Opinion Head in sand?
A census is the process of recording facts as they exist. This record is used for various purposes,planning being one of them. That caste exists in our country is a fact....
This refers to Pratap Bhanu Mehtas My caste and I (IE,May 12). A census is the process of recording facts as they exist. This record is used for various purposes,planning being one of them. That caste exists in our country is a fact. A very tragic fact; but a fact all the same. Turning a blind eye to this reality will be the epitome of the ostrich syndrome. If the government or its agencies need to create a plan for the members of
deprived castes,it needs to know the facts. It needs to have data in its hands. Yes,certain political quarters may (nay,will) make selfish use of the data. But does the solution to this misuse lie in not creating the data rather than controlling those political quarters?
Siddhartha Mukherji
Wrong turn
The analysis in My caste and I was perspicacious. By inserting caste in the census,UPA-II seeks to sacrifice governance at the altar of political expediency. Working on a fallacious assumption that it was the success of poverty alleviation programmes such as NREGA which returned it to power,the government seems bent on pressing on with freebies as a substitute for general welfare of the poor. The equating of caste with economic class satisfies the minimum essential qualification of being pro-poor without having to traverse the hard path of opening new schools or improving opportunities of employment or planning economic development which all sections of society need equally urgently.
Ajay Tyagi
Pratap B. Mehta has well defined the futility of the enumeration of caste in the census. For some parties,caste has become a goose that lays golden eggs. They are intelligent enough not to kill it for one-time gains. Mehta says rightly that for the economic and political empowerment of Dalits,we do not need data on their numbers. What we need is affirmative action. The downtrodden will continue to be at the lowest rung of society as long as their leaders see their own upward mobility in that situation of the former. As usual,the Congress also acquiesces in caste politics for its political ends.
Tarsem Singh
New Delhi
Raising Cain
Jaithirth Raos Unusual powers of persuasion (IE,
May 12) was too biting a commentary on the declining clout of the US in Pakistan and the latters undisguised tactics of deception on its mentor and benefactor. After all,the most dependable ally of the US was receiving lessons in not only guided democracy but even guided rulers,if only to serve the superpowers short- as well as long-term interests. Pakistan was being comprehensively tutored in promoting people like Osama bin Laden during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Of course,its a different matter now. Will Americas strategists ever realise the folly of abetting Frankensteins?
Prasad Malladi
Nidadavole
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