Mumbai, Feb. 21: Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA Rais Shaikh has written a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, urging 5% reservation for Muslims. The aim of this reservation is to address the backwardness of the community and promote their inclusion in mainstream development.
Shaikh emphasized that the Congress-NCP government had previously granted reservations to Muslims through an ordinance, and the Bombay High Court had also upheld 5% reservation in education for Muslims. However, the state government has yet to pass a law to ensure the implementation of this reservation.
Shaikh expressed his disappointment, stating that it’s a great injustice to the Muslim community, which has been fighting for their rightful reservation for many years. He highlighted that the demand for Muslim reservations is based on the economic and social backwardness of the community, and approximately 50 sub-castes within the community would benefit from this reservation. He also said he supports a separate reservation for Marathas, as long as it doesn’t affect the OBC quota.
The Muslim community constitutes 11.5 percent of the state’s population. Statistical evidence from the Justice Rajinder Sachar Committee (2006) and Justice Ranganath Misra Commission (2004) has substantiated the economic and educational disadvantages faced by the Muslim community. In response, the Congress-led government established the Dr Mehmoodur Rehman Committee in 2009, which proposed an 8% reservation for the Muslim community in both education and employment opportunities.
