Dalit status for Christians, Muslims a sensitive issue

NEW DELHI: The constitutional validity of the Andhra Pradesh law on reservation for backward Muslims is yet to be decided upon. But the SC's removal of a clause that would have provided quota to an entire religious group shows that the court did scrutinise the law. Till now, the very identification of backward Muslims was under a cloud.

The past few days have seen Congress leaders mulling extending support for the demand for subquotas for minority OBCs as a tactic to disrupt efforts to forge an OBC-Muslim coalition to oppose women's quota. Little would they have recognised that Congress itself would so soon be face-to-face with a tricky choice.

The development will also add to the already strong demands that government discuss the Misra panel report in Parliament and act on its recommendation for 15% minority quota in jobs and education: 10% of that for Muslims since the community forms 73% of the total minority population.

The Centre will have to figure a way out soon as each step being talked about is going to be full of pitfalls. The issue of extending dalit status to Christians and Muslims is a sensitive one. The RSS is opposed to the Misra panel's recommendations, arguing that limiting SC quota benefits to Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists acts as a deterrent against conversion.

But the real problem will be the opposition from dalits who fear inclusion of fresh population in 15% SC quota will shrink their slice of the cake.