Following are some of the things i wrote on the community,"We support reservation". I would like to have a permanent record of them.
And yes, I do not support reservation.
"And I have specified here that there are very few non-meritorious students who get admission into colleges on the basis of reservation. I am not saying that all reserved category students are non-meritorious, neither do i imply that all general category students are meritorious. But I am sure that all of you would agree with me that the no. of meritorious students from general category is higher than reserved category....
I clarify again. I know all of us have struggled to make our lives. Competition is what differentiates a developing country from other developed countries, and this idea of competition has been well-ingrained in us since childhood.
Yes, I agree with Ajit that there are a large no. of people who are deprived of the basic standards of life. But do you think that reserving seats for them wil provide a permanent solution to alleviate all their problems. But differences are everywhere. A poor 15 yeaar old kid saw his mother work in the fields and he wanted to be able to earn money to build a house for her. A middle class boy saw his father go to his office on scooter everyday and he secretly wished he could earn enough money to buy his father a car.
Ambitions never end. But where do we put a limit to them?? We cannot simply be narrow in our outlook and lament our past. As Ajit said, we need to be open-minded and approach these issues with rationality. We indians never cry or crib or demand for special treatment when we go to states to study or work. Its not because we are a minority, and we are scared of the majority. But it is because that is the way life is. India was glorious in the past when America was ruled by red-indians. But USA has greater technological advances today while India still struggles to provide the basic standards of life to thousands of people.
True, there have been historical wrongs but they can be corrected by other means as well. If sane and rational people get together, they can end the caste discrimination. I have never looked down upon anybody from a lower caste, nor looked up to anybody from a higher caste. I am sure there must be thousands more who think like me, but lakhs more who dont. What we have to do is to make those lakhs think rationally and open-mindedly.
When i say that passions run high, I mean that it is common for young people to think irrrationally for an issue which affects them in a seemingly dear manner. While reservations is a ray of hope to lakhs of young students to enter good colleges and make their lives, it is also a spell of doom to those lakhs who prepare for these colleges and who are not bright enough to get the top ranks. They obviously feel wronged. Now, they are only using these petitions, hunger strikes etc, as a way to protest, and unfortunately the media is sensationalising them. These actions are not justified. Infact, no form of unruly protests and hate remarks are justified. But if we ourselves show immaturity by taking deep offence to these slogans, and then take harsh stand; then who will rationally sit down and discuss these issues.
Its like saying all Pakistanis are bad, simply because a few narrow'minded ones made defamatory statements in public. Its like saying all Muslims are bad, simply because some embittered ones in your locality indulge in anti-social behaviour and criticize the country. I admit that some people in their irrational minds have made bad statements against the low caste people, but that doesnt mean that the others should also behave in a similar manner......
And this is for Dhagej..you are right that caste discrimination is still in prominence. The burning of dalits that you cites is just one of the many incidents that happen. But do you really feel that reservations will end this attitude?? So, a poor kid from low caste will get a job, earn money and probably shift to the city. But will that remove the hatred which is prevelant between the higher caste and the lower caste. Only education can help us remove this evil. It wasn't easy to convince people that having a large no. of children is bad for the ecomonic health of the family, but it took many decades for people to understand the same. Sati was a social evil so deep-rooted in the society that young widows would willingly immerse themselves in their husband's pyre....but we don't see any more cases of SAti today.
Change is always difficult to implement, and change always takes time. Reservation is not a permanent solution, but changing the outlook of the people is. Its not easy, but its worth trying, don't you think!!!"
And yes, I do not support reservation.
"And I have specified here that there are very few non-meritorious students who get admission into colleges on the basis of reservation. I am not saying that all reserved category students are non-meritorious, neither do i imply that all general category students are meritorious. But I am sure that all of you would agree with me that the no. of meritorious students from general category is higher than reserved category....
I clarify again. I know all of us have struggled to make our lives. Competition is what differentiates a developing country from other developed countries, and this idea of competition has been well-ingrained in us since childhood.
Yes, I agree with Ajit that there are a large no. of people who are deprived of the basic standards of life. But do you think that reserving seats for them wil provide a permanent solution to alleviate all their problems. But differences are everywhere. A poor 15 yeaar old kid saw his mother work in the fields and he wanted to be able to earn money to build a house for her. A middle class boy saw his father go to his office on scooter everyday and he secretly wished he could earn enough money to buy his father a car.
Ambitions never end. But where do we put a limit to them?? We cannot simply be narrow in our outlook and lament our past. As Ajit said, we need to be open-minded and approach these issues with rationality. We indians never cry or crib or demand for special treatment when we go to states to study or work. Its not because we are a minority, and we are scared of the majority. But it is because that is the way life is. India was glorious in the past when America was ruled by red-indians. But USA has greater technological advances today while India still struggles to provide the basic standards of life to thousands of people.
True, there have been historical wrongs but they can be corrected by other means as well. If sane and rational people get together, they can end the caste discrimination. I have never looked down upon anybody from a lower caste, nor looked up to anybody from a higher caste. I am sure there must be thousands more who think like me, but lakhs more who dont. What we have to do is to make those lakhs think rationally and open-mindedly.
When i say that passions run high, I mean that it is common for young people to think irrrationally for an issue which affects them in a seemingly dear manner. While reservations is a ray of hope to lakhs of young students to enter good colleges and make their lives, it is also a spell of doom to those lakhs who prepare for these colleges and who are not bright enough to get the top ranks. They obviously feel wronged. Now, they are only using these petitions, hunger strikes etc, as a way to protest, and unfortunately the media is sensationalising them. These actions are not justified. Infact, no form of unruly protests and hate remarks are justified. But if we ourselves show immaturity by taking deep offence to these slogans, and then take harsh stand; then who will rationally sit down and discuss these issues.
Its like saying all Pakistanis are bad, simply because a few narrow'minded ones made defamatory statements in public. Its like saying all Muslims are bad, simply because some embittered ones in your locality indulge in anti-social behaviour and criticize the country. I admit that some people in their irrational minds have made bad statements against the low caste people, but that doesnt mean that the others should also behave in a similar manner......
And this is for Dhagej..you are right that caste discrimination is still in prominence. The burning of dalits that you cites is just one of the many incidents that happen. But do you really feel that reservations will end this attitude?? So, a poor kid from low caste will get a job, earn money and probably shift to the city. But will that remove the hatred which is prevelant between the higher caste and the lower caste. Only education can help us remove this evil. It wasn't easy to convince people that having a large no. of children is bad for the ecomonic health of the family, but it took many decades for people to understand the same. Sati was a social evil so deep-rooted in the society that young widows would willingly immerse themselves in their husband's pyre....but we don't see any more cases of SAti today.
Change is always difficult to implement, and change always takes time. Reservation is not a permanent solution, but changing the outlook of the people is. Its not easy, but its worth trying, don't you think!!!"
posted by Sahil @ 10:24 AM
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