Reservations and Muslims

The Supreme Court has yet again stayed the law passed by the Andhra Pradesh Government granting 4% reservations for sections of Muslims. One of the programmes on which the Congress fought elections was that it would bring in legislation to provide for reservations for Muslims. Voters from all the communities elected the Congress Party and Telengana Rajya Samiti to power fully aware of the promise of reservations for Muslims in its election manifesto. After getting elected, the Y. S. Rajshekhar Reddy Govt. brought in legislation to provide for 5% reservation for Muslims. The legislation was challenged in the Andhra Pradesh High Court and High Court struck down the legislation as unconstitutional and violating the fundamental right of equality. Article 15 and 16 of the Constitution of India provides that the state shall not discriminate on grounds only of caste, religion, gender and language or any one of them. However, affirmative action by state providing for reservations for socially and educationally backward classes and special provisions for women and children would not be deemed to be violation of general rule of non-discrimination. The AP legislation provided for reservations for Muslims on the ground that the Muslim community was socially and educationally backward community and therefore covered by the deeming provision in Article 15 and 16 of the Constitution. The A.P. High Court in its judgment opined that the affirmative action of reservation was for socially and educationally backward classes and not for a religious community, and, moreover, there was no data on which the AP Govt. could have come to the conclusion that entire Muslim community was socially and educationally backward. The overall percentage of reservation, according to Supreme Court cannot exceed 50%. However, after providing for 5% reservations to Muslims, the overall percentage of reservation exceeded 50% and this was one more count on which the earlier order of reservation for Muslims.
The Andhra Pradesh Govt. then asked AP Commission for Backward Classes to examine the social, educational and economic status of the Muslim community. Based on the Commission's findings, the AP Govt. decided to create group E called "Socially and Educationally Backward Classes of Muslims" in the list of Backward Classes. 15 specific classes of Muslims which were included in the list are Achchukattalavandlu, Attar Saibulu, Dhobi, Fakir, Garadi, Gosangi, Guddi, Eluguvallu, Hajjam, Labbi, Pakeerla, Borewale, Qureshi, Shaik, Siddi, Chakketakera and other Muslim groups. Those excluded from the list of backward class Muslims were - Syed, Musahik, Mughal, Pathan, Irani, Arab, Bohra, Shia Imami Ismaili Khoja, Cutchi-Memon, Jamayat and Navayat. The 15 th Group on the list of backward classes was "Other Muslim groups other than those excluded." The Supreme Court has stayed the operation of provision for reservation for Muslims as it implied that many other sub-sects would be benefited from the Law. The AP Govt. has provided for reservations not only for the socially and educationally backward sections of the Muslim community, but also for the rest of the community not excluded from the list. The Supreme Court opined that the rest of community would also include sections which were not socially and educationally backward and therefore violate Article 15 and 16 of the Constitution and amount to discrimination on the grounds only of religion.
United Muslim Action Committee had opposed reservation for Muslims on the basis of categorization of only some of them as backward on the basis of their castes. They maintained that there was no caste system in Islam and therefore, the reservations should be for the entire Muslim Community in Andhra Pradesh or not at all.

Our Constitution is secular and reservation for the entire Muslim Community would amount to discrimination only on the basis of religion, which is in violation of Articles 14, 15 and 16 of the Constitution. Disregarding the legal hurdles in providing for reservations for all Muslims, in my opinion, it is not even desirable and will benefit the wrong persons, who do not need reservations for their upliftment and encouragement. The Bohras, Memons, Khojas are largely trading communities having a large section of educated middle class amidst them. The three communities from Gujarat benefited from development of trade in Western India during British Colonial period with development of Bombay as a port city. The younger generation in these communities avail of higher education even without the benefit of reservation or any other affirmative action from the state. After education, though some of them pursue professional careers as doctors, engineers, lawyers, chartered accountants etc., a few of them prefer to continue their family business. Along with mosques and seminaries, these communities have also been able to contribute and give the country educational institutions, hospitals and other public institutions. The elite of the community are able to extend a helping hand to their poor brothers and sisters in the community. If 17% of Muslims are matriculates (as compared to 26% of matriculates in all communities), the non-backward class Muslim communities, or Ashrafs, as they are referred to generally, including the Bohras, Khojas and Memons contribute a significant number to the overall percentage of Muslim matriculates. Though the Ashrafs are not more than 10-15% of the community, they contribute in a significant way to the 17% matriculates. Similarly, the Ashrafs contribute significantly to the 3.6% Muslim graduates and 0.4% Muslims with technical education, as against 7% and 0.5% for all communites respectively. If benefits of affirmation action was to be extended to all, the Ashrafs would be in a much better position and corner most of the benefits of reservation due their urban base and advantage of English educational background in convent schools and other better educational institutions. The disadvantaged will continue to remain so. Inclusion of specific communities within the Muslim community on the backward classes list also acknowledges the ground reality that Muslims are not one homogenous sociological unit. The caste based discrimination of the specific backward communities continue despite their conversions and that these communities continue their caste based profession and identities.

It is time to question reservation as the only form of affirmative action. The politician finds reservation most tempting for they don't have to mobilize additional resources from the budget. Pass a legislation fixing reservations for a specified community and gather their votes. A small section of Muslims backward class artisans have come up hard way and have been able to marginally benefit from growth in exports in particular and economy in general. A small section of saree weavers in Varanasi, brassware artisan in Moradabad, workers in lock industry in Aligarh, scissors industry in Meerut have managed to be upwardly mobile. The backward classes within the Muslim community will benefit more if the government formulates schemes for protection of informal labour, provides support for upgradation of the skills they already possess and financial support through co-operatives of artisans to ensure full participation of these sections in the economic growth. But that would require re-allocation of resources from the industries to poor and from supporting the sugar barons and their co-operatives to the poorer artisans. It will require a statesman and a visionary rather than pigmies using same old formulas.