Condemning the Supreme Court verdict that said reservation is not a fundamental right and States are not bound to provide it, members of the Karnataka State Dalit Sangharsh Samiti demanded that the case be referred to a Constitutional Bench.
State convener of the samiti Arjun Bhadre, addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, demanded that the 131 MPs belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes should exert pressure on the Union government so that Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes and other communities can continue to benefit from reservation.
The judgment by a Bench comprising Justice L. Nageswara Rao and Justice Hemant Gupta is against the spirit of the Constitution, he said.
Mr. Bhadre said that the BJP-led government at the Centre and the RSS were trying to end reservation and a conspiracy is being hatched to take away the rights of the deprived sections.
Article 16(4) and Article 16 (4A) of the Constitution represent the spirit of the nation to provide reservation to backward sections. Mr. Bhadre said that the Centre was taking steps to end reservation in BJP-ruled States.
The samiti members would stage a protest outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office on February 17 and submit a memorandum addressed to the President, demanding social justice enshrined in the Constitution.
The district unit of the Bahujan Samaj Party also opposed the Supreme Court’s order on reservation.