Lalu Prasad has intensified the Muslim reservation debate that was triggered by PM Modi’s allegation that Congress aims to slice up the OBC quota for its minority vote bank. Prasad says Muslims should get reservation but then adds a caveat. The Constitution does not endorse reservation in jobs and education along religious lines. However, some govts have interpreted its provisions to extend reservation benefits to certain Muslim communities
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 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 Congress tried a “pilot project” in Andhra Pradesh; the PM then went on to include the Karnataka quota row in the debate.
On Tuesday (May 7), RJD chief Lalu Prasad, who has been a strong votary of reservation in jobs and higher education for those socially and economically backward, answered the question in affirmation. “Reservation to milna chahiye Musalmanon ko, poora (Muslims should get reservation),” said Prasad during the swearing-in ceremony of 11 new MLCs, including his wife and former Bihar CM Rabri Devi.
The issue became a hot political debate during the ongoing Lok Sabha election after Modi told a rally in Rajasthan’s Tonk in April, “As soon as Congress formed the govt at the Centre in 2004, one of its first tasks was to reduce the SC/ST reservation in Andhra and give the quota to Muslims. Between 2004 and 2010, Congress made four attempts to introduce Muslim reservation in that state, but it could not succeed because of legal impediments and Supreme Court’s alertness.” Modi later also alleged that Congress gave a separate quota for Muslims in Karnataka along religious lines through their inclusion in the OBC list in the state. The allegations came just before Karnataka voted in the LS election on April 26.
In the political back and forth between the two rival camps, RJD’s Prasad added his bit, drawing strong reactions from BJP and its allies. At a rally in Bihar’s Darbhanga, Modi said, “Shocking statement by Lalu Ji on snatching reservation from SC, ST and OBC communities in favour of petty vote-bank politics. We will never let this happen.”
Finding himself in the line of fire as Modi pitted Prasad’s once core vote bank – Muslims – against the other – backward class communities – the RJD patriarch realised his remarks might confuse Hindus and boomerang on his party’s or alliance’s prospects, and sought to clarify his statement.
He said, “The basis for reservation is social backwardness. Narendra Modi wants to finish reservation. Religion cannot be a basis for reservation. I am senior to Narendra Modi…”
Prasad also said, “The Mandal Commission report was implemented by us [during the VP Singh govt]. No one should lecture us on it.”
Earlier, Modi’s comments saw National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) chief 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 Muslims form about 13% of Karnataka’s population. The state provides 32% reservation for OBCs in jobs and higher education. A sub-category comprising 4% is reserved for Muslims in Karnataka.
The story goes back to 1975
Set up by the Devaraj Urs-led Congress govt, 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 SCs and STs. Havanur was a legal luminary who shuttled in politics from Congress to BJP (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 govt 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.
SC backed the Havanur report’s recommendations and a Constitution bench said depravations of poverty are aggravated by the consideration of castes.
The two Janata panels
Two more backward commissions were set up by Karnataka govt during the 1980s by the Ramkrishna Hegde-led Janata Party govt. 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 govt decided to reject the Venkataswamy Commission report.
It then set up the third backward commission under Justice O Chinnappa Reddy in March 1988. The panel submitted its report to the Veerendra Patil govt of 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, Muslim reservation
The Reddy commission proposed placing Muslims in Category 2 of the OBC list. In 1994, the Veerappa Moily-led Congress govt decided to implement the recommendations. It announced a 6% quota in Category 2B, labelled ‘More Backward’, for Muslims, Buddhists, and SC converts to Christianity. Muslims were given a 4% reservation, while the remaining 2% was reserved for Buddhists and SC con verts to Christianity.
But the govt order was challenged in court, and in September 1994 SC 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 govt in December 1994 – even before it could act on the top court’s interim order.
HD Deve Gowda of Janata Dal became the Karnataka CM, and in February 1995 he implemented the new quota plan with some adjustments as per SC’s interim verdict. Muslims were given 4% reservation in educational institutions and govt jobs under the 2B quota. Interestingly, Deve Gowda is now an ally of BJP, contesting the LS election in Karnataka under PM Modi’s leadership.
BJP’s attempt
This reservation scheme stayed in place with minor tweaks until the Basavraj Bommai govt of BJP proposed to revoke it in March 2023, months ahead of the Karnataka assembly election. BJP suggested the creation of two new categories 2C and 2D for Vokkaligas and Lingayats— each getting a 2% reservation in jobs and higher education. The move aimed to remove the 2B category for Muslims and in cluding them under the 10% quota for economically weaker sections.
This proposal sparked fierce political opposition and a court battle, forcing the govt to shelve the proposal. In April 2023, SC also prima facie observed the Bommai govt’s decision to scrap the 4% quota for Muslims as OBC beneficiary “shaky and flawed”.
The Andhra experiment
In Andhra, 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 of up to 10%. These groups were found to be poorer and lagging behind even SCs in terms of educa tion 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 polls, with Congress in office 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 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, fulfilling Congress’ promise in its poll manifesto. The scheme was implemented in July 2004. But it was subsequently challenged in court. A five-judge bench of Andhra Pradesh HC in Sept 2004 struck down this quota for all Muslims as unconstitutional. It said the reservation was implemented without consulting the state’s Backward Classes Commission as statutorily mandated.
HC also found that the quota for Muslims did not exclude the “creamy layer”, disregarding SC’s directives in the Indra Sawhney judgment of 1992. HC directed Andhra govt to reconstitute the Commission for Backward Classes and formulate its quota plan based on the panel’s recommendations.
Subsequently, Andhra govt brought out an ordinance —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 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 SC, as existing reservations were not changed. Andhra Pradesh HC again struck down the Act for being based on “unscientific and defective criteria”.
The YS Rajasekhara Reddy-led Congress state govt 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 HC in 2010.
The HC ruling was subsequently challenged in SC.
In an interim order in 2010, 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. The case has not come up for hearing in SC.
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), which guarantees quota for a “backward class of citizens”. If a Muslim caste is classified as socially and economically backward, it gets reservation at 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. At least a dozen states and Union territories have a quota for one or more Muslim communities in some form Andhra, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat and MP, to name a few.
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 SCs if they convert to Islam or Christianity. This is currently guided by Scheduled Caste Order of 1950, amended several times over decades. The 1950 SC order says no person professing a religion different from Hinduism or Sikhism or Buddhism can be deemed an SC. However, this top court order acknowledges the presence of Dalits among Muslims.
National Commission on Minorities in 2008 recommended extension of reservation benefits to Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians. A petition has been pending before SC 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 with a 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
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 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 Congress tried a “pilot project” in Andhra Pradesh; the PM then went on to include the Karnataka quota row in the debate.
On Tuesday (May 7), RJD chief Lalu Prasad, who has been a strong votary of reservation in jobs and higher education for those socially and economically backward, answered the question in affirmation. “Reservation to milna chahiye Musalmanon ko, poora (Muslims should get reservation),” said Prasad during the swearing-in ceremony of 11 new MLCs, including his wife and former Bihar CM Rabri Devi.
The issue became a hot political debate during the ongoing Lok Sabha election after Modi told a rally in Rajasthan’s Tonk in April, “As soon as Congress formed the govt at the Centre in 2004, one of its first tasks was to reduce the SC/ST reservation in Andhra and give the quota to Muslims. Between 2004 and 2010, Congress made four attempts to introduce Muslim reservation in that state, but it could not succeed because of legal impediments and Supreme Court’s alertness.” Modi later also alleged that Congress gave a separate quota for Muslims in Karnataka along religious lines through their inclusion in the OBC list in the state. The allegations came just before Karnataka voted in the LS election on April 26.
In the political back and forth between the two rival camps, RJD’s Prasad added his bit, drawing strong reactions from BJP and its allies. At a rally in Bihar’s Darbhanga, Modi said, “Shocking statement by Lalu Ji on snatching reservation from SC, ST and OBC communities in favour of petty vote-bank politics. We will never let this happen.”
Finding himself in the line of fire as Modi pitted Prasad’s once core vote bank – Muslims – against the other – backward class communities – the RJD patriarch realised his remarks might confuse Hindus and boomerang on his party’s or alliance’s prospects, and sought to clarify his statement.
He said, “The basis for reservation is social backwardness. Narendra Modi wants to finish reservation. Religion cannot be a basis for reservation. I am senior to Narendra Modi…”
Prasad also said, “The Mandal Commission report was implemented by us [during the VP Singh govt]. No one should lecture us on it.”
Earlier, Modi’s comments saw National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) chief 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 Muslims form about 13% of Karnataka’s population. The state provides 32% reservation for OBCs in jobs and higher education. A sub-category comprising 4% is reserved for Muslims in Karnataka.
The story goes back to 1975
Set up by the Devaraj Urs-led Congress govt, 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 SCs and STs. Havanur was a legal luminary who shuttled in politics from Congress to BJP (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 govt 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.
SC backed the Havanur report’s recommendations and a Constitution bench said depravations of poverty are aggravated by the consideration of castes.
The two Janata panels
Two more backward commissions were set up by Karnataka govt during the 1980s by the Ramkrishna Hegde-led Janata Party govt. 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 govt decided to reject the Venkataswamy Commission report.
It then set up the third backward commission under Justice O Chinnappa Reddy in March 1988. The panel submitted its report to the Veerendra Patil govt of 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, Muslim reservation
The Reddy commission proposed placing Muslims in Category 2 of the OBC list. In 1994, the Veerappa Moily-led Congress govt decided to implement the recommendations. It announced a 6% quota in Category 2B, labelled ‘More Backward’, for Muslims, Buddhists, and SC converts to Christianity. Muslims were given a 4% reservation, while the remaining 2% was reserved for Buddhists and SC con verts to Christianity.
But the govt order was challenged in court, and in September 1994 SC 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 govt in December 1994 – even before it could act on the top court’s interim order.
HD Deve Gowda of Janata Dal became the Karnataka CM, and in February 1995 he implemented the new quota plan with some adjustments as per SC’s interim verdict. Muslims were given 4% reservation in educational institutions and govt jobs under the 2B quota. Interestingly, Deve Gowda is now an ally of BJP, contesting the LS election in Karnataka under PM Modi’s leadership.
BJP’s attempt
This reservation scheme stayed in place with minor tweaks until the Basavraj Bommai govt of BJP proposed to revoke it in March 2023, months ahead of the Karnataka assembly election. BJP suggested the creation of two new categories 2C and 2D for Vokkaligas and Lingayats— each getting a 2% reservation in jobs and higher education. The move aimed to remove the 2B category for Muslims and in cluding them under the 10% quota for economically weaker sections.
This proposal sparked fierce political opposition and a court battle, forcing the govt to shelve the proposal. In April 2023, SC also prima facie observed the Bommai govt’s decision to scrap the 4% quota for Muslims as OBC beneficiary “shaky and flawed”.
The Andhra experiment
In Andhra, 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 of up to 10%. These groups were found to be poorer and lagging behind even SCs in terms of educa tion 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 polls, with Congress in office 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 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, fulfilling Congress’ promise in its poll manifesto. The scheme was implemented in July 2004. But it was subsequently challenged in court. A five-judge bench of Andhra Pradesh HC in Sept 2004 struck down this quota for all Muslims as unconstitutional. It said the reservation was implemented without consulting the state’s Backward Classes Commission as statutorily mandated.
HC also found that the quota for Muslims did not exclude the “creamy layer”, disregarding SC’s directives in the Indra Sawhney judgment of 1992. HC directed Andhra govt to reconstitute the Commission for Backward Classes and formulate its quota plan based on the panel’s recommendations.
Subsequently, Andhra govt brought out an ordinance —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 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 SC, as existing reservations were not changed. Andhra Pradesh HC again struck down the Act for being based on “unscientific and defective criteria”.
The YS Rajasekhara Reddy-led Congress state govt 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 HC in 2010.
The HC ruling was subsequently challenged in SC.
In an interim order in 2010, 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. The case has not come up for hearing in SC.
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), which guarantees quota for a “backward class of citizens”. If a Muslim caste is classified as socially and economically backward, it gets reservation at 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. At least a dozen states and Union territories have a quota for one or more Muslim communities in some form Andhra, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat and MP, to name a few.
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 SCs if they convert to Islam or Christianity. This is currently guided by Scheduled Caste Order of 1950, amended several times over decades. The 1950 SC order says no person professing a religion different from Hinduism or Sikhism or Buddhism can be deemed an SC. However, this top court order acknowledges the presence of Dalits among Muslims.
National Commission on Minorities in 2008 recommended extension of reservation benefits to Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians. A petition has been pending before SC 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 with a 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
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