Five Muslims among 83 governors
- Two Muslims out of 129 chief ministers
- Six Muslims among 142 chief justices
- 743 Muslims among 13,994 MLAs
- Nine Muslims among 305 SPs and ASPs
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI – South India has remained an engine of unbridled socio-economic growth since the 1990s, with the Muslim community remaining a pertinent part of the governance and administration. Made up of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, and two Union Territories of Puducherry and Lakshadweep, it fairs better overall on several barometers than the other three geographical regions in the country with Muslims able to have a fair share across several domains.
The southern states will contribute 35 percent of India’s $7 trillion economy which the country is expected to have by 2030, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka topping the list. The south zone increased its share in national GDP from 25.2 percent in 1960-61 to 30.6 percent in 2023-24, according to a new book, Muslims in India – Ground Realities Versus Fake Narratives – Achievements & Accomplishments.
American newswire Bloomberg’s columnist Andy Mukherjee noted: “The ideological and developmental divide between north and south India is as striking as the difference in their culinary preferences. In the southern states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the historical trajectory of social reforms, emphasis on education, and economic development has cultivated a political culture that values secularism and regional autonomy. Southern states have largely resisted Hindu nationalism, prioritising development issues over religious identity politics.”
This ideological resistance, she says, is not merely political but is rooted in the historical experiences and social evolution of the region which have created a political and cultural environment that often views development and social equity as more important than promoting a singular religious identity. “The South, with its emphasis on education, health, and economic growth, has seen significant advancements, creating a more equitable society. States like Tamil Nadu and Kerala have leveraged their social capital to build robust public services and a vibrant economy, leading to high literacy rates, better healthcare outcomes, and lower poverty levels.”
Karnataka is home to 70 percent of India’s chip designers, 60 percent of India’s machine tools production, 400-plus global R&D hubs, and two-fifths of India’s IT exports. Tamil Nadu, India’s second-wealthiest state, has the largest number of factories in the country. Chennai is the largest industrial and commercial hub of South India and has three of India’s 12 major ports. One-third of India’s automobile manufacturing industry is concentrated here, with a notable presence across engineering, textiles and garments, leather products, software, and IT-enabled services as well.
Hyderabad has emerged as the second Silicon Valley of India, after Bengaluru. It boasts of being home to the largest campuses (outside the US) of technology giants such as Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, Uber, Google, and Qualcomm. Accounting for 1/3rd of global vaccine production and two-fifths of domestic pharmaceutical production, the city is also an established pharmaceuticals and biotechnology hub. Twelve of the 30 leading and high-revenue generating special economic zones (SEZs) of the country are in the south.
Five southern states account for roughly 20 percent of the country’s population and 30 percent of its GDP. Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra, Kerala, and Telangana have topped the list of states contributing to the nation’s economic growth. According to the data by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Tamil Nadu, with a GSDP of Rs 24.8 lakh crore at current prices, is the biggest economy in South India. It is followed by Karnataka at Rs 22.4 lakh crore, Telangana at Rs 13.3 lakh crore, Andhra Pradesh at Rs 13.2 lakh crore, and Kerala with Rs 10 lakh crore GSDP.
Data show that southern states continue to outperform the rest of the country in health, education, human development, and economic opportunities. Comparatively, the southern states are better governed and have better economic productivity and better infrastructure with better socioeconomic outcomes. These states are more socio-economically developed and are ahead in per capita income and fiscal health, state debt, and tax revenues. According to the data presented in its Legislative Assembly in mid-2024, Kerala has a total of 545,423 government employees, out of which 73,774 are Muslims or 13.5 percent representation.
The share of Muslim employees in Telangana is at a low of 7.36 percent against their population which stands at over 12.68 percent, according to the Commission of Inquiry on Socio-Economic and Educational Conditions of Muslims in Telangana. The report observed that “exclusion or under-representation of Muslims in the state government posts adversely impacts their role in decision-making and participation in the implementation process”.
Almost 90 percent of Muslims are considered a backward community and granted reservations as part of the Other Backward Classes (OBC) in Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. South India has by and large desisted from accepting Hindutva nationalism and its big proponent BJP which could garner only 29 out of the 129 Lok Sabha seats collectively in the five southern states in 2024 while the Congress won 40. South Indians are more progressive and liberal and the southern states have been relatively better governed and the rule of law more or less prevails. Data speaks volumes.
Muslims in Legislatures
In the first Lok Sabha polls in 1951, there were no Muslim MPs in Madras State which included Andhra. Hyderabad State had three Muslims. Mysore and Travancore and Coorg too had no Muslim members. In 1957, the Lower House of Parliament had a total of five Muslim members from Tiruchirappalli, Dindigul, Kurnool, Secunderabad, and Warangal. In the 1962 polls, four Muslims were elected from Anantapur, Kozhikode, Secunderabad, Vellore, and Warangal. In 1967, the JHouse witnessed seven Muslim MPs from Secunderabad, Dharwad South, Manjeri, Kozhikode, Lakshadweep (ST), Periyakulam, Chitradurga and Periyakulam. In 1971, five Muslims were elected to Lok Sabha from Dharwar South, Kanakapura, Manjeri, Periakulam, and Secunderabad. The year 1977 saw eight Muslims getting elected from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Lakshadweep. In 1980 came six MPs from Kerala, Karnataka, Lakshadweep, and Tamil Nadu.
The 1984 witnessed seven MPs coming from Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Lakshadweep, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. In 1989, eight MPs came from Andhra Pradesh, Lakshadweep, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala. The year 1994 recorded 11 Muslims getting elected from Andhra Pradesh, Lakshadweep, Puducherry, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. In 1999, eight Muslims were elected from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Lakshadweep and Puducherry. In 2004, nine Muslims were elected from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Lakshadweep. In 2009, seven Muslims were elected from Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Lakshadweep. In 2014, seven Muslims were elected to the Lok Sabha from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Lakshadweep. In 2019, the number came down to six, with Muslim leaders elected only from Kerala, Telangana, and Lakshadweep.
The 18th Lok Sabha polls witnessed similar numbers coming from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Lakshadweep, and Telangana in 2024. Five southern states and two UTs currently have 131 Lok Sabha seats – Tamil Nadu (39), Karnataka (28), Andhra Pradesh (25), Kerala (20), and Telangana (17). Lakshadweep and Puducherry have one each. Three of the 24 Lok Sabha MPs elected in 2024 were Muslims – one from Hyderabad in Telangana, one each in Tamil Nadu’s Ramanathapuram, and Kerala’s Malappuram. None of the 25 MPs in Andhra Pradesh is a Muslim. The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) has three lawmakers, two from Kerala and one from Tamil Nadu. Two of the six Lok Sabha constituencies that selected only Muslim candidates throughout history are Kerala’s Malappuram and Lakshadweep.
Currently, Rajya Sabha has five Muslim members – three from Kerala, and one each from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Add 11 to the list who were previously elected members from Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. Between 1952 and 1958, there were four Muslims in the Rajya Sabha from Madras, Travancore, and Cochin. The Madras State between 1952 and 1968 had seen seven Muslims getting elected to Rajya Sabha, with a couple of them getting renominated. To date, Andhra Pradesh has seen 16 Muslims as Rajya Sabha members since 1972, with several having multiple terms. Karnataka has seen eight Muslim MPs for Rajya Sabha in its history with a couple of them having multiple tenures. Tamil Nadu had seen 12 Muslims going to Rajya Sabha including a woman. No Muslim has become a Rajya Sabha member from Telangana out of a total of 27 since 2010. Similarly, none of the 10 members in Puducherry since 1963 had been a Muslim.
In Tamil Nadu, the share of assembly seats held by Muslims oscillated between three and four percent. It had never crossed more than five percent. It came down to two percent in the year 2000. Of the 372 MLAs from DMK since 2001, 14 Muslims were elected. The AIADMK got 543 MLAs elected since 2001, including eight Muslims. In Karnataka, nine Muslims won in the 224-seat Karnataka Assembly polls in 2023, all from Congress, a marginal increase from seven in the polls in 2018. It was 11 — nine of the Congress and two of the Janata Dal (Secular) — in 2013 in the state where Muslims form around 13 percent of its total population.
With nine representatives, their share in the number of seats is now 4.01 percent. In recent years, the maximum number of MLA seats won by representatives of the community was in 2013, when 11 MLAs — nine of the Congress and two of the Janata Dal (Secular) — got elected. In 1952, the Hyderabad Legislative Assembly polls for 175 seats — 33 two-member constituencies and 109 single-member constituencies. At the time, Muslims represented 7.75 percent of the population in the state. Eleven Muslims were elected — eight on Congress tickets, two came from PDF, and one Independent.
In the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly, there were 3,896 MLAs between 1955 and 2024, of whom Muslims were 112, including three in the last polls. Andhra Pradesh’s total 294 seats were split in 2014 following its bifurcation into two states —Telangana (119 seats) and Andhra Pradesh (175 seats). Karnataka had 3,283 MLAS between 1957 and 2023, of whom 141 were Muslims. Between 1957 and 2021, Kerala had a total of 2,034 MLAs, of whom 338 were Muslims. Tamil Nadu’s count of MLAs between 1952 and 2021 stood at 3,829, of whom 93 were Muslims. Between 2014 and 2023, Telangana had 357 MLAs of whom 23 were Muslims – presently all seven MLAs belong to AIMIM. Puducherry, which recorded 14 assembly polls since 1964, has a total of 420 MLAs, of whom 25 were Muslims.
Among the 83 governors that the five states had till now, nine had been Muslims, the maximum of four in Kerala followed by Tamil Nadu. None of the three governors in Telangana had been a Muslim. Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh had seen one Muslim each as governor. In the UT of Lakshadweep, only two Muslims had been lt. governors/administrators who numbered 35. In Puducherry, only one Muslim figured among the 24 holders of this Constitutional post, way back in 1981.
Of the 129 chief ministers of five states and Puducherry, two had been Muslims – CH Mohammed Koya in Kerala in 1979, and MOH Farooq in Puducherry in 1967. Twenty-three deputy chief ministers include three Muslims – two in Andhra Pradesh and one in Telangana. Muslim representation has been lowest in the speakers and deputy speakers of the legislative assemblies. There had been no Muslim out of 20 speakers in Andhra Pradesh while two were Muslims among 11 deputy speakers – S Rahmat Ali in 1974 and NM Farook in 1995. Karnataka too had only one Muslim – UT Khader Fareed since May 2023 – among its 23 speakers while the community had no representation among the nine deputy speakers. Kerala had four Muslims among its 23 speakers between 1960 and 1978 while six out of 17 deputy speakers were Muslims between 1957 and 1987. Tamil Nadu had no Muslim among its 20 speakers and 18 deputy speakers. Puducherry had a total of 19 speakers including a Muslim – MOH Farooq served twice in 1964 and 1980. No Muslim figured among the 21 deputy speakers.
Out of the 142 chief justices in five states with two of them having jurisdiction of two UTs, six have been Muslims, including two each in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Between 1947 and 2024, the five high courts have had a total of 718 judges on their rolls, including 42 Muslims, with the highest of 19 being in Madras High Court and the lowest of one in Telangana. Out of the total 221 chief secretaries of five Southern States and two Union Territories, three were Muslims. Kerala had Mohammed Riaz Uddin in 2006 while two Muslims served as administrators of Lakshadweep – Wajahat Habibullah (1987-1990) and Farooq Khan (2016-2019).
In the five states, the number of directors general of police stood at 153 of whom four were Muslims, including two in Andhra Pradesh – A Salam Khan in 1973 and M Abdul Basith in 2007. Karnataka’s AR Nizamuddin served from 1986 to 1990 while Kerala’s Mohammed Abdul Sattar Kunju served in 1997. Lakshadweep had seen 24 police chiefs of whom two were Muslims – MA Sayed and Qamar Ahmed. The Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs), additional CEOs, and deputy CEOs in five states and two UTs presently stand at 48 of whom three are Muslims. Twenty-one of the 494 electoral registration officers (EROs) are Muslims. DEOs and deputy DEOs number 253, of whom 12 are Muslims. In five states and one UT, there are 132 ministers including five Muslims, one each in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala. Karnataka has two Muslim ministers. Telangana and Puducherry cabinets had no Muslims. Of the 46 officials in the chief minister’s offices (CMOs), only Telangana has a Muslim official – Shahnawaz Qasim, an IPS officer, as the secretary to the chief minister.
Andhra Pradesh has seen a total of 952 district collectors of whom 42 were Muslims. Karnataka had 13 Muslims among its 961 collectors. Kerala had a total of 525 collectors of whom 28 had been Muslims. In Tamil Nadu, the total count of collectors stands at 1,836 including 38 Muslims. Only one had been a Muslim among 81 collectors in Puducherry. In Telangana, there were 51 Muslims out of 477 collectors by mid-2024. Lakshadweep had three Muslims among its total of 35 collectors. In Andhra Pradesh’s history, the total number of district and session judges stood at 919 of whom 43 have been Muslims, with the highest being 11 in Anantapur. In Karnataka, 40 have been Muslims out of a total of 983, with the highest of six were in Uttara Kannada. Out of the total 392 in Kerala, 46 were Muslims. Tamil Nadu has seen a total of 909, of which 68 were Muslims, with the highest of 13 in Nagapattinam. In Telangana, 59 had been Muslims out of 593, with the highest of 12 in Nalgonda.
Muslim representation among the IAS and IPS officers has been comparatively low in five southern states.
Out of 1,104 IAS officers, 40 have been Muslims, with Karnataka and Kerala each having the highest of 15. The total number of IPS officers stood at 734, of which 24 are Muslims with the highest of eight in Kerala. The number of Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers was 318, including six Muslims, the highest of three being in Tamil Nadu. The number of State Police Force martyrs in four states – Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana – and one UT – Puducherry – stands at 654, of which 73 were Muslims, the highest being in Telangana at 60. Police administration figures are not encouraging. Among the 305 SPs and ASPs in the five states and two UTs, nine are Muslims, the highest of four in Andhra Pradesh. Out of 1546 SDPOs and DSPs, 25 are Muslims, except in Puducherry and Lakshadweep. The number of inspectors and sub-inspectors (Law & Order and Crimes) stands at 4,474, of whom 156 are Muslims including the highest of 36 in Telangana and Lakshadweep the lowest at seven.
In Puducherry’s history, five out of 35 SPs have been Muslims. In Telangana, 11 out of 77 SPs have been Muslims till now. Tamil Nadu had seen a total of 377 SPs, of whom 10 were Muslims. Kerala had seen a maximum of 48 Muslims out of 684 SPs in total. Twelve Muslims have been SPs in Karnataka out of a total of 561. Andhra Pradesh had seen four Muslim SPs out of a total of 482 officials. None of the 52 police commissioners in Vishakhapatnam and Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh had been Muslim since the posts were created in 1989 and 1983, respectively. In Karnataka, Bengaluru had seen 33 police chiefs including two Muslims in 1966 and 1980 – Khader Ali and AR Nizamuddin.
In five other cities – Belagavi, Hubbali-Dharwad, Kalaburagi, Mangaluru, and Mysuru, only one had been a Muslim among 43 police commissioners including one in Mysuru – MA Saleem – in 2015. In Kerala, police commissioners in six cities numbered 228 of whom 11 were Muslims including the highest of four in Kannur followed by three in Kozhikode. In Tamil Nadu, police commissioners in nine cities numbered 74, of whom only had been a Muslim – Najmul Hoda in Salem. Telangana had seen a total of 59 police commissioners in Hyderabad of which 18 were Muslims, the last being AK Khan in 2010. Among the 26 police commissioners in Cyberabad, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Khammam, Rachakonda, Ramagundam, Siddipet, and Warangal, only one had been Muslim – Tafseer Iqbal in Khammam in 2017 for five years.
In the State Police Service in five states and Puducherry, 44 out of the total of 1,268 officials are Muslims, the highest of 21 in Tamil Nadu. Only one Muslim is among 47 in the Pondicherry Police Service. In the State Administrative Service in five states and Puducherry, 105 out of the total of 2,215 officials are Muslims, the highest of 33 in Kerala. Among the current 20 Pondicherry Civil Service officials, only two are Muslims. In the five states, the number of State Police Academy chiefs stood at 53, of whom only one had been a Muslim in Tamil Nadu – MS Jaffar Sati in 2017. There had been a total of 99 chiefs of State Police Housing and Welfare Corporations, of which only five had been Muslims – two each in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
Comparatively, Muslim representations in the government departments in the five southern states and two UTs are better than the three other geographical regions of the country. Out of a total of 473 officials in the Drug Control and Inspection teams, 29 are Muslims with the highest of nine in Tamil Nadu. Muslims in Labour Departments in five states and Puducherry number 57 out of a total of 820 officials including principal secretaries, directors, and deputy directors. Muslims were few in the management teams of Tourism Departments and Tourism Development Corporations in five states as of mid-2022. Out of 12 directors in Andhra Pradesh, two were Muslims. There was only one Muslim among 26 senior officials. In Kerala, there is one Muslim among 14 officials. Karnataka has one Muslim among its 12 directors. In Tamil Nadu Tourism, there are no Muslims on its board of directors while one is a Muslim among 38 heads of tourism offices. Telangana also had no Muslim among its three management team members.
None of the chairpersons of the Human Rights Commissions in five states is a Muslim while one is a Muslim (in Telangana) among 56 officials including members, secretaries, and registrars. The State Women Commissions in five states have a total of 70 officials including chairpersons and secretaries, only three Muslims are members in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and Telangana. Two of the 39 officials in Tamil Nadu are Muslims. In five states and Puducherry, the State Legal Services Authority had a total of 192 officials including executive chairpersons, secretaries, and members, of which 11 have been Muslims – six in Kerala, four in Karnataka, and one in Tamil Nadu. No Muslim figured on the list in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Puducherry. The panel of lawyers (including honorary and pro bono) stood at 7,887, of whom 375 are Muslims.
The number of Lok Ayuktas in five states totaled 24 of which only Karnataka had a Muslim – Justice SA Hakeem from 1996 to 2001. The Upa Lokayuktas numbered a total of 24, of whom two were Muslims in Kerala – Justice KA Mohammed Shafi and Justice AK Basheer. The number of Muslims in the management teams of Departments of Commercial Taxes in five states and Puducherry stands at 113 including a commissioner (Puducherry) out of a total of 2,486 officials. In the Revenue Departments of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry, only six are Muslims including a commissioner (Tamil Nadu) out of a total of 104 officials.
The number of Muslim officials in the Management and Inspection teams of the Excise/Prohibition Departments in five states and Puducherry stands at 126, including the highest of 18 in Kerala, out of a total of 1,352. The number of Muslims in Anti-Corruption Departments/Bureaus in three states – Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala – and Puducherry stands is miserably poor – four out of a total of 66 officials. Five states and Puducherry have a total of 1,288 officials in their Public Works Departments out of which 64 are Muslims, including one superintending engineer (Telangana). No Muslim is among the officials in Puducherry. The count of Muslim officials in the senior management teams of the Forest Departments in five states and two UTs stands at 147 out of a total of 3,128.
Telangana has no Muslim out of the total 290 officials.
No Muslim had headed the prosecution in any of the five states and Puducherry. So is the case with the advocates-general. However, 86 out of a total of 691 have been Muslims among the present additional AGs, government pleaders, and standing counsels, the highest in Karnataka at 306. Out of a total of 873 district prosecuting officers (DPOs), only 44 are Muslims, with none in Andra Pradesh and Puducherry. The total number of officials in the management and administration teams in the Road Transport Corporations (RTCs) in five states and one UT of Puducherry totals 1,837 of whom 88 are Muslims. Puducherry had no Muslim among its eight-member management team. Eighteen out of 413 officials in APSTRC are Muslims. In the three RTCs in Karnataka, 31 are Muslims out of 661 officials. Muslims are 14 in 159 officials in Kerala. In three RTCs in Tamil Nadu, 16 are Muslims among 227 officials. Eight are Muslims out of 240 officials in Telangana.
For the chairpersons of State Public Service Commissions, the Muslims numbered only five out of a total of 80 in five states – two in Kerala and three in Tamil Nadu. The commissions have a total of 279 members of whom two were Muslims in Andhra Pradesh, and one each in Karnataka and Telangana. The State Women’s Commissions in five states and Puducherry had seen a total of 39 chairpersons of which none were Muslims. Among their 130 members, eight have been Muslims including four alone in Kerala. Karnataka had seen no Muslim either as chairperson or its members. Thirty-one of the 34 chairpersons of Urdu academies in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana had been Muslims while secretaries/registrars numbered 54 including 49 Muslims.
In the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption domains, 48 commissioners/directors in Andhra Pradesh included three Muslims – M Abdul Ansari in 1969, Abdus Samad Khan in 1982, and AK Khan in 2013. No Muslim headed the department out of a total of 33 officials in Tamil Nadu and Telangana. BS Mohammed Yasan headed the department in 2018 out of a total of 37 officials. The Waqf Boards in five states and the UT of Lakshadweep have seen 92 chairpersons to date – all Muslims. However, 136 secretaries/CEOs included three non-Muslims in Lakshadweep.
In Andhra Pradesh, the 17 municipal corporations have seen a total of 176 mayors of whom 36 were Muslims. In Karnataka, their number stands at 11 civic bodies at 173, including 36 Muslims. The highest numbers have been at Bengaluru and Mangalore – six each. Kerala has seen a total of 143 mayors in six of its civic bodies including 13 Muslims. The highest number of Muslim mayors – four – had been in Thrissur. In Tamil Nadu, the number of mayors stood at 112 at 21 civic bodies of whom 14 were Muslims. Out of 49 mayors of Chennai, the country’s oldest civic body, three were Muslims. Telangana had 43 mayors in 13 corporations including six Muslims of whom five were in Hyderabad between 1966 to 2014.
There are 5,982 hospitals in South India as against 1,825 in the northern states. The number of registered MBBS doctors in nine medical councils for five states stood at 4,64,136 since 1960, of whom 43,838 are Muslims, the highest in Karnataka at 12,780 and 10,458 in Kerala. When it comes to dentists registered with five state dental councils and one UT of Puducherry as of mid-2023, as many as 14,770 have been Muslims out of a total of 1,27,836, with the highest in Kerala at 4,788 followed by 4,401 in Karnataka. The lowest is in Puducherry – 70.
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