Why Muslims get reservation in some states but not others
Should Muslims get reservation in jobs and higher education in India? This question has become a subject of intense political debate after Prime Minister Narendra Modi targeted the Congress, accusing it of acting against “the spirit of the Constitution” by attempting to create quota for Muslims.
In his recent speeches, Modi alleged that the Congress had tried a “pilot project” in Andhra Pradesh; the PM then went on to include the Karnataka quota row in the debate.
At a rally in Tonk, Rajasthan, last week, Modi said, “As soon as the Congress formed the government at the Centre in 2004, one of its first tasks was to reduce the SC/ST [Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe] reservation in Andhra Pradesh and give the quota to Muslims. Between 2004 and 2010, the Congress made four attempts to introduce Muslim reservation in that state, but it could not succeed because of legal impediments and the Supreme Court’s alertness.”
Modi also alleged that the Congress gave a separate quota for Muslims in Karnataka through their inclusion in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) list in the state. The allegations were made just before Karnataka voted in the Lok Sabha election on April 26.
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His comments saw National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) chairman Hansraj Ahir seeking clarification from the Karnataka chief secretary regarding the categorisation of the OBC quota and “blanket reservation” to Muslims under Category II-B.
The NCBC data shows that Muslims form about 13% of Karnataka’s population. The state provides 32% reservation for the OBCs in jobs and higher education. A subcategory comprising 4% is reserved for Muslims in Karnataka.
The story goes back to 1975
Set up by the Devaraj Urs-led Congress government, the LG Havanur-led Karnataka Backward Classes Commission presented its report in 1975, recognising Muslims as eligible for reservation. Muslims were categorised under backward communities alongside other groups like scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.
Havanur was a legal luminary who shuttled in politics from the Congress to the Bharatiya Janata Party (his last political association, ending in 1999), and was also invited to the body framing the South African constitution in 1991.
Subsequently, in March 1977, the Karnataka government issued a directive granting reservation to backward classes, including Muslims. However, the OBC list excluded Lingayats, but included Vokkaligas, leading to protests by Lingayats, who subsequently moved the court.
The Supreme Court backed the Havanur report’s recommendations and a Constitution bench said depravations of poverty are aggravated by the consideration of castes.
Why Muslims get reservation in some states but not others
The two Janata panels
Two more backward commissions were set up by the Karnataka government during the 1980s by the Ramkrishna Hegde-led Janata Party government.
The T Venkataswamy Commission was set up in 1984. The second backward commission’s report differed from the first as it excluded both Vokkaligas and Lingayats from the backward classes category while recognising Muslims as socially and educationally backward.
Vokkaligas now felt offended and enraged. Being the backbone of the political base of the Janata Party in Karnataka, the Hegde government decided to reject the Venkataswamy Commission report.
It then set up the third backward commission under Justice O Chinnappa Reddy in March 1988. Justice Reddy panel submitted its report to the Veerendra Patil government of the Congress in April 1990 and the report was placed before the assembly in June 1990. This commission also recognised Muslims as eligible for reservation based on backwardness.
However, the report led to huge protests as it excluded the Lingayats, Vokkaligas, Catholic Christians, Ganigas and Devangas from the list of backward classes.
Finally, the Muslim reservation
The Justice Reddy Commission proposed placing Muslims in Category 2 of the OBC list. In April 1994, the Veerappa Moily-led government of the Congress decided to implement the recommendations. It announced a 6% reservation in Category 2B, labelled ‘More Backward’, for Muslims, Buddhists, and scheduled caste converts to Christianity.
Muslims were given a 4% reservation, while the remaining 2% was reserved for Buddhists and SC converts to Christianity.
But the government order was challenged in the court, and in September 1994, the Supreme Court passed an interim order limiting overall reservation to 50%.
This was also a time of huge political turmoil in Karnataka, leading to the collapse of the Moily government in December 1994 – even before it could act on the top court’s interim order.
HD Deve Gowda of the Janata Dal became the Karnataka CM, and in February 1995, he implemented the new quota plan with some adjustments as per the top court’s interim verdict. Muslims were given a 4% reservation in educational institutions and government jobs under the 2B quota.
Interestingly, Deve Gowda is now an ally of the BJP, contesting the Lok Sabha election in Karnataka under PM Modi’s leadership.
BJP’s attempt
This reservation scheme stayed in place with minor tweaks until the Basavraj Bommai government of the BJP proposed to revoke it in March 2023, months ahead of the Karnataka assembly election.
The BJP suggested the creation of two new categories 2C and 2D for the Vokkaliga and Lingayat communities — each getting a 2% reservation in jobs and higher education.
The move aimed to remove the 2B category for Muslims, and including them under the 10% quota for economically weaker sections (EWS).
This proposal sparked fierce political opposition and a court battle, forcing the government to shelve the proposal.
In April 2023, the Supreme Court also prima facie observed the Bommai government’s decision to scrap the 4% quota for Muslims as OBC beneficiary “shaky and flawed”.
The Andhra Pradesh experiment
In Andhra Pradesh, Muslims make up around 9.5% of the population, according to the 2011 Census. Here, specific Muslim communities like the Dudekula, Laddaf, Noorbash, and Mehtar have OBC quota benefits up to 10%. These groups were found to be poorer and lagging behind even SCs in terms of education and socio-economic conditions.
This reservation falls under the BC-E category, distinct from the existing OBC quota, ensuring no overlap.
However, there’s a campaign to include all Muslims in the OBC category, on the lines of Karnataka and Kerala.
After the 2004 parliamentary and assembly elections, with the Congress in power at the Centre and in the state, it asked the Commissionerate of Minorities Welfare to look into the “socio-economic and educational conditions of the Muslim community” in then united Andhra Pradesh for their inclusion in the OBC list.
Based on the Commissionerate recommendation, a 5% reservation was given to “Muslim minorities in employment, educational and other fields on par with the Backward Classes” in Andhra Pradesh, fulfilling the Congress’ promise in its poll manifesto. The scheme was implemented in July 2004. But it was subsequently challenged in the court.
A five-judge bench of the Andhra Pradesh high court in September 2004 struck down this quota for all Muslims as unconstitutional. It said that the reservation was implemented without consulting the state’s Backward Classes Commission as statutorily mandated.
The high court also found that the quota for Muslims did not exclude the “creamy layer”, allowing reservations to Muslims as a whole, disregarding the Supreme Court’s directives in the Indra Sawhney judgment of 1992.
The high court directed the Andhra Pradesh government to reconstitute the Commission for Backward Classes, and formulate its quota plan based on the commission’s recommendations.
Subsequently, the Andhra Pradesh government brought out an ordinance — the Andhra Pradesh Reservation of Seats in the Educational Institutions and of Appointments or Posts in the Public Services under the State to Muslim Community Ordinance — in 2005. It was later replaced by a law providing for 5% quota for Muslims in higher education and jobs.
This was based on the Backward Classes Commission’s finding that the Muslim community was “socially, educationally and economically backward” and therefore entitled to affirmative action.
But the law took the total quota in the state to 51%, breaching the 50% quota ceiling fixed by the top court, as existing reservations — OBC categories A to D 25%, SC 15% and STs 6% — were not changed. The Andhra Pradesh HC again struck down the Act for being based on “unscientific and defective criteria”.
The YS Rajasekhara Reddy-led Congress state government then promulgated another ordinance providing 4% reservation to 14 categories of poor Muslims, thereby bringing reservation under the 50% cap. This too was challenged and struck down by the HC in 2010.
The HC’s ruling was subsequently challenged in the Supreme Court. In an interim order in 2010, the SC directed that the quote continue till the court had heard the issue. The case was subsequently referred to a Constitution Bench. Thus, the Muslim quota law remains unaffected in Andhra Pradesh. The case has not come up for hearing in the Supreme Court.
Do Muslims have an all-India reservation?
Contrary to the popular perception, Muslims are not a homogenous group. Several Muslim communities get reservation under OBC category at the central and state levels, stemming from Article 16(4) of the Constitution, which guarantees reservations for a “backward class of citizens”. If a Muslim caste is classified as socially and economically backward, it gets reservation at the central and state levels.
Currently, 36 Muslim communities listed in Categories 1 and 2A are included in the central OBC list. However, families earning more than Rs 8 lakh a year are considered in the creamy layer and not considered for quota benefits.
This quota varies from state to state. For example, Muslims have an 8% quota in jobs and 10% in higher education in the 30% OBC reservation in Kerala. In Tamil Nadu, about 95% Muslim communities are covered under reservation benefits. In Bihar, Muslims get reservation under the “most backward class” within the OBC category.
What about those who have converted to Islam?
Apart from the provisions discussed above, Muslims are not entitled to reservation benefits. There have been arguments about extending the quota benefits to persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes if they convert to Islam or Christianity. This is currently guided by the Scheduled Caste Order of 1950, amended several times over decades.
The SC Order of 1950 says no person professing a religion different from Hindu or Sikh or Buddhist religion can be deemed to be a member of a Scheduled Caste. However, this SC order acknowledges the presence of Dalits among Muslims.
The National Commission on Minorities in 2008 recommended extension of reservation benefits to Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians. A petition has been pending before the Supreme Court seeking reservation benefits for converted SCs.
BJP and PM Modi have spoken against granting reservation benefits to SC Muslims or SC Christians. The issue may see a closure from the top court judgment whenever it comes as the SC Order of 1950 is categorical on the issue of conversion. It says, “A convert or re-convert to Hinduism and Sikhism shall be accepted as a member of Scheduled Caste if he has been received back and accepted as a member of the concerned Scheduled Caste.”
Inputs from Rajesh Sharma