“Modi’s information is completely wrong,” says CS Dwarkanath on the four percent reservation for Muslims in Karnataka

Karnataka’s four percent reservation for Muslims, as part of the larger group of 32 percent reservation for backward classes, has been in place for three decades. This has become an election problem. While campaigning in Rajasthan on April 23, Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the Congress of “taking reservation from SCs, STs and OBCs and providing it to Muslims through the back door.” He also specifically accused the Congress government in Karnataka of providing reservations to Muslims even though it was “against the spirit of the Constitution”. Given these developments, can you give the historical background of how Muslims got reservations in Karnataka?

Muslim reservation began in the pre-independence era in the princely state of Mysore when Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar (1902-1940) formed the Justice (Leslie Creery) Miller Committee in 1919, which regarded Muslims as ‘backward’ and granted reservations. After independence, former Chief Minister D. Devaraj Urs formed the (LG) Havanur Backward Classes Commission in the 1970s, which again advocated special status for the Muslim community as a backward class.

At that time, a petition was filed in the Karnataka High Court (HC) questioning the categorization of a religious community as a backward class. The HC in its decision disagreed with the petition stating that a community cannot be identified as a backward class solely on the basis of its faith. On appeal against this decision, the matter was heard in the Supreme Court where Justice O. Chinnappa Reddy upheld the HC’s decision. This judgment was made on the basis of Article 15(4) and 16(4) of the Constitution of India on the ground that Muslims as a community were socially and educationally backward.

Even BR Ambedkar used the expression ‘backward classes’ and not ‘backward caste’ or ‘backward religion’ when his answers were recorded by the Kaka Kalelkar Commission (India’s first Backward Class Commission). According to Ambedkar, communities that are educationally or socially disadvantaged can be considered as backward classes. So other religious minorities like Christians, Jains, Sikhs and Buddhists, apart from Muslims, also fall under the designation of backward classes in Karnataka.

Muslims were given reservation in government jobs and educational institutions in 1994 during the tenure of former Chief Minister HD Deve Gowda. What was the background to this?

It was not during Devegowda’s tenure but during the tenure of his predecessor, Congress Chief Minister Veerappa Moily. Before this, Justice Chinnappa Reddy, after retiring from the apex court, was appointed as chairman of the Karnataka Backward Classes Commission. His report analyzed the socio-economic condition of Muslims and recommended including the community in the category of backward classes. Based on this recommendation, Moily has included Muslims in the list of backward classes under the IIB (More Backward) category. Some Muslim castes, which are traditionally nomadic tribes, were simultaneously placed under category I (most backward). This has continued from then on with Muslims also ensuring social justice and no one has disrupted this until 2023.

The BJP’s Karnataka unit on May 4 published a disturbing and provocative cartoon on Muslims. What do you have to say about this?

There is no question of taking someone’s share and redistributing it among the Muslims. This is blatantly incorrect. If you actually read Justice Chinnappa Reddy’s recommendations, Muslims were supposed to get seven percent reservation, but three percent was reduced and ultimately only four percent was offered. Muslims have not taken anyone’s share and are in fact underrepresented. That advertisement is misleading and a lie and has been circulated by the BJP just to provoke the backward classes!

BJP leaders cite the Andhra Pradesh case, in which the Supreme Court twice revoked reservations for Muslims in 2004 and 2005. Even the Supreme Court in its 2010 interim order has stated that the status quo should be maintained.

There is a nice technical difference between offering reservations to Muslims or a religious minority on the basis of its religious identity, and as a backward class on the basis of its social and educational backwardness. In the case of Andhra Pradesh, the reservation was made on the basis of religious identity, due to which the HC dismissed it. Had the state government made reservations for Muslims as they are a backward community, the decision would have been upheld. Most people cannot appreciate this difference. Even a caste group cannot get reservation solely on the basis of its caste identity; for that it must be considered backward and that is why in Karnataka we have varying degrees of backwardness even among the backward classes. There are five different categories within the backward classes in Karnataka.

How is the backwardness of a community measured? Are there objective indicators that label a religious community or caste group as backward?

When Havanur studied the issue of backwardness of Muslims in Karnataka, he looked at indicators such as the number of Muslim students completing their SSLC (Secondary School Leaving Certificate) along with other education indicators. Justice Chinnappa Reddy went a step further and even visited Muslim ghettos to understand the social status of the community members. According to Justice Reddy, the social status of Muslims was worse than that of Dalits in many parts. The Justice Sachar Committee and the Ranganath Misra Commission subsequently reiterated this. This also shows that there is a need for more and regular empirical data to evaluate the condition of different communities on the ground.

Former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai scrapped reservation for Muslims just before last year’s elections and divided it among Lingayats and Vokkaligas. When the order was challenged in the Supreme Court, the three judges hearing the issue noted that the measure was “very shaky and flawed.” After this, the status quo would be maintained in Karnataka and reservation for Muslims in the state would continue. Why has Modi continued to raise this issue even after the Court’s comments?

Modi’s information is completely wrong. His informants give him the wrong advice. During Bommai’s tenure, former law minister JC Madhuswamy prepared the report which recommended scrapping of reservations for Muslims, and there was no basis for dismantling Muslim reservations and redistributing them among Lingayats and Vokkaligas at the rate of 2 percent for each community . Even the leaders of these two communities refused this reservation, which was taken away from the poor Muslims. Modi picks up problems without examining them. He is the Prime Minister but his data acquisition system is so bad. He goes all over the country talking about Karnataka without understanding what is happening here.

National Commission for the Backward Classes (NCBC) chairman Hansraj Gangaram Ahir has questioned the blanket 4 percent reservation for Muslims in Karnataka. What is your opinion about this?

Does Ahir think he chakravarti (king) and we are all his subordinates? The Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes has its own authority and autonomy and is not accountable to the NCBC. What kind of nonsense is this? We have our own independence and can make decisions about the implementation of social justice in our state.