Quotas...youth...awakening

Some days back, one of my friends was asking, ''hey crusader, u still haven't commented about the quota issue thats raging on in the country''. Now am not gonna postpone it. Because, this is a time when the protests for and against reservation has reached its peak.

We've been having quotas since the time we got independence. And what was said then was that this system would be continued until the day when the backward classes are able to stand on par with the forward class. But even after 58 odd years, the condition have not changed much, although the percentage of quota has since gone up. Also, the backward class has since then expanded to include some more exotic classes. It is in this scenario that Arjun Singh decided to include OBCs too under reservation and deprive the forward class of the already decreasing number of seats. And what was in his mind was clear. This is a nice way to show his power in the UPA. Because, none of the other ministers or MPs would dare to make a public statement against reservation. They could do so only at their own peril. He's just following the footsteps of another Singh, V.P.Singh of 'Mandal' fame, in playing this petty vote bank politics. Arjun Singh wanted to divide India's youth based on caste. But barring a few who support these quotas, a large number of the OBCs themselves are against this.

Arjun Singh was happy that his calculations were going right, as none of the ministers protested against the quota proposal.But the youth of India were not to be kept quiet. Initially, the doctors and medical students from AIIMS started the protests. An organisation called 'Youth for Equality' led the protests. Most of them were peaceful. But the police resorted to violent means and beat them up. Thats what sparked widepread agitations against reservation. Students cutting across professions has joined this fight against injustice. There were many candle lit protests and India Gate marches. These kind of novel protests were seen first after the verdict in the Jessica Lal case. That was the time when a movie called 'Rang De Basanti' released and inspired a whole nation of cine-goers, especially the GenX. The catchphrase 'a generation awakens' has now really come true. This is the 1st time that such a large scale get together of youth have become a reality. Watching the images of this protests on TV, you can see close parallels with the movie. Movies inspiring changes in society is not a new thing. When Swades released, it did give rise to some sort of reverse brain drain on a small scale. I've read some mails in certain forums of Indians working abroad, expressing their wish to work for India. And some of them did return back to the motherland. This change in attitude is also seen in the IIM recruitments. There were so many fresh graduates who refused job offers from foreign companies instead prefering to work here. Some of them expressed their desire to join the IAS and there are many others working in the rural villages striving hard for the upliftment of the downtrodden.

Coming back to the subject, if this reservation policy is implemented, the total reservation will go upto 49.5 percent. And mind you this is going to be done in IITs and IIMs, which is meant to polish out India's best brains. These are the ones who are to contribute in taking the nation forward to the big league. If the reservation is going to be implemented, so many undeserving candidates would get into these premier institutions. Its for sure that they would struggle in this highly competitive environment. They would even find it hard to passout of the institution. The need of the hour is revamping the primary education system with prominence given to the backward classes. We should equip them to reach their dreams rather than put them into more hardships in the name of fulfilling their dream. If they are given special training from the lowest level, they will surely be able to compete with others. The new proposal by the government is to increase the number of seats in the institutions in proportion to the increase in quotas, so the forward classes are not affected. But, still the 49.5 percent is to be taken from this number, which is unfair. And, where is the infrastructure to support such an increase in number?What the Government should do is to scrap the whole reservation thing, which has not taken India anywhere and which surely will not, in the future.This is impractical, u may all argue. But any Government which has the courage to take such a decision would be guaranteed of getting all my votes until death. Its another matter that after taking such a decision, the next election would see the party being wiped out from the face of Indian politics.

Now, Rang De Basanti has inspired all these protests. Some students at Allahabad even performed last rites on Arjun Singh's effigy. The protestors being beaten up reminds me of the 'Khoon Chala' song. All this has happened. Now am waiting for one last thing from the movie to happen. I wonder what the consequences of the next few words would be. Hopefully , not something like what happened to Rockus. Beacuse what I want to see is the killing of the minister by the youngsters, happening in real life. After all this deal of being awakened by the movie, this is one thing that is remaining to happen. Not one, but all those suckers who betrayed the country and the countrymen should be given this ultimate punishment .....HAIL RDB.....DOWN WITH THE QUOTAS......LET ALL INDIANS JOIN TOGETHER IN THIS FIGHT

NB- Some of my comments on this post may appear irrational to the readers. Yes, u r right. This post was written at a time when emotions were ruling over rationality inside me. So, reader discretion is requested. But, I won't find fault with any reader, who in a small period of indiscretion decides to carryout one of the wishes i expressed in this post.....

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with love, your crusader Praveen