ABSTRACT
According to social scientists, the Muslim community in India is not a homogeneous community. Although Muslims in India follow the religion of Islam, they are segmented on caste and class lines. Muslim Other Backward Classes (OBC) category consists of both Ajlaf and Arzals. In Muslims, it combined the Ajlaf and Arzal category and declared them as OBC. In this way, it overlooked the worst socio-economic condition faced by the Arzals. Karnataka has extended reservation to whole Muslims by declaring them as backward and excluding the population falling in the creamy layer. Kerala has also declared the entire Muslim population as backward and provided it with reservation. Unlike Kerala and Karnataka, Muslims as a distinct category are not eligible for reservation, yet most of the Muslim castes are included either in the backward or most backward category. Nearly 95 per cent Muslims have been included within the fold of backward classes for the purpose and are getting 3.5 per cent reservations.
