PATNA: The ongoing controversy over the new job reservation formula of the Bihar government took a communal tinge with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) reacting strongly against the statements of housing minister Mohammad Taslimuddin and others demanding a separate quota for the Muslim community.

VHP leader Chandra Prakash, in a press note, called the demand unfortunate and insisted that the reservation in Bihar is caste based. He stated that there are no Dalits in the Muslim community as it goes against the basic teachings of the holy Quran. He warned of grave consequences if the state government makes any provision for a separate job quota for Muslims.

Taslimuddin wrote a letter to chief minister Rabri Devi, demanding 10 per cent reservation for the minorities. He reminded the CM and the RJD chief, Laloo Prasad Yadav, that the party had in its last election manifesto assured the minority community that it would be given 10 per cent job quota if voted to power. The minister insisted that the state government and the party should now fulfil the pledge by making the provision for a separate job quota for the minorities.

The Bihar Pradesh Momin Conference (BPMC) has also demanded 8.4 per cent reservation for backward Muslims. The BPMC working committee insisted that such a reservation would benefit more than 80 per cent people of the minority community. It expressed concern over the collapse of the handloom industry in the country as a whole and Bihar in particular. The BPMC has demanded a special package for rehabilitating the weavers.

The state unit of the CPI has dubbed the new reservation formula of the Bihar government as "illogical and unbalanced". The party's state council said Dalits, tribals and backward castes should be given job quotas in accordance with their population as shown in the 2001 census report. The party also demanded 10 per cent reservation for the backward sections of the Muslim community and the poor among the upper castes.