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http://expressbuzz.com/opinion/columnists/politics-of-reserv ation/162772.html Politics of reservation Neerja ChowdhuryFirst Published : 06 Apr 2010 11:59:00 PM ISTLast Updated : 06 Apr 2010 12:32:16 AM IST Reservation for Muslims has become a hot potato and the Supreme Courtâs âinterimâ decision to lift the stay on the Andhra Pradesh governmentâs order, earmarking four per cent reservation for backward Muslims, comes as a pointer to the thinking within the ruling Congress. The government used its persuasive powers with the apex court to come out with an interim order. The court could just have referred the matter to a larger constitutional bench, which it has anyway done, to determine the constitutional validity of the proposition. The judges are due to meet in August. The courtâs interim order would hardly have been possible had it considered the proposal completely unlawful. It was around the same time that Union home minister P Chidambaram chose to underline the importance of reservation as an effective means of affirmative action, at the conference in Delhi. The message coming through was clear, that the ruling dispensation in Delhi was serious about giving Muslims reservation. The timing of the signal was also significant. It goes without saying that the ruling party wants to position itself for the coming state elections due in the coming months and these are states where there is a sizeable Muslim population, like Bihar later this year, and West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam in 2011, and Uttar Pradesh in 2012. By holding out the sop of reservation for Muslims, the Congress would like to neutralise any negative reaction from the minority community to its decision to pass the Womenâs Reservation Bill. Many Muslim leaders have, like the Yadav troika â Mulayam, Lalu, Sharad â called for a quota within quota. This could have become problematic for the Congress in the weeks to come, particularly as the Congress will find it difficult to backtrack on the womenâs bill, with Sonia Gandhiâs firm and public commitment to it. In many ways she has staked her prestige on its passage. The Congress is also showing every sign of gathering its earlier social following amongst Brahmins, Dalits and Muslims in Uttar Pradesh. Pushing for reservation for backward Muslims will help the Congressâ case with the minority community. The upper castes are already looking at the Congress with renewed interest. Rahul Gandhi has been making a pitch for the Dalits (staying in their homes and speaking up for them), particularly those who do not belong to Mayawatiâs community. Its widely acknowledged that UP will be a turning point for the Congress â and for Rahul Gandhi â and set the stage for the 2014 general elections. The Congress managers calculate that with backing from these groups, and the additional support of women and youth thrown in, it should be on a comeback trail in UP and the Centre. The Congress knows that while it has to consolidate its hold amongst the Muslims, and they have been gravitating back to the party in recent polls, it has to take on the Yadav parties, SP and RJD in UP and Bihar, and drive a wedge in their MY (Muslim-Yadav) vote bank. These parties grew at the expense of the Congress. The Congressâ revival in the Hindi heartland has to go along parallel with their decline. Earmarking reservation specifically for Muslims within the 27 per cent quota for OBCs â this was the Andhra law, and now the Union government may do likewise nationally â is going to hurt the powerful within the OBCs like Yadavs and Kurmis who have been the biggest beneficiaries of reservation. And yet if these communities oppose a quota for the minorities, they will only antagonise the Muslims, and this will pose a huge dilemma for them politically. The move to provide reservation for backward Muslims may also create a rift between the upper caste and OBC Muslims, with the latter forming the major chunk of the community. The demand for reservation has come essentially from them. The Congress seems to be making a bid for the support of the backward Muslims, as opposed to the communityâs ashrafs (Syeds, Pathans, etc). Providing reservation to Muslims as a community, suggested by the Ranganath Mishra report â it makes a case for 15 per cent reservation for the minorities, 10 per cent for Muslims and the remaining five per cent for others â may not stand up to legal scrutiny, as the Constitution has not provided for religion-based reservation. Congress managers hope that a specific 4-6 per cent reservation for the community within the 27 per cent quota may on the other hand get a legal endorsement, as it has existed in several states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Kerala was the first state to implement it and today has 12 per cent job reservation for Muslims. Karnataka gave four per cent to Muslims as far back as 1986. Tamil Nadu fixed it as 3.5 per cent for Muslims. There is every indication of the Congress is fine-tuning its strategy â as also its arguments. Just as there are backwards among Hindus, there are backwards amongst the Muslims â like dhobis, nais â and some Muslims have got the benefit of the quota in many states. But compared to their numbers or their need, they have got very little, the larger share being hogged by the more powerful of backward communities like Yadavs and Kurmis. Muslims have now begun to argue that reservation cannot be limited to Hindus and if it is, it is already based on religion, in favour of Hindus. Even though the Constitution does not allow caste â religion â based reservation (except for Dalits), many castes like Yadavs, Kurmis, Lodhs were given 27 per cent reservation because they were seen as a âsocially and educationally backward classâ, for whom reservation was allowed in the constitutional scheme of things. The argument now is that backward amongst Muslims should also be viewed as a socially and educational backward category and not as a religious group. What is going to be the reaction to this move? It is a wild card in the game. Many fear that it could be the first step in the direction of creating separate electorates and dividing the country on communal lines. Will reservation for Muslims, even if it is limited to the backward communities, create a backlash among the Hindus and polarise the situation along religious lines, as happened in the Nineties, which had cost the Congress its support base, and spawned coalition politics at the Centre? The Congress does not think so. But the BJP is already sharpening its knives. The irony of the situation is that the Congress, which had taken on V P Singh for enforcing âMandalâ and this had brought down his government, has come around a full circle today, relying on a policy of reservation to firm up its support base. The only difference is that âMandalâ is now devolving to communities that have not got its benefits. The politics of reservation is far from over. neerja_chowdhury@yahoo.com |
