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Aires Rodrigues argued on Goanet:
It was Babasaheb Ambedkar's vision to have a society
based on liberty, equality and fraternity. After 50
years of Independence reservations seem to a problem
rather than a solution.
Problem? To whom? I guess those who don't benefit from this measure in
a hierarchical caste-defined society are going to complain about it.
Just look at the way the one-sided media barrage (against
reservations) has been going on in the past few days.
The politicians want it now enhanced to the IIMs and
IITs. What next? Will they be pitching for
reservations in the India's cricket team too?
And, you might get a better cricket team!
On a more serious note, you have a serious 'reservation' system
running this region for generation and centuries -- where tiny elite
groups control disproportionately large resources -- and when
government seats are allocated to those who have an unfair handicap in
an unequal race, all hell breaks loose!
Reservations, if any, should be only for the
economically deprived and never on the basis of caste.
Why not? I fail to understand the logic of this BJP-inspired argument.
When poverty and caste has such a close congruence in our part of the
world, why can't caste be used as the determining factor? The
equivalent of this argument would be: arguments in court should be
allowed only to those who have a logical mind, but should never be
restricted to a profession (e.g. lawyers)!
We cannot have reservations for doctors and engineers
otherwise we would be building morgues and crumbling
bridges.
Like other critics of pro-deprived section reservations, Aires is
twisting the issue unfairly. Nobody gets reservations in exams, they
only get it to join an institution. Meaning, once they're in, everyone
faces the same exam. (And we also know the kind of caste-based
humiliation that people have to face in institutions of higher
education... you can't argue they don't deserve to be there!)
Recently, the OUTLOOK magazine, known for its fairly enlightened
position, had this cover story showing how some people with a
Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe background (the "lowest" of the "low)
had got access to higher education, and had done brilliantly at the
national level and beyond.
We don't know how many Shakespeares and Einstins we are killing unsung
by keeping them illiterate and badly educated. The faster India offers
social justice to its various groups, the better chances it has to go
ahead globally. An unjust society is an unstable one. FN
PS: Any views on reservations in the context of Goa?
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