Ahmedabad, December 18, 2009: Criticising Justice Rangnath Mishra Commission report recommending 10 per cent reservation for Muslims, Vishwa Hindu Parishad(VHP) on Friday said religion-based reservation is unconstitutional.

The report of the National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities headed by former CJI Ranganath Mishra was tabled by Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid in the Lok Sabha on Friday. The Commission has recommended 10 per cent reservation for Muslims and five per cent for other minorities in government jobs. "VHP rejects in toto the Rangnath commission report because it is unconstitutional, anti-national and anti-Hindu," VHP international general secretary Praveen Togadia told media persons here. "Khurshid who had recently called salaries of CEOs as vulgar, has by tabling the Rangnath Commission report shown the country his 'constitutional vulgarity'," he said.

Among a host of recommendations, the Commission recommended delinking of SC status from religion and abrogation of the 1950 Scheduled Caste Order which "still excludes Muslims, Christians, Jains and Parsis from SC net".

Togadia also warned of a nation-wide agitation if the Centre accepts the Commission's report. "We have national level meeting in Indore beginning tomorrow. There we will be planning for a nationwide agitation against the recommendations made by the Commission," Togadia said.

The VHP leader criticised Congress president Sonia Gandhi and blamed her for trying to divide the nation on the basis of religion. "Today the Rangnath Commission, Congress and Sonia Gandhi have repeated history by suggesting religion based reservation and they proved to be modern Mohammad Ali Jinnah to divide India," Togadia said.

Togadia further described this move of the Centre as assassination of Babasaheb Ambedkar's vision of India's constitution. He further said Christianity and Islam have been rejecting caste system. But now those who had converted to Christianity and Islam from scheduled caste are demanding reservation.