Karnataka Assembly Elections: Scrapped Muslim Quota Latest Flashpoint Between BJP And Congress
Amit Shah on Sunday alleged that the provision was only made to "appease the minority vote bank" of previous Congress governments.
The Karnataka Cabinet’s decision to scrap the 4% reservation granted to Muslims under the 2B category in the OBC list has become the latest flashpoint between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party in the poll-bound state. While Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday alleged that the provision was only made to "appease the minority vote bank" of previous Congress governments, the Congress has promised to reinstate the quota when it comes to power in the state.
Shah, while speaking in Bidar, also welcomed the cabinet's decision to split this quantum equally between Vokkaliga and Veerashaiva-Lingayats at 2% each in jobs and admissions to educational institutions. "The reservation for minorities is not constitutionally valid. There is no provision in the Constitution to grant reservations based on religion. This Congress government did it for its appeasement politics and gave reservations to the minorities," Shah said.
The quota for Muslims was initiated by former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda when he was the CM, but it was the Karnataka Backward Classes Commission, set up in 1975 by former Chief Minister Devaraj Urs, that laid the groundwork for the move in discussions for decades, experts told BQ Prime. The Basavaraj Bommai government's latest cabinet decision places Muslims in the general category of the economically weak, alongside Brahmin, Jain, Aryavaishya, Nagarthas, and Modaliars of the state, where they would compete for a 10% quota and can no longer enjoy the benefits of being recognised among backward classes.
In Karnataka, religious minorities such as Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, and others come under the purview of reservation in the state under the 32% OBC quota, and the present reservation system covers over 90% of the state’s population.
Both the Congress and JD(S) have opposed the move, calling it "communally polarising" and "unconstitutional."
JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy alleged that the BJP is playing a dangerous game in the name of reservations. "The 4% reservation given by former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda to Muslims under the 2B category for backward classes is now called economic backwardness. The hope of reservations for the community is destroyed. This is nothing but evil," he tweeted.
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president DK Shivakumar said the state government made changes to the reservation matrix three times in 90 days and added that his party would reverse the decision upon returning to power. Legislators from the Muslim community also had a meeting on this issue, under the leadership of former Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha Rehman Khan.
"May it be backward classes, minorities, Vokkaligas or Lingayats, they are not beggars. Did anyone from the Lingayat or Vokkaliga communities ask the government to increase their reservation by robbing minorities? The government should have increased the overall quantum of reservation and offered it to these communities," Shivakumar said.
Top Muslim bodies have condemned the cabinet decision. The most influential and largest body of Muslim clerics, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, called it a "grave injustice meted out to Muslims" and has said that it will challenge it in court.
Jamiat chief Maulana Mahmood Madani said removing OBC Muslim reservations was "harmful to the comprehensive development of the country". "It does not fit into PM Modi’s Pasmanda Muslim upliftment, as on one hand he is promoting development policy for the backward Muslims, and on the other, his government is snatching away the reservation from them in Karnataka and distributing it among other classes," the statement read. Prominent Muslim religious leaders in Karnataka held a meeting on Saturday over this matter. Karnataka Sunni Ulema Board has also decided to legally contest the government’s decision.