Hindu organisation opposes quota for Marathas, Muslims in Maharashtra

A right wing organisation opposed the reservation for Marathas and Muslims approved by the Maharashtra Cabinet on Thursday. Maharashtra government had approved 16% reservation for Marathas and 5% for Muslims in government jobs and educational institutions.

"Several Maratha organisations have been in touch with us and they don't want reservations," Hindu Janajagruti Samiti's (HJS) national spokesman Ramesh Shinde claimed while talking to reporters in Panaji. Shinde, along with several leaders of other Hindu organisations, addressed a press conference in the backdrop of the ongoing All India Hindu Convention which will culminate today at Ramnathi village near Panaji.

The entire exercise of reservation has been carried out to appease minorities, to overcome the fact that the state NCP-Congress government has lost its popularity which was indicated in the recently held Lok Sabha polls, he said. The HJS, along with other Hindu organisations, has been against the concept of reservations, he said. "We have been demanding common civil code. Where is the question of supporting such kind of reservations based on caste or religion? Everyone should get equal treatment," Shinde expressed.

Meanwhile, the convention, which had more than 300 leaders of various right wing organisations participating in it, has adopted a resolution demanding complete ban on cattle slaughter in the country. "It's not just cow slaughter but we want ban on the cattle slaughter," HJS national guide Charudatt Pinge said. The recent raids on slaughter houses in Goa's Margao town have revealed that even underage cows were killed for the meat, he said.

The convention also demanded that the Union government should enact a stringent law prosecuting infiltrators from Bangladesh and also those who facilitate their illegal arrival in the country. "Not just infiltrators, but even those who facilitate their stay in the country should be prosecuted under the new law, which could be a draconian act," the convention resolved.