Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Maharashtra): All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader and former MP Imtiaz Jaleel on Wednesday criticised the BJP-led Maharashtra government over its decision to withdraw the five per cent reservation for Muslims in education and government jobs, alleging that the ruling party does not want members of the minority community to rise to top administrative positions.

The Devendra Fadnavis-led government recently issued a Government Resolution cancelling the five per cent quota for Muslims, noting that the earlier ordinance had lapsed and that there is an interim court stay on the matter. The previous Congress-NCP government had introduced an ordinance granting 16 per cent reservation to Marathas and five per cent to Muslims.

Reacting to the development in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Jaleel said, "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."

He further alleged that the ruling party preferred to see Muslim youths confined to low-paying occupations rather than entering elite civil services.

Jaleel, also the AIMIM state president, asserted that the community, however, was now more aware and prepared to respond politically and socially.

He also urged members of the Muslim community to prioritise education while spending their ‘zakat’, the annual charitable contribution in Islam.

"The leadership should change its mentality because even if we don't get reservation, we will compete and the community knows how to educate their children. As Ramzan is near, the Muslim community should spend the zakat amount on education instead of using it for building religious places," he said.

"The Muslim community is like an organ in the human body. It (the organ) may not be perfect, but you cannot cut and throw it off...We cannot expect much from the government that tries to find terrorists in madrassas, which is a place to study the Quran and make people good human beings," he added.

PTI