The reservation system is certainly one of the most complex and tangled discourses of public policy in India. The principle of reservation originally began as a system of ‘re-empowerment’ to provide power and opportunity to historically subjugated groups for equal opportunity in education, employment and political representation. Although, over the years, reservation has transcended caste and religious identity has also been featured as one of the social classifications, the Constitution of India itself did not envisage any preferential treatment reserved on the basis of religious identity. In particular, the issue of reservation for minority religions – namely Muslims and Christians – was one area where debate was most intense and judicial scrutiny turned into policy amendment.
Constitutional framework
The Constitution of India provides for affirmative action, in the sense of being residual, but primarily based on caste. Article 15 and Article 16 of the Indian Constitution provide for no discrimination of any kind, whatever the grounds for it, be it religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth. Nevertheless, these articles provide special provisions for the socially and educationally backward classes as well as SCs and STs.
Under Article 15(4) of the Indian Constitution, the government has the right to make specific rules or acts for the classes of people who are socially and educationally backward, which generally includes the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, who have not experienced social exclusion facilities of equal opportunities in the society due to their traditional type of discrimination. It is one of these provisions that empowers the government to take a step forward to improve their access to education or any other requirements which should help them in their betterment and lifestyle.
Just like Article 16(4), which gives the government the freedom to reserve specific posts or job categories in its service for candidates coming from such backward classes. This happens, when the government feels that they are not adequately represented in government jobs. In simple terms, if people from specific groups are being denied the scope of working as a government officer, the government can reserve a particular number of posts for them. This helps to create an equal and fair society in which every individual has the means to be a successful member based on their abilities and background.
Both provisions aim to bring equality and ensure that everyone – most of all, those who have been marginalized due to social and educational backwardness – get a fair chance to succeed in life.
There is no direct provision for religion-based reservation under the Constitution. It is quite complicated from a legal point of view when policies related to reservation for religious minorities like Muslims and Christians are applied.
Historical Background
Reservation has its roots in the Indian background, traced back to the British colonial period when “communal representation” was considered by them as a way to meet the demands of various communities. After attaining independence, Indian nationalism attempted to correct the society through the reservation system, with the main focus on caste-based inequalities. Over time, religious minorities, i.e. Muslims in this case, also began to demand equal reservation on the grounds of equal socio-economic disadvantages.
The Tamil Nadu Case
Tamil Nadu has always been at the vanguard in terms of implementing reservation policy, although there is variation in approach with regard to the question of reservation. This state has always had an evolutionary course to its policy of reservation; and generally, it has only branched out into newer categories.
It was in the year 2000 that the Tamil Nadu government made history by formulating a policy that set aside 3.5% of seats for Muslims and Christians in educational institutions and government jobs. This brought down the OBC quota in the state to less than 30%, as the Muslim and Christian communities had their respective quotas, and both belonged to the OBCs.
This trend was another attempt to help religious minority people to reduce socio-economic inequalities. Certain issues cropped up with this measure, as well as in the legal aspects of the machinery. There were also those who felt that the reservation system should not provide reservation along the lines of religion but along socio-economic factors.
Reservation of Muslims in Andhra Pradesh
This led to the government passing the law making 4 percent of all allocations for educational and government service in Andhra Pradesh, 2004, to Muslims. This further served to provide additional special treatment towards improving their socio-economic status given that it had declared much of the population as a backward class by the state of Andhra Pradesh.
The lawsuit took this to court. Many opposed to this policy argued that the law violated the provisions of the Constitution that prohibit any religious reservations. In 2010, the Supreme Court of India passed an interim order allowing this law, although the matter has been referred to a constitution bench to proceed further and explore in detail the broader issue of religious quotas.
This was considered a very important reference when the constitution bench referred the question of whether or not reservations based on religion were allowed to be constitutionally permissible. This is because determining whether such a quota for one religion was unconstitutional or not would call for benchmarking of Articles 15, 16 applicable in the Indian Constitution with the reserved quotas.
Reservation to Muslims in Kerala
The state of Kerala has also granted reservation to Muslims, and the State Public Service Commission has apportioned 12% of the total seats to Muslims. This is one of the measures of the state to remove the socio-economic backwardness of the Muslim community.
Apart from this quota in the KPSC, Kerala has a 50 percent reservation of Muslim or Christian students in religious minority educational institutions. Such institutions must serve the communities for which they were started.
Role of the Central Government
The socio-economic disability of certain Muslim communities has also been recognized by the Indian Central Government. During the past year, several Muslim communities have been classified as “backward Muslims” by the Indian Central Government, that is, the respective communities have been included in the list of eligible candidates under the OBC head for reservation.
This was a step towards a larger scheme of things where the reservation system could benefit religious minorities, in this case, Muslims in India. On the contrary, it raised debate about the issue of religion as a form of reservation system and whether such policies are in line with the principles of the Indian Constitution.
Role of Judiciary
The Indian judiciary has a very important role in framing the reservation debate for religious minorities. It is called upon by the courts to interpret the constitution to decide whether reservation on the basis of religion is valid under Indian law.
The courts have held that many such reservations for religious minorities are well suited to ensuring social justice and the courts have upheld many of these provisions, but then the courts have also been very clear in saying that anything like a policy must be closely scrutinised. The principles of the constitution must not be violated.
One of the major court and legal challenges faced by religious reservations came in the form of the Andhra Pradesh case, where the Supreme Court in an interim order upheld the 4% reservation for Muslims, but referred the matter to a constitution bench for further scrutiny.
It means constitution bench, and thus, it gives an impression that the issue is a bit complex and deserves the most careful analysis of the principles of the constitution. The implications of this bench’s decision are going to affect the future prospects of religious minority reservation in India.
End
The debate on religious minority reservation has wider social implications. One argument forwarded in support of religious reservation is that religious reservation should try to make up for the socio-economic disadvantages that these communities suffer. There are ample examples and evidence that show that Muslims and Christians, both OBCs, face severe barriers to accessing education, obtaining employment or pursuing other options in life.
Critics would say that it should be on socio-economic lines, not by religious identity. They say that the reservation system is something that would look to eradicate the poor and disadvantaged from society, rather than religions.
A wider debate also arises with regard to the nature of Indian secularism and the role of religion in public policy. India is a secular state, come hell or high water, and religion was included in the Constitution of India as a prohibited ground for discrimination. However, religious factors are slowly but surely being incorporated into the country’s reservation system, and there is a question of whether there is a need to find a balance between secularism and social justice.
Conclusion
Religious minorities in north-east India are strong and growing. The Constitution has made no provision for neutrality on the basis of religion; however, some states have set statutory precedents, mostly around night-time music laws for Christians and non-Christians. Pharisee has played a huge role in defining this debate, and the outcome of the legal saga that continues could have far-reaching implications for the future of the marriage system in India.
The debate on religious morality also throws up broader questions about the nature of Indian morality, the role of religion in public policy, and how to address social and economic disadvantage in a diverse and pluralistic society like India. With these countries likely to remain connected through partnerships, conversations about socialist ideology are likely to remain a central part of public policy debates for years to come.
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