Mumbai, February 18 The opposition on Wednesday said the BJP-led Maharashtra government's decision to cancel the 5 per cent reservation for Muslims in education and jobs has exposed its "anti-minority" mindset, and questioned the logic behind withdrawing an ordinance that lapsed years ago.
A Government Resolution stated that all previous decisions and the ordinance related to the five per cent reservation in government, semi-government jobs and educational institutions for the socially and educationally backward Muslim group under the Special Backward Category (A) have been cancelled.
Alleging injustice towards Muslims, Congress leaders termed the decision "harmful to democracy" which would push the community away from the mainstream.
The NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) said the quota cancellation decision proves that the BJP doesn’t value Muslim leaders of the party and its allies.
"It also shows that these Muslim leaders won’t get justice from the BJP," said NCP (SP) spokesperson Clyde Crasto.
Samajwadi Party leader Abu Asim Azmi questioned the rationale behind formally withdrawing an ordinance on the quota that had already lapsed years ago amid a change of government and a lack of legislative follow-up.
"The 2014 ordinance never became a confirmed law and lapsed. Why make a formal announcement to invalidate something that was already ineffective? If the intent was social justice, the incomplete process should have been pursued with a strong legal foundation," Azmi said in a statement.
Citing Constitutional provisions, Azmi said Articles 15(4) and 16(4) empower governments to create special measures for socially and educationally backward groups.
He suggested that sub-classification within the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) category could ensure equitable distribution of reservation benefits, provided it remains within the 50 per cent cap and is backed by reliable data and surveys.
The Samajwadi Party leader stated that the government was expected to present a fresh socio-economic survey or a new policy framework addressing backwardness among Muslim communities.
"Social justice is not a political game; it is the soul of the Constitution," Azmi added.
Mumbai Congress president Varsha Gaikwad said the decision contradicts the BJP's 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' agenda.
"The Congress-NCP government in 2014 announced a five per cent reservation in education and jobs for the Muslim community, but Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis failed to take positive steps in that direction," said the MP from Mumbai North-Central.
The Bombay High Court had upheld the five per cent reservation in education for the Muslim community, but the state government did not implement it fully, Gaikwad said.
Former state Congress working committee member Naseem Khan said the decision was “extremely wrong” and would deprive minorities of opportunities to join the mainstream of development.
He said the previous Congress-NCP government in 2014 had issued an ordinance granting the Muslim quota.
"The subsequent Devendra Fadnavis government did not take the process forward, and even after the Bombay High Court granted interim relief for 5 per cent educational reservation, its implementation was not ensured,” Khan alleged.
Calling the government "anti-minority", Khan further alleged that several welfare schemes for minorities launched by the earlier Congress-led government had been discontinued and scholarships for students curtailed.
AIMIM leader and former MP Imtiaz Jaleel said the move to cancel the Muslim quota shows that the BJP does not want youths from the minority community to become IAS and IPS officers.
"They want Muslim youths to run autorickshaws, wash their cars and do such menial jobs only," he alleged.
"Leaders of the ruling party still have the mentality of keeping the Muslim community at a stage where its members wash their cars, fry 'pakodas' and drive autorickshaws. They have a similar attitude towards the Dalit community. They don't want the youth from the Muslim community to become IAS and IPS officers," Jaleel told reporters in Chhatrpati Sambhajinagar.
He also appealed to the Muslim community to spend the amount of their 'zakat' (annual donation) on education instead of constructing religious places.
Jaleel said the Muslim community is like an organ in the human body, saying the organ may not be perfect, but it cannot be cut and thrown away.
