No religious reservation in paramilitary forces: BJP

BJP today sharply attacked MoS for Home Shriprakash Jaiswal8217;s reported suggestion for recruitment of more Muslims in paramilitary forces, and said any move for reservation on religious lines would pave way for a second 8216;8216;partition8221;.

BJP spokesman V.K. Malhotra also revived the party8217;s old demand that the Minorities Commission be scrapped as a Human Rights Commission already exists. Asked why the Vajpayee government hadn8217;t scrapped it, he said: 8216;8216;It was an NDA government, but BJP has always believed there is no need for one.8217;8217;

Although there is no formal proposal mooted by the Home Ministry on quota for minorities in paramilitary forces, the BJP made it clear that it would nip any such move in the bud. Religion-based quotas were 8216;8216;unconstitutional, anti-national and socially divisive8217;8217;, Malhotra maintained.