By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net,
New Delhi: To give impetus to Muslim reservation movement, a delegation of Muslim leaders yesterday met Vice President Muhammad Hamid Ansari and urged him to use his good offices for the implementation of the Ranganath Mishra Commission report.
The delegation headed by former MP and diplomat Syed Shahabuddin, who is also convenor of the Joint Committee of Muslim Organizations for Empowerment (JCMOE), stressed on tabling in the current session of Parliament of the Ranganath Mishra Commission report that has recommended 10% reservation to Muslims. They demanded implementation of the report. JCMOE had held a national convention on Muslim reservation on February 1.
In the convention, JCMOE had demanded that Muslims should be recognized as a Backward Class and should be given reservation along with SCs, STs, and OBCs. The group comprising all big Muslim organizations was formed last year for the sole purpose of Muslim reservation. In the convention, the group had demanded formal recognition of the Muslim community as a Backward Class in the light of the findings and recommendations of the Sachar Committee and Ranganath Mishra Commission.
The delegation included Dr Zafarul Islam Khan, president, All India Muslim Majlise Mushawarat, Maulana Abdul Wahab Khilji, general secretary, All India Milli Council, Siddique Hassan, vice president, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind and Shahnawaz Ali Raihan, secretary, Students Islamic Organization of India (SIO).
Talking to TwoCircles.net Dr Zafarul Islam Khan said: “We had a single point agenda. On the first of this month we had held a convention on Muslim reservation. We met the Vice President to apprise him of the resolutions passed at the convention and to urge him to use his good offices for this.” “We told him that Ranganath Mishra Commission report should be tabled in the Parliament. As he does not hold a political post, neither is he part of the government, he did not make any promise,” said Dr Khan.
During the 40-minute meeting, SIO secretary Shahnawaz Ali Raihan, who was part of the delegation, raised the issue of Madrasa Alia Bill that has been tabled in West Bengal Assembly. The bill is meant to change the madrasa into a university. SIO leader opposed the state government move as this would alter the nature and objective of the madrasa, and urged the Vice President to look into it. The Vice President assured him that he would study the bill, Shahnawaz Ali Raihan told TwoCircles.net.