The Karnataka government's decision to categorise the entire Muslim community as a backward caste for reservation purposes in the state has drawn criticism from the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC), Which said such blanket categorisation undermines the principles of social justice.
According to the data submitted by the Karnataka Backward Classes Welfare Department.
All castes and communities within the Muslim religion have been enlisted as socially and educationally backward classes under Category IIB in the State List of Backward Classes.
The NCBC, during a field visit last year, examined the state's reservation policy for OBCs in educational institutions and government jobs.
What About Underprivileged Sections in Muslim Community ?
However, the NCBC emphasised that while there are indeed underprivileged and historically marginalised sections within the Muslim community, Treating the entire religion as backward overlooks the diversity and complexities within Muslim society.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused Congress of reducing the quota for the OBCs in Karnataka by putting Muslims castes in the same category, and claimed that it plans to replicate this across the country.
Speaking at an election rally in Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh, he dubbed the opposition party as the "biggest enemy of the OBCs".
In the past, it had provided reservation based on religion which India's Constitution does not allow, PM Modi said.
"Our Constitution clearly says that no one will be given reservation on the basis of religion. Babasaheb Ambedkar himself was against reservation on the basis of religion.
But Congress made a dangerous resolution of (providing) reservation on the basis of religion years ago.
It is adopting various tactics to fulfill the resolution," he said.
In Karnataka, the party provided such a quota by resorting to an illegal trick, PM Modi said.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's claim that the Congress had transferred the reservation quota from backward classes to Muslims is a blatant lie.
It's true that in Karnataka, Muslims have been included in the 2B category' for backward classes, Siddaramaiah said, pointing out that this is not something done now.
It has been based on the reports of the Backward Classes Commissions starting from the one headed by LG Havanur in 1974, he said, this reservation has been in place for the past three decades.
How Muslims Gor Reservation in Karnataka
In 1995, the Deve Gowda government gave 4% reservation to Muslims in Karnataka under a distinct classification, 2B, within the OBC quota.
An order dated February 14, 1995, by the Karnataka government highlighted that this decision followed the considerations of the Chinnappa Reddy Commission Report and adhered to the SC's directive to cap overall reservations at 50%.
The Reddy Commission recommended grouping Muslims in Category 2 under the OBC list.
Acting on this, the Veerappa Moily-led Congress government, through an order dated April 20 and April 25, 1994, announced a 6% reservation in Category 2B, identified as "More Backward", for Muslims, Buddhists, and Scheduled Caste converts to Christianity.
While 4% reservation was given to Muslims, 2% was designated for Buddhists and SCs who converted to Christianity.
The reservation was scheduled to come into effect from October 24, 1994.
However, the reservation was challenged in the Supreme Court.
An interim order was issued on September 9, 1994, directing the Karnataka government to limit overall reservations to 50%, inclusive of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and OBCs.
The Veerappa Moily-led Congress government faced a political crisis and collapsed on December 11, 1994, before implementing the order.
HD Deve Gowda became Chief Minister on December 11, 1994.
On February 14, 1995, he implemented the previous government's quota decision with amendments according to the Supreme Court's interim verdict.
SCs who converted to Christianity and Buddhism, who were previously categorised under 2B, were reclassified into Category 1 and 2A respectively, in the same order.
Under the 2B quota, 4% of seats in educational institutions and state government jobs were reserved for Muslims.
What's The Current Status ?
In 2019, when the BJP government returned to power, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai proposed abolishing categories 3A and 3B for OBCs on March 27, 2023.
Instead, new categories 2C and 2D were suggested, with 2% reservations for the Vokkaliga and Lingayat communities each.
The Bommai administration also proposed abolishing the 2B category for Muslims and including them in the 10 per cent quota for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS).
However, this faced opposition and ran into a legal battle, leading to the proposal being shelved.
The Karnataka government's decision to scrap the four per cent OBC quota for Muslims was "prima facie shaky and flawed", the Supreme Court said on April 13, 2023.
Currently, the Supreme Court has halted the implementation of the BJP government's decision, maintaining the status quo in reservations for the backward class community.
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