Muslim leaders from across the party lines, NGOs and Ulemas join hands to pressurise CM Fadnavis to implement quota for community in education
Hours after chief minister Devendra Fadnavis assured the Maratha community of quota in government education and employment, the Muslim community in the state has asserted its demand for reservation once again. The members said quota must be granted to them as per the Bombay High Court directive, which had quashed quota for Marathas.
A meeting of religious, social and political leaders from the community was held in Mumbai on Monday to chalk out a strategy to seek their "rightful" demands. BJP has been opposed to reservation on religious grounds.
Congress, NCP, SP to AIMIM, all have similar views on quota issue, as the community has been their major vote-bank and civic polls in Mumbai and Thane are slated to be held early next year.
Since the meet was on till the time of going to the press, details of the strategy and decisions were not available. Most leaders dna spoke to ahead of the meeting, however, affirmed that they will show their strength on roads, if the government doesn't assure quota for the community in educational institutions as per the HC order.
"Since the Fadnavis government is wholeheartedly supporting Maratha reservation, Muslim quota must also be looked into, especially since the HC upheld the same. Not ensuring quota for Muslims is an insult to the Sachar commission, whose report had highlighted the socio-economic backwardness of the community," said Abu Azmi, MLA and Samajwadi Party president of Maharashtra, who attended the meet.
Arif Naseem Khan, Congress MLA and former minister of minorities development department, echoed the view. "We have left our political alienation aside for this common cause. Roadshows across the state are being planned to force the government to follow the court order." MIM MLA Warris Pathan and NCP leader Syed Jalaluddin were also present in the meeting.
In 2014, the Congress-NCP state government had brought in an ordinance offering 16% reservation to Marathas in government jobs and educational institutions, and 5% to Muslims.
The move was challenged before the Bombay High Court, which stayed the reservation for Marathas altogether. It, however, gave a go-ahead to reservation for Muslims, but only in educational institutions.
The ordinance had a validity of six months, which ended on December 25, 2014. By that time, BJP-Shiv Sena government had come to power. The saffron government expressed support for the Maratha reservation and constituted a committee under education minister Vinod Tawde, which was entrusted to collect proofs and surveys to prove before the court. The government also passed a Bill in this regard in the Maharashtra Assembly.
The Muslim quota issue, however, was left untouched, even as the Opposition parties in the state sought to corner the government by accusing it of being "anti-Muslim".
According to some Muslim leaders, the BJP and Sena have no intention of giving quota to Muslims. The Justice Rajinder Sachar Commission had termed the community socio-economically backwards.
Observers said considering population and political weight as factors, Marathas were far ahead than the Muslim community. So, support for Marathas was more important than for Muslims. "In such a case, why would the party compromise with their Hindutva ideology," said an observer.
A scientist from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) said, "Communalism has its roots in the presidential order of 1950, which held that only those Dalits who professed Hindu religion could be treated as Scheduled Caste (SC). This was discriminatory and must be amended in order to provide equal rights to all needy Indians, irrespective of the faiths they observe."
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