Former Maharashtra minister Naseem Khan leads protest against laathicharge on pro-Maratha reservation activists, demands quota for Marathas and Muslims | Mumbai News – Times of India

MUMBAI: Former Maharashtra minister and Congress state working president Arif Naseem Khan led a protest in Saki Naka in Mumbai on Wednesday against the laathicharge on activists demanding Maratha reservation recently in Jalna.
Addressing a sizeable crowd, Khan daud that the Congress-NCP government in 2014 had given reservation to Maratha and Muslims in jobs and education, but the BJP-Sena government led by then CM Devendra Fadnavis did not pursue it in the Supreme Court strongly after the Maratha reservation was struck down by the Bombay High Court.
“The police beat up the activist’s in Jalna who were demanding reservation. Strong action should be taken against those responsible for the brutal attack on the members of the Maratha community,” said Khan.
Khan, who held the minority affairs ministry in the previous Congress-NCP government, attacked the present government for also being “silent” on the Muslim quota.
“Our government has given 5% reservation to Muslims in government jobs and education. When it was challenged in the Bombay High Court, the Court allowed reservation in education and put the issue of reservation in jobs in abeyance. We have been demanding that the reservation in education to Muslims should be given, but this government has turned deaf ears to our demand,” he said.
Khan accused the BJP government of ignoring the long and “justified” demand of the Maratha and Muslim communities and threatened more agitations and protests if the two communities were not given reservation. He said the weaker sections among the two communities deserved quota and the government should put the case strongly in the Supreme Court so that the quota could be decided.
Khan has been very vocal on the Maratha and Muslim reservation ever since he was a minister in the previous Congress-NCP government.
Wednesday’s protest was only the latest that he has participated in raising the reservation issue.