The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) on Saturday urged the Congress-led UPA government to reverse its decision to remove Arabic as an optional language in the Civil Service Examinations.

Talking to reporters in Chennai in connection with the national executive meeting of the party, Union Minister E. Ahmed, who is also the party president, said the government could not place Arabic on a par with other foreign languages and remove it from the list.

“A total of 15 crore Muslims use Arabic. It is not a foreign language as far as Muslims are concerned,” he said.

Party general secretary Kader Mohideen demanded the release of Muslim youths kept in jail for many years.

He also wanted the Centre’s intervention to protect scores of Indian workers in Saudi Arabia who were likely to be affected by Nitaqat, the new labour policy.