The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) today said it would oppose reservation to Muslims within the 27 per cent OBC quota approved by the Union Cabinet, terming religion based reservation as violative of the Constitution.

"This is not just a violation of the Indian Constitution but also an attempt to take away the rights of Hindus. Today, they have given jobs and education from OBC quotas to Muslims, tomorrow they will do the same thing with Schedule Caste quota and provide reservations to Christians," VHP General Secretary Praveen Togadia said.

Noting that some political parties are demanding amendments of the Constitution because it does not allow reservations on the basis of religion, he said the VHP would oppose it doggedly.

"This is reservation jehad," Togadia said.

"I have studied the Constituent Assembly debate which discussed the issue of religion based reservations. After the debate, leaders like Jawahar Lal Nehru, Sardar Patel and leaders of minority communities said the country had got divided on the basis of religion, so in future religion based reservations will not be allowed," the VHP leader said.

Muslims claim they are a casteless society and according to the Constitution only Hindu castes are eligible for reservation, he said.

"From today the VHP is launching a movement to mobilise Hindus to ensure that jobs and bank loans meant for them are not provided to Muslims and Christians," Togadia said.

The VHP leader also said those demanding religion based reservation in the institution of Lokpal, which was supposed to be an investigative agency, were "killers of secularism."

The Union Cabinet on Thursday decided to carve out a sub-quota of 4.5 per cent for minorities within the 27 per cent reservation for OBCs.

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