Reservations and the Media

I read the article below in Hindu and its a wonderful piece in which the author offers a non-partisan support to reservations in IITs and IIMs.

Abhishek Behl



Eviscerating a holy cow
NISHEETH SRIVASTAVA
LET US NOT DELUDE OURSELVES. IIT IS A VERY EFFICIENT AND CONSISTENT BREEDING GROUND FOR PRODUCTIVE MEDIOCRITY
It is very fashionable for the young upper middle class `global` Indian citizen to inveigh against the `sectarian`, `populist` and `parochial` policies of the government. The article `Reservation saga` (Open Page, April 23) denouncing 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in the IITs and IIMs falls under this category. It seeks to question the validity of the anti-reservation lobby. As a specific case, we will examine their claims with regard to IIT.

The most feasible approach towards analysing the argument against reservation in IIT is to view the underlying axioms that its proponents cheerfully assume to be unquestionably true.
The most banal of them all is the presumption that the IITs are merit-based `prestigious` `temples of education` that command international respect.
Centres of excellence?
Merit-based? As of JEE 2004, more than 25 per cent entrants to IIT had been enrolled in a coaching institute named FIIT-JEE. The curriculum is based on analysing trends in JEE papers and focusing students` preparation on mindless precision in solving problems to clear the JEE.
The fee for the two-year course is upwards of Rs. 40,000. And FIIT-JEE is but one of myriads of coaching institutes that populate the high-school education system in our cities. Vidyamandir in Delhi, Ramaiah in Hyderabad and Bansal in Kota are household names in the society of JEE aspirants.
All these institutes, with perhaps the honourable exception of Vidyamandir, concentrate on rote-repetition and practice to prepare candidates for the JEE.

Prestigious? Infosys recruits upwards of 50 B. Tech students, from a batch of about 500, to work as software-writing minions at a salary of Rs. 11,000 a month. The IIT system has acquired a reputation for producing `techno-clerks` to create wealth for the burgeoning Indian economy. That`s not prestige; it`s pragmatism.

Temples of education? Of the 180 credits that a B. Tech student is required to accumulate towards completing his degree, how many do not relate to science and technology? A grand total of twelve — including an instructional course in English. How much flexibility does a B. Tech student possess in deciding his course work? None.

Let us not delude ourselves. IIT is a very efficient and consistent breeding ground for productive mediocrity. It generates graduates with a one-dimensional view of the world and with an intellectual horizon stunted to perform in a particular field of economic activity, viz. technology.

This leads us to the crux of the argument against reservation — there should be no regulations upon excellence. ``Why not have reservation in the army? Is education not as important as defence?`` goes the plaintive cry. Such an argument would have much merit if we were speaking of actual centres of research that do indeed strive for creative and disciplined endeavour — TIFR, BARC and IISc are the first examples that spring to mind.
But to raise such an argument in favour of the IITs evinces an almost criminal disregard for the ground reality.
Even a cursory perusal of campus culture in the IITs — their cultural hierarchy, their social interactions, their means of recreation, etc., paints a definitive picture of IIT students as self-aggrandising delusional brats living off the fat of the land in the form of subsidies that an indulgent government continues to ritually bestow upon a system that has deviated so far from its founding principles that it betokens those who feel responsible for it to look the other way.

It is instructive to note that the only opposition to the reservation proposal arises from the sections of society that will `suffer` as a consequence — the self-labelled `Forward Class.` Both the faculty and the administration of these markedly autonomous institutes have expressed no views publicly on the matter.
Does this not imply that a concern regarding the dilution of merit as a consequence of the reservation is groundless? Either that or, as is more likely, the faculty at these institutes is too blasé to view any change as making a difference to the commercially guided ethos that prevails.
Suggestion
Thus, the argument against reservation ought to be viewed for what it is — a self-serving, pompous plaint. A parallel could be drawn, without much exaggeration, with the righteous indignation of the French aristocracy at the time of the Revolution. While a caste-based reservation system may be opposed on other principles, the argument that it would dilute the quality of the intellectual product it offers India is flawed because it presupposes that such quality actually exists. This is an extremely narcissistic claim.
(The writer is a student at IIT Madras)

``The above examples are not exceptions but the norm. Perhaps, this is due to the fact that ninety-nine percent of the Indian media is controlled by the upper caste and class conscious intelligentsia. Most of the journalists writing and producing stories might have their own constraints and the interests of their own to take care of. .``
This is a completely foolish statement.

1) The move by Arjun Singh is completely political.ARjun Singh is no savior of OBC`sjust an opportunist.

2)Reservations over the period of more than 50 years havent led to the betterment of majority of the people ot was aimed at.It was created a creamy SC/ST layer nothing else

3) Reservations ironically has stratified the Indian society in terms of caste.

4) there are other avenues for reaching out to the backward classes for eg free primary education, scholarships etc.

5) Reservation greately bring down the merit of an institute.An employer will first ask the candidate whether his/her seat was reserved or free....Just imagine going to a doctor who has cleared his MBBS on 10 years with a minimum passing grade..who got the seat at a lower benchmark.

SO MR BEHL DO YOUR HOMEWORK BEFORE MAKING SUCH STRONG STATEMENTS

Hello every one

This article seems to have touched the raw nerve and the response has been quite interesting and people from different backgrounds have thrown their hats in the ring.
Some of you must be upper caste hindus, some perhaps Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and some belong to the depressed classes and the like.
Whatever has been said against or in favour of the issue but one thing remains clear that our society is too much divided on reservations.
Now, the issue becomes how to reconcile the inherent difference of the different people living in India.
On one hand are the SC/STs along with OBCs which forms the major chunk of the population, and on the other are influential upper caste hindus, who have held power for last thousand of years, but are relatively less in number.
And they have held to power not by using force but by evolving a spiritual and philosophical formula based on division of labour called, Chaturvarna.
This system which was an excellent experiment to divide the society into an efficient economic and political system, denigerated into a tool which unfortunately kept the majority of the low caste population of this country into a kind of mental, moral and social slavery.
Now, the greatest issue pehaps is not reservations, they are no doubt a handy tool, but the important issue is as to how to make the twains meet.
The upper castes, due to the thousands of years of dominace which has seeped into their genetic system are not willing to yield ground.
On the other side, the Shudras are challenging this domination and democracy had made their tasks very.
No reliigious or superfluous social theory is being used by the lower castes to uproot the powerful edifice created by their erstwhile masters.
They are just taking the democractic route a wee bit further, and with their overwhelming numbers they are smothering the powerful clique of the rich and powerul caste Hiindus.
The problem is that neither the low caste hindus have developed so much abilibity to completely push out the brahmin-Bania clique nor the the latter have numerical strength to outclass their rivals.
The coming days are going to see a see-saw battle between two groups, which will fought very hard and will have definitily some important ramifications.
This is likely to change the whole politicalscape of this country and will answer many questions in the future and perhaps give us a way to reconcile the interests of the Indian people.

Abhishek Behl

Ref parthaab #55

There is now a move afoot to compile a census of Muslims in the Armed Forces of India to determine if they are proportionately represented.

Numbers such as 2% are being bandied about as the percentage of Indian Muslims in the Indian Army as opposed to their 14% number in the total population.

Now, Muslim scholars have been justifying the jizya on the basis that kaffirs were exempt from military service in Islamic sultanates and so the Islamic government rightfully levied the jizya on Hindus for the protection that they received from an army in which they could not participate.

By the same logic, shouldn`t India now levy a jizya on Indian Muslims? If Indian Muslims are not serving in the Indian Army but receiving the security of living in a peaceful country, they have the obligation to support the army by paying an additional tax.

What do you think?

How about all the apologists for Islamic thuggery in India? Do you think the Government of India should impose a jizya-like tax on Indian Muslims?

Ref parthaab #55

[The proportion of SC/STs and OBCs graduating from high school is close to 43 per cent. The SC/STs share of high school graduates (16.7 per cent) is 68 per cent of their share in the population (24.4 per cent), the OBCs are only 1.5 percentage points below their proposed representation (26 per cent of high school graduates vs 27.5 per cent quota in colleges).

These simple statistics should make us sit up and take notice. The one group that needs government support the most is Muslims. Only 7.4 per cent of children graduating from high school are Muslims, whereas their share in the population (Census 2001) is 13.4 per cent, i.e. their shortfall is 45 per cent (ratio of 7.4 and 13.4 is 55 per cent).]

You are so right!

The quickest solution would not be reservations for Muslims. That would take years (12 years of achool + years of college, etc.) The quickest way would be to convert all educated Hindus at the point of the sword to Islam. By doing this, the representation of Muslims in the professions and in the government -- as well as in the private sector, which should please Arjun Singh & Company -- would go up instantly, bringing everything to approximate equality or even Muslim over-representation among the educated segment of society.

The positive impact of this can be seen in Pakistan which received ``all the educated middle- and upper-class Indian Muslims depriving those left behind in India of their role-models and leadership``. I believe Pakistan is a beacon of democracy, peace and progress in an otherwise dismal South Asia.

We also have the shining examples of Algeria, Egypt, Sudan, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Bangladesh, etc., to teach us what great Muslim societies can achieve. And who can forget Afghanistan with its great accomplishments in science, technology, space, nuclear research, women`s rights, etc.?

In fact, one has to only look at the 1000 years of Islamic rule in India and affirmative action for Muslims to tell us why we need more affirmative action for Indian Muslims. What glorious progress did India make during those times!

Hey, parthaab, go for it! Go to the nearest mosque and get yourself snipped. Change your name to Allah Ditta or Khuda Bux. If you have pretensions to higher social standing, you might want to call yourself a Sayyid or a Mirza.

What have you got to lose except your foreskin?

It bothers me when some people wake up from their comfortable bed one day and decide to become supporter of Reservation, as it is fashionable.

Those of my friends who went to school/college with me and whose parents lived in same neighbourhoods like me and whose parents are already IAS/IFS/IPS/IAAS etc. And then all of a sudden they make it to top colleges and other institutions and I have to work hard to make it anywhere.

Is it fair? Is that Reservation is about?

There is no accoutability. Meanwhile poor people are still poor and being exploited.

Shame on this facade.

The proportion of SC/STs and OBCs graduating from high school is close to 43 per cent. The SC/STs share of high school graduates (16.7 per cent) is 68 per cent of their share in the population (24.4 per cent), the OBCs are only 1.5 percentage points below their proposed representation (26 per cent of high school graduates vs 27.5 per cent quota in colleges).

These simple statistics should make us sit up and take notice. The one group that needs government support the most is Muslims. Only 7.4 per cent of children graduating from high school are Muslims, whereas their share in the population (Census 2001) is 13.4 per cent, i.e. their shortfall is 45 per cent (ratio of 7.4 and 13.4 is 55 per cent).

In contrast, the shortfall for SC/STs is 32 per cent. For the OBCs, the shortfall is a minuscule 4 per cent. Very few people, and no one from the politically conscious and politically correct Congress party, are pushing through policies to help those who need it the most—the Muslims.

Today, the SC/STs have a 117 per cent chance of entering college, the rest of the population only 74 per cent. Since some states already have some reservation policy for OBCs, the chance for an OBC to today enter college is somewhat higher than the probability for Muslims and upper-caste Hindus, and Sikhs, and Christians, etc. With the implementation of the Congress party law on reservations, the chance for an OBC would increase substantially to 93 per cent, and that for non-OBC and non-SC/ST Hindus and Muslims would decrease to 65 per cent, i.e. an able SC/ST will have double the chance of entering college, and an able OBC 50 per cent more chance of entering college, than an able upper caste Hindu or Muslim.

Given this reality, it is quite unfair of Mr Advani or the BJP to accuse Congress of ``appeasing`` the Muslims. If anything, they have consistently acted, and are now acting, against the interests of the minorities, especially the Muslims.

Farzanas lament about the weak PR of muslims, as seen in their absence in the media should be blamed, it seems.

Re: # 55

I know you commies are devious, but I didn`t realize you are this stupid..

Tirade against Hinduism and exploiting the caste divisions is the only way you sustain in this country. But dont be foolish enough to go about advocating reservations based on religion esp. Islam. Islam and Communism cannot co-exist. You must have realized at least that by now..

Re: # 58

1. It is only MUSLIMS who would lose/gain the most by reservations.
Hindus do not benefit/lose out due to reservations.

2. Interesting you talked about comies. Do you know that Pakistan grouped with atheist China? Or that it was in fact the `liberal` Americans who had a problem as long as Russia was opposed to organised religion?

Re: # 63

1. Sorry I didn`t get your point here.

2. This is a totally weak argument. If Communism is against religion, the strongest enemy to it would be the most fanatical of all religions, Islam. Islamic countires like Pakistan might work with China for other geo-political reasons, but they will always be against a god less philosophy. A better example to consider is how the Mullahs all over the Islamic world rallied against Pro-Communist rule in Afghanistan.

And your US example is weak too. You know very well that US is against Communism for a whole bunch of other reasons,

Thanks,

one industry, which arjun singh is familiar with thanks to his pals amitabh, jaya, shabana and raj babbar, which should implement 90% reservation is the film industry and limit muslim actors to 25%.

an agitation should be held with support from these luminaries to demand that 70% reservations be granted for all acting, directing, editing, script and song writing, music, art and so on for next 25 years at least. i would strongly support this. why?

1. its a reasonably inexpensive social-engineering experiment
2. if successful, much can be learnt and will teach the high-caste a lesson showing that they dont have control on creativity
3. if fails, we can analyze why the failure

we will see almost everyone supportive of this except the financier bhais, but they will come around, we can make arjun singh commisioner of bhai-liason office, with a 3% cut on all financing. azim-mian or pundit narayan murthy or murhoom sardar parvinder singh would haev no problem.

here is how ali welcomes ``converts``

Started by ali_1 on April 22, 2006 6:50am PT
Take low caste converts from the gangetic plain, allow them to in-breed with their cousin sisters, give them last names like syed, usmani (use some fukking algorithm, doodhvala --> syed, maashki --> siddiqui, bhangi --> farooqui) and a few generations later you get the likes of kaka.

Add to that a university that prints BA, LLB and BEd degrees faster than all toilet paper printed in Pakistan, and you get the arrogance of being the ``most`` educated community in pakistan.....

kakay bhaRvay, if you want to get the paan stains off your rotten teeth, try gargling with a pothohari`s mootar

Ref bharath #50

[Re: # 47

Very inspiring story. Did the chief minister oblige? Is he still around?]

Yes, on both counts.

Ref ali_1 #34

[Once Dalits have empowered themselves by embracing a monesthetic faith, would they force feed the brahmins like harimau and indian007 in a similar manner?


Two Dalits in Tiruchi district are made to eat each others excrement]

Chances are a 1000-to-1 that the perpetrators of this crime are the OBCs for whom Abhishek Behl is shedding tears in this article.

By the way, ali_1, the Islamic faith calls for the force-feeding of beef to non-believers. Have you forgotten that?

Ref Maharana #16

[Lastly, a lot of oppression in the past by upper castes cannot translate into a reservation for jobs. By that logic, all hindus, sikhs and jains oppressed by muslims also should get reservation in educational institutes and jobs.]

That is NOT how it works in India.

In Andhra, the Congress government reserved 5% of professional college seats FOR Muslims!

Ref delhiwala #28

I[ wish Sikhs had reservation for IAS in nineties. I flunked in Mains... ]

No need for reservations for Sikhs in the IAS. Sikhs can and have made it on merit to top jobs all over India and not just in the Armed Forces.

The Collector of Cuddalore District is a keshadhari Sikh named Gagandeep Singh Bedi. His work during the recent floods was so appreciated by the local people that they surrounded the Chief Minister during her visit and asked her not to transfer him to any other district.

On the other hand, the erstwhile Collector of Nagapattinam District named Veerashanmughamoney (synonyms: Masanamuthu, Sudalaikkannu and Sangilikkaruppan) was summarily transferred two weeks after the tsunami. His replacement, Dr. Radhakrishnan, went to Sri Lanka to advise their government on tsunami relief activities and even went to the US to participate in a symposium on disaster relief and recovery, both at the instances of the host governments.

Dr. Radhakrishnan is a brahmin.