On Reservations of Muslim
Letter to Professor Andre Beteille Department of Sociology Delhi University, 22 June, 2009
I have read with great interest your article on The Times of India of 15th June, 2009, which is largely directed against reservation for Muslims. Basically you argue against reservation in public employment and education for the Muslim community, though it has been found to be almost as backward as SC & ST and more backward than non-Muslim OBC by the Sachar Committee. You argue instead in favour of affirmative action. I fail to see why you do not argue for the withdrawal of reservation as exists today in favour of SC & ST and the OBC.
The affirmative action has a long timeframe and faces many social, political as well as administrative obstacles in its application. In any case affirmative action will not produce any palpable results in education or employment within 5 or 10 years. If the enrollment level of a community is low, it will take the Government and the Community at least 10 15 years to raise the average level of graduation in the country and that too only if equal facilities are accessible in all the areas of the country, particularly these inhabited by the community.
On the other hand, the deprived group particularly the Muslims have repeatedly described their woes to the Government. Masses of unemployed youth, who have passed secondary or higher secondary or even obtained degree, are unemployed particularly because of consistent bias against them as a community. How can the prevalent bias be encountered without reservation? Muslims are not asking for lowering the standard or the minimum prescribed qualification for admission. Either the uplift and welfare measures should be universalized or there should be a quota for each deprived group, which is backward in terms of common parameters, in accordance with its population and level of backwardness in relation to the national or state average.
I would like to add that reservation is constitutionally permissible for the deprived & backward Muslim community in terms of article 15 (1) and 15 (4) as it is to the non-Muslim OBCs, on the basis of castes. The word only in article 15 (1) is critical which bars discrimination only on the basis of religion or caste. But positive discrimination is permissible if religion or caste is qualified by backwardness.
I request you to revise your thinking on Muslims or apply the same yardstick to all and ask for the repeal of all reservation & its substitution by positive affirmation. Similarly, you should oppose reservation for women in legislators and support Gills idea of mandating all parties to have women as 1/3 of its candidates.