The recent Telangana socio-economic and caste survey has revealed crucial insights about caste structures among Indian Muslims. While the total Other Backward Classes (OBC) population in Telangana stands at 56.33%, Muslim OBCs constitute 10.08%. This data reinforces the fact that caste is not exclusive to Hinduism – it is an Indian social structure that persists across all religions. The key question remains: how can caste discrimination be abolished in every religious community in India?
What does the Telangana caste survey reveal?
The Telangana caste survey provides further proof – as if any were necessary – of the deep-rooted indigeneity of the Muslim community in India. Caste has existed in the subcontinent for millennia, predating the arrival of Islam in Kerala in the 7th century CE. Despite religious conversions, caste-based hierarchical relationships have persisted within Islam and Christianity. The Telangana caste survey has a separate BC-C category for converted Christian Dalits. Conversion clearly did not liberate marginalised groups from caste-based oppression.
A democratic society cannot ignore caste-based discrimination simply because the affected individuals belong to a different religious system. The Indian Constitution mandates the state to ensure equality for all, regardless of spiritual beliefs. Telangana’s approach to reservations and its 2024 caste survey send a significant message to other states and the Union government. This survey differs from the Bihar caste enumeration model by offering a more structured approach to categorising caste groups.
Historical context of caste enumeration
Since the first British-era census of the 19th century, Indian Muslims have been counted as a separate religious category without caste distinctions. The last caste-based census among Hindus was conducted in 1931. Post-independence, upper-caste policymakers believed that ignoring caste in enumeration would gradually eradicate it, but caste – a cancer-like disease – has only grown stronger. Without data-driven policies, caste discrimination cannot be dismantled. Since the Union government refuses to conduct a caste census, individual states like Bihar and Telangana have taken the initiative with the aim of systematising their welfare initiatives.
By including all religious groups in its caste survey, the Telangana government has diagnosed the presence of the caste disease among Muslims. The survey reveals that Muslims make up 12.56% of the state’s population. Notably, 10.08% of the total population self-identified as Muslim OBCs, while only 2.48% placed themselves in the general category. This suggests that nearly 80% of Telangana’s Muslim population has Shudra/artisan caste roots and continues to experience caste-based cultural discrimination and economic exploitation.
The high percentage of OBC Muslims can be attributed to historical conversions from Shudra/OBC communities to Islam, particularly during the Asaf Jahi Nizam rule (pre-1948). Unlike earlier periods, large-scale conversions to Islam are now rare.
Despite its long-standing presence in Telangana, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has not actively worked towards caste abolition among Telangana Muslims. Though AIMIM consistently wins elections in Hyderabad’s old city, where OBC Muslims dominate, it has not introduced meaningful social, educational or economic reforms.
Comparing Telangana and Bihar caste models
The Telangana caste survey required every household head to fill out and sign an eight-page questionnaire, effectively making it a self-declaration of caste identity. The government also provided a 31-page instruction manual to each enumerator. Annexure C, that contains list of all BC castes of the manual, lists 60 Muslim castes divided into 14 groups, all categorised under the OBC-E group, which benefits from a 4% reservation in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Non-Muslim OBCs in Telangana are divided into four groups – BC-A (most backward castes), BC-B (middle OBCs), BC-C (Dalit Christian converts) and BC-D (upper OBCs). This categorisation is more scientific than Bihar’s model.
The Bihar caste census, released in 2023, classified OBCs into two groups: Extremely Backward and Backward, with Muslims included in both. The Bihar Muslim BCs in both the groups compete with Hindu BCs. The BJP was party to the Bihar survey. In Bihar, the total Muslim and non-Muslim OBC population is 63.14%, while general castes (both Muslim and non-Muslim) constitute 15.52%. Telangana’s figures are similar: OBCs (Muslim and non-Muslim) make up 56.33%, while general castes comprise 15.79%. Telangana’s general caste numbers also include migrants drawn to Hyderabad’s IT industry and cosmopolitan appeal.
All caste names of Muslims OBCs listed in BC-E resemble the names and occupations of non-Muslim OBC castes given in annexure-C of the manual. Therefore any attempt to deny the existence of caste among Muslims is a conscious communal negation of their real status and denial of human treatment to the poor, irrespective of their religious belief.
The BJP’s stand on Muslim OBCs
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah have campaigned against Muslim OBC reservations, particularly in Telangana’s 2023 assembly and 2024 parliamentary elections. They opposed the 4% OBC reservation for Muslims in Telangana but remained silent about the same policy in Andhra Pradesh, where the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Janasena – both NDA allies – support it. Fearing a backlash, TDP leader Chandrababu Naidu reassured Muslim voters that his government would maintain the 4% reservation introduced by Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy between 2004 and 2009 in undivided Andhra Pradesh. They are also not opposed to Muslims being part of OBCs in Bihar and using reservation benefits.
The BJP aims to turn non-Muslim OBCs (including Christian OBCs in BC-C, as well as Sikh and Buddhist OBCs) against Muslim reservations in Telangana to secure votes. In his election speeches in 2024, Modi frequently asserted that the Congress would divert national resources to Muslims at the expense of Hindu OBCs. Now, the BJP is opposing the classification of Telangana Muslims as OBCs.
A call for Muslim intellectual engagement
Despite the clear presence of caste among Muslims, the issue remains under-explored in Muslim intellectual discourse. The Telangana caste census provides an opportunity to critically assess caste in Indian Islam. Deep-rooted caste practices hinder Muslim social and economic progress. The Telangana model serves as a template for future national caste censuses. If the BJP-led Union government continues to avoid a caste census, using its concerns over Muslim reservations as an alibi, the broader OBC population will ultimately suffer.
Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd is Vice-Chairman of the nine-member independent expert committee studying Telangana’s 2024 socio-economic and caste survey. He is the former Director of the Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy at Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad. This article is based on publicly available Muslim OBC data released by the Government of Telangana.
