Mumbai: The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) on Thursday accused the BJP government in Maharashtra of ignoring and the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) alliance of cheating the Muslim community over reservation.
"The previous Congress and NCP govt cheated the Muslims by not giving them reservations while in power for 15 years and now the BJP Sena govt is ignoring the community's legitimate demands which is highly condemnable", Imtiaz Jaleel, AIMIM MLA from Aurangabad, said.
"The hurriedly passed bill in the Maharashtra assembly providing reservation to Marathas today mentions about their backwardness on the basis of findings by a government appointed commission. Going by the same logic, the plight of the Muslims, who have been regarded as socially, educationally and economically backward by three commissions namely the Sachhar Committee, Ranganath Mishra Commission and Mehmood Rehman Committee, should also have been given the same benefits as being given to the Marathas", he said.
"Irrespective of which party is in power, nobody cares for the welfare and upliftment of minorities", he added.
In a message posted on Twitter, AIMIM Chief Asaduddin Owaisi said, "Depriving backward Muslims of their fair share in public employment & education is a grave injustice."
"I've consistently argued that there are backward castes in Muslims who have lived for generations in a cycle of poverty. Reservation is a tool that will break this cycle", he said.
The AIMIM leaders were responding to the BJP-Sena government's decision to grant 16% reservation to the Maratha community. The government introduced the Maratha Reservation Bill Thursday which was unanimously passed by the state assembly.
Earlier, spealing in the State Assembly, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis too accused the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) of cheating and fooling Muslims saying the two parties despite having sufficient number in the state assembly did not make any serious effort to introduce and pass a bill providing the minority community quota in government jobs and education.
"So many commissions and committees includin Rangantah Mishra Committee, Sachar Committee and Mehmoodur Rehman Committee had recommended reservation for Muslims when the Congress was in power in the state as well as in center. Why didn't the Congress then make any effort to introduce and pass a bill to grant reservation to the minority community", Fadnavis said in the state Assembly Wednesday.
Fadnavis's comments came after opposition MLAs created ruckus in the house demanding reservation for Muslims along with Marathas.
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