Badruddin Ajmal Demands 10% Reservation for Muslims

Badruddin Ajmal Demands 10% Reservation for Muslims

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August 12, 2022

Lok Sabha member and All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) president Maulana Badruddin Ajmal demanded 10 per cent reservations for Muslims in employment, education and politics. In a detailed letter to Prime Minister Mr. Manmohan Singh and all ministries concerned with the reservation issue as well as UPA chairperson Ms. Sonia Gandhi, Maulana Ajmal viewed that ‘reservation for Muslims is overdue for last 63 years’.

While recounting modern Indian history, one finds that following India’s independence and unfortunate partition a historic bill was passed in the constituent parliament of India. On August 28, 1947, the bill was passed to ensure political reservation for scheduled castes (SCs) and the Muslims. During a debate on ‘Report on Minority Rights’, SCs and Muslims were classified as ‘minorities’ and the Constituent Assembly passed the bill guaranteeing proportionate reservation for them in the legislative houses.

Later, some members smartly made an amendment to the bill stating that the SCs were part of the Hindu community and not minority. Maulana Syed Fazlul Hasan Hasrat Mohani (1875-1951), an eminent freedom fighter and member of the Constituent Assembly, objected to the use of the word ‘minority’ for ‘Muslims’ alone. And two years later, the ‘Muslim’ word was removed from the list of reservation beneficiaries. While the SCs, who were technically members of the majority ‘Hindu community’, are reaping the benefits of reservation till date and the Muslims are forced to live with just the tag of being a ‘minority’.

Maulana Ajmal also stated that Jamiat Ulama-I Hind has been demanding for Muslim Reservation every now and then since independence. “In 1983 at a national convention of Jamiat (Jalsa-e A’am) in Mumbai’s Azad Maidan, where I was present, Maulana Syed As’ad Madni (1928-2006) strongly argued for Muslim reservation in jobs, education and politics and passed a unanimous resolution which reads, ‘Muslims should avail themselves of reservation exactly as SCs and STs had constitutionally got it,” said Ajmal, the MP from Dhubri, Assam.

Justice Sachar Committee Report, nonetheless, is an official document in line with Gopal Commission’s findings. It is an eye-opener for the apathetic educational, economic and overall social condition of Muslims nationwide. Following the Sachar Report the Justice Rangnath Mishra Report has conceded 15 per cent reservation for minorities in education and employment and also recommended 10 per cent of it for the Muslim minority alone. It is time to take honest steps by the parliament on the Mishra Report and “I strongly demand for it from the ruling UPA government,” Maulana Ajmal said.

It is notable that three out of 10 Muslims in the country are below poverty line living on less than Rs 550 a month as in the Indian Human Development survey conducted by the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER). The report released recently added that even among the poor, urban Muslims were better off compared to those in villages, who survived on Rs 338 a month during the year under review, NCAER said.

Muslim reservation, or in some text minority reservation, is a long pending issue. Some states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu and of late Andhra Pradesh have already given meagre reservation to Muslims which are being proven very effective for the beneficiaries. Therefore, Maulana Ajmal said, “I request the present government at the Centre to work practically while legislating 10 per cent reservation for Muslims in India. I am sure it would boost minority confidence and help the nation and Muslim community at large.”