Nagpur: Religion-based reservations were an assault on the "basic spirit" of the Constitution and reflected a "dangerous new mindset" in the Congress, said BJP leader L K Advani on Friday.
The Congress had "completely surrendered itself to the politics of minorityism" he said. "The people of India will not keep quiet if Congress persists with its sinister attempts," Advani said in Nagpur on the twelfth day of his Bharat Suraksha Yatra.
The demand for such reservations had become aggressive after the UPA came to power and Congress leaders were lending support to this "divisive demand either overtly or covertly".
He alleged that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi were silent over demands, like that made by the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, to give Muslims reservations in jobs and educational institutions.
"I appeal to them (Singh and Gandhi) to ponder over this. Aren't they defying the unanimous view of Pandit Nehru, Sardar Patel and Ambedkar (on religion-based reservations)?" Advani said.
On the controversy in the BJP after his comments on Pakistan's founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah, he said, "It shows the level of tolerance in the party even for a dissenting point of view. It is not something about which I feel apologetic."
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