October 18, 2001
RESERVARIONS
Founding
Fathers of the Constitution of India, have made appropriate Provisions in the
Constitution itself, to provide for Reservations to the Backward Classes of
People. They have also made a suitable Provision to
Study the Problems of the Backward Classes from time to time, and access the
difficulties being faced by them, in order to provide appropriate relief,
mitigate their sufferings, and remove their backwardness. Reservations in Politics, Administration,
Services, Education, Housing, Economic Development etc are some of the known
and tried out Remedies. They are not
just for the Development of any individual or family or group, but for the
Communities as a Whole.
Backward Classes in the Society,
does not mean the poor or the unemployed.
That is what the dominant caste hindus (DCHs) would deliberately like us
to believe and make us fight amongst ourselves for individual benefits and
relief, as if the intended benefits and relief are all only the leftovers and
bones discarded by them, or spillovers beyond their satisfactory consumption,
or what they choose to give to us. No,
that is not Right.
Backward Classes are those whole
Sections of the Society, who have been and still are deliberately and
intentionally kept Backward. And
wantonly and purposely kept poor and deprived to live in misery. Backwards are the Working Classes, who do
not get compensated fully for their work, properly for their inventions,
adequately for their creation, appropriately for their produce, and infact can
not retain what they create produce and harvest even when they want or need
them for their survival and well being.
Backward Classes are those People
whose living, welfare, well being, growth, development, progress and future
depends on others. Their food - what
they eat, when they eat, how much they eat, all depend on others. They are Socially and Educationally Backward
People. For, they are kept so, to
preserve them as suppressed people.
Hence all the oppressions against them.
And all the marginalisations.
Development of the Backward
Classes means not giving them relief, or providing them free or concessional
food, or admitting them free anywhere to enjoy laze sleep and while away their
time for some or long time freely or undeservingly and without any meaningful
rhyme or worthwhile reason. Give a
fellow free food, he or she would turn out to be a lazy beggar, or an un
enterprising dependant. Teach the
fellow to search and hunt or work and earn, he or she would cook comfortably
and make a decent comfortable living. Development of the Backwards does not mean
giving some individuals here and there as a mark of being good or show of mercy
or showering some kindness, a little benevolent help or some job. Yes indeed, providing some job helps, but
Development is much more.
What the
Constitution speaks about, and the whole dynamics of Democracy stand for is
wholistic Development of the whole Communities, and all the people within all
the Backward Communities, in the entire Country without any exception. Exceptions are made only by jealous
intolerant small-minded individuals, unjustly sitting in power and unfairly
holding on to privileges. Growth and Progress of the entire People of
all the Backward Communities is absolutely necessary for the well being and
future of the Nation. There can be
no minuses and pluses, or any Creamy or Butter Layer. And no one, yes no one else has a role or right to determine what
to be given, how much to be given, when to be given, where to be given and why
to be given - be they the NGOs, Activists, Samaritans, Official Minions, Senior
Bureaucrats, or Politicians in Power.
For, in a Democracy there are to be no Classes, definitely not the
Ruling or the Ruled, the giver and the taker, the dispenser or the
receiver. The fundamental principle in
a Democracy is that Everyone is Equal.
Everyone is Equal to the other, no less no great, no big no small. And definitely, No one has the Right to
arrogate oneself to be superior to the other, or to determine the lot of
others, or what to be given or paid or not to someone. If anyone is in a position to employ another
and pay for his or her services, then something is basically wrong
somewhere. And that means that Democracy
had derailed somewhere on its way of being or doing good and serving the
People. This, even though the believers
in free trade may be proud and happy to be in a position to employ and pay
someone, just or a little or somewhat more.
Backward
Classes of People in India, were at times called the Minorities of the Society.
Strangely enough, all of them are often
Minority not in numbers, but in power wealth education and employment. So, they are considered to be insignificant
and of no-consequence. Since there are
also specific classes of people, who are Minorities in number Religiously,
Linguistically, Culturally, or Racially and Ethnically, they become a separate
class by themselves, and are classified separately as the Minorities and
identified as the Religious Minorities, Linguistic Minorities, Cultural
Minorities, or Racial Minorities and Ethnic Minorities. The Minorities, even while suffering
marginalisation as Backward Classes are often being Persecuted and neglected specifically for being Minorities, even
though they may not be really Backward in Culture, Education, Employment,
Riches and Wealth, in the sense the term Backward stands for. Where as the Backward Classes in general are
being Prosecuted even for the
smallest of mistakes and errors, that too out of proportion. Hence the Backward Classes were separated
from the Minorities. Strangely the
Indian Society, had in both the separated Backward Classes and Minorities
included a large number of Special Classes of People. They are the SC Dalits and ST Dalits, the two prominent easily
identifiable or discernable sister Adivasi or Indigenous Groups of this
Land. Minus the Minorities and
SC&ST Dalits, what is left out of the Backward Classes are now known as the
Other Backward Classes or the OBCs.
All the three, the SC&ST
Dalits, Minorities and OBCs are discriminated sometime or the other, or most of
the times in the Indian Society, by the DCHs.
SC&ST Dalits, the traditionally oppressed, often even by the
Minorities, and most of the times by the OBCs are worst of the lot. They are the wretched of the earth. Their treatments and conditions even today
both in the rural and urban sector, both in the society at large and within
Govt Institutions are inhuman shameful and shocking.
The two groups, SC&ST Dalits
and Minorities are outside any form or definition of hinduism, except in the
territorial sense of old time foreigners who used to call anyone from hindustan
as hindu. But to stick to that term
today with an ulterior motive or mollified intention of either to Dominate
Religiously, or Deprive them an Identity Politically, or Deny them Justice
Legally is nothing but a Fraud and Deciet played by the fundamentalists and
their handmaidens in the caste based biased Judiciary.
Reservations, no body generally
questions when it comes to the Political Representations and Shares of the
SC&ST Dalits in the General Elections to the Parliament at the Centre and
Legislative Assemblies in the States and UTs.
For, the DCHs can not afford to rub the SC&ST Dalits at the higher
levels of Governance at the National or State Levels. Then the World will laugh at them, and they can be hauled over
the burning coals in public international gaze. But the DCHs do mind when it is rubbed on them at the time of
electing the Village Panchayats etc.
For, those Villages are where the roots of caste biases and prejudices
are strong.
Reservations, for the OBCs does
not exist as on date, in the matter of Political Representations.
Reservations in Education
generally does not exist, except in Professional Institutions for SC&ST
Dalits. For, Professional Colleges
prove to be the Channels for Development, Employment, Good Jobs, Very Good
Earnings, Progress, Growth and Development.
Hence there is big race to get into the Professional Institutions, heavy
rush, big competition and large scale manipulations and discriminations. In such a situation, SC&ST Dalits could
never make it anywhere to come near.
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Adopted from the Telugu Weekly, JANAMITRA, published from
Yanam,
Union Territory of Pondicherry,
located in the midst of the East Godavari
District of Andhra Pradesh. Dtd 09-09-2001
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