The measure has set off a sharp clash between TMC and BJP, raising fears about Muslims losing rights and reservation benefits before next year’s elections
NEW DELHI — Political tension has risen sharply in West Bengal after reports that 35 Muslim communities may be removed from the Central OBC list. With assembly elections due next year, Muslims in the state say they feel targeted, ignored, and pushed aside by the Union government.
The National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) wrote to the Central government in January 2025, advising that 35 of West Bengal’s OBC communities be taken out of the national list. Most of these communities are Muslim groups who have depended on reservation to gain education, jobs, and social support.
NCBC Chairman Hans Raj Gangaram Ahir confirmed that most of the 35 communities are Muslim, but he refused to share the full list. He told the media that the “names will be decided by the government”.
For Muslim groups in Bengal, this silence has caused fear and anger.
Mohammad Ilyas, a community organiser from Murshidabad, said, “We are being pushed out one by one. No one is telling us why our children should lose their rights. This is not justice.”
According to NCBC records, the investigation into West Bengal’s OBC list began in 2023, focusing on 37 communities added just before the 2014 Lok Sabha election. Of them, 35 communities are being sought to be removed.
On 2 December, the Union Ministry of Social Justice told Parliament that it had received the NCBC’s advice and was studying it. Under the 102nd Constitutional Amendment, any change to the Central OBC List needs parliamentary approval and a notification from the President.
Legal experts say this is not a small move.
A Kolkata-based constitutional lawyer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “Removing these communities will directly hit poor Muslims. Parliament will have to face the social and political cost of this step.”
As elections come closer, BJP leaders have started using the NCBC recommendation in their speeches. Senior BJP leader Umesh Malviya openly said on 3 December that “all 35 communities are Muslim”.
This claim has created deep anxiety among Muslim families.
A madrasa teacher from North 24 Parganas said, “Whenever elections come close, they find ways to target Muslims. This is one more attempt to make us weaker.”
Muslim leaders say BJP is trying to turn reservation into a religious issue even though the Constitution allows backward classes, including Muslims, to receive quota benefits if they face social and educational backwardness.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee strongly criticised the Union government, saying it is using this issue to divide society. She said, “This is not about justice. This is about politics that hurts the poor. These steps are taken to keep Muslim communities out.”
She argued that the state had made corrections in its list so that the real backward groups get reservation. She said the Union government’s actions were “aimed at taking away rights that Muslims have enjoyed for years”.
A Trinamool Congress worker in Howrah added, “The BJP cannot win Bengal, so they play with Muslim lives. They talk about reservation as if Muslims stole something. These lies must stop.”
The matter has become more tense because the Supreme Court is hearing a case challenging the inclusion of several Muslim groups in the state OBC list. This has led to fresh debate over whether reservations for Muslims are being slowly reduced across the country.
Muslim activists fear there is a wider plan across states.
A youth leader from Malda said, “We see the pattern. First Karnataka, then states like Assam, now Bengal. Each time Muslims are blamed. This is deliberate.”
If the Central government accepts the NCBC advice, Muslim communities will lose access to central government schemes, central education quotas, and central job reservations. This could affect lakhs of families across the state.
Parents say their children’s future will be at stake.
A mother from Birbhum said, “My son studies hard because he wants a government job. If we lose our place in the OBC list, what will happen to him? Why should our children suffer?”
As West Bengal prepares for elections, the move to remove 35 Muslim groups from the Central OBC list has turned into one of the state’s most sensitive political fights. Muslims fear their rights may be taken away, while political parties use the issue to shape the coming election.
For now, the Centre has only said it is “examining the proposal”. But for the Muslim communities of West Bengal, the fear is real — that a long-standing support system may slip away at a crucial time.
