Reservations - Social and Intellectual Blasphemy.

Let me begin with an antithesis. On the 27th of June 1961 Jawaharlal Nehru wrote to the Chief Ministers of the day as follows:

I dislike any kind of reservations. If we go in for any kind of reservations on communal and caste basis, we will swamp the bright and able people and remain second-rate or third-rate. The moment we encourage the second-rate, we are lost. And then he adds pointedly: This way lies not only folly, but also disaster.

Jawaharlal Nehru who introduced the first amendment regarding OBCs realized the folly and changed his mind. People who succeeded him did not. Infact, the reservation became the ugliest and the nastiest weapon in the hands of Congress Party which unfortunately ruled India for most of its post colonial governance. To understand the dynamics of Indian politics, we need to understand how deep-rooted the concept of 'Vote Bank' has penetrated its core. Congress is known for its melodrama (Remember Saint Sonia ? and mother Indira and Martyr Rajeev and Pious Priyanka and Ravishing Rahul and...ad nauseam) and its command over this elitist faculty of mathematics. Congress realized that they had found a gold mine when Nehru proposed the first draft for reservation. They have never looked back since.

Why reservation ?

Several countries have introduced procedures, either explicit quotas or forms of gerrymandering to ensure political representation of disadvantaged groups, such as women or ethnic minorities. In 2001, quotas for women in parliaments were in force in more than 30 countries. In India, seats are reserved for historically disadvantaged groups (Scheduled Castes, or SC, and Scheduled Tribes, or ST) in federal or state legislative assemblies and for both historically disadvantaged groups and women at all levels of the Panchayat system, the system of decentralized decision making.
A little bit of history can be illuminating at this point. Why and when did the concept of reservation took the ugly shape ? To answer these questions, we need to go back to August 1990, when the prime minister, V.P. Singh, announced that 27 per cent of all Central government jobs would henceforth be reserved for OBCs. Singh was here endorsing and implementing the recommendations of the Mandal commission, constituted in 1978, and which submitted its report two years later. This commission argued that caste was still the main indicator of ‘backwardness’. It identified, on the basis of state surveys, as many as 3,743 specific castes which were still ‘backward’. These collectively constituted in excess of 50 per cent of the Indian population. Now, do your math. Any political group in the race of power, needed this
huge divide to vote for them. Mandal commission effectively created the greatest divide ever created in the Indian political history. It simply divided India into two class of people : 'Reserved Class' and the Miscellany. Any party which could woo the votes from the Reserved Class could easily reach the power. The experiment was successful.

Suddenly, just before the state elections, a very old man (Aka : Arjun Singh - Gandhi) came out of his Gandhian Grave and declared that this was not enough. He wanted more...The SCs and STs already have 22.5 per cent of seats reserved for them. But the OBCs remain at a disadvantage; hence the pressure to reserve seats for them, too...Naturally ! The man mistakenly known as the Prime Minister of India mumbled a bit and was silenced by the Real Prime Minister of the Republic of India, an Italian Export as popular as Pizza. As expected, the left and the opposition is not making any correct noises this time, because they stand to lose a huge chunk of voters by opposing this circus. (OBCs constitutes around 30% of the Indian population - exact figures vary from source to source)

Why people are so angry ?
First thing, this new proposal is obscene. The youth of India has already forgotten the caste stigma. Even corporates are willing to assist the "real" backward people (not entire class) by providing them assistance and enabling them to compete. The original proposal included recommendation to exclude the 'Creamy Layer' from this reservation. Whats the use of assisting son of an IAS officer just because he was born in a so called 'backward' caste. Also, it was suggested that the assistance should be given only to ONE generation. The next generation is automatically assisted by doing this. Also, there was no consideration for the Economical Factors. But none of these logical suggestions were accepted by the Government. The intention is clear. They want a greater divide and a more clear vote bank to target.

I fear, that we may soon witness 'student suicides' the same way we witness 'farmer suicides'. There is a lot of anger...lot of anguish. This is surprising in today's languid and uninterested youth about this. But who is listening ? The old man will do the damage and return to his Gandhian Grave...Rahul Gandhi will become Indian Prime Minister and declare Italian as the National Language. The whole nation will applaud (Recent survey shows that 45% of the population thinks he is the right guy for the office). This is a slumber of fools. Yes, you and I...quiescent and utterly fool. Nobody could wake us up and nobody can. Rest in Peace....



Further Read...
Here
Here