Muslim stage silent protest in Mumbra
The march also saw children as young as four and five participating
Inspired by the Maratha silent protests, Muslims from Mumbra turned up in huge numbers to stage a silent protest demanding 5% reservation on Friday.
From placards which stated, “We want reservation” to t-shirts specially printed with slogans, 40 organisations from Mumbra and Kausa, including schools, colleges, NGOs and mosques extended their support to the march. About 25,000 people participated.
Balkrishna Purnekar, district congress committee chief, Shamim Khan, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president, Mumbra-Kalwa and Shanu Pathan, NCP corporator were present. Leaders belonging to the Other Backward Class (OBC) and volunteers form the Maratha community participated.
Under the guidance of the Muslim Kranti Morcha, the protest started from Darul Falah Masjid and ended at the Mumbra railway station.Water and refreshments were given to protestors. The march also saw children as young as four and five participating.
“We received overwhelming support from the residents of Mumbra, Kalwa and Kausa. This is just the beginning. We will hold Muslim silent protests across Maharashtra. Several Muslim organisations from Mumbai, Bhiwandi and Kalyan have contacted us in support,” said Dr Moinuddin Raut, president of the Medical Practitioners’ Association of Mumbra and founder of the committee.
“The Bombay high court upheld 5% reservation in education for Muslims, but the state scrapped it in March last year. The community is backward and reservation is the need of hour for us to progress,” Said Raut.
“We extend our support to Muslim community’s demand for reservation,” said Kailash Mahapadi, Maratha volunteer present at the march.
“This is an apolitical movement. This is just the beginning. We have already started getting calls from Beed, Pune, Kalyan-Dombivli and othe rplaces,” said NCP Chief Jeetendra Awhad.
“We want our children to be highly qualified and get a respectable job which is not possible without reservation,” said Amina Khan, 45 Kalwa resident.
“Considering the backwardness of our community, it is important to promote us. Reservation in education will help us move forward,” said Matiur Rahman, 29 a student from Mumbra.
Traffic halted
The protest brought traffic to a standstill for an hour on the Thane-Mumbra Road
About 30 cops were deployed to ensure that the march went smoothly