The 'othering' of Muslims
A dominant narrative in the Lok Sabha election campaign revolves around how Muslims are cornering reservations based on religion at the cost of reservations meant for OBCs, SCs, and STs. This narrative not only further stigmatises the Muslim community but also fosters a sense of alienation on the one hand and the fear of the “other” cornering the benefits of majority groups on the other. The stereotyping of this narrative raises several questions: Are Muslims in India primarily a religious category or an OBC category? To what extent have different states recognised the diversity within the Indian Muslim population, considering their social hierarchy, social distancing, and caste practices? Lastly, are they taking away the rights of OBCs by cornering a significant share of reservations?
The universal appeal of Islam does not negate the co-option of other social practices along its journey. Terms such as “Folk Islam,” “Tribal Islam,” and “Syncretic Islam” illustrate that Islam has co-opted a wide range of social systems. Similarly, caste practices in India have influenced Muslim communities, as evident in census reports dating back to 1871. The first decennial census of 1871 until 1931, when the caste census was shelved, enumerated hundreds of Muslim castes in India. The 1901 Imperial Census listed as many as 397 castes. The 1891 Bengal census enlisted 70 Muslim occupational castes. Earlier in 1869, the Oudh census enlisted 35 castes; the same number increased to 120 during the 1901 census. Even the Gazetteer, ethnographic studies, travelogues, etc., conducted by various colonial administrators enlisted caste among Muslims. Imperial Gazetteers of different periods reflect on two broad categories among Muslims: Ashrafs and Ajlaf. The Bijapur Gazetteer of 1881 delineated 38 castes, which predominantly followed the Hindu social order. The latter had an indelible influence on the making of the Muslim caste, as a majority of Muslims converted, both from lower/backward classes and upper castes, to Islam during different intervals.
Efforts to include Muslims in the Backward Classes category and provide them with reservations in different sectors started long before independence. What prevailed while determining reservation was the notion of Muslims as one community and as a class belonging to the backward class. In the meantime, caste enumeration went on unhindered, classifying them under various categories: criminal castes or tribes, fuzzy communities, Asiatic and non-Asiatic castes, or simply under three categories such as Ashrafs, Ajlafs, and Arzals. The backward class tag for Muslims dates back to 1884, when Old Mysore State clubbed them under the depressed class or backward classes. However, they were given reservations much earlier in 1872, particularly the Caste Disability Act of 1872, which provided them with some reservations in non-administrative posts. The turning point came when Mysore State, after the Leslie Miller Committee Report—a fallout of the anti-Brahmin movement in 1921—extended reservations to Muslims under the OBC category. The Madras government introduced a rotating form of reservation for every 12 posts
in 1912. Two posts were set aside for Brahmins, Christians, and Muslims, and five posts were reserved for non-Brahmins.
After the Presidential Order of 1950, which restricted the reservation to people following Hindu social practices, different backward class commissions—beginning with Kaka Kalekar, followed by the Mandal Commission, Gopal Singh Committee, Sachar Committee, and Ranganth Misra Commission—continued the tradition of enlisting Muslim castes under the OBC category for reservation purposes. The Mandal Commission enlisted more than 200 castes across India, and the Ranganath Misra Commission recommended reservations for Muslim Dalits under the SC category. Sachar’s report reiterated, while suggesting the OBC tag, the traditional division of Muslims into Ashrafs, Ajlafs, and Arzals.
Meanwhile, different states, despite adopting varied methodologies, predominantly treated Muslims as backward classes rather than purely in the religious category, considering that they have become a socially and economically marginalised category over the years. In this context, one can discern five models: Bihar, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka.
After the Mungeri Lal Committee report in 1971, the Muslim caste was listed as the Most Backward Class or Other Backward Class in Bihar. Altogether, 39 Muslim castes are on the OBC list. Telangana has categorised backward classes into A, B, C, D, and E. One or two castes are listed under A and B, and 14 other Muslim castes are under category E. In Tamil Nadu, 95 per cent of the Muslim population comes under the OBC list; in Kerala, Bohra, Kachchi Memon, Nayayats, Turkan, and Dakhni Muslims are outside the OBC list, as they come under the creamy layer. In Karnataka, beginning with the Nagan Gowda Committee, which enlisted more than 10 Muslim castes in 1961, the Chinnappa Reddy Commission in 1995 divided the backward classes into four categories: category I, category II(a), category II(b), and category III(a). While awarding backward class tags to Muslims, it enlisted them under Category I or II(b). Category I is the most backward class, which includes Muslim denotified tribes, nomadic tribes, and most backward castes (Katik, Kasab, Bazigar, Chapparband, etc.). Four percent of reservations under the II(b) category has fuelled the current controversy, claiming that they are enjoying not only 4 per cent but altogether 23 per cent as a religious category.
In fact, Muslims have been enjoying the benefit of reservation as a socio-economic category or as a class rather than as a religious category, as religion has a different meaning that lies in faith-based practices, texts, and the prophet. Muslims constitute diverse communities and social practices. Amid different states and commission reports showing the maturity of contrasting religion with diverse social identities, the election campaign targeting
Muslims becomes polemical, and that might further sharpen the “othering” of the community.
(The writer is a former Dean, Faculty of Arts, University of Mysore)