This is one of the “rare” political posts. It has taken a lot of effort to type this one out. A testimony to the fact that I am not having my heart in writing anymore. Although, I can try and make some efforts.
The absurdity of the Indian Justice System knows no bounds. The recent judgment of Hon’ble Supreme Court of India has left every right thinking individual shell shocked. None of the political outfits or the parties, whether aligned to left or right is going to come out in favor of the people who are affected the most.
Historically, affirmative action has not worked wherever it has been sought to be introduced. Society cannot move on idealism; it needs practical approach towards issues that face us. Affirmative action, by and large leads to policy of reverse discrimination, where the system rewards the “less competent” over the more competent person. This definition, unfortunately, remains subjective leading to acrimonious debates, most of them featured on these columns or elsewhere. Merit is indeed an abstract notion; there are no objective criteria to measure it. This remains one of the forceful arguments for those who propose reservations.
In the garb of promotion of equality, the Government has chosen to promote “race equality”. Why should the successive generations suffer on account of perceived injustices to the present “class” of people? It only serves to hurt the “mainstream” people for something that they do not condone or support.
Higher education is a holy cow. Successive governments, regardless of ideologies, have chosen to dabble with their brand of ideology and influence the course of historians to suit it to their own partisan interests. Those knowledgeable in the statecraft would attribute this to ruling of the masses by an iron sleight of hand. It pervades every nook and corner of our existence. The concept of democracy is notional. Every aspect of our lives is measured, filtered and assessed via a fine tooth comb and information for us to be assimilated is rehashed. It justifies this as the majority of the population is unable to take decisions on their own. This, my country, is a nation of dimwits who are unable to stand out and vote for a meaningful change.
If the Constitution guarantees equal rights, this decision should not be equated by taking my rights to satisfy someone else. Since, it would repress someone who is capable for a particular job; it would make this nation a laggard.
Why higher education alone? Why not the entire political spectrum? We have a resounding silence there. There has been no word in reserving the seats for the ones who have been dispossessed in the political arena. The entire political spectrum is dominated by upper castes unless you wish to include the “born again Christians”, the emasculated Prime Minister and his consort very appropriately called as, “The Madam”.
The arguments for the affirmative action have included the fact that a more diversified representation from the various ethnic minorities would lead to a “vibrant workforce” and that it indicates the “strength of democracy”. Most of these concepts have been brought into focus from the discarded “western notions” about democracy in general. We cannot separate the chaff from the grain and ironically may well echo what the British had commented long time back about our inability to govern ourselves. Unfortunately, the overriding message to the future generation is that this nation does not value your academic achievements or the number of hours you put in to burn the proverbial midnight oil. The sole factor is the “accidental birth” in an upper caste household and one is doomed forever.
One of the sore example is that of Tamil Nadu where the reservations work to the disadvantage of “upper castes”. The crushing reservation has only helped to move them out of their communities to search for greener pastures elsewhere. Primarily, the “lower castes” vote en bloc leading to generation of a “vote bank” because in lieu of their votes, the systematic rot is allowed to be in place further depressing any hope of an institutional change.
Another factor is that caste notions are constantly hammered in the consciousness of those who otherwise would not have thought about the same. I cannot but help thinking about the person who would enter the hallowed portals of AIIMS based on his caste rather than clearing the tough entrance exam which tests the potential of above average students. It could hold true for any other institute. All his life, the person getting entry based on Government largesse would be marked and force him to get ghettoized with his “caste kinsmen” without really getting himself integrated in the mainstream as hoped for. These caste divisions would only serve to create constant frictions between the various groups; all the while allowing the powers that be to fish in troubled waters. Such constant friction only negates the idealism which isn’t warranted in the first place.
Although, the judgment speaks of keeping out the creamy layer from the purview of reservation, only the very naïve would believe that this creamy layer would not act to keep their interests in the family. A huge amount of tax is being funneled to pay for fancy schemes which remain good on paper; pathetic in implementation at the ground level. It would be difficult to extrapolate individual cases on generalized scenario but even the creamy layer among the backward castes is reaping a rich harvest of Government largesse. We may never be able to force the system to change and the situation is going to worsen over the period of time. It has been prompted by evil machinations of an old dying crock who cannot muster enough votes for himself in a local municipal election and unfortunately, has been thrust in mainstream for his controversial proposals.
When it would concern the people who vote for a radical change, it remains to be seen as to how their wards or significant others secure or latch on to national resources like leeches. They suck the intellectual discourse dry and for some reason have inexhaustible resources to argue needlessly without any reason. They form the majority of the media and the leftist cabal.
I only foresee a rough time ahead for the aspirants to higher education. Those who can afford, even in these times of killing inflation, would escape this system to institutes where merit alone is the criterion.
There are no easy solutions to these problems. Although, the easiest is not make the waters too murky by setting up caste based reservations. We already have enough troubles on our hands. This is a killing blow to the bright and deserving children from either side of the divide where they are thrust into unknown future. Neither there are any quick fix solutions to problems that have stemmed from very shaky foundations.
