Samajwadi Party leader and MLA Abu Azmi has demanded the Maha Vikas Aghadi government to bring a resolution against CAA-NRC in the ongoing assembly session and has also asked the government to bring a law to provide 5% reservations to Muslims in the state.
Speaking to the media, Abu Azmi, who is also a partner in the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition, demanded the Uddhav Thackeray-led government to bring in legislation to provide 5 per cent reservations to Muslims in the state. The controversial Samajwadi Party leader warned of taking to streets against the state government if they fail to do it.
https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1366277863226269699?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwAbu Azmi also said that the Shiv Sena-Congress-NCP lead coalition should pass a resolution against the Citizenship Amendment Act that provides citizenship to persecuted minorities from the three neighbouring Islamic countries.
Recently, the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra had proposed extending the contentious 5 per cent reservations for Muslims across educational institutes in the state. Informing about the government proposal to provide reservations to Muslims in educational institutes, Minority Affairs minister Nawab Malik said that the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government would soon bring in an ordinance to this effect in the ongoing Budget session.
Speaking on the same, Samajwadi Party’s Abu Azmi had earlier lauded the Maharashtra Government, stating that this move would not only benefit the Muslims but the country as a whole.
“Today, people say that Muslims are backward, the truth is that education has become so expensive. This reservation will prove as a great benefit for the Muslims who could not afford education,” said Abu Azmi.
MVA alliance’s persistent push for Muslim reservations
Ever since Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance formed a government in Maharashtra, the alliance partners have been pressing to bring in reservations for Muslims in the state. In January 2020, a month after Uddhav Thackeray became the chief minister, several reports surfaced stating that Maha Vikas Aghadi government is preparing to introduce reservations for Muslims in the state.
It is pertinent to note that the Shiv Sena was earlier amongst the political parties who had vehemently opposed the reservations based on religion in Maharashtra but owing to the changing political dynamic, it appears to have acquiesced to the NCP-Congress demand of passing reservations for Muslims in education.