A technique invented by the British imperialists, now perfected by the Indian politician. Divide they do by caste, creed, religion and geography, specially when its election time. This time round with elections occurring for five states in India.
The biggest divider this time around happens to be the “Human Resource Development” Minister Dr. Arjun Singh. He let out the cat among the pigeons by calling for reservation in the post-graduate level education at the premier educational institutions, medical colleges and private industries. It is a good election time gimmick to gather some votes, but it stinks of ‘rasheadedness’.
At the outset let me state that I am not against reservation(caste/race based). Mainly because I do not have an alternative solution to it.
I just have an issue with how it is implemented. If the government spent as much time on primary education for the lower castes to bring them in par with the mainstream, we wouldn’t have to resort to reservation at this level. There are certain fields that I believe should not be touched by reservation and the major area is medicine. I would feel safe to know that my doctor has the brains to get into medical college and has not had the medical degree forced on him due to reservation. It would be definitive be better to raise the standards of the down trodden rather than lower the bar. It would be oxymoronic, to call the Indian IITs and IIMs as one of the best in the world while we try to get in people under reservation.
In reality this reservation would only benefit the ricer of the lower caste, who have any idea of the perks of the system and would not really reach the intended audience of the lower income group. Instead of trying the top down model, the powers that be would be better off to try the bottom up model, if they really want to make a change.
The other interesting question that arises is how politicians implement such polarising moves with impunity. The cause lies in the fact that the middle class never really votes … they are just happy to live a contended life with no social responsibility. What the politicians are trying to do is speak to the uneducated (Who incidentally is not helped in any by such measures) who speak the language of division. Its easy to get the loyalty of a person who does not understand the consequences of such actions and whose caste loyalty is worn on his sleeve.
If the middle class and the educated masses want to prevent such divisive policies from seeing the light of day, they would have to put aside their complacency aside and be ready to actively exercise their social responsibility. The best way to do it would be by voting (against such policies)!
P.S: For daily updates —> The Odyssey
This same issue is being discussed on other east indian group forums..I think people are fed up of the pressure it puts on the smarter ones when the playing field is unfair..I believe the reservation system was a good idea to start off..but where the problem arose is when those who benefited from the reservation system started using it to benefit the next generation of their own..so that brings a new social class, one that perpetuates the problem. Take each family, not everyone becomes a doctor or engineer because their parents are one..but their parents hope that their children will become one and so they encourage their child to get into the same profession that they are in..But when education is made a level playing field, each and every parent wants their child to become a doctor or engineer because that’s what brings respectability, social recognition, wealth to the family…So the parents scrounge and try to send them to the best schools/colleges and if things turn out not to their liking because the child doesn’t study hard as much as their parents wanted them to, they bribe their way into medical and engineering colleges…Some of them successfully graduate and then what..their skills, their education helps them only so much..the pressure builds up to find a job (a good paying job)..and by hook or crook they will find one..Did anyone think about the fact that what they do in their jobs is also important? So next time you ask an engineer or a doctor to help you, find out how much they know their stuff..otherwise you might have a house built on sand or you might have your kidneys removed when the problem was with your heart…Moral of the story…You can never keep a good man down..Teach a child in the way they must go and in the long run, they will turn out allright..Matha, Pitha, Guru, Deivam…Only a mother can tell you who your father is, the father’s job is to be a good teacher or point you towards a good teacher…and a teacher’s job (as long as you find a real good teacher) is to teach you life skills and point you towards the ultimate reality..one day you will have to face the creator of your soul..you better be prepared then to face the reality of that meeting…your education, your wealth, your family and friends will not help you there..It’s just between you and your creator..Worship Him in Spirit and in Truth..
Divide and Rule in America
http://nohattip.blogspot.com/2006/05/divide-and-rule-polarization-of.html#links
see what the richest man in the world has to say for himself…
http://www.rawstory.com/showarticle.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Ftoday.reuters.com%2Fmisc%2FPrinterFriendlyPopup.aspx%3Ftype%3Dousiv%26storyID%3Duri%3A2006-05-04T013715Z_01_N03448640_RTRIDST_0_BUSINESSPRO-GATES-DC.XML
The second article on this topic is posted. If interested you can read it here.
http://nohattip.blogspot.com