Maharashtra: Muslims Not Getting Their Due Share Despite Being Large Part Of Country, Says Sharad Pawar

Speaking at an event, Pawar cited the example of Kerala and batted for Urdu language but also laid emphasis on the importance of the "main language" of states.

File Photo of NCP Chief Sharad Pawar.

Source : PTI

New Delhi: Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday said members of the Muslim community feel that they were not getting their due share despite being a large part of the country's population.

Speaking in an event titled 'Issues Before Indian Muslims' organised by the Vidarbha Muslim Intellectuals Forum, Pawar cited the example of Kerala and batted for Urdu language but also laid emphasis on the importance of the "main language" of states.

"Members of the Muslim community have a feeling they are not getting their due share despite being such a large part of the country, which is actually a reality. Deliberations have to be held on how they can get their due share," PTI quoted Pawar as saying.

NCP chief responded to an earlier speaker seeking the use of Urdu in government recruitment examinations and hailed the language and said several people are associated with it for generations.

"We should consider Urdu schools and education, but along with Urdu, we have to consider about the main language of a state," PTI quoted the NCP chief as saying.

Kerala has a large proportion of minorities and one needs to study how minorities in that state, which has the highest literacy rate, are giving support to the main language and what benefits are being derived from this, Pawar said as reported by PTI. He also said unemployment was an issue across all communities in the country, though complaints on this front by minorities were genuine and need to be looked into.

The Muslim community can contribute hugely in the fields of art, poetry, and writing through Urdu, he said as reported by PTI. The members of the community have "quality and capacity" but need "support and equal opportunity," he added. 

The NCP has always strived to give adequate representation to minorities, citing that two of the party's eight parliamentarians are Muslims, Pawar told the gathering, as reported by PTI. 

(With PTI Inputs)