Stepping up the demand for reservation for Muslims in Maharashtra, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi cited that while 83 percent of the community in Maharashtra were landless, only 8 percent of the Marathas were landless.

“As many as 67 percent of Muslims stay in kuchcha houses. But neither Congress nor NCP will speak on this,” said Owaisi while addressing a large gathering ‘Tiranga Rally’ in Mumbai on Saturday.

“Government data states that graduate Muslims in Maharashtra is only 4.9 percent. In middle school, there are only 13 percent Muslim students,” he said.

Owaisi slammed the Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and said if the governments would have provided reservations to the Muslims, Muslim children would have received a better education.

The AIMIM rally was organised to demand reservations for backward Muslims of Maharashtra and ensure the protection of Waqf properties in the state.

The vocal opponent of both Hindutva and soft Hindutva politics, Owaisi MP said that he doesn’t believe in political secularism and he only believes in the secularism mentioned in the Constitution.

“When elections come, I get messages saying that the Muslim vote will get divided if I contest… when Congress-NCP saw power (within grasp), they went with Shiv Sena, which openly backs those who demolished Babri Masjid. I don’t believe in political secularism, I believe in the secularism mentioned in the Constitution,” Owaisi said.

He went on to say: “I want to ask Muslims of India what we got from secularism? Did we get reservations from Secularism? Did the people who demolished the mosque get punishment? No, no one got anything…I believe in constitutional secularism and not in political secularism. Please, Muslims shun political secularism.”

The huge rally was also addressed by AIMIM MP Imitiyaz Jaleel and MLA Farooq Shah.