A post claiming that Union Home Minister Amit Shah recently announced the removal of 4% Muslim reservation is misleading. The video is from a 2023 campaign speech in Telangana where Shah promised to abolish the reservation if voted to power. Shah’s comments gained attention amid Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent remarks about the Congress party’s alleged preferential treatment of Muslims in Karnataka’s reservation system.
The inclusion of Muslims in Karnataka’s Other Backward Classes (OBC) list has sparked a political debate, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemning the decision as a threat to OBC rights. However, this reservation was first implemented in 1995 by HD Deve Gowda’s Janata Dal government, which is now an ally of the BJP. The issue has a long history, with the Reddy Commission recommending grouping Muslims in Category 2 under the OBC list in 1994. The Veerappa Moily-led Congress government announced a six percent reservation for Muslims in Category 2B, but this was challenged in the Supreme Court and interim limits were imposed on overall reservations. HD Deve Gowda’s government implemented the quota decision with amendments in 1995, allocating four percent of seats in educational institutions and state government jobs for Muslims. The controversy reignited in 2019 when the BJP government proposed abolishing the quota for Muslims, leading to legal challenges and a Supreme Court stay on the implementation.
