C.S. Dwarakanath, Congress leader and former chairman of Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes, has alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, chairman of the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC), were misleading the backward classes on the reservation issue, during the elections.
In a press conference in Shivamogga on Saturday, Mr. Dwarakanath said the three had often made remarks that Karnataka government had diverted the reservation meant for the backward classes to the religious minorities—Muslims. “This is a baseless statement and a blatant lie. The Prime Minister has to seek people’s apology for his remarks,” he said.
Elaborating on the history of reservation for Muslims, Mr. Dwarakanath said the Justice Miller Committee, appointed by Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV, and all the Backward Commissions in the state treated Muslims as a backward class, not a religious minority. The judges in the High Court and Supreme Court, too, have upheld this, whenever the issue was questioned in court. During Devraj Urs’ rule, the Muslims were brought under backward classes, he said.
In one of the judgements, a division bench of the Karnataka High Court stated that the backwardness of the community could not be ignored just because they were a religious minority. Significantly, Dr.B.R. Ambedkar, architect of the Indian Constitution, also defined people who lag behind socially and educationally as ‘backward classes’. “He also called the backward people classes, not the castes,” Dwarakanath said.
Referring to the scrapping of 4% reservation for Muslims under the 2-B category, Mr. Dwarakanath said the previous Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government took the decision without any study or data. “The reservation is still in force after the Supreme Court’s ruling,” he said.
Mr. Dwarakanath also took a serious exception to NCBC chairman Hansraj Gangaram Ahir’s statement that he would issue notice to the Karnataka commission. “Who is he to serve the notice? Neither is he chakravarthi (emperor), nor are we his samantha (tributary chief). Our commission is formed based on statutes that guarantee its independence,” he maintained.
Leaders of Shivamogga district unit of the Congress party were present.
