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Journalism of Courage
The 8220;reservations8221; debate has been with us for centuries and is really about political power. Government jobs have been the focus of India8217;s ambitious classes for ever. Akbar8217;s enduring popularity with all sections of Indians rises from the fact that he opened up court appointments and Mansabdari positions, formerly reserved for Moslems, to previously derided Hindoos also which upset sections of the erstwhile elite and the Mohammedan clergy. The official historian of Pakistan, I.H. Qureshi, maintains that this single act of Akbar8217;s was most responsible for weakening imperial Moslem power in India. One of the first resolutions of the Indian National Congress was the demand that more Indians should be appointed to government jobs, especially in the coveted Indian Civil Service. Dadabhai Naoroji was a persuasive critic of discrimination against 8220;qualified8221; Indians. The British used subtle tactics like holding the ICS examinations only in England, insisting on horse-riding expertise for qualification, etc, in order to exclude Indians, going against the spirit of Queen Victoria8217;s proclamation which promised equal access to all subjects of her empire. It was only in the second decade of the 20th century that a single examination centre in India Allahabad was set up following incessant nationalist agitation.
British administrators argued that such inclusive measures in senior government employment benefited only Indian upper classes the creamy layer of that time and not the poor peasant who was better off under impartial British District Commissioners. And guess what, in the Bombay Presidency, Shahu Maharaj of the princely state of Kolhapur came to a similar conclusion. The only Indians who seemed to be benefiting were Parsees and Brahmins mainly of the Chitpavan persuasion! He along with others started a movement to ensure that Indians outside of this creamy layer benefited. The Maharaja of Mysore and the Justice Party in Madras formalised their opposition by setting up quotas to limit Brahmin monopolies in government employment.
After Independence the progressive government of free India insisted on a large and compulsory weightage for a viva-voce interview in the selection of IAS, IFS and IPS officers. The beneficiaries were well-connected usually upper caste candidates. After years of representations this requirement was dropped to the relief of the newly emerging OBC candidates for senior government jobs.
Higher education remained possibly the last bastion. Admissions to institutions of higher education, heavily subsidised by the Indian tax-payer, represent the portal that opens up wealth and power. To expect that there would not be a political movement on this front is naiuml;ve.
The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes of India are an oppressed minority similar to African-Americans in the United States. Quotas for them have been seen as a moral imperative to correct past injustices and redress present deprivation. Their numbers are not large, and for years on end their assigned quotas have remained unfilled. The OBCs represent something quite different altogether. If not the majority, they represent a plurality bordering on the majority in contemporary India. This situation has gotten exacerbated as upper classes have gone in for lower fertility rates in keeping with the universally observed phenomenon of the relationship between prosperity and demographic sluggishness. The OBCs are asking for power 8212; and if power which earlier came through government jobs now comes through higher education leading to private sector and entrepreneurial vocations, then that is what they will ask for. Appeals to merit, to economic criteria for reservations, to the exclusions of the creamy layer, etc, while having some impact, will not override the politics of the issue. In other words, reservations are a vote-winner.
The sensible response to the reservations movement is to see it as a political movement with a natural trajectory. The British insistence that an army officer purchase his commission hoping to exclude poorer classes who might be tempted to start another Cromwellian revolution was abandoned after the disastrous Crimean War proved that moronic rich officers who 8220;buy8221; commissions can be a menace to the country8217;s defence. They extended the franchise to the poor through the Great Reform Bill to counter the possible radicalisation of the populace.
Our responses too have been in the best British traditions of evolutionary constitutional democracy 8212; acceding to political realism. From Naoroji to Shahu Maharaj to the present Supreme Court, we have understood that the real issue is political power. Employment and higher education patterns will need to adapt if an explosion is not to happen. The dexterity with which we bend and manipulate purist arguments and carry on with the broad Indian journey towards prosperity and justice is being tested. So far, we have met the test rather well. One can definitely give two cheers for Indian democracy!
Now we need to widely publicise the behaviour rather than the words of the OBC leaders. Mr Karunanidhi sent his daughter to study in a private English medium missionary convent school. Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mr Lalu Yadav have both sent their children to elite private English medium boarding schools. The next movement should ask why all OBCs should not have similar opportunities. Since they cannot afford the fees, why can we not give vouchers and bursaries to poor OBC parents so that they too, like their leaders, can choose better schools rather than be stuck with low quality non-English medium government schools? A school choice programme will not only improve our human capital dramatically but could be the ultimate vote-winner!
The writer divides his time between Mumbai and Bangalore jerry.raoexpressindia.com
