All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) President Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday raised the issue of Muslim reservation in Maharashtra. He said that this is the right time to raise the issue as the ruling establishment is not doing anything in this regard.
Speaking to India TV in an exclusive conversation, Owaisi said that he has shared the empirical data of Muslims in Maharashtra detailing the socially and educationally backwardness of the Muslim community in the state. “Reservation will strengthen democracy and constitution and will also help the state,” he said.
In Maharashtra, only 22 percent of Muslims take admission in primary schools while only 4.9 percent of Muslims are graduates. When asked about the impact of his fight for reservation for Muslims in Maharashtra on the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly elections to be held early next year, he said that right now he is fighting for Muslim reservation in Maharashtra. “The socio-economic indicators in the state are very low for Muslims,” he said.
The previous Congress-NCP government in Maharashtra provided 5 per cent reservation in jobs and education to Muslims in 2014. Bombay HC canceled Maratha quota but retained Muslim quota in education. Owaisi said, “The Bombay High Court said you can give reservation to Muslims in education, but not in jobs, as it is more than the 50% limit.”
Attacking the Congress party for only using the votes of the Muslim community for power, Owaisi said, “When you were not in power you had demanded reservation, but when you came to power you deliberately canceled the ordinance. done.”
The opposition alleges that between 2014 and 2019, the then BJP-Shiv Sena government allegedly did not raise the issue of implementing this quota for Muslims.
Speaking on the Gurugram Namaz controversy, he said that several waqf land properties have been encroached in Gurugram, he further asked: “Why was written permission given by the authorities since 2018 and what has happened now.”
Speaking on the UP elections next year, he said there is a need to give a voice and political leadership to the state’s Muslim community. Owaisi asked the Muslim community to use their franchise judiciously, “If you need to resolve all your issues and end injustice, you need to form your own leadership.”
On Saturday, he asked Muslims to stay away from “political secularism”, saying it has not helped socially and educationally backward sections of the community to get quota in jobs and education. Addressing a rally in suburban Mumbai, Owaisi said he believed in secularism enshrined in the Constitution.
He said that 83 percent of the Muslims in Maharashtra are landless. Do the hearts of Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena only beat for Marathas? he questioned. He claimed that the standard of living of Marathas is much higher than that of Muslims in Maharashtra.
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