Mumbai: Against the backdrop of the demands for Muslim quotas in education and jobs, the community’s leading intelligentsia and lawmakers will hold a meeting in Mumbai on July 27 to discuss the issues of reservations and hammer out a future of action, one of the organisers said.
The Muslim Leadership Summit-2024 will be a significant event and serve as a platform for comprehensive discussions on the ills afflicting the minority community and the route ahead, said Muslim Welfare Association founder-in-chief Saleem Sarang.
Sarang, who is Vice-President of the ruling MahaYuti ally Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) said that world-renowned Islamic scholar Khalil-ur-Rahma S. Nomani of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, will preside over the conference and light the way ahead for the community along with 24 other luminaries and parliamentarians.
“This could be a decisive chapter with the deliberations focusing on key issues of the Muslims, not just about quotas in education and jobs, but encompassing their welfare, safety and security plus related aspects,” Sarang said.
Echoing the sentiments of community leaders and other bigwigs, Sarang said it is high time that Muslims get quotas get reservations not just in education and jobs but also in politics and to improve their socio-economic status, and the summit will devise strategies for the all-inclusive development of the community in the national mainstream.
“The data is revealing… Nearly 75 per cent of children aged 6-14 miss out on education within the first few years of school, and barely 2 per cent to 3 per cent go on to complete higher education. The proportion of Muslims falling below the poverty line is high, coupled with a ratio of about 2 per cent to 2.5 per cent in government or private sector jobs,” Sarang pointed out.
Owing to lack of education and/or jobs, drug addiction, anti-social activities and criminality are on the rise among the illiterate and unemployed Muslim youngsters which gives stigma to the entire community, the organisers rued.
At the summit, there will be a series of panel discussions, interactive sessions and brainstorming among the invitees intended to chart out a roadmap for the future to ensure a meaningful, productive and inclusive role for Muslims in the national mainstream.
–IANS