... Reservation in jobs for Muslims as a whole will be counter-productive, triggering a backlash from the upper caste Hindus. On the other hand, the demand for reservation for backward class Muslims corresponding to their Hindu counterparts is more than justified. The plea for reservation in educational institutions is also justified ..
The demand for proportional representation in the Assemblies and Parliament is reasonable. The representation of Muslims in Parliament in post-independence India has never exceeded 7 per cent ... (Source: The Hindu, 7 September, 1999)
Shahabuddin's Letter to Asghar Ali Engineer, 8 September, 1999
In your article on the Minorities and the Polls (The Hindu, 7 Sept., 1999) you have favoured reservation in public employment for Muslim OBC's rather than for the Muslim community as a whole. In my view, mere inclusion of Muslim OBC's in the Central and State Lists of OBC's will not do as the more forward castes among the Hindu OBC's will take the cake and leave nothing for the relatively backward Hindu OBC's or for Muslim OBC's. Therefore, there should be a separate quota for Muslim OBC's in proportion to their populauion, if there is no reservation for the Muslim community as a whole, as there is in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Manipur, without any backlash.
In Karnataka, the OBC List goes by traditional occupation and does not impose any religious condition. So Muslims benefit through their own quota as well as through the OBC list. Ithink this is the best model. Of course, reservation for Muslims should be based on their being declared as BCby a competent Commission.
A.A. Engineer's Response
... I quite agree with you that Muslims should get reservation according to their occupations as the Hindu OBCs do ... I quite appreciate the way Muslims are getting reservations in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu etc. It is worth emulating. The reservation for Muslims on OBC line will prove great boon as most of the Muslims today belong to these castes and hundreds of Muslims will benefit. There can be separate quota for Muslim OBCs ... The Government should be persuaded to do this.
