Divide and Rule.
History repeats itself, we’ve heard that before. One of the greatest teachers probably is history. What matters is what lessons we take from it. The recent controversy of reservations in higher educational institutions has kicked up a minor storm of its own. What is discouraging is that no politician worth his salt (I mean that sarcastically - salt comes pretty cheap these days! It is an easily purchasable commodity) is opposing the move for fear of loosing out on a large vote-bank. What is encouraging is that students – those who are directly affected by these decisions – are taking to the streets themselves, a bold and proactive act. There have been views from both sides of the fence. There are two things that I would like to point out, items that seem pertinent to me.
1) The media will play along as long as it is a saleable story… the moment there is a bigger happening these protests will be relegated to the inner pages (print) and to smaller time slots (T.V) to finally die a quiet death – of the lonely kind which will fail to make it to the obituary column of the very same daily that once screamed itself hoarse in its colorful headlines. Let us not depend on the fourth estate, lets engage them for our benefit…
2) Those opposing reservations have their points. Those wanting reservations have theirs. There is vast majority of us who have our reservations against these reservations! What is required is a consensus… a national debate… at a grass roots level. Though we have a robust democracy and elected representatives in parliament, we forget that we are being shortchanged by these rogues (many of them literally are goons!) who are less of legislators and more of seasoned professional politicians. Politicians who dabble in the “business” of politics – not the welfare of the people they represent, not the service of the nation they are born in, not to govern. Some doddering senile old oaf thinks of a hare-brained scheme to garner votes and stay on in power without any long term goal or vision for the advancement of anyone!
Why should we allow legislation, no matter how sacrosanct its legality may seem as one passed by our apex legislative body if it is myopic and politically motivated? Their story is that they want the under privileged section of society to be a part of the mainstream. What were they doing for the last 60 years? How effective have their earlier schemes been? Is the benefit being taken by a majority of those it is intended for… or abused by the select few… corruption is abysmal here and a false certificate easy to obtain… who is going to ensure the veracity of such claims?
The weakest link in their argument and poor foundation (according to me) lies in the fact that they are hoping to bring about a ‘social’ change in a population – maybe close to half a billion of my countrymen! So sizable it benumbs the mind – by a few seats in the super specialized courses… can you even begin to imagine the skewed ratio? So if there is some Smart Alec who asks “you think YOU know better?” I answer “No, nor am I claiming to … but I do have a suggestion… rather that waste thousands after a few who don’t actually deserve it; if we consider the meritocracy view-point, higher education does cost a bomb… why not devote that same monies and allocate them for better, stronger and more efficient primary level schools instead? You want a level playing field? Let us ALL have the damn same level to play along from day one… give each child access to similar levels of educational exposure and ensure a decent, if not stringently high, standard so that there is no discrepancy when they sit for competitive exams. That is precisely where the politicians have failed the people of my nation – which has lead to the current discontent – which they are trying to assuage by this flimsy band aid – which will not improve their lot in reality – ensuring that at the end of the day the country suffers in an increasingly competitive world. The guiding principle ought to be based on merit alone!
Am I against the whole idea of reservations? Yes. I think it demeans the ones it is purported to benefit while disillusioning scores of other able youth. Am I against the principle and ideal of the thing? No. As a schoolboy I have recited our pledge too often, I feel for those less fortunate of my brethren. It shall remain our collective responsibility to set right historical wrongs. They were unfortunate by birth then, now they are only unfortunate by circumstance… We shall rise together…
It is an old military tactic to divide and rule. I am sure Lao Tzu has something to say to that effect in his Art of War, we suffered British rule for the same reason, to this day the seeds of conflict amongst Hindus & Muslims reap their bloody harvest. Politicians reap the benefits on religion and caste based lines at the polls, and now they further are weakening our national fabric by creating dissension amongst the youth – any country depends on the vigor and dreams of its youth to propel it to a prosperous future…the story we heard as children is simple, yet holds an important message “united we stand, divided we fall”. Fellow Indians… and “humpty-dumpty”s lets stick together and show these scum of a political class what stuff WE – the FUTURE of this great land - are made of… …
1) The media will play along as long as it is a saleable story… the moment there is a bigger happening these protests will be relegated to the inner pages (print) and to smaller time slots (T.V) to finally die a quiet death – of the lonely kind which will fail to make it to the obituary column of the very same daily that once screamed itself hoarse in its colorful headlines. Let us not depend on the fourth estate, lets engage them for our benefit…
2) Those opposing reservations have their points. Those wanting reservations have theirs. There is vast majority of us who have our reservations against these reservations! What is required is a consensus… a national debate… at a grass roots level. Though we have a robust democracy and elected representatives in parliament, we forget that we are being shortchanged by these rogues (many of them literally are goons!) who are less of legislators and more of seasoned professional politicians. Politicians who dabble in the “business” of politics – not the welfare of the people they represent, not the service of the nation they are born in, not to govern. Some doddering senile old oaf thinks of a hare-brained scheme to garner votes and stay on in power without any long term goal or vision for the advancement of anyone!
Why should we allow legislation, no matter how sacrosanct its legality may seem as one passed by our apex legislative body if it is myopic and politically motivated? Their story is that they want the under privileged section of society to be a part of the mainstream. What were they doing for the last 60 years? How effective have their earlier schemes been? Is the benefit being taken by a majority of those it is intended for… or abused by the select few… corruption is abysmal here and a false certificate easy to obtain… who is going to ensure the veracity of such claims?
The weakest link in their argument and poor foundation (according to me) lies in the fact that they are hoping to bring about a ‘social’ change in a population – maybe close to half a billion of my countrymen! So sizable it benumbs the mind – by a few seats in the super specialized courses… can you even begin to imagine the skewed ratio? So if there is some Smart Alec who asks “you think YOU know better?” I answer “No, nor am I claiming to … but I do have a suggestion… rather that waste thousands after a few who don’t actually deserve it; if we consider the meritocracy view-point, higher education does cost a bomb… why not devote that same monies and allocate them for better, stronger and more efficient primary level schools instead? You want a level playing field? Let us ALL have the damn same level to play along from day one… give each child access to similar levels of educational exposure and ensure a decent, if not stringently high, standard so that there is no discrepancy when they sit for competitive exams. That is precisely where the politicians have failed the people of my nation – which has lead to the current discontent – which they are trying to assuage by this flimsy band aid – which will not improve their lot in reality – ensuring that at the end of the day the country suffers in an increasingly competitive world. The guiding principle ought to be based on merit alone!
Am I against the whole idea of reservations? Yes. I think it demeans the ones it is purported to benefit while disillusioning scores of other able youth. Am I against the principle and ideal of the thing? No. As a schoolboy I have recited our pledge too often, I feel for those less fortunate of my brethren. It shall remain our collective responsibility to set right historical wrongs. They were unfortunate by birth then, now they are only unfortunate by circumstance… We shall rise together…
It is an old military tactic to divide and rule. I am sure Lao Tzu has something to say to that effect in his Art of War, we suffered British rule for the same reason, to this day the seeds of conflict amongst Hindus & Muslims reap their bloody harvest. Politicians reap the benefits on religion and caste based lines at the polls, and now they further are weakening our national fabric by creating dissension amongst the youth – any country depends on the vigor and dreams of its youth to propel it to a prosperous future…the story we heard as children is simple, yet holds an important message “united we stand, divided we fall”. Fellow Indians… and “humpty-dumpty”s lets stick together and show these scum of a political class what stuff WE – the FUTURE of this great land - are made of… …
Comments
Also, i saw something on NDTV about medical students standing at traffic signals and handing out fliers to people, explaining to them why the reservations are a bad idea because they will result in 'bad doctors'. While i think that's a great way to gather public support and sympathy, i believe its tantamount to lying. This is not about the patients. It it has nothing to do with the welfare of the people. It has everything to do with furthering the career opportunities of a select, privelaged few. THAT needs to be clear to the people. We've seen enough to know that the reserved category students dont necessarily make bad doctors, just as the open category ones dont essentially make good ones. There definitely is an element of merit to how well one does in medical school (and later in the medical profession), but what has more to do with making good doctors is a sound medical education. If we really WERE concerned about the quality of doctors we're churning out, we'd be going out into the streets, protesting against private medical institutions with bad infrastructure and no patients. So why were we never proactive about these reservations for the rich which came in the form of 'management quota' or 'donation seats'? The bottom line is, that this is not about fear of malpractice in the medical profession, and the lay person needs to know that.
On the other hand, what's encouraging about this whole scenario is that people are beginning to sit up and take notice of how politics affects them. Even if they arent 'socially conscious', atleast they're becoming politically conscious. Maybe now, students will go out and vote in larger numbers to as to become the lucrative vote bank. Maybe there will come a time when bills are passed to garner their appericiation (which will eventually translate into votes). But then again, your vision of working from the grass roots might just fall short. Because children can't vote. So who wants to work for THEIR well-being, right? It really is a dismal situation, and despite being the optimist that i am, i dont see it improving anytime soon, unless we see some sort of unprecedented unification of the medical fraternity, which, at this time, seems utopian.
-Sana
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