Bengaluru: Muslim leaders in Karnataka have urged community members to identify their religion as Islam and caste as Muslim in the ongoing Social and Educational Survey that begins on September 22. The decision, taken at a meeting chaired by Minority Welfare Minister BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan, is seen as a step to safeguard the community’s reservation under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category.
The meeting included Haj Minister Rahim Khan, Government Chief Whip Saleem Ahmed, MLA Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan, and religious leaders. They stressed that members must also specify their sub-caste wherever applicable. Karnataka Muslims are listed under Category-2B with a 4 percent reservation, while some sub-castes such as Pinjara and Nadaf fall under Category-1, which also carries 4 percent.
As per the scrapped 2015 Social and Educational Survey, the state had nearly 77 lakh Muslims, making them the second-largest group after Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The survey identified 99 Muslim sub-castes, with Shaik Muslims numbering 5.5 lakh and Sunni Muslims 3.49 lakh. The Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes had earlier recommended increasing the Muslim quota under Category-2B from 4 to 8 percent.
Leaders said clarity in recording religion and caste details is crucial. If Category-1 sub-caste members fail to specify, they risk being moved under Category-2B. Muslims were first included in OBC lists in 1994 after the Chinnappa Reddy Commission report. Although the previous BJP government attempted to scrap the 4 percent quota, the decision was challenged in the Supreme Court. The current Congress government argues the reservation is based on social and economic backwardness, not religion.
