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CASTE OR RESERVATION! WHICH TO END FIRST?


Castes and caste-based reservations have assumed the properties of two contraposing and counteracting determinants of Indian Civil life since independence. In fact, castes and caste-based reservations are the life lines of two wide social sections which stand opposed to each other not only economically but also politically, socially, culturally and historically. Since they are counter-productive serious state builders and social scientists have always bothered about their influences in civil life.

At this juncture certain serious questions stare at those who are serious about nation building. Is the caste system just a social divide? Or, is it the tip of a deep rooted institution of slavery? Is the reservation a step forward to dismantle the caste system? Or, is it an opportunistic compromise by the proponents of the caste system?

The answers speak voluminously about our double standards in our social life as well as in our thought process. While we pretend that caste system is just a social divide, it, in fact, is a deep rooted institution of slavery. When the idealists in the society took reservation as a forward step to dismantle caste system, the mainstream society considered it as an opportunistic compromise in order to perpetuate caste system.

In fact, caste system has always been an institution for the appropriation of resources by a minority section in the society. Reservation meant nothing more than almsgiving as a measure to silence the majority community.

Now, what is the position of those people who argue in favour of scrapping the reservation? The answer depends on two counter questions. Is the reservation delivering results? Is the caste system still benefiting its proponents? Certainly, those people who argue against reservation are those who do not get benefit from the caste system. Are they ready to forgo the caste system? Further, only those who benefit from the reservation argue in favour of it.

The proponents of caste system will be ready to forgo it only when it does not deliver any benefit to them. Similarly, the proponents of reservation will be ready to forgo it only when they realise that it is nothing more than a strategy of comprehensive deception. Caste system and reservation are like the two sides of an outdated coin. The end of the one should necessarily mean the end of the other.

The book "What after Modi Sarkar?" brings up a refreshing stream of thought towards this direction. The book presents mind-blowing facts about the futility of the institution of caste system as well as the failure of the measure of reservation.  Excerpts from the book follow.

"Almost every society has a superior class that has access to certain privileges. These privileges help this class to maintain its superiority. Every major political act in such a society is an effort to maintain the superiority by the dominant section. In the context of Post-British India we can outline the strategy in the following manner.

When the British left India the dominant sections [obviously the upper castes in all the communities] owned land, Industry, government jobs and political positions. Government institutions formed the only means of education during this period and whoever got educated could amass the privileges in the society.

There was a time when a pass in class IV meant either a teacher’s job or a job in police department. A pass in class VII meant the direct appointment as a school headmaster. Obviously, it was with the help of education from the government institutions that the upper classes and castes in India maintained their dominant position.

But gradually, the deprived sections began to get access to the educational institutions maintained by the government. Soon the government educational institutions, which assured privileges to the upper classes, lost their status. Gradually, the upper caste and upper class sections, in order to maintain their  dominance,  began  to  get  them educated  in  academic and professional institutions. During this period the deprived sections were unable to enter into academic and professional institutions. However, the Mandal reforms opened the gates of academic and professional institutions for the underprivileged sections. It was during  this period  that  many  of  the  academic  and professional Institutions maintained by the government lost their credibility.

Now in order to maintain their dominant position in the society the upper castes and classes in India resorted to the next step i.e. to get educated through English medium. During this period English medium  institutions  were few  in  numbers  and  it  was  very difficult to get access to English education. But gradually, English medium Institutions began to mushroom in every nook and corner of the country. The language became accessible to underprivileged sections. When the English knowing underprivileged sections demanded equal privileges, the upper castes and classes in India moved towards a new step. The novel step prompted them to get educated in a foreign country. It was impossible for the underprivileged sections of India to get education in foreign universities. Reservation and government policies helped the underprivileged sections to get educated in Indian schools and Universities.

However, these measures cannot help the underprivileged sections to match-up with the upper castes and classes in the society. In the current Indian society it was with the foreign education and the subsequent foreign income that the dominant sections assured their superiority. Today only those who have foreign education and foreign income can be considered as the movers and changers  of the society. The underprivileged sections are hypnotised with reservation in few jobs and education in indigenous universities. Under such a situation political empowerment is an illusion.

We can easily show evidences of empowerment such as reservation in education  and  jobs,  reservation  in  political institutions  such  as legislative assembly  and Parliament  and  so  on.  But  today  they  have ceased to become institutions of privilege. The situation has reached to such an extent that even a 100% reservation cannot deal with the level of backwardness that hunts our society. The underprivileged sections  are virtually  in a fix because they cannot ask for  reservation in foreign education and foreign income."

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