Anarchic Analogy

Let me start with a confession, I am a very reluctant writer. The written word carries with itself a legacy...the word becomes more important than the ideas they are meant to communicate. Language, which came into existence because of the need for communication, has lost its ability to communicate, more so, when the written form precedes the spoken one, which surprisingly has become the primary mode of communication. Writing was invented to supplement the spoken word, and not vice versa. But today, the primary mode of dispersal of information is the written word, even when a slew of television channels stare us in the face, 24X7. (Most of the 'words' spoken, are actually written words...merely being read out!) Yes, to come back to the point, what prompted me to write this post? A recent 'status msg' of a friend on 'GTalk' (ah! that reminds me, we "talk" by writing!). It said 'YFE march on such and such date. Be there to support our cause'. YFE, if you don’t know stands for Youth for Equality, a forum, by their own admission, by the students of 5 medical colleges of Delhi, to bring together the 'Youth' who feel strongly against the 'Populist' measures of reservation. Lets start with the name itself. 'Youth', the first word itself, is such a loaded term. To begin with the meaning of the word 'youth'-it stands for the condition of being 'young'. Yes, India is a young country. Approximately, 60 percent of the country lies in the age group of 15 to 59, and 16 percent lies in the age group of 7 to 14. Thus, India is a primarily a young country, with a shrinking aging population. So, as they say, the future of the country lies in the hands of the YOUTH. (Although, I am using the word as singular, its plurality is beyond the comprehension of most of us). And this organization proclaims to be a representative of the dominant ideas within this group. But the word that is of prime importance, and perhaps, which defines the aim of this forum, is, EQUALITY. Yes, Equality, as the dictionary defines it the state or quality of being equal; correspondence in quantity, degree, value, rank, or ability. This forum claims to bring together the 'youth' who stand against the 'Populist' measure of 'reservations'. That brings us to the next word, ‘Populist’; the word originates from very specific historical context. The word referred to the Populist Party, organized in 1892 to promote the certain issues and rights of farmers and workers. However, the word lasted beyond the party, and came to represent the views of the masses. So, Youth for Equality (hereby referred to as YFE) stands against the 'populist' measure of reservations. Let us come to 'Reservation'. Reservation, in the broader sense of the term, implies holding back or setting apart something. So equality and reservations seem to be from two extreme ends of the spectrum, and thus one is anti-thetical to the other. And this is the belief on which this 'forum' is 'organized'. To come back to the words 'populist measures ' means measures being demanded by the masses. The forum does not want to yield to 'Populist measures', thereby communicating that the 'forum' stands against the demands of the masses. They do not want to ‘concede’, and would fight 'forcefully', with 'courage' and 'conviction'. Something which strikes immediately about these words-its a WAR cry! There are two sides contesting this 'battle', 'us' and 'them'. And since it’s a battle, then one would have to perish, for the other to survive. Which somehow tends to blunt the idea of equality, because 'equality' cannot be achieved under such circumstances, and even it is, then those granting ‘equal’ status to the other would define the terms. Equality in such a condition would be something like the state of carnival, where the law can be overturned but only in terms defined by the law itself. For a moment lets look into the composition of this forum. Formed out of 'five medical colleges in Delhi. (SEC A city, medical colleges courting the ‘cream’ of the students, which translates into a young rich and upper caste crowd) Two things come to the fore immediately- One; the founders’ angst derives itself from the fear of loss of identity, and is very similar to those who reprised Civil rights movement in the USA or give an analogy nearer home, the aggressive behavior of the upper castes when 'untouchability' was being abolished. The loss of territory for the upper castes has been a cause of concern for the group, and every measure of social empowerment has met a stiff resistance. First the loss of titles, then land and now it seems even education is being taken away. Upper castes have and will always pride themselves on their educational qualifications. It is education that itself forms the basis of our caste system. Thus, the Brahmin occupies the highest rung in the Caste ladder. Post independence, education, remained the upper caste's last bastion. And as a result, they have been trying to save it with all their might. Be it the reactions of the early 90s or the more recent protests by the YFE, any attempt at democratization of this institution, has seen violent protests. Since they cannot demand an outright ban on all kinds of reservations, YFE, is talking about reservations based on financial status, rather than caste. In other words, they want a class based reservation, rather than caste. Perhaps, anywhere else in this world, this would have had formed the basis of any kind of affirmative action, but India is a special case. The society here is divided on terms of caste, rather than class. Caste carries with itself a greater stigma than class. The class ladder is transcendable, caste ladder cannot be. A person born in a particular caste, cannot escape the realities of that caste. Thus, the Supreme Court had to proclaim 'Caste is Class'. Reservation, thus should be viewed as an attempt at social empowerment through the means of providing education, and jobs. It is just first step of a journey of a thousand miles .The premise on which reservation is based, believes that economic empowerment would lead to social empowerment. And yes it has failed, but the question, here is why has it failed? It has not failed in making higher education more accessible to the unprivileged sections of our society, rather it has failed in empowering them socially. Precisely because the movers and shakers of this society, still belong to the upper castes. Their inaction gives s a forum like YFE the chance to raise claims about the inefficacy of Reservations, and demand a reversal of such actions. It is important to realize that this is a two fanged attack by the upper castes to restore whatever has been lost.
Those protesting Reservations, also bring up the question of ‘merit’, and how reservations have diluted the quality of these esteemed institutions. And any further step would certainly lead to doom. The question of merit is yet another feeble attempt at justifying protests. It’s a fallacy that students with lesser credibility are able to qualify, than those with higher marks. In this case, it is very important to realize that ‘merit’ is as much a social phenomenon, as any other social norm is. The merit that upper castes boast of, comes from the social status that these castes enjoy. Being socially empowered these castes have been able to focus their energies on cultivating their academic skills. This is not a privilege that the lower castes enjoy/enjoyed. And yes the gap is slowly being bridged. For a state like Tamilnadu, which put social reforms into practice much before any state in the country, the merit gap has been bridged. The difference is not more than a percent or two. Thus, its just a matter of time, before this gap would be bridged everywhere else.
Another demand, that catches attention- rollback of all proposed reservations in the ‘private’ sector. Yes, the ‘private’ sector is a private matter of the upper castes, and no one can mess with it. Afterall, it is the private sector, which has made India what, is it! And it is due to the hard work of hundreds and thousands of laborious and meritorious students who slogged their nights to gain admission into prestigious institutes and then labored twice over to turn these companies into corporations. How can anybody share the fruits of their labours? Perfectly, justified demand. How can anybody refute this claim?
And yes, before I end, the reduction in reservation is happening, earlier it was 100 percent and now it has been reduced to 77.5 percent!