Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan on Tuesday demanded 5 per cent quota for Muslims out of the 10 per cent for economically weaker upper castes as proposed by the Central government.
"Muslims should get 5 per cent quota of the proposed 10 per cent reservation proposed by the Centre. Muslims are most deserving for being granted reservation in government jobs and educational institutions. Upper castes who are now being given reservation are neither economically nor socially backward. While Muslims face backwardness at three levels – social, economic and educational," said Khan in Rampur.
The SP leader said that deprivation facing Muslims were the same as faced by Dalit communities and hence the community should be given reservation. "I am demand this not only from the present Modi government but also from future governments," said Khan.
"We had earlier demanded that Muslims be brought in the category of Dalits so that they can also get benefits. However, that could not happen due to political reasons. Reservation for Muslims was also recommended by Sachar Commission a decade ago and the committee was appointed by Parliament," said Azam Khan.
Earlier, speaking on the proposed reservation for economically weaker upper castes, Samajwadi Party spokesperson had termed the move as one intended to 'fool' people and pointed out that the BJP was yet to deliver on its past promises.
As the enhancement of quota would take the overall quantum of reservation in the state to over 50 per cent, Khan urged the Centre to include Constitution Amendment Quota Bill into 9th Schedule of the Constitution as was done in the case of Quota Bill of Tamil Nadu which provided 69 per cent reservation for OBCs, exceeding the 50 per cent cap on quota fixed by the Supreme Court.