Muslims who have converted from other religions are losing out on the reservation for the Backward Class Muslims in Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) jobs as they are treated as belonging to the category of ‘Others’.
While those converting to Christianity are treated as belonging to the ‘Backward Classes’ (even if they belonged to the Scheduled Caste before conversion), in the case of converted Muslims, even if a person originally belonged to the Backward Class or Most Backward Class, they are only classified as ‘Others’.
The TNPSC, in its one-time registration portal, has a specific question whether a person is a Muslim by birth or has converted to the religion.
A former judge of the Madras High Court, G.M. Akbar Ali, has requested the State government and Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, who also holds the portfolio of Human Resources Management, to rectify the anomaly to ensure that persons who have converted to Islam are able to register themselves as Backward Class Muslims.
Mr. Akbar Ali said those who chose the option of ‘convert Muslim’ got a pop-up message, citing an order of the government, that they would be considered ‘Others’ (the open category). But the same rule did not apply to converted Christians, he said.
He said there were a number of judgments that covered the status of convert Muslims. Citing the ruling in the Aariffaa vs Secretary to Government and the judgments in several other cases, he said it was clear that there was no change of caste or class by marriage: the forward caste would remain the forward caste and would not become BC/MBC/SC; the BC would remain the BC and would not become MBC/SC; the MBC would remain the MBC and would not become the SC.
“If this is so, if a BC or MBC or SC converts to Islam, he or she should be treated as BC. But the authorities say ‘no’ and go one step more to say you become ‘Others’, namely the open general category. What is applicable to Christians is not applied to converted Muslims,” he said.
He said that in respect of SC, BC and MBC converts from other religions to Islam, the Secretary to the Government, Backward Class Community, Most Backward Classes and Minorities Welfare Department, in a letter dated August 22, 2012, had issued instructions to treat those converts, except from the Christian religion, “as others”.
He said that recently when his son filed a case on the matter on behalf of an aggrieved person, the Secretary of the Department had reiterated the 2012 letter. “In my view, if a person belonging to the BC, the MBC and the SC converts to Muslim and he or she shall become the BC and it will be within the meaning of reservation under Articles 15(4) and 16(4) of the Constitution. But for the lack of a government order, the converted Muslims are suffering when the converts to Christianity don’t face the difficulties,” he said.
Mr. Palanivel Thiaga Rajan told The Hindu that the TNPSC was an autonomous body and this issue was brought to his notice by Manithaneya Makkal Katchi leader M.H. Jawahirullah after his reply on the debate on the State Budget on March 24.
“Immediately, I referred the matter to the TNPSC. I believe the classification has to do something with the rules for horizontal reservation for the minority backward communities,” he said.
Mr. Palanivel Thiaga Rajan said that once he got a full response from the TNPSC, the government would analyse the issue and do what would be right. “We have good intention to resolve the issue. We will discuss this with the Chief Minister once he’s back from Dubai and find a solution.”
