBC list for quota purposes is nothing but an ugly attempt to further trample our rights. We are not against transgenders. We also feel that they should get their rights and reservation. But we feel that like the Union government passed a bill in parliament to give EWS quota, a similar separate quota should be created for transgenders and also a commission for their welfare should be established on the lines of SC/ST/OBC commissions. But we are strongly against the decision to include transgenders in the OBC quota list. If the decision is not rolled back, we will take our fight to the streets and launch an aggressive agitation on the lines of that done by Gurjars in Rajasthan and any losses to public property or lives will be the responsibility of the government. We are ready to sacrifice everything for protecting the reservation quota of OBCs,” he said.

MP Congress media department vice president R.P. Singh told THE WEEK that the Congress feels that it is an injustice to the OBCs if transgenders are included in their quota list. “The BJP government in Madhya Pradesh has gotten into the habit of formulating policies without doing any homework. Everything is being done in haste with an eye on the assembly polls. The OBCs in the state are already facing discrimination as they have 52-54 per cent population and are getting just 14 per cent reservation despite promises of 27 per cent. Now, the government wants to further divide their share. The right thing will be to make special provisions for the transgender community rather than doing injustice to the OBCs,” he said.

The issue has made splash on social media too with author Dilip Mandal, known to be vocal on caste issues, calling Shivraj Singh Chouhan ‘Vibhishan’ (brother of demon king Ravana from epic Ramayana who is considered to have betrayed own family) and demanding his ouster. In a series of tweets, he said the interests of OBCs are not protected in Madhya Pradesh and the decision to give reservation to transgenders of all communities in the OBC category will end the 14 per cent reservation for OBCs in MP. “If the aim was to promote transgenders, they would have been given quotas in their respective caste categories,” Mandal said.

Courtesy : The Week

Note: This news piece was originally published in theweek.com and used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes exclusively for Human Rights