<p>Speaking in the wake of riots in Bareilly and Hyderabad, the minister also assured the minority communities that the UPA government was committed to protecting their interests.<br /><br />Addressing a conference of the State Minority Commissions here, Chidambaram also referred to the sensitive issue of reservation as an instrument of affirmative action.<br /><br />“If there is a better instrument we should certainly debate that instrument, but I believe that reservation is perhaps the most effective instrument that we have today,” he said.<br />Referring to the law for prevention, control and rehabilitation of the victims of communal violence, Chidambaram said the government had been working on it since December 2005 when the Bill was referred to a Parliamentary Standing Committee.<br /><br />“Beginning December 2005, it has been a journey of four years or more. It is likely that the journey will come to an end and it is my earnest hope that before the end of the year, we will have a law for the prevention and control of communal violence and rehabilitation of the victims,” he said.<br /><br />The issue of reservation for backward Muslims also got support from his colleague Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, who was also present on the occasion.<br />He referred to the “successful experiments in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka” of giving the backward sections among the minority community a separate and special representation in the backward list. <br /><br />Khurshid said even the Andhra Pradesh High Court, which rejected the state government’s move twice to get reservation for backward Muslims, did not reject the concept of quota for them within the existing 27 per cent OBC reservation. He said the court rejected its application on the grounds of non-scientific and inadequate survey. <br /></p>
<p>Speaking in the wake of riots in Bareilly and Hyderabad, the minister also assured the minority communities that the UPA government was committed to protecting their interests.<br /><br />Addressing a conference of the State Minority Commissions here, Chidambaram also referred to the sensitive issue of reservation as an instrument of affirmative action.<br /><br />“If there is a better instrument we should certainly debate that instrument, but I believe that reservation is perhaps the most effective instrument that we have today,” he said.<br />Referring to the law for prevention, control and rehabilitation of the victims of communal violence, Chidambaram said the government had been working on it since December 2005 when the Bill was referred to a Parliamentary Standing Committee.<br /><br />“Beginning December 2005, it has been a journey of four years or more. It is likely that the journey will come to an end and it is my earnest hope that before the end of the year, we will have a law for the prevention and control of communal violence and rehabilitation of the victims,” he said.<br /><br />The issue of reservation for backward Muslims also got support from his colleague Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, who was also present on the occasion.<br />He referred to the “successful experiments in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka” of giving the backward sections among the minority community a separate and special representation in the backward list. <br /><br />Khurshid said even the Andhra Pradesh High Court, which rejected the state government’s move twice to get reservation for backward Muslims, did not reject the concept of quota for them within the existing 27 per cent OBC reservation. He said the court rejected its application on the grounds of non-scientific and inadequate survey. <br /></p>
