Politics of Reservation!. Review on Dept. Of Education

The main headline in The Indian Express on May 20, 2005 was about the Union Ministry of Human Resources and Development’s decision of approving 50% reservations for Muslims in the Post Graduate courses in the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).

The most surprising aspect of the whole issue is the mute reaction by the media and the main opposition party of the country. As for ‘honorable’ minister in charge Mr. Arjun Singh, his reputation for being ridiculous is well known. But what happened to the sensible intellectuals who used to bark and bite at even minor tempering with the much revered and over hyped education system?

The fact remains that this particular move by the central government is a step backward in the process of reforming education. In fact, the whole policy of reservation is utopian and completely ineffective in yielding the results for which it was conceived. Has it helped in uplifting the weaker section of the society? Has it served the purpose of affording equality in education?

If you study the employment agencies and major employers’ hiring pattern, it will throw up some interesting results. Where students in an esteemed, highly competitive institute such as IIT receive more than one offer and employers compete to hire them, campus placement at the universities with higher levels of reservation is abysmally low. So in fact the Reservation is detrimental to the prestige and value of any institute and it does not serve the sole purpose of its existence – to eliminate social inequality.

Mr. Arjun Singh’s decision will further impede the moribund AMU. AMU has had a rich and enviable history to its account. It is said that from the employment point of view, the Seventies were a glorious period for the AMU especially under the stewardship of the then Vice Chancellor, the late A M Khushro. The AMU, according to the alumni who studied at the time, produced maximum number of IAS officers, scientists, economists and scholars during this decade. And reservation, as a solution, had never been dreamt of during the period. (The Indian Express, May 23, 2005).

What caused such a decline of once an esteemed university? First, a reservation of 25% for Muslims already existed across the board at AMU. And now additional 50% will take the reservation to 75% in the PG courses. The ratio of Majority to Minority community at AMU has consistently declined over the years and it is currently at less than 20%. And the educated Muslims opt for highly competitive institutes in Southern India than wasting time and talent at AMU, which has reduced to being a fiefdom of Muslims from Bihar and UP.

Now coming to Mr. Arjun Singh’s logic of facilitating and approving this absurd decision. Obviously, Mr. Singh is least concerned about improving the quality of education at the institute or that of the Muslims. All he is concerned about is to strengthen his vulnerable position in the Party and the Government by endearing himself to the purportedly strong vote bank of his party. His logic is to become popular among the minority community so the party would not take a risk of purging him to avoid risking its traditional and reliable votes.

So while electoral vote bank politics takes front seat, quality of education and improvement in the condition of minorities take the back seat. In fact a few thousands additional seats at AMU is not going to gain anything substantial for the class of the society, which has allowed itself to be manipulated over the years. The logic behind such bizarre moves is quite simple. Indira Gandhi masterfully practiced it and the Congress has since then been able to practice it with enviable success. Keep the minorities backward and keep promising them the sky. Just keep them on their toes by exploiting the stupidities of the right wing. Otherwise, how can one justify the horrendous action by Rajeev Gandhi to overturn the progressive decision by the Supreme Court in the infamous Shah Bano case?

So all Congress wants to do is to keep them frightened, scared and backward and keep taking token decisions such as the one by Mr. Singh to show that they are actually their messiah.

What are the eunuchs in the media busy doing? Trying their best to suppress the explosiveness of the issue. Why? The reason being thrown at us is that the issue can become handy for the ‘Hindu Fundamentalists’ and it can vitiate the ‘secular’ atmosphere of the country! Isn’t it like pot calling the kettle black? So even if the government takes a decision which goes completely against the national interests, it must be protected as nothing is as important as keeping the ‘communal forces’ at bay! How ridiculous!

When Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi sought to correct some obvious misrepresentation of the history, such as categorizing Aryans as foreign mercenaries and junked the bogus Aryan Invasion theory, it was construed as saffronisation of education. The whole media led by The Hindu and Hindustan Times vehemently attacked the NDA government and Dr. Joshi for correcting the intentional bogus theories perpetuated by the Leftist historians over the years. And now what? His successor has taken detrimental decisions in the name of cleansing the system and the media is busy diverting people’s attention somewhere else and the same The Hindu and Hindustan Times are conspicuous by their silence.

Having a particular ideology is not wrong. To propagate the ideology you believe in is not wrong either. But when you fail to take the right position or run away from taking a firm position when your ideological brethren takes a decision which runs contrary to the vital national interests, you are compromising with your journalistic ethics. Hindustan Times has intentionally refrained from publishing a single news story related to this issue. The Hindu published it among some other insignificant news items. Only Indian Express considered it important enough to carry it has a main news item and also write an editorial opposing the move. I don’t read ToI, so I have no idea what that newspaper has to say. (ToI probably would be more interested in how many condoms are sold on the AMU campus).

Anyway, thanks for reading my frustration here. I am sure some of you are equally frustrated, if not more. At the end of the day, I would repeat the question posed up by a fellow Msian (simplyswapna, whose review is an inspiration to pen this one) - I would like to ask the minister, “Sir, will you grant 50 % reservations for Hindus in Banaras Hindu University?”